Unit 8 - Porgan Particle Generator

This week was all about the Porgan Particle Generator.  It is a wonder device that allows you to create particle scripts with ease.  They are easily customized to fit your needs.  I created three separate particles all which started as one of the built in presets.

Particle 1:  Snow

I wanted to create a winter scene to put my Linden built cabin kit in so I decided snow particles would be a necessity.  The preset had very little going on, so I increased the rate of generation, took off the wind effect, and increased their age.  That gave me my desired pattern.

Particle 2:  Fire

I used the fire preset to start with again.  I wanted more natural flame colors so I faded red into amber.

Particle 3:  Smoke

The smoke preset looked pretty good the way it was.  I did tinker around with it a little while and felt the original preset looked the best for my needs.  Now armed with my three scripts I began to construct my holodeck.

I created a big one this time with plenty of room to do other things if I ever wish too.  There is plenty of room to hold class or give demonstrations.  This shot has two of the particle scripts in it. There is smoke coming off the campfire.  I also have three invisible balls in the air with the snow scripts in them.  That allowed me to have snow where I wanted it and the volume I wanted.

In the cabin I created a fireplace as the place for my flames.  Notice the whole family made into this build!  I added fire sounds and a bed of embers to add realism.

Completes the scene.  I learned a lot with this build.  First, there is a limited number of items you can have using a single scene script.  That number is 356 I believe.  I also discovered that holodecks do not like some sleeping scripts too.  I used a prefab bed that I customized for the cabin.  It shot my first rez across to Lucy's area up in the air.  I took that script out and if worked fine.  I also think door scripts might be difficult in holodecks.  I bet they would have to have their own scene script in the root prim.

SLEDing Around:

I tried to find the article that we were supposed to write on but I think I have deleted it.  I do vaguely remember reading it. Unfortunately I don't remember enough to write a blog about it.  So I will discuss the new Virtual Education Journal Magazine that was link to on the SLED List this week.

Open publication - Free publishing - More iste

There are some great articles about ISTE Island, virtual food, and who some educators found their way to SL.  The one I will discuss highlights the Virtual Worlds - Best Practices in Education Conference.

This years conference theme is "Be Epic."  A fitting title for the capabilities of education in virtual environments.  The conference is 48 hours of learning, networking, and sharing with educators from around the world.  Only in VR can such a conference happen.  The articles discussing the "Epic" conference show pictures of prior conferences as well as a few teasers of conference sites for this year.

For my third topic, view my OpenSim Session Reflection in the prior post.