There hasn’t been too much free fashion worth blogging lately. I’ve gone gift hunting at most of the major monthly shopping events (including Cosmopolitan’s 12th Anniversary) and have come away rather underwhelmed by clothing gifts, although there have been some nice deco pieces available!
But this dress popped up in one of my feeds and not only is it standout, it’s also for Lara X!
There are two versions, the normal one I’m wearing here, and a sheer version. It comes with a fourteen color HUD that lets you color the dress and the diamonds separately for some outstanding looks.
Sizes are for Lara X, Legacy, Legacy Perky, Waifu, and Reborn.
A new rendering system is coming to Second Life, known as PBR, or physically based rendering. This is the industry standard these days, and it’s really nice to see LL stepping up and making the major code change needed to support it.
If you have no idea what PBR is, and you want to know all the gory details, you can read about PBR on Wikipedia.
Some of the most eye-catching effects have to do with reflections. For example, realistic metals are one of the most difficult things to represent with the old rendering system. And PBR makes it a piece of cake!
The official SL viewer already has PBR enabled, and it’s coming to Firestorm Real Soon Now™.
Which brings me to the reason for writing this post… I’m revisiting some of my products to redo their textures to support PBR, starting with the carbon truss scope, which I textured before PBR became the way to do things, even in Blender.
Here’s a new render with the recommended SL HDRI sky lighting the scope.
Updated render of the BF Carbon Truss Telescope using PBR (physically based rendering)
I’ve redone all the materials using what Blender calls the Principled BSDF shader, which I’ve been using in Blender since it arrived there. Only now I can take the shader outputs directly into SL and expect the textured object to closely match how the render appears in Blender.
Some noticeable changes in the above image:
You can clearly see the resin overlaying the carbon fibre
The steel counterweights and support rod look much more realistic (and should provide realistic reflections of what surrounds them in SL)
The matte black inside the tube and the optical path now has just the right touch of gloss to make it look believable (nothing in real life is totally matte)
I’ve added a finder scope on the OTA, which you can easily remove from the scope if you like the plain look.
I can’t wait for the version of Firestorm with PBR to launch so I can try this out in SL!
You know the game, connect four in a line horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, and win! Now available from Blues Fantasy in Second Life, the game is six land impact, and can be played by one or two players. As with all Blues Fantasy scripted products, it comes with updates for life.
I’ve released a new BF product today! This decorative Japanese styled iron teapot would make a lovely addition to any kitchen, and would obviously be right at home in a Japanese theme.
The item is modify, so you can resize it if you like, but be aware that resizing mesh will change its land impact. As delivered, the teapot is only 1 land impact, and fits my stove top nicely.
This LBD is a prior group gift from Smesh. Their group is FREE to join, and they have a number of group gifts available.
There are sizes for Lara, Legacy, Venus, Freya, Isis, Physique, Hourglass, eBody Curvy, Tonic Fine, Tonic Curvy, and Dragon (I’m assuming the Jomo Dragon). The texturing is very nice, which is why I wanted to show it to you. Unfortunately, at least on the Lara version, the skirt is so tight that you may get a little clipping at the back of the thighs that alpha cuts might have problems with. What’s to lose? It’s FREE 🙂
My friend Kat pointed out a new-to-me store called Patty K.C. Fashion. Of course she did this by turning up to an event an this stunning set of lingerie from the store!
I had to go and grab it. This set is just L$30 and is just to the right of the desk as you enter the store. It consists of the top, skirt, and panties, and all pieces are sized for Lara, Lara Petite, Altamura, Freya, Isis, eBody Curvy, Hourglass, Legacy, Legacy Perky, Tonic Fine, Tonic Curvy, Tonic Minimizer (whew!)
The lingerie comes with a HUD that allows you to color various faces on the pieces. The HUD has ten solid colors and four lace colors, which I think are the standout!
The store also has a huge range of group gifts available once your join their group at a cost of L$10.
Blackbird Lace carries past group gifts, and the group is FREE to join, so here’s a gift from July of last year that I somehow missed.
The strappy panty and skirt are separates and are sized to fit Lara, Erika, Reborn, Kupra, GENX Classic, and GENX Curvy. In addition of those sizes, the top also comes in Lara Petite, and both GENX Classic and Curvy Dainty. Also included is a set of heels that I am choosing not to wear as I refuse to wear platforms over about an inch tall (and these are over 6 inches!), sized for the bodies named previously.
Finally, there is a six color HUD that lets you color the top, top wings, skirt, panty, and heels separately. This is a very nice gift, and as I mentioned, the store carries past group gifts, so what are you waiting for?!?
