Archive for January, 2008
Gaze points for PhotoStage
In addition to the new features in PhotoStage 1.1 (coming soon) that we descibed recently, we have decided to add one more. Sometimes, when you are taking photos of a model, you would like that she looks in a certain direction. A gaze point is just an object that you can create and ask your model to track with her gaze by “alt-clicking”. This way, the model’s gaze and possibly head position will move, always pointing towards the gaze point, when you move it around.
We hope you find this useful. As usual, your feedback is welcome.
Tutorial: Lights and effects basics
In this second tutorials post I explain the basics of lights and effects. This is valid for PhotoStage and PhotoLite as well.
First, some definitions. A light is just an object that emits light. You can have up to six of them with either PhotoStage or PhotoLite. Lights allow you to illuminate your subject using what SL calls “local lighting”, i.e. light cast by prims with the light flag active, as opposed to “environment light” which comes from the sun and moon. As you surely know, light is the essence of a photograph, so a fine control of lights is crucial to achieve great results.
PhotoStage update coming soon
We are working hard on the next version of PhotoStage. After having received great feedback from many customers, we decided to incorporate a few enhancements that will be included in version 1.1, to be released soon. If you are an owner of PhotoStage you will receive this update for free.
In addition to lots of minor improvements and optimisations, these are the major new features in the upcoming version:
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A HUD will make using the PhotoStage much more enjoyable. You will be able to avoid menus except for a few uncommon commands.
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A Channel setting will let you operate up to 9 different PhotoStages from a single Control Box or HUD. This is especially useful if you want to set up multiple PhotoStages side by side.
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An Update button will be added to the menus, so you can check for updates manually without resetting the whole PhotoStage.
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A few top-class modelling poses will be included with the PhotoStand.
We hope you enjoy these improvements. As usual, your feedback is crucial for us to make the best studio photography toolkit in SL. Let us know what you think!
Custom PhotoStage backdrops
Some customers have suggested that the standard PhotoStage backdrops (16 and 12 metres) are too large for them. The good news is that we can provide custom-sized backdrops, from very tiny to very large. So, if you have space limitations and still want to use PhotoStage, or if you want an especially big backdrop, let us know and we will build it for you. Contact us and we will give you a quote that will vary depending on the required size and delivery timeframe.
Tutorial: Using the PhotoStage backdrop
A few PhotoStage users have suggested that a post series containing short tutorials explaining how to use PhotoStage would be good. I think that’s a great idea, so here I am starting. Most of the material that I will go through can be found in the User’s Manual, so don’t forget that this is a good source of information.
I assume that you know how to touch the control box to obtain the main menu. The control box is that orange cube that comes with the PhotoStage, and which often sits next to the backdrop.
Today I will examine the PhotoStage backdrop, that large curved surface against which you often photograph your model. When you rez (or reset) your PhotoStage, the backdrop is plain grey. You can change three things about it: colour, texture and brightness, which are, precisely, the three options that you see if you click the Backdrop button on the main menu.
People are posting about the PhotoStage
It’s only two days after we released the PhotoStage, and people are already posting about it. See some comments:
- Helix Rehula: “Hello PhotoStage …goodbye PhotoSphere” (in Spanish)
- Serenity Mercier: “definitely worth checking out for anyone serious about Second Life photography”
What do you think? Let us know!
PhotoStage is out
PhotoStage is out!
You can find it at the Ananke Media Systems Demo Site in Lady Vale. It is also available from SLExchange and OnRez on the web.
PhotoStage demonstration sessions
Accompanying the release of PhotoStage, we are happy to announce that we will be holding various demonstration sessions on Tuesday 22nd January between 1 am and 9 am SLT.
If you are interested in seeing PhotoStage in action, please contact us on ananke.media.systems@gmail.com to organise the time and place.
PhotoStage beta testing closing soon
The beta testing phase of PhotoStage is closing this weekend. Many thanks to all those who have helped us identify issues and potential improvements. Oh, and check out the photos that Alaska Metropolitan of Metro Models has been taking with PhotoStage.
In total, 32 individual issues where recorded, most of which were usability annoyances, with suggestions for improvement coming second. Of the 32 issues, 22 have been fixed already, and a new version of PhotoStage (1.0.4 beta) containing these fixes has been made available today to beta testers via automatic updates. PhotoStand is also included in this release, and the online user’s manual has also been updated.
We plan to release the final product next week on SLExchange and OnRez initially. We are also considering the possibility of an inworld store.
Modelling stand added to PhotoStage
Some of our beta testers have suggsted that PhotoStage should include a modelling stand in the package. Although you can get modelling stands from a number of sources, we agree that bundling one together with PhotoStage completes the product nicely. Therefore, we have developed PhotoStand, a simple modelling stand designed to work together with PhotoStage and PhotoLite.
PhotoStage will come with PhotoStand from the very first moment, and PhotoLite too as soon as it is available. The User’s Manual is already online.
Ananké Media Systems 