Author Archive
PhotoStage and PhotoLite update available now
Version 1.1.2 of PhotoStage and PhotoLite is available now via automatic updates for current owners. To obtain these free updates, please go to the Options menu and click Update. Check your User’s Manual (here or here) for detailed information.
An improved version of PhotoStand is also included with these products.
The major new features and changes in the new version are:
- TRU textures are no longer included with PhotoStage; 42 great textures from other providers are being used now (36 before).
- Backdrop texture tiling and editable glow for PhotoStage. You will need the latest Windlight-enabled Second Life viewer to enjoy backdrop glow.
- Create commands are not necessary now before editing a light, effects generator or gaze point.
- The interaction radius of lights, effects generator and gaze points has been extended to 50 metres (it used to be 10 or 20).
- 43 modelling poses are pre-loaded on PhotoStand, including 7 exclusive poses by Kali Meads.
Also, please remember that a gift card for 6 Animah poses is included with this new release.
This update will be made available at the Ananke Media Systems demo site in Lady Vale (112, 225, 301) and the web stores OnRez and SLExchange in the next few hours.
Enjoy!
PhotoStage and Koinup
We have reached an agreement with virtual social networking site Koinup to have PhotoStage as the prize of their soon to be launched photo contest.
In case you didn’t know:
Koinup is the first social network to share virtual lives, screenshots, machinima and virtual stories. It allows users to upload, share and review content they create within games, mmorpg, virtual worlds and metaverse. [link]
Stay tuned for the details!
Lights under new viewer
It seems that the new Second Life viewer, version 1.19.1 (4), has some quirks about local lights that may affect PhotoStage and PhotoLite. In particular, there are some situations where one or more local lights apparently switch off when other light sources are nearby. This happens, for example, when you are wearing a facelight.
We have observed the following. If you are wearing a facelight and use PhotoStage or PhotoLite to create a light, it rezzes up correctly in an “on” state, but apparently switches off (i.e. it stops illuminating the scene) after one second or so. If you right-click and edit the light object it will switch on again instantly and, in fact, if you look at the Light checkbox in the Features tab of the Edit floater, you will see that it is ticked. However, the light object apparently does not emit any light when it is not being edited.
Evidently, this affects the look of your photos, since lights that are supposed to be “on” do not illuminate the scene as they are supposed to do. The workaround is to avoid wearing any facelights or similar light sources when operating the PhotoStage or PhotoLite.
This seems to be caused by the way in which the new viewer version handles local light precedence, which is different to what previous versions of the viewer used to do. If you have any feedback about this behaviour, please post a comment here. Many thanks.
Sales trivia
83% of our sales come from female avatars. 17% come from males.
Free Animah poses available now
The gift certificate notecard to obtain six free Animah poses is available now when you buy or update any of our products containing PhotoStand, and will be available until 15 May.
Get your PhotoStage, PhotoLite or PhotoTools Pro at our demo site in Lady Vale (112, 225, 301), OnRez or SLExchange, and enjoy your favourite poses from Animah!
Free Animah poses with PhotoStand
We have just closed a deal with Animah, the renowned pose makers, by which anybody who buys or updates any of our products that include PhotoStand between 15 March and 15 May 2008 will be entitled to six free poses to choose from Animah’s huge collection.
How does it work? You will find an Animah gift certificate notecard inside your product package between the above stated dates. You need to go to the Animah store, select your favourite six poses, write their names on that notecard, and send it back to Animah. They will dispatch your poses of choice as soon as possible. Please see the notecard in the product package for details.
Remember that PhotoStage, PhotoLite and PhotoTools Pro all include PhotoStand. Buying or updating any of these between 15 March and 15 May will give you six wonderful poses from top pose makers Animah.
Enjoy!
Backdrop texture tiling in PhotoStage
One feature that has been missing from PhotoStage, and which users have been asking for since January, is the option to change the tiling factor of textures on the backdrop. The current version of PhotoStage lets you apply a texture on the backdrop, but there is no way to make it cover the backdrop in larger or smaller tiles.
The good news is that we have just implemented that feature. Starting with the next update, you will be able to change the tile factor using the menus, HUD or chat interface.
Your feedback is welcome.
Kali Meads poses for PhotoStand
Enterprising designer and artist Kali Meads has agreed to let us include her seven exclusively designed poses as part of PhotoStand. Yes, the same poses that we were featuring at the PhotoStage Launch Event. We believe they are fresh and unique designs, departing from the usual modelling poses that we see everywhere today.
We will distribute these poses with the next release of our products. Thank you, Kali.
Tutorial: Updating your PhotoStage or PhotoLite
In this tutorial I explain how to update your PhotoStage or PhotoLite. Owners of these products are entitled to lifetime updates, which basically means that once you buy from us, you will receive any future version of the same product for free, forever.
Having the latest version of your product is important, since we often introduce fixes for all those Second Life glitches and performance improvements, as well as new features. Also, we usually do not support products that are not up to date.
If you want to stay up to date, the first thing you need to think about is how to find out whether a new version has been released. There are basically two channels that we use to publicise updates: this web site and the Ananke Media Systems User Group. We suggest that you join this group to receive notifications about new releases and the occasional exclusive gift.
An alternative way to find out whether an update has been released is to make your product check for updates. I explain how to do this in the next section.
Ananké Media Systems 