As I’ve previously reported, the informal Content Creation Improvement Group this week had its second meeting, the majority of which revolved around mesh deformation and the available / potential options.

While the current emphasis on mesh is understandable given all that is going on, the focus of the group shouldn’t be thought of as being “only” about mesh. As I commented in my piece announcing the group:

It is intended for developers and content creators alike, with the aim of providing a collaborative atmosphere which will allow members to discuss features, workflows, and modifications with the aim of enhancing content creation for everyone on SL. As such, the focus of the new group will be:

To provide a forum in which content creators can voice their ideas and / or concerns about the overall state of content creation in SL

Encourage the spread of knowledge about content creation methodologies and tools

Suggest / discuss new ways to facilitate content creation in SL (including the use of new tools or possible improvements to the viewer)

To provide a focal-point where content creators can have questions answered and issues highlighted that might otherwise go unanswered in other user groups.

This being the case, Geenz Spad, the CCIG’s chair is keen to see more participation in the group from TPV developers – to whom he put out a request in this week’s TPV/Developer’s Group meeting – and from content creators and builders from across the grid, “It would be nice to have some feed back on other content creation issues that don’t necessarily centre on mesh,” he commented to me immediately prior to the TPV/Developer’s meeting on Friday, “I’m sure there’s plenty of builders who’d like some progress in making their workflows easier as well.”

One potential area for discussion is that of the build floater. This has already received various degrees of attention within various TPVs, with some adding extra tools and capabilities (such as the prim alignment tool) others even giving it a complete overhaul in terms of presentation. Capabilities such as pathfinding, which sees an additional information panel added to the Build floater, stand to make it even more crowded. So there is a question to be asked as to what might be done to update / improve the floater in order to provide better access to tools and options – and this potentially falls into the remit of the CCIG.

Of course, TPVs are free to determine how they wish to develop floaters, etc., for their audience – and they do take a lot of feedback from users in doing so. But the CCIG offers an opportunity for developers and creators to work together on ideas and to develop proposals that can be fed back to Linden Lab and possibly influence their thinking on things – and even help them determine what needs to be done in order to make the tools and floaters with the viewer more accessible and user-friendly.

Given the CCIG is still formulating itself, now would be an ideal time for builders and creators who haven’t previously attended meetings to pop along and get a feel for what is going on.

There is a wiki page which contains the meeting agenda and links to meeting transcripts. If there is something specific you would like to see discussed, drop Geenz Spad a line in-world to have it added to the agenda. Meetings themselves take place every Tuesday at the Hippotropolis Auditorium in SL, commencing at 15:00 SLT. See the links below for more details.

Related Links