My name is Vlad Bjornson, and I’m an info addict. :) I’m a bit obsessive about keeping up with the latest SL news and I’m constantly checking the forums and SL related blogs for bits of  interesting news and helpful tips.

To make my second life easier, and hopefully yours as well, I have created a new website called ShinyMix. It’s a collection of all the RSS feeds from my favorite SL blogs - all wrapped up in a spiffy, easy to read package. The feeds are updated ever hour so you can find something new just about any time of the day or night.

ShinyMix contains the feeds from 25 of my favorite blogs, most of them dealing with news, art, and content creation. I’ll add more feeds as I stumble on new sites that match my interests and the Shiny Life theme.  I’d also love to hear your suggestions for blogs to add to the mix.

Second Life Flowers by Vlad Bjornson

For about a year and a half I have been selling the flowers I create in SL in various locations around the grid. For the last year I’ve had a small store on Turing Isle, where I have been very happy. Sandry and  Blu have taken very good care of me there. Great sim, great people! So I was very happy when they offered to let me rent a much larger parcel on Turing Isle.

Now I have a nice big store where I can display all of my FloraPrims flowers and other landscaping items. W00Hoo! I have an example stream that I created with my Sculpted Stream Kit, and nice big waterfall, dozens of colorful flowers, realistic sculpty mushrooms, logs, ferns, trees, bushes, and eve a new collection of original landscaping textures. Stop on by and enjoy a stroll through my garden.

Part 1: Modelling

I’ve been spending more time lately learning how to use Zbrush to sculpt and texture objects for Second Life. I love the way that ZBrush works - it’s the closest thing to having a big lump of clay on your desk. I’ve learned a few tricks recently that make it easier for me to create sculpted prims, including texturing the object right in Zbrush.

Here’s a video tutorial/demo that shows how I create, model, texture and convert an object for use in Second Life. The whole tutorial is nearly an hour long so I broke it up into two parts. This first section shows my modelling process, the next will show how I texture my objects. For this how-to I’ll be making a realistic Amanita mushroom, from sphere to finished SL object.

For converting the ZBrush object I use a free program called Sculpty Maker that was made by SL resident 2K Suisei. This little program does a fantastic job of convert the shape to a sculptmap. It was the final piece of the puzzle that allows me to use ZBrush for the entire sculpting/texute workflow. You can find it on the SL forums in this thread.

Part 2: Texturing

In Part two of this tutorial I show how I use the ZProject tool to texture the object using a photo as a reference. I also show how you can easily create a shadow/ambient light map using a spiffy plugin called Material Baker by David ikeda.

By the way, you can download a free, 30 day demo version of ZBrush at the Pixologic website.

All aboard!

I spent some time last night updating my Profile Picks for the first time in over a year. :) It struck me that it might be fun to go on a little video tour of all the spots on my list. Here is the result - a casual walkabout featuring some of the places that I have created, some of my favorite galleries, and other interesting spots.

Here are links to all of the spots mentioned in this video:

• Highland Cliffs
• Africa
• Trillium Frame Gallery
• Gallery Tamrannoch
• Mysterio Gallery
• Photography Studio at Grignano
• FloraPrims
• Dreams Tutorials and Sandbox
• xyz

Northern California Redwoods in SL

I’m putting the finishing touches on my latest Second Life landscaping gig. It’s a patch of northern California Redwood trees for a new shop in Caledon - the Trillium Gallery and Frame Shop. I’m very happy with the results. I’m especially fond of the ground, undergrowth, and overall texture of the place.

AutoPilotPatty took a quick trip down to California to take photos just for the project. Then I massaged, manipulated, and cajoled the photos into shape for use in SL. There are lots of custom sculpty shapes for the undergrowth and the giant stump that is the centerpiece, as well as custom ferns, ground cover, and trillium flowers. There’s also a cozy room hidden under the roots where the gallery and shop will be located.

Miss Poppy is still filling up the gallery, but the spot is ready for visitors. See you in the Redwoods. :D