Category Archives: News

Future of Mesh Import Uncertain with Firing of Qarl Linden

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I read with dismay today on New World Notes about the firing of Qarl Linden, Karl Stiefvater. Karl disclosed his firing on his website, “Well, linden lab cut me loose today. They’ve been hinting at it ever since the layoffs last month. Try as i might i wasn’t able to change their minds. Honestly, I’m completely baffled at the decision, as are all my coworkers (and my boss, and…)”

It is unclear why he was fired. Tateru Nino posted a quote from his last performance review of July 2010 on Dwell on It indicating that the man is a software genius doing a great job. “Can I say how invaluable you are to the render team? You burned through a large number of crashes and critical rendering bugs. Without a lot of direction, you completed the feature/gpu table on S3 project, thought through a LOT of the complexities, and produced something incredibly useful. You enabled RenderDivisor to work on low end hardware (even if the hardware couldn’t take advantage of it in the way we hoped.). You did a ton of work to get mesh ready for public beta. You’ve fought long and hard trying to get Apple to fix their drivers while seeing if we can handle our textures better. And that was just this quarter (And you did all this while the company was undergoing a major reorg and giving us TONS of direction changes). You consistently brought things to fruition that worked well the first time. I love working with you. As does everyone on the team. You rocked it. 23 July 2010 – Q210 Manager Review” Apparently the source of this quote is Qarl’s website, www.qarl.com.

From New World Notes, “Qarl was a leading force behind Second Life sculpties, a groundbreaking building method, and more recently, COLLADA-compatible meshes, a feature currently in closed Beta. Meshes were promised to come to Second Life proper this quarter, but with Karl gone from Linden Lab, it’s unclear what that status is.”

I was hopeful that perhaps an open beta of mesh import was imminent when not long ago Linden Lab lifted the non-disclosure agreement permitting some information from those in the closed beta test of mesh to slip out. See my previous entry here.

The end of Q2 has come and gone, and Linden Labs has been silent on the topic of mesh import. With the firing of Qarl Linden, I am now not only thinking that mesh import will not come soon, but wondering if it will come at all.

Philip, it is time to tell us something! Don’t leave us hanging. Too many of us are excited about the potential of mesh import.

Google SketchUp will make building easier in Second Life once mesh import arrives.

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I took a look today at Google SketchUp, which will export to collada. Collada is the format for files to be imported as mesh into Second Life once that feature becomes available. SketchUp is a tool that was created by Google to make buildings for use in Google Earth. It is a 3D modelling program specifically made to make buildings. You can download version 7 free. There is a SketchUp 7 Pro version at a price of $495 US, but from what I can see this would be of interest only to those involved in building in the real world for it would permit saving floor plans with text and diagrams that would be of interest to real life builders. The free version will be quite satisfactory to build using mesh import for Second Life.

You can download the program at:

http://sketchup.google.com/

The controls and tools are extremely simple, yet give you incredible control.  There is a start up page featuring simple video tutorials at:

http://sketchup.google.com/training/videos/new_to_gsu.html

I watched a couple and saw immediately how much easier and more intuitive it will be to build using SketchUp than it is to build using prims in Second Life. I have heard some builders in Second Life voice worries that when mesh import goes live, it will render them unable to compete because 3D modeling programs are expensive and generally difficult and time intensive to learn. I would encourage these people to look at the SketchUp video tutorials to set their minds at ease. I would go so far as to predict that the introduction of mesh import, the ease of use and short learning curve of the free program Google SketchUp, and the ability to port buildings made in SketchUp to Second Life, will render building with Second Life primitives obsolete and rarely used.

SketchUp does have some limitations. It will not make organic shapes and so will not be the tool of choice to make animals or clothing meshes. However, for hard geometry it is excellent. It can make not only buildings, but furniture as well.

Linden Labs, please give us mesh import soon!! At least take it to open beta to let us learn and play with it!