Join us this Sunday, September 24, 2017, from 1pm to 2pm slt for the September Exhibition Opening event and gallery reopening of Kultivate Select Gallery! The gallery has received a complete makeover and is now an outdoor gallery and venue! Kultivate Select is a themed gallery and this month’s theme is Fall has returned! Live performer Nina Bing will provide 1 hour of entertainment and the following artists are exhibiting:
Join us this Saturday at the Windlight Art Gallery for the September & October Exhibition Opening event! The opening will take place from 1pm to 2pm slt. This event will feature the following artists:
The September 17 issue of Kultivate Magazine is now available! This issue features Avilion, one of Second Life’s longest roleplaying communities. We also have a virtual reality and Sansar update for you, a review of the Deciduous photography sim, coverage of the Art by Nature gallery, a glimpse of how you can have Savile Row male inspired fashions in Second Life, an end of summer photo essay, and coverage of the return of Team Diabetes of Second Life! Click the image below to view the issue.
Today is the last day of the Black and White Exhibition! Over 40 2D and 3D combined artists have created a variety of black and white art work! Today at 1pm slt we have live performer Melenda Mikael for a special 1 hour performance! Dresscode is casual!
Today is day #7 of the Black and White Exhibition! Over 40 2D and 3D combined artists have created a variety of black and white art work! Today at 1pm slt we have live performer Loreen Legion for a special 1 hour performance! Dresscode is casual!
Today is day #6 of the Black and White Exhibition! Over 40 2D and 3D combined artists have created a variety of black and white art work! Today at 4pm slt we have live performer J Lively for a special 1 hour performance! Dresscode is casual!
Today is day #5 of the Black and White Exhibition! Over 40 2D and 3D combined artists have created a variety of black and white art work! Today at 4pm slt we have live performer AM Forte for a special 1 hour performance! Dresscode is casual!
Today is day #4 of the Black and White Exhibition! Over 40 2D and 3D combined artists have created a variety of black and white art work! Today at 4pm slt we have live performer Dimivan Ludwig for a special 1 hour performance! Dresscode is casual!
Today is day #3 of the Black and White Exhibition! Over 40 2D and 3D combined artists have created a variety of black and white art work! Today at 4pm slt we have live performer Lark Bowen for a special 1 hour performance! Dresscode is casual!
Kultivate contributor Myra Wildmist is back with a new tutorial! This time she discusses the problem with profile photos:
Do profile photos look stretched or compressed to you?
You’re not alone. There’s a good chance a large part of the Second Life (SL) community sees your profile photo wrong.
The problem is Firestorm (FS) – and probably some other third-party viewers – or rather the way Firestorm handles profiles.
FS profile pic on left. Same pic as it appears in LL viewer
The problem: Linden Labs web profile photos use a different size and aspect ratio than the Firestorm profile photos.
Several years ago, Linden Labs (LL) revamped their profile system and went to web profiles. When they did they changed the default sizes of profile photos. Before transitioning to web profiles, profile photos were a weird size and a non-standard aspect ratio – 178×133 pixels, almost, but not quite, a 4:3 aspect ratio.
[Note: Using standard aspect ratios is super important for ease of use and ready sharing of images. You can read more about aspect ratios in this article.]
When LL went to web profiles, they changed the default size of profile photos to 300×300 pixels. 300×300 pixels has an aspect ratio of 1:1, a standard aspect ratio that lends itself easily to the SL default upload size for snapshots – 512×512 pixels, which is also a 1:1 aspect ratio.
Firestorm maintained the old, legacy profile and didn’t migrate entirely to web profiles. By default, Firestorm uses the legacy profiles which means your profile photo has to fit into the old legacy size of 178×133 if you want it to look nice on the Firestorm profile view.
The problem: Linden Labs viewer uses 300×300 pixels for its profile photos while Firestorm uses the legacy size of 178×133.
When you look at a profile pic made for LL profiles in an FS profile it will appear stretched out, but when you look at a profile pic made for FS in the Linden viewer it will appear compressed.
Why did Firestorm continue to use legacy profiles?
If this is an issue why did FS stick with the legacy profiles?
FS legacy profiles are faster. Web profiles take longer to load.
Web profiles sometimes fail to load, at all.
Legacy profiles are better organized and have a couple more features (e.g. online status) than web profiles.
Unfortunately, while there are good reasons to continue to use the legacy profiles, it does create this problem with the profile pictures.
It is impossible to take a profile photo that looks good on both LL and FS viewers.
Because of the difference in aspect ratios, LL profile photos will look bad in the FS viewer, and FS profile photos will look bad in the LL viewer. FS will stretch a profile photo that looks good in the LL viewer, while an image that looks good on FS will look squashed in the LL viewer.
Is there a solution?
Is there a solution to this discrepancy between the two most popular viewers?
The best solution would be for Firestorm to change the default size of the legacy profile pictures. The burden is really on Firestorm since the legacy profiles use a non-standard aspect ratio for their profile photos.
Aside from that, there’s not much you can do. You can use web profiles in FS (Avatar – Preferences – User Interface – check “Use web profiles by default”), but, as mentioned, they’re a little slower among other things.
What format should you use for your profile picture?
Should you use the Linden viewer dimensions or the Firestorm viewer dimensions for your profile photo?
This might seem like a dilemma, but it’s really not. Make your profile photos for the LL viewer.
Advantages of taking a profile photo that fits the LL viewer:
It’s a standard aspect ratio. You can easily use your profile photo elsewhere without it looking distorted.
More people use the LL viewer, so more people will see your profile photo correctly.
If an FS user wants to see your profile photo correctly, they can just click on it. That will bring up another window showing your photo in the 1:1 aspect ratio (This doesn’t work with your profile photo, though.).
You can easily use a SL snapshot without having to crop it to fit into the weird FS profile photo dimensions.
For these reasons, even if you use the FS viewer, use a 1:1 aspect ratio for your profile photos.
1:1 aspect ratios sizes. Some examples:
72×72 pixels, 300×300, 512×512, 1024×1024, 2048×2048, and so on. Just make a square.
Want to take better profile photos? Check out these other articles I wrote:
The August 2017 Issue of Kultivate Magazine is now published! This issue will feature Sansar via an excellent article by Inara Pey, three photo essays by Illyra Chardin, Sandi Benelli, and Wicca Merlin, a great article by Myra Wildmist on who is an artist, and commentary on the behavior of models in the Second Life fashion industry by Stav Gracemount. This issue also features an exhibition on Bryn Oh at the Serena Arts Center and a visit to the Marfa sim by Veruca Tammas. To round off things we have The Edge stylists who have presented a variety of Summer and fun fashions for you. Click on the cover below to view the issue:
I am pleased to say that our second anniversary issue, is now published and is available for you to read! This issue features artist Bryn Oh, Anouk Lefavre, Stavaros Gracemount, Veruca Tammas, Ilyra Chardin, Inara Pey, Haveit Neox, Kiana Writer, Lanai Jarrico, Marcus Lefavre, Fnordian Link, Heidi Halberstadt, GinPhx, Beatrice Serendipity, Sandi Benelli, Hikaru, Enimo, Caledonia Skytower and over 50 images created by the talented artists of Kultivate Magazine! We hope that you enjoy this issue and we apologize to the lateness of this issue. Due to real life issues, this issue is a few days late but worth the wait!
Join us for day #1 of our Homes For Our Troops Art Auction & Fundraiser! The auction area and exhibition rooms are open and we have a performance at 4pm slt today by live performer Melenda Mikael! For a complete list of artists and events: https://kultivatemagazine.com/homes-for-our-troops-art-auction-fundraiser/
Kultivate Magazine (Kultivate) will hold a fundraiser in support of Homes For Our Troops. This event will feature live performers, dj parties, a special flag hunt, and an art auction with proceeds going to Homes for Our Troops (HFOT). Homes For Our Troops is a charity that supports veterans by providing resources that can help veterans rebuild their lives after military deployments and war. The fundraiser will take place July 1 to 4, 2017.
The following artists are participating in the fundraiser (in alphabetical order): Booyakashaka Resident, captainofmysoul, Catalina Staheli, Eleseren Brianna, Eucalyptus Carroll, ilyra chardin, Isis Desmoulins, iSkye Silverweb, IthilwenRose Resident, Jamee Sandalwood, John Brianna, Karma Weymann, KodyMeyers, LailaKnight84, Meishagirl Resident, Miele Tarantal, mmorganwhitfield, Myra Wildmist, retroye resident, Sandi Benelli, Sheba Blitz, Solana Python, Syphera Inaka, talligurl resident, Veruca Tammas, Vivienne Darcy, wild Alchemi, and WrenNoir Cerise.
The schedule for this fundraiser can be found below: Saturday, July 1, 2017: 8 am slt-event area opens; art auction begins; hunt begins 4pm to 5pm slt -live performer Melenda Mikael Sunday, July 2, 2017: 12pm to 2pm slt-Red, White, and Blue Ball 4pm to 5pm slt-live performer Lark Bowen Monday, July 3, 2017: 4pm to 5pm slt-live performer J Lively Tuesday, July 4, 2017: 12pm to 2pm slt-4th of July Party (daytime) 4pm to 6pm slt-4th of July Party (nighttime) 6pm slt-Fireworks; art auction ends; hunt ends
About Homes For Our Troops HFOT builds homes as a departure point for Veterans to rebuild their lives, and once again become highly productive members of society. Despite their life-altering injuries, many Veterans have embarked on new careers, completed their college degrees, or started families. Empowered by the freedom a mortgage-free and specially adapted home brings, these Veterans can now focus on their recovery and return to their life’s work of serving others. Many have embraced their roles as motivational speakers, sharing their messages of persevering through tragedy with groups and classrooms around the country; others take to a national platform to promote awareness of veteran suicide, homelessness and PTSD. Their incredible stories are the driving force for the work for HFOT.
About Kultivate Magazine Kultivate Magazine is a publication about the cultural aspects of Second Life. The goal of Kultivate Magazine is to support art, culture, photography, music, and fashion. Kultivate Magazine consists of the magazine, The Edge, Edge Productions, and The Edge Gallery; The Windlight Art Gallery, The Red Gallery, The Kultivate Bailywick Gallery, The Kultivate Select Gallery, Ristorante Ivanna, & The Tribute and Crown Pub. Kultivate Magazine is proud to be the media partner and primary sponsor of Team Diabetes of Second Life, an official and authorized team for The American Diabetes Association.
Lots of images of the day to catch up with! Below are our images of the day from 5/8/17 to 6/22/17:
Image by Loco OppewallImage by Kimeu007Image by Eva Luciano
Image by Isabelle Beerbaum
Image by PanAeonImage Anouk LefavreImage Raizan FieldImage by Chanell ResidentImage by SophiaImage by Indii TolsenImage by Caliban JonesImage Paradox Ivory
Join our Flickr group to have an image considered for our image of the day: https://goo.gl/4kmn77
Kultivate is pleased to announce a special photo challenge in honor of our second anniversary! This challenge has a combined total of 5000L’s in prizes. Below are the rules and guidelines:
Prizes:
1st place- 1500Ls and one shopping gift card
2nd place-1000L’s and one shopping gift card
3rd place-500L’s and one shopping gift card
**All images will be published online via our social media websites**
Below are the rules and guidelines of this photo challenge:
There is no set theme for this photo challenge ,we simply ask that you enter your best image
When posting photos please use the following naming convention: “Kultivate Anniversary Summer-your SL Name” DO NOT use display names
All photos must include the slurl of where you took it in the description
All photos must be new and original, you can post them in other Flickr groups
Nudity and adult themed images and places are not allowed
Editing in Photoshop, GIMP, or some other graphics program is ok
You have until June 16, 2017 at 6pm slt to submit your images. We will use the Flickr date and time stamp to determine if you met the deadline
Remember to follow are sim rules and covenants when visiting sims and places that do not belong to you
The image must be of your own intellectual property and by submitting an image to our Flickr group, you give us rights to publish the image if you win the contest
Please contact Johannes1977 resident in regards to this contest
At the Kultivate Anniversary Summer Weekend, we have a special art exhibition set up! The exhibition is now open for viewing and the following artists are taking part in this special exhibition:
Today is day #1 of the Kultivate Anniversary Summer Weekend! Our schedule is:
**Open all day-art exhibition, summer hunt, & shopping
4pm slt-live performer Melenda Mikael
5pm slt-Whymsee Audience Cabaret
6pm slt-live performer SaraMarie Philly
For a complete listing of events: https://kultivatemagazine.com/kultivate-anniversary-summer-17-events/
Kultivate is pleased to announce a special photo challenge in honor of our second anniversary! This challenge has a combined total of 5000L’s in prizes. Below are the rules and guidelines:
