Red and Re-read

Review: Elsa Boots from Sand Shack Surf Co.

The lovely and talented Emma Gilmour of Sand Shack Surf Co recently asked if I’d be interested in doing an in-depth, proper review of her latest shoes — the Elsa boots.  I was a bit hesitant to do a comprehensive review, as the potential for drama isn’t worth it for me.  Anyway, as Emma and I chatted, we reminisced about the early days of SL fashion blogging, when a reviewer was supposed to be thorough, and include both strengths and weaknesses of a particular item, and their own experiences with the item — when we expected bloggers to educate us on what we should be looking for when we evaluated things.  I decided to rise to the challenge — though in this case, it was easy, as Emma is an experienced, talented designer, and so there’s little need for constructive criticism.

So, these are the Elsa Boots, available from Sand Shack Surf Co.  First, let’s look at the features available with these boots, and then we’ll analyze them more closely.  There are essentially three › Continue reading

Tags: 5th & Oxford, Blowpop, Chronokit, Error, Fri.day, League, Mechanized Life, Niniko, Reel Expression, Sand Shack Surf Co.

Feature/Tutorial: Mechanized Life FilterCam

The FilterCam, from Mechanized Life.  Version 2.0 was just released, and it adds a more user-friendly menu and more filters to the last version.  This tool — it’s amazingly awesome.  You want one. It’s easy to use right out of the box, and it’s also easily customizable with a bit of effort.  This will be a rather long post, so make yourself comfortable.

Getting started, the HUD attaches to your center HUD attachment point.  You’ll then want to go to File>Take Snapshot and check the “Show HUD objects in snapshot” box.  You’ll also want to remove any other HUDs, as they too will end up in your picture if you don’t do so.  (If you look at the pictures below, you’ll see HUDs I should have removed, but I forgot. Don’t look silly like me.)

Initially, you’ll also want to run through three basic chat commands: “/5normal”   “/5widescreen” and “/5ultrawide”.  These set the aspect ratio of the HUD to fit with your monitor aspect ratio.  I find the “Wanted” filter useful for determining which aspect ratio looks best.  Once you’ve found the correct setting for you, you’ll never have to fuss with this again.

To get started using the FilterCam, there are only two things you need to know.  First, a long click on the HUD will bring up your blue-box menu, from which you can choose from a large selection of filters.  Your blue box menu first presents several categories: Scatter, TV, Frames, Holidays, Horror, Artsy, Basic, and Custom (more on custom later).  Each category, when clicked, will show you several preset filters, all ready for you to use and take pretty pictures.

A few of the filters ready for use from the menu. There are lots more!

Second, a short click on the HUD will minimize it, allowing you to set up your composition, camming and alt-clicking and so on.  Clicking on the minimized HUD will › Continue reading

Tags: Bax Coen, Dark Mouse, Elymode, FilterCam, Maitreya, Mechanized Life, Tyranny Designs, [LAP]