Episode 36 of the Linden Lab sponsored Drax Files World Makers series takes us to the creative landscapes of Sominel Edelman and his creations under his brand of Landscapes Unlimited. This episode is slightly shorter than most episodes, coming it at just under three and a half minutes, but it still manages to pack a lot in. I will embed the episode at the end of this post.
Sominel Edelman creates landscapes for Second Life, bringing life to regions and areas of Second Life but there does seem to be a basis from his professional work with regards to Sominel’s creative art, he’s a physical geographer. This gets raised as Draxtor Despres points out that he has created Yosemite National Park landscapes and yet never visited the place in the physical world.
What is interesting about this episode is that although there is talk about virtual world representations of physical world landscapes, we also get informed about how the immersion within virtual world landscapes brings people together, with or without a head mounted display. Sominel points out that “You don’t need a fancy gadget to connect to each other“.
This is something oft missed by those who don’t inhabit virtual worlds, the power of community and connection.
This is exemplified further in the episode as we learn that Sominel’s work is popular with Role Playing communities and this is not surprising to learn at all. Role players want to feel they are part of a landscape and Sominel creates those landscapes oh so very well. However we don’t learn exactly how he creates them, creators after all like to keep some things close to their chest. However we do learn that he uses Photoshop, Blender and some Python scripts within Blender as part of his workflow.
We also learn that Sominel is a very successful content creator, with his income from Second Life supporting Sominel and his family.
We also get an inkling into a reason why some people prefer an open ended sandbox virtual world. instead of other virtual experiences such as games. Sominel points out that in a game, you consume the game, you follow the paths creators have set for you. In Second Life, you can create your own paths and explore your own creativity. That creativity does not have to be in terms of creating content yourself of course. Spotting the right content for your own spaces within Second Life and other such virtual worlds is something people spend a great deal of time and money on.
Draxtor Despres again manages to get an insight into the mind of the person behind the avatar, letting that person talk and managing to relate once again that behind an avatar is a real person, who enjoys the virtual world experience within the physical world.
Good stuff and well worth watching.
SLURL To Landscapes Unlimited : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Landscapes%20Unlimited/128/127/1527