Second Life Basics

1. SecondLife Basics B A C Fontbonne University Second Life Campus

2. Welcome to the World of Second Life The following pages will introduce you to the basic Second Life skills you will need in order to create a quality project for your class. The skills will help you to think out of the box as you participate in a 3-D world where nothing is impossible and limited only to your imagination. There will be help available to you in Second Life most evenings between 8-9:00 pm (CST). In addition, if you IM or e-mail CherylLynnTriellis (cdavis@fontbonne.edu), she will try to answer your e-mail as soon as possible. There will also be a schedule of help sessions and workshops posted at the entrance to the Fontbonne Barge. You are welcome to attend as many sessions as you like. Some will be specific to your class project, and others will address Second Life issues that you might find entertaining and interesting. The goal of this experience is for you to actively participate in your own learning as you gain knowledge and experience that will prepare you for the future.

3. Welcome to the World of Second Life This Orientation is the resource you will need to complete the 5 Orientation challenges posted in this area, and you will find it helpful as a resource as you progress with your project. This Orientation in PowerPoint format is also available at http://life2000.org/Worlds. You may choose to download it for future reference .. in either electronic or written form. After successfully completing this Orientation, your avatar will be able to: Control your Views of Second Life Walk, Fly, Teleport, and create and use Landmarks Communicate via Notecards, IMs, Text Chat, and Voice Chat Add Friends to your Contacts and take part in a Group Change the Appearance of your Avatar and add Gestures Use and manage your Inventory (all your possessions in SL) Take Snapshots and save them to your computer Create, move, and manipulate Objects and Textures Manage your Lindens as you earn them Use the most important Menu options necessary for success

4. Orientation Guidelines Step 1: Read through the posters (in numerical order) at the Orientation Station, or use the PowerPoint version online. Step 2: After you have reviewed the posters, begin your Orientation Evaluation with Station 1. Touch the button for a Notecard that will explain your first mission. (You will Touch each button to receive the appropriate Notecard.) You are to complete all five missions. Step 3: Make sure to follow all the steps to successfully complete all five Challenges. After you finish all five stations, submit your completed Notecard to CherylLynnTriellis. (via her profile) .. You will learn to do all this while reading the signs at Orientation Station AND in the first and last Challenges. Step 4:CherylLynn will grade your completed Notecard and award you L$60 for each successful activity .. for a possible total of L$300. (It will be enough to get you off to a good start in Second Life.) The total earned will be deposited to your avatar and the amount will appear in the top right-hand corner of your screen. You will have other opportunities to earn more Lindens throughout the project time .. like attending workshops and sessions. Step 5: Between the Notecard you will receive from each station and the posters, you will learn everything you will need to know to successfully complete your project in Second Life. CherylLynn will also give you lots of links to other resources you may find interesting or helpful.

5. Activities 1-10 Station 1: Control Your Views of SL Station 2: Walk, Fly, Teleport, and create and use Landmarks Station 3: Communicate via Notecards, IMs, Text Chat, and Voice Chat Station 4: Add Friends to your Contacts, examine Profiles, and take part in a Group Station 5: Change the Appearance of your Avatar and add Gestures Station 6: Use and manage your Inventory Station 7: Take Snapshots and save them to your computer Station 8: Create, move, and manipulate Objects and Textures Station 9: Manage your Lindens (L$) Station 10: Use the most important Menu Options necessary for success

6. Station 1: Control Your Views in SL Avatar View You can control how you see things in two ways --- The normal (default) view is via your avatar. Instead of looking directly through its eyes, the camera is actually located a few feet behind the head of the avatar and follows it around. There ’s a reason for that .. but, we will discuss that later.

7. Station 1: Control Your Views in SL Camera Controls Zoom In Angle Up, Down, Right, Left Horizontal Zoom Out Vertical If the controls above are not showing on your screen, go to VIEW on the top menu bar and choose Camera Controls. This view allows you to leave your avatar behind and move your camera view far away, close up, or track to the left and right. This gives you much more control and allows you to get very close and far distances without your avatar getting in the way. This is also quite useful when taking quality snapshots and building. Experiment with each of the controls until you understand their effects. It will take practice, but eventually, you will use these controls for all kinds of arranging, building, taking snapshots, and navigating in tight places. Right now, instead of moving your avatar to the next station, try using these controls. You will be able to go all the way down to the end without moving your avatar.

8. Station 2: Navigating Second Life Move Forward <Fly> = Button on Bottom Menu Bar Fly Up = PgUp key Or letter e Fly Down = PgDown key OR letter c Turn Left Turn Right Move Backward Walk and Fly Navigation with Arrow Keys

9. Station 2: Navigating Second Life .. Teleport You can request a Teleport from someone else. If you want to join him/her, just send an IM (Instant Message) and request a Teleport. Highlight the name of the Avatar in your Contacts, press IM/Call and send the message. If the Avatar sees the message, he/she sends the teleport and you receive a message on your screen asking if you want to join him/her. Just answer Yes, and the next thing you know, you will be standing in the new location.

10. Station 2: Navigating Second Life .. Teleport If you want to send a teleport to someone so they can join you, just repeat the process as before, but select the Teleport button instead. The Avatar can accept or decline the Teleport. If it accepts, he/she will appear in front of you within seconds.

11. Station 2: Navigating Second Life .. Teleport Another way to Teleport is to get one from a vendor. When you search for something, you can receive a Teleport there; or, when you visit somewhere, you may find many different types of Teleport vendors. Just click on the vendor and you will receive a teleport screen with a Teleport button. The business may also send you one. Search Listing Click on Green Symbol

12. Station 2: Navigating Second Life .. Landmark You can set a Landmark from almost everywhere you go in Second Life. The Landmarks are saved in your Landmarks folder in your Inventory. When you visit a place that you think you might want to return to, just set a Landmark. WORLD/Create Landmark Here You can also send Landmarks to your friends and put them in Note Cards; so, even though Landmarks are the easiest way to navigate, they are also the most flexible. A SLURL is another type of Landmark .. the difference being, the SLURL uses your web browser. The browser then locates the destination via your Second Life sign-in screen. The image on the right is my Inventory with some of my Landmarks showing. (They are little pushpins.)

13. Station 3: Communicate via Notecards, IMs, Text Chat, and Voice Chat Notecards Create a Notecard .. INVENTORY/Create/New Note Write just as you would a post-it-note. When you are finished, click <Save> and when you close the note, it will go into your Inventory. While it is in your Inventory, right-click it and re-name it to an appropriate name. (Otherwise, you will have zillions of New Notes.)

14. Station 3: Communicate via Notecards, IMs, Text Chat, and Voice Chat IMs If the person is in Second Life when you send the IM, you will be able to carry on a conversation. If he/she is not in SL, the message may be sent as an e-mail message.

15. Station 3: Communicate via Notecards, IMs, Text Chat, and Voice Chat Text Chat Press your Contacts tab for your list of Contacts, the Local Chat tab to chat with anyone within approximately 30 feet, and when you IM someone, his/her tab will appear at the bottom, too. You can switch between tabs during any sessions. Press the <Say> button when you want to send your message.

16. Station 3: Communicate via Notecards, IMs, Text Chat, and Voice Chat Voice Chat Toggles media panel with sliders Play/Stop Streaming Audio Play/Stop Streaming Video Press to Talk Speaker Control In order to talk, you must have a mic. If you don’t have a mic, you can use Text chat. However, it is very important that you have speakers so you can hear those who are talking. There is a time and place for both .. and we will discuss this later.

17. Station 4: Add Friends to Your Contacts, Examine Profiles, and Take Part in a Group Add Friends There are two ways to invite avatars to be your Friends. In person, Right-Click on the avatar and click <Add Friend> on the wheel. You will be asked if you want to invite the avatar to be your friend. Respond. You will then receive a message stating he/she has accepted /declined your offer of friendship. The name of the avatar should now appear in your Contacts.

18. Station 4: Add Friends to Your Contacts, Examine Profiles, and Take Part in a Group Add Friends There are two ways to invite avatars to be your Friends. Press the <Search> button at bottom of screen .. Click the People tab Type in the name of the Avatar you want to invite to be your Friend. (must be spelled correctly) This screen will appear with the Profile of the avatar. (Notice all the choices you have at the bottom of the window.) Press <Add Friend> If both of you answer positively, you will now be friends.

19. Station 4: Add Friends to Your Contacts, Examine Profiles, and Take Part in a Group Take Part in a Group Once you are a Friend of CherylLynn Triellis, you will receive an invitation to become part of a Group named Fontbonne Community Members. This will not cost you anything, but will give you specific opportunities and privileges. You will have all of the permissions necessary to build and participate in activities on Fontbonne Island. Anyone not in the Group, can visit, but will not be able to do everything you can. This is where you will see what Groups you belong to and can activate them when it’s necessary to do so. You can do this several ways .. but, this is usually the quickest. CONTACTS/Groups tab You can switch between Groups by highlighting the Group, then pressing the <Activate> button on right. You can leave the Group by pressing the <Leave> button.

20. Station 5: Change the Appearance of Your Avatar and Add Gestures Right-Click on your Avatar. Select Appearance from the wheel. Play with all the options to change your Avatar in any way you want. These changes can be altered any time. The only thing permanent is the name of your Avatar. Right-Click on your Avatar and select Gestures from the wheel. Have fun!

21. Station 6: Use and Manage Your Inventory Your Inventory contains two parts .. My Inventory and Library. Each folder is used for everything your Avatar creates, obtains, and purchases in Second Life. It is up to you to organize your Inventory any way you like; but, take heed and use your best organizational skills, because you will have a REAL mess if you do not. You can drag and drop just like real folders, add your own folders, etc. Explore the menus for File, Create, and Sort so you know what all the Inventory has to offer. The Library has LOTS of free stuff that you will find very beneficial, so make sure to explore there as well,

22. Station 7: Take Snapshots and Save Them to Your Computer Taking good snapshots is much easier in Second Life than in real life. You will use your new camera skills in the easiest way possible .. recording your many explorations, adventures, and creations in Second Life. Use your Camera Controls to get the perfect angles, distance, etc. for the perfect Snapshot. When you have it ready, press the <Snapshot> button in the bottom menu bar. You will see the snapshot in the middle of the window at right. You can choose to send it to an e-mail address, save it to your Inventory (costs L$10), or save it to your hard drive. If you want to make some adjustments to the composition of the picture, you can <Refresh Snapshot> .. Then either Save, Save As .. More>> for more options .. Cancel. It is usually best to Save As .. in .jpeg format.

23. Station 8: Create, Move, and Manipulate Objects and Textures • First, you have to know that everything built in Second Life is based on a prim (short for primitive). In this snapshot, your are looking at a cube that is 1 prim. This prim can .. • Be moved – all directions • Be textured • Be made larger and smaller • Change features .. Such as invisible, physical, sculpted • Be animated • This process will be covered in person (or avatar). It is fun, different from anything you have probably ever done, and challenging. Stay tuned!

24. Station 9: Manage Your Lindens Lindens are the Second Life Monetary System. They are the currency used to purchase goods and services in Second Life. For this project, you will receive Lindens for accomplishing certain tasks or participating in certain activities or events .. You will receive a maximum of $L300 for completing the 5 missions in this Orientation. Once you have finished reading, go over to the colored buttons (1..5) to find out your challenges. Each challenge is worth $L60. There is no partial credit for each challenge .. All or nothing. If you complete all five missions successfully, you will receive L$300. We will have a few optional one hour sessions in Second Life where we will discuss the specifics of many of the skills you have learned about here. There are still lots of important details and opportunities that will make your Second Life experience more rewarding. These are optional; but, if you attend, you will receive L$100 for each one hour session. There will also be a few one hour workshops on other Second Life issues or skills that you may find interesting. They may or many not address needs for your project, but would definitely enrich your overall Second Life experience. Everyone attending the workshops will also receive L$100. FYI .. Lindens are equivalent to L$10 = $.03

25. Station 10: Important Menu Options • The following Menu settings may be very beneficial to your work in Second Life. If you attend any of the sessions or workshops in Second Life, we will be covering even more. Many of these are things you can explore on your own, but sometimes it is helpful to also know why you might need them. • WORLD / Environmental Settings • FILE / Upload Image • EDIT / Preferences (Browse through all the options) • WORLD / Set Home to Here .. Teleport Home • VIEW / World Map • Now you are ready to find out what your 5 challenges are to complete the Orientation Mission. Good Luck!!