So with the whole OpenSpaces aka Void Sim debacle I started looking at options, one of the open sim places I looked at was fairly good but I’ll talk about that another time and it’s still not ready for primetime. But in the course of looking for alternative building areas I came across the question we all have… how do I move items back and forth? The only real solution I found was Second Inventory. It has it’s quirks but it does work. For a legitimate use of moving your own creations to other worlds this is a legitimate tool, though it takes a long time to work for each item. More info is available on their site but I managed to move a full copy of my house to my OpenSim sandbox and it looked just like it did in SL. Pretty neat, if you can put up with the headaches. It also has the side benefit of being able to perform batch uploads of textures, something I’ve been wanting in SL client for ages.

Robin Wood does amazing tutorials, you really should check them out here. The one I find most helpful is how to make transparencies, make sure you read and do it, but make sure you grab the actions that do it for you! I use them all the time. That tutorial is here.

Photoshop is really an invaluable tool if you create in Second Life, I’m not that good with it and I use it every day, if you’re designing clothing or skins you absolutely must have it. (Alright, maybe GIMP will work but I get a headache with that and I’m a techy guy.) Ryker graciously shared her brushes with the SL community and it’s a bookmark of mine. So now I’m sharing it with you. Go get them here.