Video Tutorials

The following's a list of Second Life tutorials. This isn't meant to be a complete compilation, but specifically lists tutorials I've personally viewed and have found helpful. I (Torley Linden) started this with the intention of providing an easy-access resource for SL vidtuts, because currently (2007-02-27), they're scarce and hard-to-find.

Please add what you've found useful; all I request is that you keep the presentation consistent so this page serves future generations well, and I'll be revisiting to learn from your knowledge —

"May we watch over the shoulders of our enlightened educators with smiles as plentiful as water!"

Video Tutorials in the Knowledge Base

• Current ones made by Torley - You can also see these on my YouTube page, including:
  • How to use gestures
  • How to manage your inventory
  • How to use HUDs
  • How to change your appearance
  • How to open and sell boxes
  • How to use the building grid
  • How to fill in your profile
  • How to create and send a notecard
  • How to use Undo
  • How to make a flag that waves in wind
  • How to to make tiny prims
  • Assorted Tips & Tricks - A yummy stew including a hearty helping of FollowCam!
  • Advanced Snapshot Magic - Take better pictures!

You can also download most of these vidtuts (feel free to link to those URLs to stream them inworld)!

Content creation

• n00b Be Gone series - By Natural Selection Studios.
  • Camera Tutorial - "how to interact with objects, different forms of camera controls, and a few ‘unknown’ tricks"
  • Building Tutorial - "basic building inside Second Life - as well as continuing camera controls learned in the first episode"

• Building in Second Life series - By Ian Monstre.
  • Building a Clock - How to make a timepiece that really works, in 7 parts.
  • Open/Close Door - "how to create a door that opens and closes when touched"
  • Create a Fluttering flag - Flag vidtuts are a great way to show flexiprims in action.

• Building and scripting series - By Seeter Sullivan.
  • How to build a chair
  • How to create an interactive sign
  • How to embed texture onto an object
  • How to embed a notecard onto an object
  • How to link an object to a webpage
  • How to create links within a notecard
  • How to create a dropbox
  • How to create a teleport link

• How to build a bridge - By Noire Mirabeau, in a relatively vintage example of an SL vidtut.

• Assorted resources and links - Includes guides to filming machinima and telling a story, some video tutorials, and movies of inworld adventures. By Thinkerer Melville.
• Slidtuts - By Benja Kepler. Slide show tutorials. Each slide in the show can be viewed separately, click on the 'View All Images' button. Then you can also enlarge to see the detail, and can copy each slide to be used anywhere else: in your own blogs, tutorials.
• Vidtuts - By Benja Kepler.
  • Creating Sculpted Prims
    • 1. The Apple Shows the steps required to create a sculpted prim, and includes close-ups of the build tools so that detail can be seen of the settings and options. This video shows how to create an apple, one of the pieces of fruit available in the library.
    • 2. A Hat - Using the Rokuro (lathe) tool, this video shows how to create a hat using a sculpted prim.
  • Scripting
    • Dance Animation Script 1. Basic concepts How to write a script to animate an avatar to dance, using one animation. This shows the basics needed, viz. requesting permission from the avatar to animate and how to start the animation.
    • Dance Animation Script 2. Choice of dances A 'dance floor' or 'dance ball' offers a choice of dances. This video shows how to do this with two dances. It shows the use of a list, and the dialog and listen functions.
  • Changing the viewer language to French, Portuguese or Spanish Includes an example place search in that language.
    • French
    • Portuguese
    • Spanish
  • How to create a forest wall Stretching a photo across two wall panels to give make a 'forest wall'.
  • Where Was That Money Tree? How to keep track of Money Trees. Shows the use of logging SLURLs.
  • Changing the colour of Owner Say messages For version 1.17.2 of the SL viewer.

• Using snapshot freeze to take precise pictures - By Bella March. By doing this, you can achieve better action shots without re-shooting multiple times.

• Using Photoshop's "Liquify" tool - By Vint Falken. This can help you smooth out and enhance avatar snapshots dramatically.

• tFinder quickstart - By Cid Vilas. Learn how to use tFinder, the texture search engine.

Machinima

• How to use the Alt-Zoom Camera - moo Money guides us through using this tool to film movies.

Introductory guides

• Top 10 Machinima Tips - By Eric Linden.
• Basic Machinima Tutorial - By The Grid Review.
• How to make a movie in Second Life - By Alt-Zoom Studios.
• Making Machinima in Second Life on Mac OS X - By Aenea Nori. Although specifically discussing the technical aspects of creating Machinima in Mac OS X, the concepts are applicable to Windows users as well.
• Vidder Maker Workshop -- The Six Gates - By Thinkerer Melville.
• First Login: Moving and Flying at the Orientation Island - By Benja Kepler.

Feature demos

These aren't intentionally educational, but highlight specific aspects of Second Life.

• WindLight atmospheric rendering - By Torley Linden.
• Sculpted prims - By Qarl Linden.
• Flexible prims - By Torley Linden.

Misc.

• How to convert YouTube videos for playing in Second Life - Step-by-step tutorial for when you want to show a fave clip inworld.
• YouTube search results for Second Life Video Tutorials - The list is small and growing!
• SL Frustration: Video Tutorials, please? - Sometimes when I ask myself "Why am I doing this?" while filming, I read this post and am reminded of how confused I was when I started. It's insightful.
• secondlife.com Community: Media - Showcase of finished, Resident-made machinima.
• How to convert YouTube videos for playing in Second Life - An answer to a question that many ask.
• teachtube.com - Because K-12 institutions routinely block YouTube, it can be difficult to show great educational examples of Second Life, as well as those wonderful tutorials by Torley and others. However, TeacherTube.com as a purely educational alternative. - The list is small.