Preparation for Panel Session at OpenSimulalator Community Conference 2023: Max – New Free Mesh bodies for OpenSim Avatar – History of the project, current Ruth2 and Roth2 avatars, testing models, managing artists and the community social media channels.
Further resources for the Max, Maxine and Maxwell mesh avatars are available at https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2023/09/13/max-new-open-source-mesh-avatar/
Timeline
- 2017 – Shin Ingen creates original Ruth 2.0 and Roth 2.0 avatar meshes in ZBrush. https://github.com/ingen-lab/Ruth
- 2019 – Fred Beckhusen creates GitHub RuthAndRoth organization to improve open source community management of the project with Ada Radius, Ai Austin and Serie Sumei as administrators. https://github.com/RuthAndRoth
- 2019 – Ruth 2.0 RC#2, Ruth 2.0 RC#3 and Roth 2.0 RC#1 resources archived as branches in https://github.com/RuthAndRoth/Ruth
- 2019 – Ruth2 v4 and Roth2 v2 released by GitHub RuthAndRoth organization into OpenSim and Second Life. https://github.com/RuthAndRoth/Ruth2 and https://github.com/RuthAndRoth/Roth2
- 2022 – Ada Radius, Kayaker Magic and Tom Ernst explore details of viewer data for avatars as basis for Max. https://github.com/New-Media-Arts-New-Viewer-Avatar
- 2023 – Max, Maxine and Maxwell project underway. https://github.com/RuthAndRoth/Max
RuthAndRoth GitHub Organization
In 2019 Fred Beckhusen created the GitHub RuthAndRoth “organization” as a shared community umbrella to improve open source community management of the project. Ada Radius, Ai Austin and Serie Sumei continue to act administrators.
Github Organization: https://github.com/RuthandRoth
There are several code and resource repositories available:
- Ruth – the original Ruth 2.0 RC#2 and RC#3 and Roth 2.0 RC#1 resources with Git archival branches for the releases.
- Ruth2 – female mesh avatar – Ruth2 v4.
- Roth2 – male mesh avatar – Roth2 v2.
- Extras – attachments and resources of interest for open source avatars.
- Skins – open source skins.
- Reference – archive of Second Life and OpenSimulator avatar-related reference files.
- Max – repository for the new Max, Maxine and Maxwell avatars.
A simple management approach to code and resource contributions and preparation of releases is taken at present. There is a “Contrib/<name>> which any creator may establish and into which they can commit their own contributions. Hence they can make them available to the community for testing and feedback.
Repository issues can be raised for discussion and a repository “Wiki” allows for useful documentation. Social media channels, in particular via Discord, are available to discuss developments, testing, etc.
Ruth2 v4 and Roth2 v2
The current versions of the RuthAndRoth avatars are Ruth2 v4 and Roth2 v2. The previous versions were called Ruth 2.0 RC#1, RC#2 and RC#3 and Roth2 RC#1 vu are now referred to as Ruth2 v1, v2 and v3 and Roth2 v1.
Due to changes in Blender and add-ins for handling Bento rigged mesh avatars (Avastar and Bento Buddy) the original Ruth2 v4 and Roth2 v2 dev kits are no longer functional, though the original Collada DAE exports remain valid in both Second Life and OpenSim. Clothing options, particularly for the male Roth2 v2 are very limited.
Facilities on the OpenSim OSGrid RuthAndRoth Region
An OpenSim community region on OSGrid called “RuthAndRoth” is available to allow any user on any grid that implements the “Hypergrid” protocol to get in-world prepared resources and boxed releases. There is a Second Life marketplace also called “RuthAndRoth” for boxed release items. An avatar “RuthAndRoth Resident” exists in both OpenSim (on OSGrid) and Second Life to “own” the canonical version of each released item.
The OpenSim OSGrid RuthAndRoth region has shelving which contains the release boxes as well as clothing and other useful items. A platform includes teleport boards to other compatible clothing providers.
Also on the OSGrid RuthAndRoth region is a platform equipped with extensive testing facilities for animations and mesh quality checks via dance poses and a wide variety of pose stands.
Resources and Social Media
Note not all of the resources below by any means will contain Max, Maxine or Maxwell relevant content at this early stage, but the links are here for possible future use.
- GitHub:
- Github Organization: https://github.com/RuthandRoth
- Github Repository: https://github.com/RuthandRoth/Max
- Social Forums and Discussion:
- Discord Discussion Forum: RuthAndRoth [See channel #max] [Invite]
- MeWe Community Page: https://mewe.com/group/5bbe0189a5f4e57c73569fb9
- Second Life:
- Second Life Group: “RuthAndRoth” (free to join) – Group name place holder.
- Second Life Group: “Ruth and Roth Community” (free to join) – Most active and recommended for use.
- Second Life Marketplace Store: RuthAndRoth (ensure “Adult” content is allowed)
- OpenSim:
- OSGrid Inworld Location: hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/RuthAndRoth/134/124/26
- OpenSimulator Community Conference (OSCC) Grid Location: hop://cc.opensimulator.org:8002/OSCC%20Shopping%20Zone/256/242/86
- OSGrid OpenSim Group: “RuthAndRoth” (free to join)
- OpenSim Kitely Market: RuthAndRoth Store (products not currently listed)
Previous Core Contributions to Ruth2 and Roth2 Avatars
- Original Ruth 2.0 RC#1, RC#2 and RC#3 and Roth 2.0 RC#1 meshes modelled in Zbrush by Shin Ingen with rigging and vertex weight maps by Ada Radius.
- GitHub Repository management and testing by Fred Beckhusen, Outworldz LLC (Ferd Frederix), Ai Austin and Serie Sumei.
- Revised mesh, rigging and vertex weight maps by Ada Radius.
- Improvements to feet meshes by Sundance Haiku and Curious Creator.
- Fingernails and toenails by Sundance Haiku.
- UV map is CC-BY Linden Lab.
- HUD mesh, textures and scripts by Serie Sumei using modifications to original scripts by Shin Ingen and nail enhancements by Sundance Haiku.
Previous Contributors to Ruth2 v4 and Roth2 v2 Development (18)
-
Ada Radius
Ai Austin
Chimera Firecaster
Duck Girl
Elenia Boucher
Fred Beckhusen
Fritigern Gothly
Joe Builder
Kayaker Magic
Lelani Carver
Leona Morro
Linden Lab
Mike Dickson
Noxluna Nightfire
Sean Heavy
Serie Sumei
Shin Ingen
Sundance Haiku
Contributors to Max (8)
-
Ada Radius
Ai Austin
Curious Creator
Kayaker Magic
Linden Lab
Serie Sumei
Sundance Haiku
Tom Ernst (aka Owl Eyes)
Max, Maxine and Maxwell
The new underlying avatar created directly in Blender by Ada Radius is called “Max” which can be morphed into female and male variants called “Maxine” and “Maxwell”. The avatar armature is refined via research on the character folder in Second Life/OpenSim viewers https://github.com/New-Media-Arts-New-Viewer-Avatar.
