Snapshot resources
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The following consists of miscellaneous info which often isn't easy to find, but very useful if you take Second Life Snapshots, including postcards. Historically, documentation in this area has been sparse, and Residents have provided some great resources, so this is an ongoing endeavor at compiling those in an easy place — please help keep this updated!
A state of snapshots
^ Torley's personal notes on how things've come to be.
Guides
- Torley Linden's personal guide to high-quality Second Life photography! - Awesomely comprehensive, richly illustrated.
- Vint Falken's tutorials - Vint serves up fabulous slices of knowhow with a specialization in beautiful post-processing of your inworld shots.
- Advanced Snapshot Tips - collection of tips by the community regarding snapshots.
- BootCamp: Photography Preparation - Luna Jubilee's guide to SL snapshot prep
Video tutorials
How to take a snapshot <videoflash>prno9o9n2ic</videoflash>
How to send a postcard <videoflash>iFzbvZc1BX4</videoflash>
Social sites featuring snapshots
Many social sites take advantage of the Snapshot API to publish snapshots and additional details.
- Flickr - The popular photo-sharing service, with over half a million pictures tagged "secondlife".
- Via Snapzilla-to-Flickr and SLBuzz-to-Flickr, Residents can crosspost to another service to have their postcards also show up on Flickr, where they easily be organized.
- Flickr's Second Life group - The most popular. Look inside the discussion area for varied photographic tips 'n' tricks.
- List of all Second Life groups on Flickr - Lots catering to special interests!
- You can also use Flickr's tools to upload snapshots from your hard drive, and there are a variety of 3rd-party amusements like fd's Flickr toys and Dumpr which you can apply to your images.
- Snapzilla - The original pioneer to really make use of postcards in such a widespread manner, its success has encouraged many Residents to share their inworld memories.
- Koinup - The first social network for all virtual world residents, and also has the ability to send inworld postcards to your Koinup gallery.
- Mixoom - Postcards are part of Mixoom's community site offerings. It also allows uploading of photos from your hard drive.
- SL Profiles - This page allows you to quickly add SL pictures to your profile on this community site.
- blogHUD - Use this gadget to send send your postcards to the web.
- SLinside.com - German Second Life Community Pics
Tools
- Picnik (free version available, web-based) - Online image editor super-easy to edit your snapshots (in both basic and more fun ways), then post them on the web, or save back to hard drive. Integrates seamlessly with Flickr. See Torley's review.
- ReNamer (free, Windows-only) - Batch-renames your files. Great for taking a heap of snapshots named "Snapshot" and turning them into something more descriptive. Also see Torley's review.
- Autostitch (free, Windows-only, Mac and Linux versions planned) - Easy-to-use 2D image stitcher that turn a collection of snapshots into a breathtaking, wide-angle panorama. Also see Torley's tutorial on how to specifically use it with Second Life.
- virtualPhotographer (free, Windows-only) - Incredibly tasty little Photoshop plugin to add extra "pop" to your snapshots. Had a nice collection of presets and can simulate film grain, sepia, bloom, etc.
Also see Texture_Tools for image editors and more.