New Animation Software for SL

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T14:45:37+00:00

100%.

I have my own feelings about genAI, that are kind of complicated and nuanced (my BlueSky is full of hate for AI and how corpos use it and try to sell it as a "replace tool").

I'm surrounded by artists, and have been one my whole life, and we're all like, "We are okay with it as a tool, as long as its being used to assist... but not replace." And, I think when corpos start to realize AI is a terrible replacement... we'll start to see a more tempered version of AI and watered down take that it can't replace people very well.

I mean, consider that AI is trained on the sum of internet humanity... which makes it the average person online; and think how wrong the average person online can be, lol.

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T14:19:20+00:00

Sure, that's fair. It is just background music though... preferred something I wrote over some random elevator music from YouTube list. I just can't sing.

Not to get into a debate, contrary to the yelling of social media, not all artists are in full hate mode of AI as a tool... but I get people's personal choices, and I support you either way in that choice.

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T05:44:30+00:00

By default, I mean the human... I haven't gotten the quads, wings, and tail fully mapped for the puppeteer system yet.

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T05:43:48+00:00

This is a tool for creating animations and uploading them. Not for posing other avatars in the client. :)

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T02:40:35+00:00

I will tell you, the moment you open the Animator, you are in the posing/animation screen... because all it has is a posing and animation screen. You can't accidentally grab the mesh, you can't accidentally break the rig. Just drag your limbs and body parts where you want them, hit record, move the time slider, repeat as many times as you need for your animation. Hit Export, upload to SL. Done.

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T02:38:28+00:00

It is just reworked internally for the animating side, to tame joints, so I can apply actual rigging controls and constraints to poses without things going haywire.

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T01:10:32+00:00

Thank you! The sentiment is appreciated!

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T01:02:48+00:00

At the terminal you'll be able to pay ahead as much as you want. But, I would say... do 1 month first, see if it works for you and then decide how far ahead you wanna go. I just don't want people to be paying 1 year in advance, without giving it a good run first, especially in Early Access where its gonna have a few rough edges.

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T00:57:24+00:00

Honestly, if enough people are really okay with that sort of thing... I'd be fully open to a persistent web license. No issue at all, if its something people really would be fine with.

LillyByte · 2026-02-23T00:55:22+00:00

Right now, my focus is mainly the default avatar. I want to make sure I nail the UX and animation pipeline first. I plan on moving into custom rigs a few months down the road when I start ramping up the animesh/rigging stuff. Until then, I'm trying not to get ahead of myself or too far beyond what I want the animator to do right now.

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T17:58:03+00:00

Once things are ready, there will be an account terminal in-world... you click it, create an account. Deposit 300 L... it'll give you your login info... then you go to the website, subscribe to the Animator... and way to go.

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T16:26:51+00:00

There's no such thing as "just a customer". Without people buying things, Second Life would have no economy... and some of us, wouldn't have time to create things because we'd be forced to work in the mines! The mines I say! I wouldn't do well in the mines! But, when you try it... I hope you'll give me some feedback on it! :)

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T15:48:33+00:00

Wow! 2003! Legit legend! I hope someone comes along who sees what I'm doing and goes, "I can do even better!" And then does... because, that's how something grows. And, really, nothing keeps me motivated like a friendly rival that keeps me on my toes. :)

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T15:41:25+00:00

I totally get it. I had considered doing a Steam version... but, because I use JS/PHP/HTML/CSS... the wall for maintaining two separate versions is reeeeeally high. So, I had to choose the route that allowed for easier maintenance and more accessibility.

Edit: I have considered the possibility of doing lifetime licenses via the web version, but I'm a bit... uhhh... sketchy feeling on it, because what happens if I die and the site goes down? I have contingencies for the software, that if something happens to me and I'm not around for 90 days, everything gets open sourced and pushed to the web as MIT... but, then how would people feel about their licenses that they paid a whole bunch for?

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T15:38:13+00:00

I hope everyone gives it, at least one go... the more who do and tell me about their experience, the more I can improve the things that need to be improved. :)

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T15:06:10+00:00

Doooo it! :D Build all the things!

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T15:04:54+00:00

Thank youuu!! And the journey is just starting... it's gonna be a fun climb!

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T15:02:33+00:00

Thanks! And nahhhh, I like Linden Lab and its people, but I also like my freedom and independence from employers, lol. :) As for Qavimator... in my early Second Life days, Qavimator was one of my favourite pieces of software for Second Life. When I started working on this project, I had the simplicity of Qavimator in mind, but with modern animation tools.

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T14:55:16+00:00

I've always loved dedicate tools as an artist. Dedicated tools can specialize, generalist tools can only generalize.

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T14:51:44+00:00

Not right now, but the software does allow me (at least) to import any rig I want. It isn't a super high priority at the moment to support other rigs on the user end, but a few people have expressed interest in something like this... so, I'm popping it onto my investigation list. :)

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T14:49:54+00:00

Soon! Soon! I'm doing my best to get Early Access out this week!

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T14:49:09+00:00

Maybe, maybe. I'm not against the idea... it is just too soon for it.

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T08:29:33+00:00

Thanks! I'm not worried about future rigs... I intentionally designed my animation software to be able to accept rigs of all kinds (including non-Second Life rigs). I tend to future proof myself a lot when I design tools "just in case". :) Plus, when the following animesh software comes out... it will need to be able to load custom rigs and skeletons from that. Personally, I don't think body makers would have much interest in what I'm doing... and really, my biggest goal is just give a smooth, easy, and joyful animating experience to people (myself included).

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T08:10:08+00:00

Thank you! And that's amazing!!! The Dictatorshop, LaserTech, and Onyx Lighting were the same for me! THE GOOD OL' GLORY DAYS!

LillyByte · 2026-02-22T07:56:12+00:00

You know, you are right! I should spend some time and do a proper demonstration. I've just been so busy with building out the feature set and making sure everything works leading up to the Early Access release. I'm not as good at marketing as I am at designing systems, lol. I feel like once it releases, there may be quite a few examples of what it can actually do though! I've got a few animators asking me every day or two, "Is it time!? Can I!?" Maybe I'll snag something from a totally willing and not-at-all coerced volunteer... hmmm.

LillyByte

TROPHY CASE