These AtmoSpheres use longer sound files and are available in five separate permission variations for Kitely and HyperGrid residents.
Since this is a rather large update, it comes in sections!
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AtmoSpheres Introduced to Kitely Marketplace
We took twenty-two of our most popular Atmosphere sound systems from Second Life and added them to the Kitely Marketplace with some additional aspects detailed below. The new AtmoSpheres offer the same features and playback controls our customers are familiar within Second Life.
The new Kitely AtmoSpheres include soundtracks from our Nature collection (Waves, Wind, Thunder, Birds, Crickets, Wolves, etc), Urban (crowds in coffee shops), and two from our Special Themed Dark Gothic collection. The slideshow at the bottom of the announcement shows a full listing and links to this first set of AtmoSpheres.
The sound previews are available here on each individual product page.
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Longer Sound Files!
We first began testing our code and audio on the Kitely platform earlier this year and became aware that longer sound file uploads were potentially on the horizon. The Alchemy and Meerkat viewers were the first to included this enhancement, and the recent versions of the OpenSim server were also supporting sound file lengths of up to sixty seconds. The latest 4.7.9 release of the Firestorm viewer has added the capability to upload sixty second sound files as well. Testing soundtracks of an average five minutes worked perfectly on Kitely and HyperGrid enabled destinations (OSGrid and Metropolis).
Working with sixty second sound files presents a few challenges but far greater benefits.
- In Second Life a three minute sound loop would require eighteen sound files.
- On Kitely and the HyperGrid, a three minute sound loop can now be done with just three sound files, which provides the ability to create much longer AtmoSphere soundtracks.
An example of one such benefit would be the sounds of a busy train station. The heavy sounds of slowly arriving or departing train are impossible to simulate with a single ten second sound file. A looping soundtrack of a train arriving every one to two minutes would also become too repetitive in a short amount of time to nearby listeners. By utilizing the new sound length capability, we can create more intricate and unique soundscapes.
Using our Randomizer sound systems with sound files up to sixty seconds in length will also gives residents even more possibilities to create ever changing soundscapes.
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Kitely AtmoSpheres Set #01
The AtmoSpheres can be browsed on the Kitely Marketplace or through our website. Soundtrack lengths are detailed on each product page.
- km-atmo-wind – heavy howling
- km-atmo-storm – thunder, no rain
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- km-atmo-wind – cornfield rustling
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- km-atmo-crowd – cafe am nuen see2
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- km-atmo-underworld – windy cavern
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- km-atmo-stream – water and birds mix
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- km-atmo-forest – light bird calls
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- km-atmo-frog – night peepers
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- km-atmo-crowd – coffee shop 1
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- km-atmo-waves – lake, light waves on shore
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- km-atmo-birds – various light calls
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- km-atmo-crowd – coffee shop 2
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- km-atmo-waves – pismo beach, small waves
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- km-atmo-dark – whispering entities
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- km-atmo-waves – rolling in 2
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- km-atmo-harbor – water laps against docks
- km-atmo-crowd – cafe am nuen see, exterior
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- km-atmo-dark – menacing underworld
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- km-atmo-forests – crow calls
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- km-atmo-waves – lake, calm waves
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- km-atmo-insect – cricket, single and steady
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- km-atmo-animal – wolves and howling wind
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Sound previews are available through this website on each product page. Here is a sound preview example of the Stream – Water and Birds Mix AtmoSphere:
If you find an AtmoSphere that you like but is not yet available on Kitely, please contact us with the item name and we will add it to the queue.
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Permission Variations
Due to the nature and restrictions of the Second Life Marketplace and in-world vendors, it was originally only realistic to make “Transfer Only” items in bulk releases. SoundScaper “Copy” or Builder “Copy/Transfer” editions were available to residents on request.
The Kitely Marketplace allows for easy showcasing of multiple variations of the same product and we wanted to make the items available on both Kitely and HyperGrid. Each AtmoSphere is available in five different permission levels.
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- Transfer – Packaged as a box of five individual copies. Transfer Only items items are returnable.
- Copy – Soundscape your entire region.
- Copy / Transfer – Builders can add our sounds to their own Kitely based products.
- Copy / Export – HyperGrid edition for SoundScapers.
- Copy / Transfer / Export – HyperGrid edition for Builders.
For additional information on HyperGrid assistance, click here.
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Sound File Notes
Longer sound files mean larger individual audio asset downloads but the same overall total amount.
| Kitely / Hypergrid | Second Life | |
| Max Sound File Length | 60 seconds | 10 seconds |
| Five Minute Loop Requires | 5 clips | 30 clips |
| Viewer audio asset d/l size (approx) | 5mb/clip | 854kb/clip |
| Total asset d/l size for the loop (approx) | 25mb | 25mb |
With a maximum sound length of sixty seconds on Kitely, there are a few aesthetic differences to listening to an AtmoSphere compared to Second Life.
When a user rezzes their AtmoSphere for the first time, the audio assets begin to download to the viewer client. Ten second sound clips can load and begin to play in order within one to two minutes. The sixty second sound clips take a bit longer to download for that “first listen” and at the same time, the AtmoSphere makes significantly less asset server inquiries.
When a change is made to the playback settings, the updated audio setting will be audible on the next sound clip played.
A convenient option to avoid re-downloading common sounds (in Firestorm anyway) is to set the viewer to NOT delete the audio assets when logging out.
The setting can be found under: Preferences (CTRL+P) > Network and Files > Directories (tab)
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Website Updates
Ahead of this announcement, we implemented several website enhancements to make browsing and searching our catalog easier.
- Moved hosting to a Virtual Private Server for better performance and flexibility.
- Enhanced Search – New search system enables visitors to specify the platforms they wish to search on. Live results are displayed without taking the visitor away from the current screen. The button on the left opens the platform selection. Both Kitely and Second Life are selected by default.
- Sidebar Navigation – Updated system has restored catalog navigation. Now displays current page location in bold.
- Geotagged items now have their mapped recording locations embedded on individual pages.
Give us a shout if you would like to request new sounds to be made available on Kitely and the HyperGrid!
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