The media on a parcel feature allows landowners to select and
display a wide range of web-based media content, including web pages,
movies, images, text documents and audio. This feature replaces and
expands the existing Quicktime parcel media feature, giving you more
flexibility in your media presentations. Currently, the
displayed media is entirely non-interactive, meaning you will not be
able to click web links, use scroll bars, or press buttons on web pages
displayed on parcels.
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Trivia: The
Second Life viewer uses a modified version of the Mozilla web browser
to connect directly to web content. As a result, the web pages you see
can potentially differ from what other Residents see depending on
locally stored cookies and authentication information on your computer. |
The About Land Window
The Media tab of the About Land window contains many options for
displaying media on your land in Second Life. To access the About Land
window for a parcel of land, right-click the ground and select About Land. You must own the parcel, or have sufficient group abilities on a group-owned parcel in order to modify the land's media settings.
- Media Type: When you enter a Media URL,
Second Life will try to automatically determine its Media Type. This
drop-down list allows you to override the media you would like to play
on your land. You should use this option if the Media Type is set
incorrectly, or set to No Content. The text to the right of this dropdown box displays the media's MIME type.
- Media URL: This is the URL of the media you would like to show on your parcel. For example, http://wiki.secondlife.com is the URL for Second Life's wiki documentation. You can set the Media URL by pressing the Set... button and entering the new URL into the popup window that appears.
- Replace Texture:
Objects using this texture will display your movie or web page after
you click the Play arrow. To change the texture, click the box
containing the texture.
- Media Options
- Auto scale: Checking
this option will scale the content for this parcel automatically. It
may be slightly slower and lower in visual quality, but no other
texture scaling or alignment is required.
- Loop Media: Play media in
a loop. When the media has finished playing, it will
automatically start again from the beginning. This option is only
available for video media types
- Hide Media URL: Checking
this option will hide the Media URL from unauthorized viewers of this
parcel's media information. This option is not available for
HTML media types.
- Hide Music URL: Checking this option will hide the Music URL from unauthorized viewers of this parcel's media information.
- Media Size: Allows you to define the size of the displayed media, in pixels. This option is not available for video media.
The Tools Window
There are two media-related When Left-Clicked options available in the Tools window:
- To access the Object Editor, right-click an object and select Edit.
- Click the More >> button to expend the Object Editor.
- Select an option from When Left-Clicked:
- Play parcel media:
When the object is clicked, it will act as a "Play/Pause" button for
the parcel's media stream. The same effect can be achieved by pressing
the Play button in the lower-right corner of your Viewer.
- Open parcel media: When
the object is clicked, your browser of choice will attempt to open the
parcel media URL. Depending upon your Preferences, this can be the
Viewer's Media Browser window, or an external web browser. This option
will not work on a movie media type.
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Trivia: These media types will always function as Play parcel media if the media is not already playing on your Second Life viewer. |
The Preferences Window
The Web tab of the Preferences window allows you to choose your default media browser for Second Life:
- Use external web browser: If you select
this option, all web hyperlinks in Second Life will open in your
computer's default web browser (Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer).
- Use built-in web browser: If you
select this option, web hyperlinks in Second Life will open inside
Second Life's media browser. Use this option to view web content
without switching away from the Second Life viewer.
- Browser cache: Click the Clear Now button to clear the media browser's cache. This is not the same as clearing Second Life's cache!
The Audio & Video tab includes a checkbox to Automatically play media when available. If you check this box, media will automatically play when you enter a parcel with a media URL and media texture set.
The Media Browser Window
The media browser is a specialized Mozilla web browser you can use inside Second Life. It does many of the same things a normal web browser can do; type in a URL and press Go to navigate to a new web page. The Back and Forward buttons help you to navigate between previously-visited pages, and the Reload button refreshes your currently viewed media. The media browser also has a few buttons that are specific to Second Life:
- Send Current URL to Parcel: When
pressed, this button replaces your current parcel media URL with the
URL loaded in the media browser. You must own the land you are
standing on, or have sufficient group abilities on group-owned land in order to use this button.
- Open in My Web Browser:
Pressing this button opens the current media browser URL in your
computer's default web browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari).
You may wish to use this option if you wish to view web content that is
not displaying properly inside Second Life.
- Always open in my web browser: If you check this box, web URLs will always open in your computer's default browser. You can reverse this setting on the Web tab of the Preferences window.
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Tip: If you set Second Life to use the built-in browser, you can quickly open the media browser at any time by pressing the F1 key, which opens a link to the Support Portal. |
Want more?
For some practical, hands-on education on how to use Parcel Media,
check out these fantastic video tutorials by our own Torley Linden:
Play movies, webpages & more
Torley Linden video turorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowmZtkrV4Y
Make your own Media screen
Torley Linden video tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SJu23Ya4WY
Click actions
Torley Linden video tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AUwIUDW7LM
