Henmations Adds 21 New Dances

Henmations Adds 21 New Dances 111128

Hendrik Schroder announced this in the Henmations Group today:

====================

Dear Customers,

we just released LOTS of new & super realistic male/unisex Dances.

Enjoy Sensual Chippendale like and GOGO Dances with awesome floor motions and never seen actions.

As usual each with maximum playtime and Quality!

MyAnimation Adds 60 New Dances

MyAnimation Adds 60 New Dances 111128

New dances added in the last couple of days at MyAnimation include:

My-COUNTRY Dance-08 thru My-COUNTRY Dance-12
My-JIVE Dance-11 thru My-JIVE Dance-24
My-DISCO Dance-22 thru My-DISCO Dance-30
My-CHA CHA-16 thru My-CHA CHA-30
My-LAMBADA-05 thru My-LAMBADA-09
My-SAMBA-07 thru My-SAMBA-18

Variety Show - Sign Up Now

Variety Show - Sign Up Now

DANCE QUEENS member Zhaza Zerbino sent this call for performers (individual or group) for her monthly variety show. This is a great way to learn how to put on a show in a supportive atmosphere.

==================

Hey ;o)

This is an Info/Invitation to our monthly Variety Show.

We will have about 6 to 8 slots from ½ hour each (but of course your show can be shorter or longer as well)

The time will be between 11.30 am - 4.00 pm
Let me explain to all who may be interested what the Variety Show  is all about and may be interested in joining one of the next times we will be holding the Variety  Show.
What's it all about?

You are a dancer or Variety artist who would like to show your performence on stage?
Well, then you are here at the right place!!

It can be;
*A solo dance act
*A Dance Group performance
*Some act you would like to show others (can be anything)

It has to be on stage and you have to entertain the audience. Are you interested or want some more information, feel free to contact me.

Next dates in 2011/2012 are planned but NOT definite.

17 December  (defenitive)
21 January
18 February

These are some dates you can book. If there are too many groups apply we can split the show and have two shows in that month.

Please send this note to anyone that you think could be interested.

☺Lets Party☺
ZZ ;o))
(Zhaza Zerbino)

New Dances at TIS

New Dances at TIS 111125

Dancing Lemon announced this in the TIS Group today

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EVEN MORE FEMALE DANCES!!!!
Fri, Nov 25 2011 7:16:15 AM PST

Yes we are still busy bees here at TIS...  We've just released a new pack of  6 female dances called Jewels of Rock - all of which are sexy, raunchy and rocky!

Also we have a great new caribean party dance SOCA, available in a dance system or as a single dance.

Finally, as if that wasn't enough, we have a new MEGAdance, Glow, which is perfect for you club music lovers out there!!

Have a great weekend and happy dancing xx

MyAnimation Sale

MyAnimation Sale 111125

Ramona Criss announced this in the MyAnimation Group today

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BLACK FRIDAY - Starting NOW until Tomorrow -  brings you  30 - 50 % OFF \(•̮̮̃•̃)/
    Search animations or packs - 30 - 50 % OFF in :
         ╚» AO Area
         ╚» MODEL POSE Area
         ╚» RUNWAY Animations
         ╚» DJ ZONE ~~~

Henmations Raffle

Henmations Raffle 111124

Hendrik Schroeder announced this in the Henmations Group

====================

Free Weekly Raffle / Powepole...
Thu, Nov 24 2011 3:00:53 PM PST

just 24h to go for this weeks FREE Raffle... win a mocap "Powerpole Elite" in worth of 10.5k now... LM attached

New Dances at Extreme

New Dances at Extreme

Extreme Batista announced this in the Extreme Animations group today

====================

New 60 Mocap Dances!

Thu, Nov 24 2011 9:21:05 AM PST

30 Unisex Hip-hop Dances
30 Female Hip-hop Dances

Released

Finding Dances in Stores

Finding Dances in Stores 111122

If you are looking for a specific dance or animation for example from a DANCE QUEENS Dance Sequence, you can find the store using the DANCE QUEENS Dance Sequence info, the DANCE QUEENS Dance Makers list, the dance details or from the profile of the dance creator.

Each vendor's store is organized differently. Some use bots that you can ask (Sine Wave for example), some list the dance SLURLs on their website (Ministry of Motion for example) and some are organized really easily (MyAnimation for example). Others put a floating text above the dance pad (A&M for example) and you can just walk through the store reading the names of the dances.

Animated poses are often harder to find and maybe located in an AO Pack. A quick way to look inside the dance pack is to use your edit function. Just right click on the demo dance pad and select Edit. This lets you see the list of dances and scripts inside an object. This way you don't have to hop on the demo dance pad and click through the entire contents of an AO Pack to see if the animated pose you want is inside.

If you are a Phoenix user, you can also find a specific dance at a store using the Area Search. Look at the menu at the top of your screen and select 'Phoenix' then 'Area Search' to bring up a window called Area Search for Objects. You can enter the name of the dance in one of the boxes, for example, 'Name search string.' Next, you click on Refresh to get a list of items with that name. Double click on the name and you see a red beam pointing to the item. Voila and there it is. To remove the red beam click on the small red arrow on your screen. This works for stores that name objects with the dance name (like Sine Wave) but not at stores where the dance name is only in an anim (like Henmations).

MyAnimations - DJ Anims

MyAnimations - DJ Anims 111120

Ramona Criss announced this in the MyAnimations Group today

====================

------  NEW RELEASES  ----
Sun, Nov 20 2011 6:36:34 AM PST

Hello,
have arrived ...
EXTREME PRO DJ Control - Include 22 DJ ANIMATIONS
>> DEMO AVAILABLE in shop << in DJ zone.
Other surprises are waiting for you. :)
Check our NEW DJ Zone

Skate Dancing

Skate Dancing 111116


There are several options for Skate Dancing in SL. You can go to a location that features skate dancing like DANCE QUEENS member Emilia Sinatra's Rockin' Roller Rink or just use the free DANCE QUEENS - Skate and Dance (in the DANCE QUEENS Free Stuff Box) and Skate Dance anywhere.

====================

Now DANCE QUEENS member Bryndyn Burton of DanceMaster has announced how to turn a DanceMaster Soli or Dance Master Pro into a group skating machine. Here is his announcement:

1) Purchase the KAMI-HITOE skating AO. Other skating animations will work with the DanceMaster but have not been tested.

2) Rez the delivered ":KH Ice Skate AO with Shoes" object.  You will be copying and modifying some of what was delivered.  However, you will still be able to use the original skating AO the way it was designed.

3) Copy the ":KH: Ice Skate AO" from the rezzed object to your inventory.

4) Rez the ":KH: Ice Skate AO" object from your inventory (it is small).

5) Copy the following animations from the rezzed AO object to your inventory:
          :KH: Ice skate walk1 /P4
          :KH: Ice skate walk2 /P4
          :KH: Ice skate walk3 /P4
          :KH: Ice skate walk4 /P4
          :KH: Ice skate walk5 /P4
          :KH: Ice skate walk6 /P4
          :KH: Ice skate Run /P4
          :KH: Ice skate turn L /P4
          :KH: Ice skate turn R /P4
You can copy other animations from the AO but they may not work well as skating animations with the DanceMaster.  Feel free to experiment, though.
         
6) Rename each of the above animations in your inventory to remove the ":KH: " prefix.  For example, ":KH: Ice skate walk1 /P4" must be renamed "Ice skate walk1 /P4"  by deleting the first 5 characters of the original name.  Be sure to remove the space after the second colon (":") character.  If you use animations from another vendor, be sure that their names meet DanceMaster dance name requirements (for example, the names cannot contain a ":" character).

7) Move each of the renamed animations into the contents of your rezzed DanceMaster object.

8) Add the following dance group to the *DM dances notecard in your DanceMaster:
*group*:skate
skate1:Ice skate walk1 /P4
skate2:Ice skate walk2 /P4
skate3:Ice skate walk3 /P4
skate4:Ice skate walk4 /P4
skate5:Ice skate walk5 /P4
skate6:Ice skate walk6 /P4
skate run:Ice skate Run /P4
turn L:Ice skate turn L /P4
turn R:Ice skate turn R /P4
If you copied other animations from the AO be sure to include them with appropriate tags in your *DM dances notecard as well, either in this group or in another new group.  Remember that a  dance group can have at most 12 dances or animations in it.

9) Add the following formation to the *DM formations notecard in your DanceMaster:
formation:C big
type:circle
start:<0, 10.0, 0>
center:<0, 0, 0>
orient:next
This defines a big circle formation 20 meters across.  For smaller DanceMasters (6 or 12 dancers max)  you may want to make the circle smaller by changing the 10.0 value to something smaller.  If you are familiar with more advanced formations, you can easily make partial circles, a double nested circle, and others as well.

10) Position your DanceMaster over the middle of the area where you want people to skate and set its origin there using the origin cone. (Remember to put the new origin location in the *DM formations notecard.)

11) Reset the DanceMaster.

12) Chat the following commands on whatever command channel you use with your DanceMaster:
dynamic off
shuffle 60
group skate
formation C big
spin 45
The last command will ask you for permission to act on your control inputs.  You can answer no (assuming you don't want to alter the spin speed of the DanceMaster).  You may also want to use the "mute on" command to prevent the DanceMaster from notifying you every time it changes animations.  For smaller circles, you may want to spin the DanceMaster a little faster.  Again, feel free to experiment with spin speeds.
Your DanceMaster is now a group skating machine, and will randomly select a different skating animation every 60 seconds.  Great for parties and events! Using DanceMaster commands, you can also change animations anytime, set up auto-resyncing, or establish "mix" mode so that different skaters can choose different animations.

Enjoy the winter!

MyAnimations Offers New Dances

MyAnimations Offers New Dances 111113

Ramona Criss announced new MyAnimation dances in her group today ...

===================

NEW DANCE STYLE :
ELECTRIC Boogaloo ( see Demo at balcony)

We Added new DANCE ANIMATIONS to next dance styles:
>  New  DISCO Dances
>  New  LAMBADA Dances

ECLUSIVE GROUP GIFT for November available in shop.
Take your friends with you. :)

DanceMaster - Control of Dance Shows

DanceMaster - Control of Dance Shows 111113


Brynyn Burton, the owner of DanceMaster, sent me information about the DanceMaster Dance Control System. I bought one and see a lot of potential for using it to control dance positions and animations during shows. Two systems are widely used now, the DB System and the XPOSE. This offers a third option. In a few weeks we will arrange a demonstration of the system for DANCE QUEENS members by Bryndyn. Here is the brochure information.

====================

DanceMaster!

The DanceMaster is Second Life’s ultimate dance machine! 

DanceMaster machines make it possible for Second Life avatars to dance in synchronized dance formations under a dance host’s control.  Formations are shapes like circles, lines, spirals, and grids that control the placement of dancers on the dance floor, and that can be easily changed.  DanceMasters give the owner and dance host capabilities available in no other SL dance machines. 

Four types of models are available in a range of sizes (the number of dancers supported):

• DanceMaster Soli—The original model which provides synchronized formation dancing for individual dancers using solo animations.

• DanceMaster Duo—The DanceMaster for couples, which provides synchronized formation dancing for couples.  It works well with either solo or couple dance animations.

• DanceMaster Mobi—The portable DanceMaster that allows you to take synchronized formation dancing with you anywhere in SL, including places with limited permissions.

• DanceMaster Pro—The ultimate performance DanceMaster! It allows you to control animations at individual formation positions or patterns of positions, transition smoothly and slowly between formations, and create and run dance programs that coordinate music, animations, formations, narration, and effects.

All DanceMaster models are available inworld at the DanceMaster main store.

Selected models are also available online through the SL Marketplace.

Have questions, special requirements, or need more information? Contact Bryndyn Burton inworld by sending him a notecard anytime, or by email at bryndyn.burton@gmail.com.  You may also request an invitation to join the DanceMaster Interest Group, a support group for DanceMaster owners, dance hosts, and other Second Life members who want to track the latest news about DanceMasters and share usage tips.

====================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanceMaster Pro Features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The DanceMaster Pro is the ultimate DanceMaster, an exciting dance machine that makes true dance choreography and performance control possible for the first time in Second Life!

The original DanceMaster introduced flexible formation-based group dancing, and is a great entertainment tool for dance clubs and DJs.  The Pro model takes DanceMaster technology to an entirely new level; it has all the original DanceMaster features plus everything you need to have total control over group performances and choreography:

• Create and assign different animation patterns to different formation positions!  For example, you can have every third dancer in a formation use one animation while the rest use another animation. These patterns can be preset or established dynamically.

• Create smooth timed transitions between one formation and the next! Dancers can move smoothly from their positions in one formation along straight or curved lines to positions in a new formation, while using any animation you choose. And dancers at different formation positions can use different transitions.

• Create complete automated animation performances with timed and choreographed changes to animations, formations, music, and particle effects!  A unique performance control language written in a notecard allows you to easily create any kind of performance ranging from short and simple to long and complex. 

• Performances can be as long as you want, by defining them in a series of notecards. Or create long and interesting performances with only a few commands.  Performances can contain repeating sections, timed waits, and waits for particular formation positions or patterns of positions to be occupied or unoccupied by dancers.

• Start, stop, pause, resume, and step through automated performances with full manual control at any time.  Combine automated performance with using DanceMaster commands “on the fly” to create improvised choreography during live performance.

• Add narration to your performances, by having the DanceMaster Pro shout or chat text synchronized with other performance elements.  The Pro will change its name to be your announcer of choice when narrating.

• Change the local music stream in synchronization with other performance elements, even on parcels where you are not the owner. The DanceMaster Pro comes with a stream changer you can give to the parcel owner to allow stream changes to be made by your DanceMaster Pro during performances. You can change the stream manually or under automated performance control at any time.

• Numbered dance pads make it easy to assign individual dancers to particular formation positions.

Imagine using features like these, plus the full range of regular DanceMaster functions, to create professional and realistic performances! If you can imagine it, you can now do it with the DanceMaster Pro!

Of course, the DanceMaster Pro can also contain and control animations that are not dances.  For example, you can include in your DanceMaster Pro a small group of "idle" animations (such as standing) that you can activate when music is not actively playing from your current audio stream, or walking animations can be used when transitioning between formations. Besides dance performances, the possibilities include ritual ceremonies, cheerleading, martial arts, "performance art" animations -- any activity where you want some flexible control over the animation of a group.  Use your imagination!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prim Requirements, Capacity, and Pricing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A DanceMaster Pro requires one prim for each dancer to make formation dancing possible, plus one additional prim. For example, the 12-dancer model requires 13 prims at a minimum.  If you want to be able to switch formations dynamically while dancers are dancing, it requires an additional prim per dancer.  You can configure a DanceMaster Pro to use less than its maximum capacity if you are severely prim-limited or need to move it to a location which is prim-limited.

DanceMaster Pros are available in a range of standard capacities to meet your needs, from a 6-dancer model up to a 36-dancer model:

Maximum Capacity                  Price
--------------------------------------
          6 dancers                     $2500L
        12 dancers                    $5000L
        24 dancers                    $8000L
        36 dancers                    $11000L

Note that a given DanceMaster can be configured to support any number of dancers in a formation up to its maximum capacity.

Each DanceMaster is fully customizable and comes with extensive documentation that explains all of its features and commands in detail.  Quick setup and reference guides are also included.  If you would like personal assistance in setting up your DanceMaster, it may be possible to arrange this for a custom setup fee of $2500L per 1/2 hour.
~~~~~~~~~
Guarantee
~~~~~~~~~
Your DanceMaster purchase comes with a 30-day full-refund guarantee if you are dissatisfied for any reason.  Bug fixes and product updates are provided for free.
~~~~~~~~~
Availability
~~~~~~~~~
Contact the creator, Bryndyn Burton, and arrange for an appointment to discuss your requirements.  This will help ensure that your investment in a DanceMaster will fully meet your needs. The DanceMaster is also featured by the Angels of Dance; contact Alamiga Anatine for an appointment to see it in action.

DanceMasters may be purchased at the DanceMaster main store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For More Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have questions, special requirements, or need more information? Contact Bryndyn Burton by IM anytime.  You may also request an invitation to join the DanceMaster Interest Group, a support group for DanceMaster owners, dance hosts, and other Second Life members who want to track the latest news about DanceMasters and share usage tips.

Dance Battle Game

Dance Battle Game 111113


Henmations made this announcement today in their group ...

====================

we just released... DANCE DUEL... a 100% free Dance Battle Game with Event Boards, HUDs and some free Animations... challenge your Friends now for fun or money games or add this Game as attraction to your Clubs... it seriusly rocks! HENMATIONS becomes 5 years old... this is our first PRESENT to YOU

Dance Maker Analysis

Dance Maker Analysis 111112


There are 22 MOCAP dance makers in SL all of whom are listed on the Dance Makers page. DANCE QUEENS is a group that represents the buyers or users of the products (dances) made by the Dance Makers. We are here to have fun using the dance products while the dance makers with perhaps a few exceptions are here to make a profit. Being a RL business woman I am not opposed to profit-making activities, and I think it's perhaps helpful to show some of the differences among the dance makers. So here is my data and my sure to be controversial views:

====================

DANCE MAKER GROUPS

I am a member of almost all (missing only Lost Dog) of the groups that are run by Dance Makers. I have done this so I get announcements of what is going on in each group. As a group member I get to see the group size and announcements. So, first here is the group size of the MOCAP Dance Maker groups:

GROUP SIZE
25938 - Henmations
12459 - VISTA
8506 - MyAnimation
8194 - AKEYO
8022 - SEmotion
2453 - A&M
2223 - Akaesha
2067 - Raymation
2045 - Sine Wave
1876 - 3FX
1818 - NHC
1261 - Animazoo
1107 - Abranimations
1099 - Studio4D
577 - Ministry of Motion (I use my nose to type)
475 - Extreme
355 -  Bits and Bobs
278 - HUMANOID
270 - There in Spirit
101 - AV Puli
42 - ANIMOCCA

The size of the group is in part dependent on the time in business of the Dance Maker and the aggressiveness in adding members. For example, Henmations invites all people landing at its location to join its group while A&M does not. Size is one measure, but member loyalty is more difficult to measure.

The September 2011 DANCE QUEENS Dance Survey gives some indication of member loyalty in answer to "What is your favorite MOCAP dance maker and briefly say why." There were 26 answers and giving 1 point for each answer the distribution was:

FAVORITE MOCAP DANCE MAKER
A&M - 10
MyAnimations - 7
Studio4D - 2
Henmations - 1
Ministry of Motion - 1
None, all or non-MOCAP - 5

Group size and loyalty do not mean much if you do not communicate with the group members. I went to each of the MOCAP Dance Maker Groups in which I am a member (21 of the 22) and counted the number of notices sent in the last 14 days:

GROUP COMMUNICATION
16 - MyAnimation
14 - Henmations
4 - A&M
4 - VISTA
3 - Akaesha
1 - AKEYO
1 - There in Spirit
0 - SEmotion
0 - Raymation
0 - Sine Wave
0 - 3FX
0 - NHC
0 - Animazoo
0 - Abranimations
0 - Studio4D
0 - Ministry of Motion (I use my nose to type)
0 - Extreme
0 - Bits and Bobs
0 - HUMANOID
0 - AV Puli
0 - ANIMOCCA

====================

DANCE MAKER ADVERTISING

Another way that Dance Makers attract customers is through advertising. If you look at SL Marketplace in the Animations Section, you will see the paid advertising at the top in the highlighted Feature Items. The ads are almost all for dance packs. I counted the number of advertisements by MOCAP Dance Makers before a repeat and found:

SL MARKETPLACE PAID ADVERTISING
10 - Henmations
2 - Extreme
2 - MyAnimations
1 - VISTA

Of course, just being on SL Marketplace is important since you cannot sell dances if you are not present. Here is who is and is not on SL Marketplace in the Animations Section with the number of items (dance and other items) offered:

ANIMATION ITEMS ON SL MARKETPLACE
313 - Henmations
162 - MyAnimation
142 - Bits and Bobs
122 - SEmotion
93 - VISTA
92 - A&M
87 - Extreme
77 - Abranimations
70 - 3FX
58 - There in Spirit
19- Animazoo
13- Ministry of Motion (I use my nose to type)
5 - AKEYO
0 - Akaesha
0 - Raymation
0 - Sine Wave
0 - Lost Dog
0 - NHC (many in other categories)
0 - Studio4D
0 - HUMANOID
0 - AV Puli
0 - ANIMOCCA

Next, I looked at the in-world search using the search term "dance" and looked at both the top listings and the paid advertisements:

TOP LISTINGS IN IN-WORLD SEARCH - "dance"
#4 MyAnimation
#8 HUMANOID
#9 MyAnimation
#10 Ministry of Motion
#17 AKEYO

TOP ADVERTISERS IN IN-WORLD SEARCH - "dance"
#1 Henmations
#3 Vista
#4 Abranimations
#6 Vista
#7 TIS
#10 Lost Dog
#11 A&M
#14 Bits & Bobs
#16 There in Spirit
#19 3FX

Another search term I used was "dance animations" and found:

TOP LISTINGS IN IN-WORLD SEARCH - "dance animations"
#1 Ministry of Motion
#4 HUMANOID
#5 MyAnimation
#7 Henmations
#10 MyAnimations
#12 Studio4D
#16 AKEYO
#18 AKEYO

TOP ADVERTISERS IN IN-WORLD SEARCH - "dance animations"
#1 Henmations
#4 Vista
#5 Abranimations
#10 Vista
#13 There in Spirit

====================

DANCE MAKER CUSTOMERS

Taking care of Groups and advertising for customers is of value only if the Dance Maker attracts customers. I surveyed the Dance Maker locations for daily traffic. Traffic is counted as one for an avatar on a sim for one minute and includes all traffic on the sim.

TRAFFIC
Vista - 22480
MyAnimation - 18233
Henmations - 12748
Bits and Bobs - 7089
A&M - 6620
AKEYO - 6159
There in Spirit - 3919
3FX - 3700
Abranimations - 3588
Animazoo - 3258
Sine Wave - 3095
Studio4D - 2628
Ministry of Motion - 2450
Extreme - 2409
SEmotion - 2071
HUMANOID - 2028
Akaesha - 1035
NHC - 779
Lost Dog - 357
Raymation - 46
AV Puli - 0
Animocca - unk

====================

MOCAP DANCES FOR SALE

It seems like an easy task to go to a Dance Maker and count the MOCAP dances, but it has some challenges. Some of the locations are huge and it is easy to miss some dances especially if they are in multi-vendors. Some vendors have animated poses and dances in the same area so defining what is a dance is not always easy. Distinguishing MOCAP from non-MOCAP requires actually dancing the dance so is also time consuming. The list below is my best estimate for each Dance Maker counting individual dances as well as pole, lap and couples dances:

NUMBER OF MOCAP DANCES FOR SALE = 3747
MyAnimation - 529
Henmations - 526
Sine Wave - 404
A&M - 347
Ministry of Motion - 339
Studio4D - 313
Animazoo - 240
Abranimations - 195
3FX - 159
HUMANOID - 136
Extreme - 128
AKEYO - 103
There in Spirit - 80
NHC - 50
Akaesha - 46
SEmotion - 41
Vista - 37
AV Puli - 21
Animocca - 20
Bits and Bobs - 20
Lost Dog - 13
Raymation - 0 (renovation underway)

Attracting return customers is important for Dance Makers. One reason customers return is to see new dances. Every month or two I look at the new dances that have been added to the MOCAP Dance Makers. Dance Makers who are active give customers a reason to return. Of the last three surveys here is who was active.

ACTIVE DANCE PRODUCERS (Number of times new dances were introduced in the last three surveys)

3 - Active in all three surveys
A&M
Henmations

2 - Active in two surveys
Ministry of Motion

1 - Active in one survey
Extreme
HUMANOID
MyAnimation
SEmotion
Studio4D
There in Spirit

0 - Not active
3FX
Abranimations
Akaesha
AKEYO
Animazoo
Animocca
AV Puli
Bits and Bobs
Lost Dog
Raymation
Sine Wave
Vista

Estimating the sales per day of dances is not easy. From the September 2011 survey the median number of dances bought per month by DANCE QUEENS members is 15. I suspect that DANCE QUEENS members purchase more dances that most people. When I am in the Dance Maker stores I usually do not see a DANCE QUEENS member, so it is hard to estimate the sales of dances from the DANCE QUEENS survey.

I suspect sales are related to time spent in the store. If for example the average person buys one dance for every 20 minutes of dance shopping, this could be used to calculate the sales by Dance Maker based on the traffic. Here is a chart of Dance Maker sales based on the traffic and three different times for each sale (20 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes)

ESTIMATED DAILY DANCE SALES

	Traffic	1 sale/20 min	1 sale/30 min	1 sale/60 min
Vista	22489	1124	750	375
MyAnimation	18233	912	608	304
Henmations	12748	637	425	212
Bits and Bobs	7089	354	236	118
A&M	6620	331	221	110
AKEYO	6159	308	205	103
There in Spirit	3919	196	131	65
3FX	3700	185	123	62
Abranimations	3588	179	120	60
Animazoo	3258	163	109	54
Sine Wave	3095	155	103	52
Studio4D	2628	131	88	44
Ministry of Motion	2450	123	82	41
Extreme	2409	120	80	40
Semotion	2071	104	69	35
HUMANOID	2028	101	68	34
Akaesha	1035	52	35	17
NHC	779	39	26	13
Lost Dog	257	13	9	4
Raymation	46	2	2	1
AV Puli	0	0	0	0

====================

MOCAP DANCE-MAKING PROFIT 

To make MOCAP dances you need the equipment to collect the movements of a real-life dancer, plus software to polish the movements into a looped dance. The cost of making a MOCAP dance is part the fixed cost of paying for the motion capture equipment and software and part the variable cost of paying for the dancer and technician to operate the system and make a looped dance.

If you look at the video provided by MyAnimation on YouTube and HUMANOID at their sales location, it looks like Dance Makers use an optical motion capture system. Markerless systems cost $595 to 995. Animazoo sells motion capture systems including suits for about $8000. Software for making MOCAP dances are programs like Poser for $250. So, my estimate for the inital outlay to make MOCAP dances is about $10,000.

From my discussions with a number of MOCAP Dance Makers, the dances are initially made by recording the dance moves of a dancer in a session of 3 to 4 hours. If you look at some of the series of dances that have been made, for example at HUMANOID or the Henmations GOGO series or the AKEYO Lenn series, it seems that one dancer is good for 15 to 30 dances. If the dancer is paid $100 per hour and 20 dances can be recorded in 4 hours, the dancer cost is $20 per dance.

I do not know the time required to polish a dance in Poser or other software, but I have used the free programs Qavimator and BVHacker and find that it is pretty easy to manipulate the files. I estimate that 2 hours per dance is need to polish. If the technician is paid $30 per hour that is an additional $60 per dance. The total variable cost to make a dance is the cost of the dancer plus the cost of the technician or $80.

Of course, all locations in SL have to pay land costs. A sim costs $295 per month and the larger dance makers all have their own sims. Smaller Dance Makers have partial sims.

So here are three scenarios for the profit that a MOCAP dance maker has:

=====

SCENARIO 1 - A small business (e.g. AV Puli or Animocca)

Assumptions:
Initial outlay: $10,000
Monthly rent: $100
Number of dances: 20 or $1600

If the business plans to cover its investment costs (the initial outlay and cost of the dances) of $11,600 over three years it needs $322 per month just to cover the investment. Including the rent of $100 per month, the small business needs $422 per month to break even. That means it must sell 422 dances per month or about 14 dances a day. An alternate way to look at the breakeven over 3 years is that the average dance must be sold 760 times.

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SCENARIO 2 - A medium business (e.g. 3FX)

Assumptions:
Initial outlay: $10,000
Monthly rent: $175
Number of dances: 159 or $12,720

If the business plans to cover its investment costs (the initial outlay and cost of the dances) of $22,720 over three years it needs $631 per month just to cover the investment. Including the rent of $175 per month, the small business needs $806 per month to break even. That means it must sell 806 dances a month or 27 dances a day. An alternate way to look at the breakeven over 3 years is that the average dance must be sold 182 times.

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SCENARIO 3 - A large business (e.g. Henmations)

Assumptions:
Initial outlay: $10,000
Monthly rent: $295
Number of dances: 526 or $42,080

If the business plans to cover its investment costs (the initial outlay and cost of the dances) of $52,080 over three years it needs $1447 per month just to cover the investment. Including the rent of $295 per month, the small business needs $1742 per month to break even. That means it must sell 1742 dances a month or 58 dances a day. An alternate way to look at the breakeven over 3 years is that the average dance must be sold 119 times.

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If you look at the estimated dance sales even at 1 sale for every 60 minutes of traffic, you can see that the making of dances is profitable for the larger Dance Makers, but not profitable for the smaller ones.

====================

CONCLUSIONS

I see the Dance Makers falling into three categories.

LARGE AND PROFITABLE



<><> <><>

Vista

MyAnimation

Henmations

Bits and Bobs

A&M

AKEYO

MEDIUM AND STRUGGLING

There in Spirit

3FX

Abranimations

Animazoo

Sine Wave

Studio4D

Ministry of Motion

Extreme

Semotion

HUMANOID

SMALL AND UNPROFITABLE
Akaesha
NHC
Lost Dog
Raymation
AV Puli

I suspect that over the next year the small and unprofitable Dance Makers will go out of business. The Medium and Struggling will need to innovate in terms of sales strategy and dance offerings to be competitive. Most of the innovation is coming from the Large and Profitable group. This is where most of the new dances come from and, with some exceptions (e.g. TIS), where new technologies come from.

With almost 4000 MOCAP dances in SL, it is hard for me to imagine a continued rapid expansion in the number of dances. When the median number of dances owned by DANCE QUEENS members is 300, there are already many choices for purchasing dances. With so many Dance Makers, I predict that the pricing of dances will begin to get pressure to fall. NHC is a good example of this (50 dances for 500L). I also think that Dance Makers will focus on more niche dances instead of general dances. I think they will also seek more ideas of what customers want and that means growing influence of people who know dancing (like DANCE QUEENS members). Perhaps some new way of dancing, for example modifying dances, or dance system will be invented.

The first innovator of MOCAP dancing in SL was Sine Wave. Now Sine Wave seems to be headed out. Bits and Bobs is an old Dance Maker, but rarely introduces new dances and does not innovate. The real leadership in dancing is coming from Vista, MyAnimations, Henmations, A&M and AKEYO.

====================

Follow-up 111113

Today, Hendrik Schroeder and I had an IM in follow-up to the above note. Here is a slightly edited version of our conversation:


[12:00:28] Hendrik Schroeder: hey
[12:01:10] Hendrik Schroeder: lol
[12:01:14] Hendrik Schroeder: im sorry to say that
[12:01:15] Hendrik Schroeder: but
[12:01:34] Nottoo Wise: hey hendrik xxx
[12:01:39] Hendrik Schroeder: your analyzes is group based probably ok
[12:01:48] Hendrik Schroeder: but right now...
[12:02:03] Hendrik Schroeder: theres a big gap between us and other animators...
[12:02:11] Nottoo Wise: yes u told me
[12:02:13] Hendrik Schroeder: in visitors... in group members... in customers
[12:02:17] Nottoo Wise: but that was confidential info
[12:02:23] Nottoo Wise: so i wont use it in my blog
[12:02:52] Hendrik Schroeder: even,,,
[12:02:56] Hendrik Schroeder: marketplace ads...
[12:03:00] Hendrik Schroeder: i had nothing there
[12:03:08] Hendrik Schroeder: just did some... started a few days ago :)
[12:03:14] Hendrik Schroeder: but never did before :)
[12:03:50] Hendrik Schroeder: and search rankings changing daily
[12:04:03] Nottoo Wise: i know
[12:04:24] Hendrik Schroeder: if you want...
[12:04:39] Hendrik Schroeder: i can drop you real statitics... about what dances has been sold on sl most
[12:04:48] Hendrik Schroeder: from all creators
[12:05:00] Hendrik Schroeder: my hud drops all this data
[12:05:14] Hendrik Schroeder: and u i have about 7.000 users now
[12:05:19] Nottoo Wise: will u allow me to use it?
[12:05:37] Hendrik Schroeder: yes why not
[12:05:47] Hendrik Schroeder: i even tell that to other creators.. when they ask me
[12:06:06] Hendrik Schroeder: and...
[12:06:10] Hendrik Schroeder: traffic rankings...
[12:06:25] Nottoo Wise: then i would love to see it
[12:06:34] Hendrik Schroeder: these are manipulated... by buying visitors or doing games
[12:06:43] Hendrik Schroeder: i dont do that at all
[12:07:04] Hendrik Schroeder: we have 5 years henmations this week :)
[12:07:34] Hendrik Schroeder: many freebies will drop all over the week now
[12:07:39] Hendrik Schroeder: first one was today...
[12:08:02] Hendrik Schroeder: and
[12:08:10] Nottoo Wise: i saw it
[12:08:10] Hendrik Schroeder: poser... is not a mocap editing software
[12:08:18] Nottoo Wise: ok
[12:08:23] Nottoo Wise: what do u use
[12:08:24] Hendrik Schroeder: poser does not support any editing of optical data
[12:08:44] Hendrik Schroeder: its motionbuilder
[12:08:49] Hendrik Schroeder: price is 4k usd
[12:09:28] Hendrik Schroeder: and you should make a difference...
[12:09:30] Hendrik Schroeder: because
[12:09:46] Hendrik Schroeder: [DELETED] ... is using a 5k usd mocap system :)
[12:09:54] Hendrik Schroeder: thats why the anims are like they are :)
[12:10:27] Nottoo Wise: ok
[12:10:41] Hendrik Schroeder: you can see on his video
[12:10:47] Hendrik Schroeder: the optitrack cams
[12:11:11] Hendrik Schroeder: the whole set is cheaper than our motionbuilder licence
[12:11:50] Nottoo Wise: ok
[12:12:17] Hendrik Schroeder: the most sold dance over the past years is a industrial dance from sinewave
[12:12:39] Nottoo Wise: send me the data
[12:12:39] Hendrik Schroeder: most sold this month is the LMFAO pack from us
[12:12:47] Nottoo Wise: :-)
[12:12:57] Hendrik Schroeder: i can prepare it for you :)[12:13:06] Nottoo Wise: yes i would like that
=====

Any data that Hendrik provides I will share on the blog.

xxx
Nottoo

There in Spirit New Dances

There in Spirit New Dances 111112


There in Spirit announced new dances today in their group notices ...

====================

Yes guys, announcing the release of our brand new animations in store today!  22 new club and reggae style dances.  Packs of dances available with savings to be made!!  A new MEGADance is also available in the style of Christina Aguilera's CandyMan song!  Come check them out!!!!!!!!!!

Dancing
x

Using Two HUDs at One Time

Using Two HUDs at One Time 111101


One of the surprises from the DANCE QUEENS Survey (1109) was that about one-third of the members wear two or more HUDs at one time. There are several reasons for wearing more than one HUD:

1. To give you faster access to your dances - If you use the Huddles HUD or the Fleursoft HUD and have a lot of dances or dance sequences, you find that you have to click a lot to get to all of your dances. It is very frustrating to hear a great song start and you know the right dance or sequence for it, then have to click for half the song before you get to the dance. Using two HUDs lets you position them so you have, for example, slow and medium speed dances on one HUD and fast and specialty dances on the other. There are other solutions to access dances.
    
2. To use modifying dances for yourself - Modifying dances are special animations that affect only part of your avatar. You can run a regular dance then start a modifying dance with a second HUD and make only some parts of your avatar move. For example, maybe you want a dance with your head spinning 360 degrees around your neck. You have the perfect dance, but no head spin. You start the perfect dance, then start the modifying dance with the second HUD ... the result is the perfect dance with a 360 head spin.
     
3. To access more dances when your HUD notecards are full - Most people do not have so many dances and sequences that their notecards get full. From the survey there are a few who either have or are close to having full notecards. I am one of them. I am close to filling a second notecard. For example, I estimate that 320 sequences will fill a notecard to capacity. I cannot use two notecards on the same HUD easily for club dancing since it takes about three minutes to change notecards in my Huddles HUD. To help the power users a second HUD allows access to two full notecards which is about 640 sequences.
    
4. To access special capabilities for yourself - I like to play the guitar and dance. To do this I use two HUDs. One is for dancing and the other has all my guitar animations. I wear my guitar and play all those great guitar riffs using one HUD, then I dance to the singing parts. It's lots of fun and easy to do with two HUDs. This is an example of a special capability.
    
5. To have a back-up dance always running - If lag is problem for you and you cannot overcome it with other solutions, you can use a second HUD to run a low-priority back-up dance. Instead of you stopping and standing there while your desired dance slowly loads, you default to the back-up dance running all the time on the second HUD.
    
6. To control two or more groups of dancers - This is a common use of two HUDs for use in show dancing or in group dancing. You control two sets of dancers and can even synchronize them.

Here are some tips for using two HUDs:

Smart Screen Real Estate

My real estate friends say the secret to real estate is "location, location, location." The same is true for SL as far as screen real estate is concerned. One HUD takes up screen space and two even more. The Fleursoft HUD has a nice feature of adjusting the width and both the Fleursoft and Huddles have a minimize button. Where you place the HUDs is a personal choice. I put my main HUD in the upper left and my second in the upper right. If you use Viewer 2 or 3 you have to deal with those awful pop-up screens from the right, so you may want to make them floating. If you always use SL full screen, an alternative is to put the second HUD in the center top then edit it and slide it left next to the first HUD so they are side-by-side.

Starting and Stopping Dances

If you use two HUDs and use only individual dances not sequences for yourself, you can usually switch back and forth between the HUDs with no problem. Most dances are priority 4 and every time you start a new dance with either HUD it takes control of your avatar. If you use sequences in both HUDs as I do, you have to think about stopping the dance you are switching from. The reason for this is that both HUDs are running different sequences. A sequence has a set time to run a dance, then switches you to the next dance. So in HUD 1 the dance sequence may switch to the next dance in HUD 1 even if you are currently dancing using HUD 2. To solve this problem, after you switch from HUD 1 to HUD 2, you need to click the HUD 1 stop button once. If you click twice your avatar stops dancing. Clicking once only stops the HUD 1 from running.

Using the '"Me" Button

If you are leading two groups at one time, you probably want to dance with only one at a time. The "Me" button on the Huddles should be clicked to red on the HUD you do not want to dance on. This makes the dances work for the people on that HUD, but not for you.

Synchronizing Two Groups

If you are leading two groups of dancers each on one of your HUDs and you want to synchronize their starting times, map the dances or sequences to the F keys. When you depress the mapped F key, both HUDs start its group on the dance or sequence for that HUD at the same time. Diddy Hyun innovated this.

Buy Copy Dances

If you want your dances in two or more HUDs they must be copy. Here is some advice.

Using /99n Commands

The Huddles /99n Name Command gives you some possibilities for leading two groups at once, if you use two Huddles HUDs. Since both HUDs are on communication channel 99 entering /99n Name in chat affects both HUDs. If you have a named sequence or dance in both HUDs, for example [NAME]SVELTE, entering /99n SVELTE will play that sequence on both HUDs. If the named sequence does not exist on a HUD, it will continue the current dance. This way you can create a dance show using the two or more HUDs and an external notecard. You put all the NAMED dances or sequences that you want in each HUD, then make a list on an external notecard in the order you want to play them. Just copy the NAME you want from the notecard and paste it is chat. At the exact moment you want to play it, hit enter and any HUDs with that NAMED dance or sequence starts the dance or sequence.

You can use HUDs from two different makers, for example the Huddles and Fleursoft, and play with this concept since they communicate on different channels.

Adding Facial Expressions

See here for how to add facial expressions while dancing.

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If you have additional ideas for using two or more HUDs, send them to me.

xxx
Nottoo