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Multi/subobject materials on a mesh model


TomH78
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Hey guys,

 

I was wondering if anyone could help with adding several materials to one mesh model in second life. I don't see any option to do so, and all I can find on t he subject on the wiki is - 

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Mesh/Uploading_a_multi-face_mesh

which is 4 years out of date and misses out just about every relevent step needed for uploading and so on. Also, select face doesn't seem to work on uploaded meshmodels. 

 

Can anyone give me a quick run down if this is possible?

 

Note - I mean sub object materials/multi materials, not uv maps/specular/bump etc. 

 

Thanks in advance

 

Evelyn

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It's not completely clear what your question is. If you upload a mesh object that has up to eight materials, then those will be different "faces" of the object in SL and can be textured separately using the same methods as used for texturing separate faces of a cube etc. There are no special steps needed. If the material assignments are there in the dae file, they will be uploaded without any further effort. So you seem to be asking how to construct a mesh with multiple materials and export it to a dae file with the material assignments included. That depends on what 3D modelling software you are using. So I think you will have to tell us that before we can offer the help you are looking for.

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hi :)

The first line from that link says : 

"Just as we can texture individual faces of a primitive differently, we can texture individual faces of meshes differently if the mesh has been properly set up for materials before import. "

Which means if the different material faces haven't been assigned to the mesh in the 3D software before uploading, the mesh will only have one when you come to edit it inworld. ( A mesh object can have up to 8 different material faces. )

 

 

 

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Before importing the mesh model into Second Life you need to define the faces in the 3D program, else the faces are not selectable in SL. Here is a simple example (using Blender):

You select a group of faces and and define it as a material. Select next group of faces, define it as a material. And so on. Here I have selected faces and defined separate materials for those faces. Naturally you will need also an UV map if you want to design your own texture/textures for those materials.

Blender materials.jpg

This how my UV map looks. For clarity I have put the same material names on the UV map here as are in Blender materials definition window.

Bangle_UV map.jpg

And here is the final result in Second Life. All those five separate materials defined in Blender are selectable faces in Second Life (by using "Select Face").

Mesh in Second Life with multiple faces.jpg

Inside Second Life for the "Outer side middle" surface I have used Second Life materials:
Diffuse map, Normal map, Specular map.

For the other faces I have used:
Diffuse map (blank texture, just colour used), Specular map (blank texture, just colour used).

 

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Since you use the term Multi-Sub, I assume you are using 3ds Max.

Models from 3ds Max with a Multi-Sub material (up to 8 subs) will translate into objects in SL with multiple selectable faces (again up to 8). No extra steps needed.

Could you post some more details on what you are doing? Preferrably with some pictures. (What does your object look like, how did you assign the materials, etc)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have that problem indeed. If I export to dae straight from max, SL doesn't recognise it. So, I exported to fbx, then opened in blender, and exported as dae, no problem in general, but it seems my materials are lost :( 

 

Is there way to fix the max to dae or should I learn to apply the materials in blender? Would prefer the max option obviously.

ETA - or should I get a standalone converter? 

 

Cheers guys.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Use Autodesk's standalone FBX converter to go from FBX to DAE. That's worked for me. There's no need to use Blender as an intermediary. Check the version of the FBX plugin you're using. Multi-subs are currently working for me going directly to DAE with the 2013.2 plugin. Presumably the current 2013.3 works also but I haven't upgraded to it yet.

The standalone converter is here - http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=22694909

The FBX plugin is here - http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=123112&id=10775920

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Hokay, so I installed the plug in and the converter, and converted my object to .DAE. Now when I try to upload it to SL, it says - missing required level of detail and - error - element is invalid. What caused that and how do I fix it?

 

Thanks

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