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Second Life Rigged Clothing Tutorial Series (Blender)


Ashasekayi Ra
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I finally finished this SL mesh clothing video series for Blender 2.49. When I started planning it, you couldn't export a rigged mesh from Blender 2.5x that would work in SL. However, now you can. :) So, I'll update the series soon for Blender 2.5x users.


Second Life Rigged Clothing Series

I. Obtain the Avatar Shape
        Topics Covered:
        1. Import Avatar.blend
        2. Download Custom SL Shape
        3. Skin the Custom SL Shape
    B. Method 2: Wiz Daxter Plugin
        Topics Covered:
        1. Download Your Avatar's XML File
        2. Import Your Avatar's XML File
     Topics Covered:
    A. Making the Avatar Alpha Texture
    B. Finalizing the Texture in GIMP (Note: On-screen instructions are given for Photoshop users)

Topics Covered:
1. Vertex Groups
2. Weight Paint Mode
3. Adjustment Tools

Topics Covered:
1. Armature Bones
2. Weight Painting and Armatures
3. Binding
4. Tips for Better Skinning

Series Playlist:
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Exporting a rigged mesh from Blender 2.58 does not work in SL at the moment.

See: CTS-718

There is a problem with Collada 1.4.1

To quote Prep Linden:

The core issue with this particular defect is that we do not fully 
support collada 1.4.1 at this moment.
I have implemented partial support for 1.4.1 but there are still
a couple of loose ends that need addressing - so till then your
rig will come in collapsed (july 28 screenshot).I still intend to revamp the rig import code - along with your
suggestions there are a number of other areas that need to
be refactored.Till the code updates are in - I suggest you export your rig with a
version of blender that has the collada 1.4.0 exporter (I used 2.49).



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@all: I'm glad you guys have found it helpful :) Thanks for watching.

@Ron: You can export a rigged mesh from Blender 2.58.1. I have been exporting and uploading rigged mesh from it for awhile. That version has a patched collada exporter that also lets you "export only selected", which is a godsend. You do have to download this version from graphicall.org though.

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Ashasekayi!  Your videos are like M&M's...I couldn't stop watching them.  They are excellent and I learned a mooseload of new stuffs.  I can't thank you enough!!! 

I have one comment/question.  I have found by random flailing around with Blender :matte-motes-nerdy: that if you just delete all the shapes except for the "basis" shape for each body part, it  deactivates the corresponding vertex groups and it is then not necessary to remove them.  If you go to the shapes subpalette and click on the left facing arrow, then click the x "delete" button repeatedly, you can quickly just remove all the shapes.  And of course if you get carried away, as I always do, and delete the last one (the basis), I just hit ctl z to bring it back.

I'm not an advanced Blender user by any means, so I might be off base with this.  Please let me know if I am.

DeleteShapes.jpg

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Hi Nacy :)

The method that you described would work if you are using the avatar.blend file since that file includes shape keys. However, if you use the Wiz Daxter plugin, the avatar doesn't import with shape keys at this time. So, I explained how to get rid of the morphs in a way that works independent of whether you use the plugin or the avatar.blend file.

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Thank you Vivienne! :D in blender you can move the joint points of your armature and then apply the visual transformations, so you can have a tiny o giant avie without problems! (or a small avie with giant arms if you want, lol)

 screenshot23.png

 

And, please lindens, stick this topic on the top, lots of question on the forum are about rigging in blender ;)

I guess can be handy for all of us.

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Ok..I was challenged by the tediousness of deleting each vertex group one by one.  I just knew there had to be an easier way xD!

Anyone interested can go here:

blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?158240-Batch-Delete-Vertex-Groups-script

Copy this script to your basic text editor and change the extension to .py...I named it:  Delete_Vertex_Groups.py

Then drop that file into your blender scripts folder and when you are in edit mode it will be with your scripts.  Click it and you'll get a handy pop up menu of all your vertex groups so you can batch delete the ones you want to remove.

Works like a charm in blender 2.49b...I haven't checked it out in 2.58 yet.

 

Edited to add: The script doesn't work in Blender 2.58, but now that I look at the way the layout works it's much simpler in 2.5 to run thru the vertex groups and just press the minus sign to delete the ones you want.  Somewhat similar to deleting shapes in 2.49.   Unfortunately CTLZ doesn't undo here so its easy to delete too quickly and have to start again.

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  • 3 weeks later...


Nirmanakaya Yalin wrote:

Thanks for your beautiful tutorials, finally I understand a lot of things: are the most clear and useful tutorials I've ever found.

Please show us how you do your perfect other LOD
:)

^^

 

 

@Amphei Jierdon and Nirmanakaya Yalin : Thanks for the comments. :) Making a video on how to make the shirt and LODs is on my video tutorial to do list.

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Ashasekayi Ra wrote:

@Amphei Jierdon and Nirmanakaya Yalin : Thanks for the comments.
:)
Making a video on how to make the shirt and LODs is on my video tutorial to do list.

nice to hear :))

I think, I found a way to do that LOD stuff? Is using modifier "Decimate" a good idea?. 

 

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@Amphei Jierdon and Nirmanakaya Yalin : Thanks for the comments. Making a video on how to make the shirt and LODs is on my video tutorial to do list.

yvw and yay :)


Amphei Jierdon wrote


I think, I found a way to do that LOD stuff? Is using modifier "Decimate" a good idea?. 

 

was thinking the same..

or, as ( I am a noob modeler) I start with very low poly then use multires (and all the loopcut I need) to define the stuff.....saving copies of low-medium-high multires could work?

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I personally don't recommend the decimate modifier. It really only does a slightly better job than the automatic decimation that the SL uploader does. I'd suggest making LODs by hand if you want quality.

 

@Nirmanakaya: It would be hard to describe the process of optimization properly here. It is complex and depends on the specific model you are optimizing. For instance, the modeling process for something mechanical opposed to organic can differ in a number of ways. That being said, Jason Walsh has a good general video on reducing polys in a mesh:

 


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