Mesh Import Open Beta Starts Today
As previously blogged, I’m very excited to announce that the Beta for Mesh Import is now open to all Residents. Mesh Import allows you to bring models into Second Life from the many popular 3D tools such as Blender or Maya(t), using the COLLADA file format. We see this as an important step to empower content creators to make the inworld experience an even richer and more creative one than it is today. You can read more about Mesh Import here and in my last blog post.
Join the Mesh Import Beta
In order to take part, you will need to first download the Project Viewer for Mesh Import, based on the Viewer 2 code base, available below. This special Mesh viewer will take you to the test grid that we call Aditi. This is a separate grid from the one you normally use for Second Life -- so any changes you make there will not be preserved nor transferred to the main grid. Whilst the Mesh Beta is open to all Residents, it is possible that accounts created within the last few weeks may have trouble logging into the test grid as they won’t have been migrated across yet; so if you have trouble, then here are instructions for updating your account info on Aditi.
Getting Started with Meshes
So that you can get started straight away, we have prepared a few simple walkthroughs for you to follow once you’ve logged in. You can find them on the main Mesh wiki page along with various other pieces of information. They should give you a good idea of how the Mesh Import tool works before you import your own meshes. Remember that we are using the COLLADA file format, so you’ll need to use a tool that can create COLLADA files such as the free, cross-platform Blender. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to add information to the Mesh wiki page, so do check back often.
Please note, that the Second Life Terms of Service applies on the Aditi test grid, as it does on the main grid. That means that you should not import any content for which you do not have the appropriate rights. But, For more information, see our Intellectual Property Policy and if you’re in doubt over a specific object, then it’s probably best not to import it.
What to Expect on the Beta Grid
Although the base technology that drives mesh is in good shape, we still have some way to go before this is production ready. We wanted to get it into your hands sooner, versus later, to get your feedback. You should only take part if you’re comfortable with beta software that may crash or cause content that you’re working on to break in unexpected ways. In addition, the product design piece -- the user interface -- still needs some work so you can expect that the interface for mesh will change and improve over time. The Mesh Project Viewer will auto-update as we ship updated versions, so when there’s a new version, then you’ll be prompted to install it.
Another change, that many of you will notice right away for this beta test, is that we have changed the maximum size of a prim, for both normal prims and mesh prims. The maximum for each dimension is up from 10m to 64m. Our hope is that this change will also be available on the main grid as well once Mesh Import ships. But, we need to assess how these larger prims perform during the beta period to ensure that they will integrate seamlessly into the main grid environment.
Releasing the Viewer Code for Mesh
To give our third party viewer developers as much time as possible to work with the Mesh code base, and so that we can get additional feedback and support from the opensource community, the code base for the Mesh Project Viewer will be released by the end of this week. It will be made available on the Snowstorm wiki page.
Giving Feedback on Mesh Import
If you believe that you’ve found a bug, or have a suggestion for how to improve the feature, then please use our public Jira issue tracker to let us know. Before you file an issue there, please do search to ensure that someone hasn’t already filed the same issue before you. If they have, then by all means add your comments there.
Anticipating a Few of Your Questions
Yes, you have questions. Let me anticipate a few. Feel free to ask more in comments and we’ll answer what we can.
- Q: How will Mesh objects look if you’re viewing them from an older viewer, such as those based on Viewer 1.23?
- A: They will look like flat shapes and will not resemble the real mesh objects. See the Mesh wiki page for examples.
- Q: What are the prim costs for importing Meshes?
- A: Aspects of this are still being worked out, but the latest info is on the Mesh wiki page.
- Q: Will you be charging upload fee for meshes?
- A: Yes we will charge an upload fee in L$ when mesh launches into production. For the beta test on the test grid, there will be no fees.
- Q: Will you have Mesh office hours?
- A: We are holding Mesh Import office hours tomorrow, October 14, at 3pm PDT (6pm EDT) at the four corners of Mesh Headquarters on Aditi (SLurl: secondlife://Aditi/secondlife/MeshHQ 1/238/238/26). We will have more office hours in the future, so keep checking the Mesh wiki page as they are scheduled.
Finally, I’d like to thank you all in advance for taking part. We’re looking forward to seeing the amazing mesh creations and hearing your feedback.
Resources:
- Download the Mesh Import Project Viewer
- Read the last blog post on Mesh Import
- Read more at our Mesh Wiki Page
- Share your thoughts on the Mesh Forum or the Mesh section of SL Answers
- Log bugs on the public Jira
- Twitter your feedback on #slviewer2
- Please upload pictures of your mesh creations to Flickr with the #slmesh tag. You'll be able to view the resulting collection here.
0 Comments
Recommended Comments