accessory orientation and scale

[BenniJay]

I have made a mesh of a set of ears. Just something simple to start off with and learn how stuff works. I can load the mesh and the texture works too. The scale is weird but I can probably fiddle around with it to get it work, but any tips on fixing the scale would be appreciated. Also how do i oreitate the mesh to my avitar? 

I tried attaching the right ear to the right ear spot but it makes it so the part of the ear that should be touching the head is pointing out. It attaches on the wrong part of the mesh. How can i fix this?

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Once you attach them, to your avatar, click them and go into edit move and use rotate and move to position them exactly how you want them.  Once finished, detach them then reattach to save the new position.

[BenniJay]

Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for. Is there some way to get a better view? I went into options and there is very little for the view. I can get a good view if I go into the editing appearance mode, but I cannot edit objects in that mode since my cursor turns into a magnifying glass. So I have been editing the object and then going into edit appearance mode to see how it looks then going back and tweaking it. There has to be a better way.

[Penny Patton]

You'll want a pose stand you can sit your avatar on to get yourself in a static pose you can manipulate for adjusting attachments (would be nice if that were built right into the viewer, but it's not) and other than that, using alt+left click (also know as "alt camming") to move your camera around to the desirable position.

[Chosen Few]

Unless I'm misunderstanding you, it sounds like you could use a little help with basic camera controls, Benni. 

First and foremost, do NOT use the on-screen controls.  Forget those even exist.  Turn them off, and pretend you never saw them.  They are absolutely horrible.  They're clunky, clumsy, awkward, and most importantly, theyprovide no means whatsoever by which to set the camera's focal point.  They're just plain gawd awful.  I've been trying to tell LL for well over eight yeras now that those on-screen controls should be done away with, but for some inexplicable reason, they persist.

Also, don't use the arrow keys on your keyboard, as they work just like those retched on-screen controls.

What you should be using are the alt-mouse controls.  SL, like most 3D modeling programs, utilizes alt-mouse for fluid, high precision, comletely natural feeling camera movement.  Once you start using it, you'll find that looking around in SL will become as effortless and instinctive as turning your head in RL.

Here's how it works:

Hold down alt.  Click and drag the mouse, and the camera will move with it.  As long as you contiunue holding alt, whatever you click on becomes the camera's focal point, and dragging the mouse will move the camera, relative to that point.   Moving the mouse up and down will cause the camera to dolly in and out.  Side to side movement will cause the camera to orbit around the focal point.

Now add ctrl to the mix.  Hold alt and ctrl at the same time.  Up and down movement of the mouse will now cause the camera to tumble vertically around the focal point, instead of dollying in and out.  Side to side still rotates.

Now add shift.  With alt, ctrl, and shift all held, dragging the mouse will now pan the camera.

Don't bother trying to memorize which of the three key combinations is for which purpose.  Just remember that it all starts with alt, and that ctrl, and shift are the other two to add.  Then, as you drag the mouse to look around, you'll just naturally hit ctrl and shift, to make it do what you want.   It will become second nature within just a few minutes.

To give you an idea of just how habitualized this becomes, I've been doing it every day for eight and a half years now, and the proof that I literally never give it a second thought is in the fact that I actually had to stop to check before I could list with words what the three key combos do.  See, I'm not thinking in words when I'm looking around with the camera; I'm just doing it.  So will you.

For quick visual reference, here's a diagram I put together some years ago, which has been used on many private orientation islands.

 

So there's the good news.  Fluid camera control in SL is super easy, and works extremely well. 

The bad news, however, is that it still can be challenging to work with very small objects.  Several updates ago, LL for some reason increased the camera's near-clip distance, causing objects very close to the camera to be clipped out of view.  All was not lost, though, as there is a work-around.  SL's camera doesn't just dolly, track, and pan.  It also has a zoom lens.

To zoom in press ctrl-0.   To zoom out, press ctrl-8.  From the default zoom level, you can zoom in upto 14 stops, or zoom out up to 2 stops.  In other words, there are 17 zoom stops, in total.  To return to default zoom at any time, press ctrl-9. 

Since zooming does not involve actually moving the camera, the cippling planes don't come into play.  So, to work with anything really tiny, first dolly as close to it as you can with the mouse, and then zoom in with ctrl-0.  Be a little bit careful from there, because when you're zoomed way it, a little bit of mouse movement can equal a lot of apparent camera movement (just like how in RL when you zoom way in with a real camera, a little bit of hand movement equals a lot of apparent camera movement).  You'll get the hang of it very quickly.

The only catch to all this is it doesn't work very well if you're using a laptiop track pad instead of a real mouse.  If that's the case, get yourself a mouse, and start using it.  Even if you use it for nothing else, it's a must-have for SL, and for just about any other 3D modeling program you might ever use.

 

Happy camming.

[Penny Patton]

That's an awesome image for explaining the mouse camera controls. Where did you get it, and mind if I steal it?

[Chosen Few]

Thanks, Penny.  I didn't get it anywhere; I made it.  I've done tons of orientation builds, over the years, and images like that have always been super useful.  

Yes, you're welcome to steal it.   Please do.  Thanks for asking.