Building question?

tyr567 · November 1, 2012

Are there any apps/softwear that canbe used to build items for secondlife then upload them to sl?

i will be building items such as tip jars and things related to tip jars.

heres my system info:

2.3 GHz intel core I5

4gbs ram 1333MHz

operatin system: Osx 10.8.2/ windows 7 home. (boot comped) (runs both windows and osx and app/softwear for either one would be fine)

Rolig · November 1, 2012

If you are creating 3D mesh items, you can use any program that will ultimately let you export a Collada (.dae) file for Second Life. Many people use Blender, which is powerful and free, and for which there are a zillion tutorials on line). Others use Google SketchUp, which is also free, or Wings3D. Both of those are easy to use, though less powerful than Blender. If you want to spend the money on a professional program that's widely used, try Maya. See http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Mesh

If you're making sculpties -- much less important and more restrictive than mesh, but still viable in SL today -- the JASS-2 package (free or in an inexpensive "Pro" version from machinimatrix.com) is the easiest way to go. It uses Blender with plugins that format your sculpty files properly for export.

MOST people don't do any of this, because the stanbard building tools in SL serve their needs quite well. The basic editing tools that every SL resident has in his viewer are quite versatile and powerful. A very high percentage of what you see in SL every day was built with those tools. Before you begin using any external program, then, be sure that you know how to use what you already have. See http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Build-Tools/ta-p/700039 and then consider taking building classes at Builders Brewery or Caledon Oxbridge University in world.