Blender 2.64a - Uploads into SL not quite right

[Perro Jackalope]

Hi, I am new to Blender and building 3D mesh objects. I have installed Blender 2.64a and I am able to follow some online tutorials and make some stuff. That part has been fun and interesting so far. However, I am running into trouble when I try to upload the Collada files I generate into SL.  They don't come out quite the same - even a simple cube with modifiers (such as a beveled edge) comes through as a basic cube. Larger more complex items are either not able to upload at all or come through with missing sections - almost a tear down the length of an extrusion. I thought I figured the tear part out when I noticed a few missing vertices on the object, but after a careful rebuild and 2nd try, it did the same thing. My question for the board is:

Is there a defintve list and workflow instruction around that says "If you are going to use Blender 2.64a, then you need this Collada exporter and these scripts and you must build within these constraints in order to assure a successful upload"?

I am aware of the 64m x 64m size limits now and see a 256mb raw Collada file size limit. I would like to get the uploading thing clean and simple so I may keep my focus on learning the Blender software and mesh creation.

Thanks in advance

 

 

[Chic Aeon]

Not sure about all your issues but I can say that 2.64 works fine (not sure what the "a" is. Mine doesn't have that).  

I have only been living (literally) with Blender for November but I can tell you that if you make a very messy dae file (bad planning, odd vertices etc. it won't  upload. True, now and then it is the server, but to check you can try uploading a file that you know worked before (beta grid of course) and if that works, then it is "you" .

 

The "missing parts" are most likely Normals that have switched. Blender only renders ONE side of a face so it needs to know which one you want to render. Sometimes those get confused (more likely when you are new and don't know what you are doing - also when you are doing a lot of filling and using circles and such). So the object SEEMS to be missing parts when in reality it is just putting the texture on the side you don't want. You can highlight that face in Edit mode and then use WKEY and Switch the Normals. You can also SEE what isn't working when you upload (there is a preview window that lets you move around with your mouse wheel and the Ctrl key (she says hoping she remembers correctly).

Also, when you have a LOT of normals that need to be switched you can turn on viewing of the normals in the sidebar that opens with the NKEY.   Scroll down to "Mesh Display" and then click on the icon that looks like a FACE cube. That will put little blue lines through the faces of your object. The ones that will SHOW are the ones with the longer lines. So if you see just a dot on a face that you need to have rendered, then you need to switch the Normals.

I actually just figured that out last eve when making a very complex item. SO VERY HAPPY to know that. .

Good luck. It really takes awhile to feel comfortable with Blender but eventually it gets to be fun (and faster although not terrifically speedy).

[Gaia Clary]

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Perro Jackalope wrote:

Is there a defintve list and workflow instruction around that says "If you are going to use Blender 2.64a, then you need this Collada exporter and these scripts and you must build within these constraints in order to assure a successful upload"?

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The official Blender-2.64a Collada exporter has been made as fully compatible with Second life as possible. Actually i am not aware of any downside at the moment. Here is a small FAQ collection:

Q: How to export safely ?

A: When you do an export then you get a rich set of export parameters (in the lower left corner of the export window) which need to be filled out correctly for Second Life. To make it simple we have added 2 presets "Second Life Static" for any static content and "Second Life Rigged" for rigged characters and rigged attachments. You only need to take the correct choice and keep all attributes untouched.

Q: Which Skeleton shall i use ?

A: The Collada exporter needs the default SL Skeleton. For blender the most acurate skeleton can be found in the Avatar Workbench. Many people think that using the "original" avatar.blend from Domino Marama is the better choice. But actually the avatar workbench contains the fixed version from avatar.blend.

Q: I found a bug in the Collada exporter. How to proceed ?

A: If you find any reproducible problem that can be clearly identified as an exporter bug, then please report that to the blender bug tracker system, or tell me. I will make sure that it gets fixed

[Perro Jackalope]

I hate it when the answer is "It is too you, you just don't know what you are doing." - but it is sounding like that may be the case here. Having confirmation that 2.64 should work OK gives me courage enough to plow back into it and keep trying.

Thank you kindly for the reply - there is much to learn here and maybe I just need to be more patient.

 

[Perro Jackalope]

Gaia -  I have already seen some of the stuff you have published. I feel like I just got an answer from God. Thank you! :matte-motes-big-grin-squint:

[Ciaran Laval]

Did you apply the modifier before saving the cube? Are you saving it as .blend file first and then exporting it?

Have you started using materials for textures? There's an eight matertial limit per object, you can have several objects per upload but each object can only support eight materials at a time, so you could upload a build with two objects and each one could have eight materials, but on object with nine materials would be problematic. if you have more than eight materials on an object, that would cause missing sections when it was uploaded.

[Nalates Urriah]

Gaia is the authoritive voice on mesh clothes and Blender. 

There is a problem you may be hitting that isn't mentioned. I think it is only the latest Blender 2.64a that handles the modifiers correctly for Collada export. I know that previous to some version one had to apply the modifiers BEFORE exporting a Collada file. So, check out the versions.

As to which skeleton to use... there is a load of confustion on that point. For making clothes I agree with Gaia. The workbench file has the best skeleton and mesh skin. You can read about all the files being discussed in the JIRA and blogs here: Second Life Mesh Clothes Blender 2.6 Setup 2012 Tutorial - Page 2. It also explains how to get your custom shape out of SL as an OBJ file.

I did some testing to find out how much difference there was between the Ruth/Roth shapes and the Default Shape. The difference is VERY small. If you are trying for perfection, the Defulat Shape is what Karl S., the Mesh Deformer programmer, recommends.