Blender and Mesh - Step by Step Instructions

[Lightesword Xue]

The title may be a bit decieving, but I want to know the step by step[s] to start using Blender.

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1) I went to http://www.blender.org/download/ and downloaded Blender 2.70a for Windows 64 Bit.  

 Is this the correct version, 2.70, that I need to be using to get started on making mesh?

 If not, I have Windows 8, so I need to make sure things are compatible with the OS.

 

2) I need to know what else I need to install to have Blender 'Secondlife ready' for Mesh export. 

Please provide the direct download link so I may obtain the additional software that may be needed!

Possibly the skeletons and any additonal software OR Blender Add-Ons I may need?

 

3) Are there any Youtube tutorials Secondlife specific for MESH that are 2013-Present that will help me?

Please provide the direct link[s] to the[se] video[s].

 

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Please answer the TOP THREE matters as accurately as possible!

 

Thanks! :)

 

(I have asked similiar questions regarding Liquid Mesh (Fitted Mesh), I have been looking everywhere for these resources and it's really overwhelming, so for the sake of my sanity, I'm asking what I think may be relevant to my mesh journey.)

 

You can see my other Forums Posts below.

 

Liquid-Mesh-and-Mesh-with-Blender

 

Old 2011 Post - Entering-into-the-World-of-Mesh-using-Blender-and-etc

 

[Gaia Clary]

 

1. The Blender download link is correct. 2.70a is what we recommend to use for now. But note, Blender 2.71 is not far away...
2. If all you want to do is create static mesh (like houses, furniture, plants) then Pure Blender 2.70a has all you need. Please check and follow(!) the related Blender wiki document to avoid frustrations.
3. If you want to get into making rigged Mesh for Avatars, Avatar attachments, Poses and Animations, then i personally recommend to get
   
   
   • the Linden Lab demo files for fitted mesh Avatars
   • (optional) the Avatar Workbench from Machinimatrix for "classic mBone rigging"
   • (optional) the Fitted mesh Kit from machinimatrix for "cBone rigging" (fitted mesh)
4. Regarding tutorials your best option would be to start with a blender course. there are a lot of these available either from youtube or from dedicated web sites, like blender cookies (my personal favorite). But there are many others around as well and i am sure others will recommend them here too :matte-motes-wink:

And if you have mastered the basics of Blender (and not before you have done that!) then you might want to know about Avastar, a Blender Addon that possibly could be of some help for making rigged mesh more efficient and with less of pulling out your hair why things again do not work as expected...

[Sassy Romano]

Yes that version of blender will work, as will others.

For the second two questions, my answer is simple "Avastar" and there are tutorials on YouTube, linked from the blender menu of the plug-in or just searchable in YouTube.

http://blog.machinimatrix.org/avastar/

Edit:  Gaia does a wonderful job of NOT pimping Avastar which I understand though if items for SL characters is the intention then get Avastar. 

 

[Lightesword Xue]

Thank you all for replying, and especially thank you Gaia Clary, I noticed in all three of my posts, even the one from 2011, you replied and helped out. You have my ultimate gratitude!

[Luca Coeur]

Huhus,

 

the links Gaia kindly provides seem to be somewhat faulty. There's a surplus http: at the end The Blender-wiki can be found under

COLLADA / Blender-Wiki

The beginners tutorial from Blender-Cookies is to be found here: Blender-Cookies

 

I hope that helps a bit getting started with Blender :-) Have a lot of fun

 

PS.:I just found out Gaia instantly corrected the glitches - nevermind my post

[Gaia Clary]

yes all my links where broken in fact. i fixed that. thanks

[Nalates Urriah]

Sassy is right. The AvaStar addon is the biggest time saver you can add to Blender for Second Life work. You can do everything in plain Blender that you can do in AvaStar. But, AvaStar reduces the learning curve and makes many multi-step tasks a single click task.

Also, AvaStar handles a scaling problem most people learn about the hard way. This is a must see if you plan to use plain Blender. See: http://blog.nalates.net/2013/04/23/second-life-shape-export/

There are tons of Blender tutorials on the net. Gaia has made a number of good, SL specific tutorials. Visit YouTube and search for Gaia Clary.