Uploading but not properly rezzing inworld.

[Cristalle Karami]

I uploaded models successfully and could see the geometry in the preview.  But when rezzing the item inworld, I saw nothing - something rezzed, and I had to zoom out while in edit mode to find it.  I rezzed the object but it was apparently invisible with no shape.  It had a bounding box but it did not render correctly.

 

I used Hexagon to model, saved as .obj, converted using both the FBX Converter at one time, Daz Studio with another and still got the same results.  I thought I could just scale the object, that maybe it was too small.  But scaling it larger did nothing.  What could be going wrong?

[Cristalle Karami]

Well, it seems that the problem is with the exporters.  Autodesk's fbx conversion tool was useless, and so was Daz Studio.  Google Sketchup worked, though.  

[DanielRavenNest Noe]

Only the latest FBX version works, earlier ones don't.  Also, imported models are one-sided, meaning the texture only appears on the front side of a triangle, and is invisible from the back side.  So sometimes you have to flip the triangles to make them visible.  Another cause of "invisible" models is some software uses "transparency", where 0% = fully visible, and others use "opacity", where 0% = fully transparent, so you have to reverse the values in the 3D software to see it in SL.

The problem comes from the COLLADA Digital Asset Exchange (.dae) being an "XML Schema" and not a rigid file format standard.  .dae files are writeable and readable by many programs, but they do not all contain the same set of information, nor mean the same things by the included values.  It doesn't help that every 3D program uses different native formats, which even vary from version to version of the same program.  So it's just a fact of life for 3D creators that we have to find a workflow that does the model preparation and conversion correctly, write it down (that's important), and follow it. 

[Cristalle Karami]

I did the FBX conversion first to the 2011 format, then to .dae in the Autodesk converter.  That failed.  I tried a straight import into Google Sketchup, saving as .3ds and exporting to COLLADA.  That didn't work either!  So, thinking about how I had made these objects and first saw them in Blue Mars, I tried going back to Daz Studio, and found a method that works.  

Here is the flow that I find works, using Hexagon as a modeler:

Model in Hexagon, save as .obj.

Import into Daz Studio.  Export as .dae.

Import the Daz Studio .dae into Google Sketchup.  Export as .dae.

Upload into SL. 

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I don't know how to fix the issue with one-sided models and flipping the triangles, I haven't dabbled enough with the programs or read enough/seen enough tutorials to understand what exactly that means and looks like.  

 

[DanielRavenNest Noe]

 

OK, simple cylinder.  I flipped two of the square polygons (4 triangles).  You can now see through it, cause the "back side"  of the single-sided polygon now points outward, and gets no texture, You can see the far side of the interior has no texture either.  "Flipped" just means the side that gets the texture isn't the one you wanted.  Some 3D programs have a button to invert the triangle or polygon so that the side you intend will show.  It's also possible to set up the object "double sided" so that both sides will render (see second photo).  The SL viewer can handle it both ways, it's all in how the .dae file you import gets set up, and therefore what you did in the 3D program in the first place.  Doing everything double-sided isn't recommended, cause the viewer will render both sides even if you can't see it.

[Kimikosmetology]

Hi Cristalle,

If by chance you get this message I am working on a project in SL that may interest you.

Running an avie for a book called - Kimikosmetology

The Heron sisters were a precurser for this project and this could pay-off.

Thanks,

Chris - Swan Heron