Inventor, Maya Lt, 3D Coat

[Mediiaevi]

I'm not an expert... just an average bloke... who... finds pleasure tinkering in Second Life with pixels... Modeling using MayaLT from scratch... is probably better for the flow of the polygons is better and is more refined... Yet, coming from a drafting background since AutoCAD version 8 right after Windows 3.1 arrived... having to dimension out every dimension for those to build by... I'm drawn to Inventor. This is not the best work flow... I find it fun for me though... because... I tinker to relax my mind... my mind never stops... I use AutoDesk Inventor to design many of my creations... then import the .obj into Maya LT... (hint: delete the .mlt (Inventor Materials) file before importing into Maya LT from Inventor because it will shank Hypershade. I like Maya LT for baking and UV mapping not because it's necessarily better... but it's damn fast at doing it. I then bring everything into 3D Coat. I've tried others like ZBrush... but I love 3D Coat... In my honest opinion... 3D Coat is so fast, easy.. and... it's ability to Retopo... I still think 3D Coat retopos better than any other... but... with all software... user preference and such... is more the point... all are good tools. Then... I bring back into Maya LT to bake in the shadows and AO. Here's the deal... I want all the products at my Estate to having lights and shadow baking to match the angel (well ok angel works... but meant to type 'angle') of the Moon and almost rising sun at my sim. Is this saleable? Probably not, because products for sale should probably not have shadows baked in, but just the Alebedo. However, my sim.. well... I want it to flow together. My sim is located at.... http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tranquil Sands/31/41/31... not much yet... but it will grow... and grow... and grow... It's here to stay... So.. check it out here and there to see my progress. You can even listen to my Online Radio Station where I stream my style of music that I like... most is Post-Punk, Goth, Old School... Dark Wave... some New Wave... you know... the minor chords... the minor chords. Cheers!

I like to start with AutoDesk Inventor... because... to be honest... I like to dimension things... not just guessing at their sizes, but saying, "This post will be exactly 151mm wide."

Fixing the mesh, cleaning it up, quadrangulating it... UV Unwrapping... I love Maya LT because all this cleaning up the mesh... it's fast... Maya is fast at mesh recalculation. The best out there... In my opinion... it's still an "engine that won't quit."

I just love 3D Coat. I love it's ease of use. Retopo in 3D Coat is actually fun... and... retopology is not fun... but... with 3D Coat... it's fun.

 

I'm not pleased yet with the baking in Second Life. It's alright, but the shadow angels (my English teacher spank me with the ruler... sorry... 'angle') are still off a few degrees from the Moon. It will need to be better. It's a start though.

 

Visits my sim here. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tranquil%20Sands/31/41/31

 

Listen to some Post-Punk, Goth too!

 

 

Cheers!

 

Edited August 6, 2020 by Mediiaevi

[animats]

Now that's Autodesk Inventor.

Where you can make all the pieces fit perfectly. And when they fit in Inventor, you can make the parts and they will fit in the real world. I've done that, using Inventor and CNC milling machines, waterjet cutters, and laser cutters.

Here, every individual shingle and lath fits properly. 92 LI, though. 

 

[n0minous]

CAD software looks neat since the models have infinite resolution for tight thresholds in real life manufacturing. For creating game assets that have finite resolution though, I think it's a waste of time to model using CAD software first and then retopologizing to meshes. Concerning modern game asset creation, I mainly consider CAD software as an alternative to subdivision surfaces for complex curvature (Millenia3D, Chris Stone, and other game industry professionals demonstrate this on Artstation). Most customers in SL only care about the model's aesthetics such as texture detail and mesh design rather than adhering to real life dimensions, so I think it's much more efficient to model everything in poly modeling software. This is mainly if you're a professional content creator rather than a hobbyist since time is money. If you're a hobbyist and you enjoy using CAD software, by all means. I'm not knocking on CAD software btw since I've seen absolutely beautiful models being created in it.

Edited August 6, 2020 by n0minous

[ChinRey]

11 hours ago, Mediiaevi said:

Yet, coming from a drafting background since AutoCAD version 8 right after Windows 3.1 arrived... having to dimension out every dimension for those to build by... I'm drawn to Inventor. This is not the best work flow...

Whatever floats your boat.

As long as you are happy with it and the end result has sensible vertice, triangle and pixel counts, there's no problem.

There is no software for making game/virtual world mesh anyway. Blender and Maya are also made for high poly meshes. They do have some extra function bolted on that allow you to make game assets but there's a limit to how much time and effort the fdevelopers are willing and able to spend on special tool for what for them is a tiny niche market.

That being said, I have tried to simplify CAD models down to something that would make sense in SL and although it is possible, it's a nightmare. I'm not convinced you will be happy with it in the long run.

[Kyrah Abattoir]

Those license fees are pretty steep tho.