A few questions (they might be dumb)

[RawRzly]

So, this might sound stupid but bare with me. 

So, most of the time I don't ever really feel like modeling unless its for RL stuff . So I thought "Hey join SL again!" to try and force me to make more models.( Get better with modeling and learn a few things.) The problem I'm having is I don't know how to go about it. And every video I come across is pretty outdated or uses a different software. So I guess what im asking is what's the process? Do I have to install additional plugins? Can I just import/export from my software to SL? And will all my maps work?

I know it seems dumb. But to tell you the truth I tried learning this the first time I was on SL but with no luck,  lack of information, and almost no skill.

Any tips or suggestions would be really appreciated. 

[Fritigern Gothly]

Export your models to Collada (.dae) and you should be able to import it to SL.
As for your maps, only diffuse, normal and specular maps are supported. Other than that, textures are only displayed at a maximum of 1024x1024.

Software-wise, you can use any 3D modeler which supports exporting Collada, no extra plugins needed.

P.S. The Beta grid of SL (Aiditi) can be used to test your uploads without spending actual L$ on getting your models in-world. This way you can try stuff without having to worry about wasted upload cost. Have a look into this.

[n0minous]

You can learn most of the SL content creation pipeline by searching through the knowledge base, wiki, and forum. I started by reading mesh/texture/physics model-related articles on the knowledge base and wiki first, had a lot of questions, and searched the forums for answers. When searching the forum, I suggest using the "find results that contain all of my search term words" option. I also suggest taking notes in a word processor since there's a lot of SL-specific info that might be hard to memorize at first and so you can avoid searching for the same thing repeatedly.

[Cyrule Adder]

Step 1. Model Something. Most of the techniques used here are software agnostic with basic tools. But each software does have it's own collection of tools and workflows. Sculpting, pushing around vertexes and what have you. Make sure that they are game ready. That is to say that you're only using enough polygons to reasonably see detail. But not so much that when you run wireframe it looks solid.

Step 2. Texture that something. Photoshop is still pretty much king here. You can use Substance Painter as well, but that is for a PBR pipeline. And it's generally a pain in the ass to convert PBR into traditional. As you'll be going back and forth with an image editing software, and SL to see how it looks. You can also use Krita, which is what I use. Or Gimp, which has had some major improvements lately.

Step 3. Export as a Colladae file. You might need to use a special second life exporter or something. But generally speaking any colladae exporter should work. And they come standard in all software.

Step 4. Upload to second life.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Cyrule Adder