Customizable car mesh (question)

[Tagar1k]

Greetings everyone, I've recently found out about SL and saw an opportunity to share my 3D projects (and maybe get some revenue out of my work 😛)

I am creating Ford Mustang (2015) with customizable body parts and interior. My question is: Do I need to individually export every car part as .dae/.obj or can I just export my project as a whole and then separate my objects in SL viewer?

I also wanna ask if there are some groups/discord servers where I can directly contact with one issue without just spamming new threads on forums?

 

PS. Here's a render of the car I was mentioning: http://imgur.com/gallery/LsubX5v

I will send the project screenshot when I'll get home.

Any kind of help is appreciated 🙂

Edited September 15, 2020 by Tagar1k
Spelling fixes

[Aquila Kytori]

Hi welcome to the forums.

You can upload all the  parts (objects) in a single upload but you must comply to a strict naming convention of the parts in your 3D software. Check out this link for info on uploading mesh to SL :

Quote from above link : 

Uploading your own LOD files

You may upload your own simplified models by choosing Load from file from the Source dropdown menus. You may wish to create your own lower-detail models in order to preserve critical details that may be lost during the automatic simplification process.

 The mesh uploader uses very strict naming rules for these custom LOD files:

• File names ending with "_LOD2" must be used for Medium level of detail
• File names ending with "_LOD1" must be used for Low level of detail
• File names ending with "_LOD0" must be used for Lowest level of detail
• File names ending with "_PHYS" must be used for the model's physics shape

For testing and experimenting with your uploads there is a a Beta Testing grid ( a little parallel SL with a few sandboxes).

Save L$ by testing on the beta grid

Uploading mesh content to the main Second Life grid costs Linden dollars. For development and testing, upload your content to the Aditi beta grid instead. For more information about Aditi, see Preview Grid.

Follow these steps to upload models to Aditi:

1. Import your SL account to Aditi (see Updating Your Account on Aditi for instructions).
2. Enable the grid selection dropdown on the Second Life login screen in Me > Preferences > Advanced > Show Grid Selection or by typing CTRL+SHIFT+G.

   Note: You may need to enable the Advanced menu by pressing Ctrl+Shift+D

3. In grid selection, choose the Aditi beta grid.
4. Your account on the beta grid has its own L$ balance, so Linden dollars earned and spent on Aditi do not affect your main grid L$ balance.

One thing to note is as SL is real time rendering, you need to keep your poly count under control. Your model should be made as a game asset and not one created for a high resolution single render. 

The Land Impact cost (LI cost) is very dependant on mesh complexity and the size of the object. Check out some of the vehicle makers in SL. Look at their cars in Wireframe mode. Check how the vehicles switch to different Level of Detail (LoD) models as you zoom in and out. and check the LI of the mesh.

Below is an example of triangle counts for the  LoD models. Note how the Medium LoD model still has quite a few tris but for the lower 2 LoDs the tri count has been reduced dramatically. This was done deliberately,  for this size of model it is the Low and Lowest LoD models that have most influence on the LI cost.

Other parts of the car, the interior for example, which will not be seen from any great distance, will have a different ratio of tri count between LoDs. (the lower Lods could be zeroed out completely.............)

 

 

My advice would be: to start with, Upload a single object, learn the workflow check the LI costs etc and when you have seen how that works then move on to uploading several objects together in a single upload.

best of luck ........

 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Aquila Kytori

[Tagar1k]

Thank you for the introduction.

Unfortunately my car project has way too many vertices (over 400k in total) and it would take me too long to optimize it for SL standards (and my L$ budget 😛). Instead, I will start with something smaller (like car accessories or rims) and build up my experience first.

I will definitely use Aditi. Especially that I need to understand how the things work.