Trying to learn how to make unrigged mesh attachments... Help please?

[Annie Melson]

I am a clothing designer that makes my own sculpted attachments. I currently use Jass-Pub-2.3.8 to make my sculpted parts. I am wanting to learn how to make mesh, but I do not want them rigged. I'm not a fan of full rigged mesh clothing as it is right now, but I am very intrigued about creating mesh parts to add to the system clothing I make.

I have a lot of questions and would love any tips, tutorials, information. Can I use Jass-Pub-2.3.8 to make mesh attachments? How do I make unrigged mesh pieces? How can I add pieces, such as buttons, snaps, string, etc? How do I texture the mesh? Do I texture it in the program or is that added inworld like sculpties? Any help would be so appreciated! I'm really excited about this and can't wait to learn! :)

[Medhue Simoni]

Mesh is definitely viable as attachments - I am currently creating various footwear meshes (for my own use for now) which are designed purely as attachments, either to the AV feet or lower leg.

However, don't write-off rigged mesh clothing - there is a third-party development in the pipeline which will hopefully result in mesh clothing being able to fit most (if not all) AV body shapes - Qarl's Parametric Deformation project (if I remember it's name correctly). At the very least, keep an eye on its developments (rigged meshes in general). Also, I've seen some very nice examples lately of well designed rigged mesh clothing (even if it can't be made to fit customised AV shapes), which is proof that rigged mesh clothing is a viable option.

I say this often, and I will say it again here - Mesh is a BIG subject (but nothing to be scared of!). I would strongly suggest the following steps:

1: Find a mesh making program you are comfortable with (user interface etc). There are plenty out there, ranging from free to costing several thousand dollars. Pretty much any polygon modeling programs should be capable of creating SL meshes for what you are wanting to achieve (mesh AV attachments as clothing).
Currently, HEXAGON (the modeler I primarily use) is available free for a limited time from DAZ3D

2: LEARN the various aspects of your chosen modeling program. Learn how to create meshes, from bare basics through to complex models. It's a LOT of fun!

3: Learn how to UV-map your models in your chosen program (most modeling programs should have functional UV-mapping available). A well made UV-map will be VASTLY easier to texture than those awful fixed UVs sculpties have, and hence far superior results and greater freedom, too.

4: Material mapping - DEFINITELY a handy thing to learn. It will allow you to allocate "faces" on your mesh, which will act the same way as faces on standard prims do now in SL. These faces don't necessarily have to be contiguous either - they can be spread out all over your mesh at random, if you so choose.

5: Especially important is to learn how to make properly OPTIMISED meshes for SL performance. Even if your meshes are designed as AV attachments only, their associated Land Impact cost is still of vital consideration. Land Impact is a good measure of rendering costs, and if you are able to keep your attachments to a fairly low level in this regard, via LOD optimisation and efficient polygon modeling, your attachments will rez quickly AND not create much lag overall.

LOL, sorry for the wall of text! Mesh is nothing to be scared of at all... just a bit of getting your head around the main steps in creating it. A little bit of a hill to climb at first, but the resultant improvement in creative freedom and quality is definitely worth the effort.

Oh, and step 6: HAVE FUN! Enjoy the path, and enjoy the fruits it brings!

And never be afraid to ask questions - plenty of people in here are happy to answer! :matte-motes-smile:

[Gaia Clary]

Jass-Pub IS in fact Blender 2.49b plus some sculpty related addons. So it can create non rigged meshes and rigged meshes. Maybe this series of 4 tutorials can help you getting started with meshes:

    http://blog.machinimatrix.org/optimizing-meshes/

It is specially made for Sclpty creators who want to make mesh creations. I used Blender 2.5 for that tutorial and some details regarding the mesh importer are slightly outdated meanwhile, but all the rest is still very valid and the knowledge is not specifically restricted to Blender.

[Nalates Urriah]

So far everyone has given you good information.

I think the difference between making sculpties and mesh objects is two things. One no longer has to worry about the rows and columns of vertices. Next one has to deal with UVMaps. While it is a bit of PITA it gives WAY WAY better control of your textures.