SOS how to build mesh from a builders kit

[Brooke Portilo]

im so lost.. years of buidling with sculpts and prims.. i have no idea how to make shoes with the builders kit i bought that is mesh...........

[Zslash Cyberstar]

i dont see why people say its so hard with mesh? i mean same with sculpts, mesh is basically sculpt but ALOT better thats it... and i have no idea what kinda shoes builders kit you bought but i find it just lame to buy "builders kits" cause you barely ever get it the way you want

[Brooke Portilo]

but that didnt answer my question lol im just starting with mesh.. and just got the new viewer.. i just wanted to know if mesh building is the same as sculpt maps by using a prim?

[Drongle McMahon]

With mesh, there is no separation like that between the sculpt map, which defines the shape, and the object, which the shape is applied to. With mesh, the objects and the shape are the same thing. You can't  change the shape of an existing mesh object except by stretching it. There is no mesh equivalent of the sculpt map.

In other respects, there are many similarities, except that the mesh is more versatile. The way a texture is applied to a sculpty is defined by its simple UV map that puts an equal area of texture on each face. In contrast, the UV map of the mesh, although it is fixed once the model is uploaded, can use much more versatile ways of stretching the texture over the mesh faces. Also, a mesh can have up to eight different "faces" to which you can apply different textures, with independent stretching and repetition on each face, just like the six faces of a box prim. You can experiment to discover how this works by dropping a grid texture on the mesh.

Most likely, your builder's model will have come with some pre-made textures and a UV map template for making new ones in a graphics program like photoshop or Gimp. This allows more sophisticated control over the texturing than simply applying general purpose textures.

Another special property of a mesh model is its physics shape, which determines how it collides with avatars and other objects. This allowws much more useful behaviour than the unalterable physics shape of a sculpty. This will not be relevant for worn shoes because attachments don't have any physics at all. For unattached meshes, it is important, and you should be aware that you can sometimes change the collision behaviour by choosing the physics shape type on the Features tab of the edit dialog. 

[Zslash Cyberstar]

good thing drongle is around explaining things 100x times over to new people

[Brooke Portilo]

yes good thing.. but imnot NEW to Sl just new to mesh.. and thank you for your replies:matte-motes-nerdy:

[Nalates Urriah]

A builds kit comes in lots of varities. So, without knowing which one you got, its hard to say how to use it. But, there are some basics.

Redpoly sells mesh builders kits. If clothes or shoes they come with the mesh item in multiple sizes for use without Qarl's Deformer and a base texture or textures. There is usually one more made for use with the Deformer.

The base texture in the kit is probably much like the Chip Midnight paterns for clothes, in other words a UVMap. You can use it to make textures for the mesh item.

Redpoly kits also come with the DAE file, I suppose  in a note card. That can be saved to your drive and uploaded to SL so you show as the creator. You can also back port it into Blender or whatever 3D modeling program. That could help you learn more about modeling for SL.

There is a special file with unique weighting that you will find probably interesting.

These would be the basics. Various kits will have more or less of these same features and aspects.

[Brooke Portilo]

Thank you so much Nalates your explained it perfect to me..It wasnt Redpoly.. altough i love their items..I think i got it..trying it out on blender.. thank you again for your help and reply..

[synyr Twine]

i would really like to learn how to build with mesh. if some one could teach me this i would greatly appresheate it.

[Del Harrop]

I too am totally new to Mesh. With a sculpty you rez a prim > change it to sculpty default form > add a UV map = object

But what on earth do you do with a Mesh?. I have `blindly`  bought a mesh version of a furniture item and am searching the web for help, as I was told they are not made as you would a sculpt item.  This thread is the nearest I have found but basics not explained

[Chosen Few]

---

Del Harrop wrote:

With a sculpty you rez a prim > change it to sculpty default form > add a UV map = object

---

You mean sculpt map, not UV map.  Huge difference.

 

---

Del Harrop wrote:

But what on earth do you do with a Mesh?.

---

If you want to use the same kind of 'equation' you used above, it would look like this:

Create mesh model in a 3D modeling program -> export to COLLADA format -> upload to SL = object.

It's not like with sculpties, where you're simply deforming a pre-existing object.  With mesh the model is just the model, period.  You don't have to start it out as one thing, and then turn it into something else.  It already is the thing it needs to be.  The shape it appears to be is the shape it actually is.

Remember, sculpties are a kluge, nothing more.  They were invented as a clever way to get SL to appear to be able to create arbitrary shapes, within the very narrow confines of the closed-ended architecture it had at the time.  They're quite bizarre, and should not be thought of as any kind of example of how anybody in their right mind would choose to go about 3D modeling, outside of those confines.

Mesh modeling is how it's always been done everywhere else.  From the rest of the 3D modeling world's point of view, it's almost comical that there are people in existence who feel that prims and sculpties are normal, and that mesh modeling is foreign.  If LL had it to do all over again, they most certainly would have included mesh support from the very beginning, and sculpties never would have had to exist at all. 

 

---

Del Harrop wrote:

I have `blindly`  bought a mesh version of a furniture item and am searching the web for help, as I was told they are not made as you would a sculpt item.

---

What exactly are you looking to do with that piece of furniture?

 

 

---

Del Harrop wrote:

This thread is the nearest I have found but basics not explained

---

The reason you haven't been able to find the basics of mesh modeling explained in any forum thread is because it's not possible to do.  It's just too big a subject, and too broad a question.  Forums are good for answering very specific how-to questions, but they're not suited for teaching entire subjects from A to Z. 

You can no more expect to learn 3D modeling from a forum than you could expect to learn to play the violin from a forum.  It's something you have to actually do in order to understand, and something you have to practice in order to get good at.  You can't just read a few paragraphs about it and go.

If you want to become a mesh modeler, here's how.  Pick a modeling program, pick a good introductory tutorial series for it, and follow along religiously.  Complete the entire series, from start to finish.  Do not try to skip around, or cherry pick just what you think you need to know.  Let each lesson build upon the last, as designed.  When you're done, you'll have a working knowledge of the basics.  From there, it's practice, practice, practice, and more practice.  And when you're done with that, it's time for more practice, and then some more.

Also, just about every college in the civilized world offers classes on 3D modeling these days, and there are tons of places to take online courses, as well. 

 

If you don't want to do that much work to learn to make mesh models, that's fine; don't be a mesh modeler, and find something else to do with your time.  If you do want to be a mesh modeler, understand and accept that it's going to be a long learning process.  The good news is it's a fun and rewarding process, as long as you enjoy it for what it is, and don't try to rush things.  It only gets frustrating or tedious when you try to jump into things you're not yet ready for.  So take it slow, and enjoy.

 

[Del Harrop]

Smiling...thanks for that good explanation...and the lecture  ))...I`m a primmy person most of the time . I have ventured into Blender ...I was mainly curious about Mesh

[Drongle McMahon]

"... how anybody in their right mind would choose to go about 3D modeling"

:matte-motes-agape: Oh dear. I hope Qarl isn't reading this! (although he might agree :matte-motes-grin:).