Tenly

In the same place I used to put a texture, the box now says materials. and just reading chics post about 8 sided and materials...Im even more confused. Would that be that you add a texture, and then define it as stone or metal or plastic, for example, and using a simple 8 sided object as an example, each of those faces could have a different texture.material? so one face can be shiny metal and have a metal texture, and another could be set as diamond texture and select for something shiny. sorry do not have the viewer open so dont recall all the options. YES I read the SL notes about materials ready but I didnt see how it differed other than simply renaming the word "texture" to "materials" and selecting the type of material. And Ive tried on so called "materials ready" items and "not materials ready" and didnt see a single difference between the object. In this case it was hair that I was considering purchasing.

It appears the blender sensei thread is an old one, and a closed one, with last dated 2011. If it were open id post what I just learned. which is that for the beginner, having the UI simplified helps a lot. Even though the thread is closed im adding this site to my cache of resources. So thanks for that! You might thing blender sensei isnt for the super advanced blender operator, and maybe thats true, but for an overwhelmed noob like me... the first few videos I watched along with installing blender sensei have made a few things so much easier to understand. and yes, I had a DOH! moment. The thing is, if your not familiar, with what word to use, you can search/google all you want but you wont find the answer to what you are stumbling on. For example, with some software you IMPORT to bring items into an existing document. Apparently blender uses APPEND. And Im used to being able to have multiple files open with software Im familiar with, but it seems you cant do that with any 3D software. or, maybe you can and I just havent discovered how its done. Blender uses a lot of different terms than some of the other software Ive been evaluating. And even they are not consistent between one another. One application uses "tesslate" and others call that something else altogether. so, Im grateful for this simplified gem. Thank you again Jorie!

Due to the fact Id been frustrated with Blender I had posted asking for advice on other software that I was testing out on a trial basis. One very wise person recommended Blender Sensei to me. And already Im finding that Blender may very well be the best, instead of the worst, place for me to start learning what I want. With that in mind, and realizing there may be other helpful tools out there I thought I would ask for any recommends for addons which have made creating content for SL easier. I am aware of avastar, though Im not certain how that would make things easier. Probably because Im still learning to use blender. My goal is to learn to create shoes, then move on to other items of rigged clothing. And if they ever get the finger bones worked out I might take a shot at hand animations...though I believe that is a long way off. If ever. While I have no desire to create mesh bodies, I am in need of a tut to create a mesh foot. Im googling that, but as always any helpful suggestions are appreciated. Please do not refer me to slink. Id love to work with their foot instead of having to make my own, but it appears you have to be able to make your own before you can use theirs. I get that its a matter of trust. Im not bashing slink for their policy. I mention it only because Ive had several people tell me to skip trying to make my own feet and take that short cut. But its not an option. I admire Slink, Matraiya and many MANY other designers and creators in SL. I doubt my talents will ever rival anyone elses. Im just an old chic trying to do more with a beloved hobby. Id be happy to purchase feet for use but I dont think they or any other foot creator does that. Anyway...all recommends, tips and helpful comments appreciated.

Just wanted to update my quest for a sensible mesh creation tool to say that I have found a great place to start. Which was the last place I wanted to go. BUT thanks to a wise and very helpful Jorie, in another thread, Ive been pointed to an addon called Blender Sensei. And as I noted to Jorie, just three videos in and already some truly mystifying and frustrating issues for me, regarding blender, have been resolved. It might be Ill never be a super mesh creator of shoes...but at least now I think I have a solid platform to begin to try. Thanks everyone for all your advice. if I manage to master blender Ive no doubt Ill invest in other programs in future and your advice means a lot.

OMG, Kwakkelde, you have no idea how much easier you just made my SL experience. I had not thought of the UI slider. mindset still in old fashioned mode I guess, where font size enlarges text. THANK YOU.

thanks chic. Ill start with boots! :-)

If anyone knows how to delete a topic let me know. I have my answer!

I have seen some shoes that claim to be compatible with slink, matraiya and another...it would make sense to me that you would simple "add" the shoe regardless of what "foot" you are wearing. So why couldnt they "fit" onto the mesh body? though I know there is madness in my logical desire because even trying to "add" the shoe if you are not wearing a slink foot for example results in the shoe not even being visible. I tried. very weird result. Id like to make shoes that could be "added" to any mesh foot. I guess I do not understand the fundamentals well enough to know if what I am thinking is correct thinking. I mean you can put a jacket on...do I understand from the conversation above that the jacket will only go on a lara body, and not any other mesh body? EKE! if thats the case, and I have been wondering as Ive seen mesh clothes that say they are for this body or that body...implying that I, with no external added mesh body, could not wear it. Thats not for me. I do not want to have to restrict my shopping to mesh clothes that are only compatible with one vendors body. While I do own slink feet...and another brand as well...I dont yet have shoes for them. Id really rather not purchase shoes that are limited to one brand. so, for the moment all my shoes have their own feet. That being said, I want to make shoes, but not feet. so drat...a question for another thread will be, how do I make a shoe that can be added to a slink, matraiya or other foot?

hi Nalates, originally I wanted to use the slink foot to create some shoes because like you said, why spend time with the skin, the everything including the shoe. but when I put in application slink said, if you dont already sell mesh in the store, then you dont get to use their feet. its not easy to model a shoe if you dont have the foot to work with. Believe me, Id rather focus on the shoe. I make my own skins, and Ive worked with full perms from other shoe vendors so I know the hassel of trying to make a hud for the skin, and everything else. but now, as someone who wants to get beyond the limites of what I currently know, want to design my own shoes. Since I cant get a pre-existing foot from one of these vendors Ive got to go the old fashioned route of doing the whole thing from scratch. what a pain this process is. Ugh.

thanks Jorie, Ill check these out. I thought Carrerra was just for posing or making scenes? Ill admit a bit confused on some of the DAZ software.

thank you Cathy. Im still learning and fudtzing with which program is best for me so maybe by the time I wrap my head around the right tool they will be able to go past beta. Im content to be able to check things out on beta. thanks so much for letting me know though.

chic, I purchased my files from a creator that used to sell in SL, and Ive used many of his full perms inside SL. Currently he has pretty much left SL (though you can still find his products in the marketplace) and now sells FULL PERM on a 3D sales website OUTSIDE of SL and yes, it is allowed to be used for games etc and that includes uploaded to SL or inworldz for that matter. For personal or commercial use because I PAID for that licensing. Ironically I think he left because lindens were saying anything uploaded into the world became their property? I might be wrong about that. Certainly hope they still dont have that mindset because I wouldnt dream of uploading anything into any world where anything I purchased or created they automatically claimed was theirs. thats nuts.

Jorie, thank you for the blender sensei tip. looking at videos of this now and this looks very promising. Going to download and see if I can get a step farther with this tool added on. THANKS!

Ive never heard of blender sensei. Ill google that. And check out the subscription option on modo. TY!

Im sorry that you are upset because some people dont like blenders UI. If you do a little research you will find my so called negative attitude regarding blenders UI is in fact an attitude held by many. I did not ask you to evaluate my attitude. I asked for software recommendations.

Im trying to evaluate zbrush to see if I want to use it for SL creations but Im having a problem just trying to get the basic tools to work. like zoom in and out wont work. anyone else have problems like this? Another 3D tool gave me the same problem but Im not sure if its my mac, my mouse or bad luck. I have a 2010 imac, and I dont use a mac mouse because its too small. so I use tecknet mouse. IDK...just want a good tool to use that doesnt have a crappy interface like blender. :-( also I have vision problem so would like a software program that lets me increase the size of text. way too many applications, including SL viewer fail to allow adjustment of font sizes for sight impaired.

So I have a purchased .dae file. If I import it to blender, which I will not use, the objects come in righ side up. Now when I import into MODA (which I love) the shoes come in sideways. When I attempt to rotate the shoes all the parts rotate but lose their relationships to one another. some of the parts offset considerably. Its a trial version of MODA so Im evaluating it and cant figure out what I need to do to make all the parts stay together. Ill include a pic of what it looks like imported..one shoe on one side of the floor grid and one on the top side and both sideways. In addition when I try to save the file from blender in another format, the shoes then import rightside up, when when I try to do anything the scene goes all haywire and then I cant even see the objects. ugh. I finally find a tool where many things seem intuitive but I cant accomplish the simplest thing with an imported .dae. I really believe Im doing something wrong. so hope there is a moda expert in here. thanks for your time! 

where do we get the new avatar to import and play around with?

I had no idea there was a maya LT version! I think Id rather have the vertices. Ill check that out and thanks for the advice!

Zbrush has been recommended for creating shoes, however, as I understand it...you cant rig for SL with zbrush? and you have to take the mesh into something else to not only add bones to rig, but also to do something to reduce the number of polygons? Is that correct...or does anyone know of a reasonable work flow with Zbrush? Im looking at modo which is amazing. but over 1000. US. Zbrush seems to be only slightly less, but also does not seem to do all that Modo does. Anyone else experience between the two? and no, blender is not an option. I hate blender with every fibre of my being. lol.

OMG! this tool is amazing!!!! I WANT!!!

I want to make some mesh shoes...first for myself...then maybe one day for my market but Im not impressed with the idea of making FIVE sizes. Ive heard of liquid mesh or mesh deformer? Can't I just make one rigged shoe and have it adjust to the avatar? and if not, arent I better off not rigging it? Initially I might make the shoe with the foot. I wanted to make shoes for slink eventually, but you already have to be making your own mesh and be selling it before they will let you make shoes for them. which is fine I guess. But not sure if I get to that point if the shoe should be rigged or not or how deformer or what not is required.

Thanks for the feedback folks. Between you and a few forums I found this morning I figured out that I wont be able to use Silo. Its buggy for one, and I couldnt even mouse with it and follow the tutorial. However, it is a beautifully simple program and Im a little disapointed regarding what I read in the forums. Id look past the bugs to learn this tool as its one of the first that had good tutorials to help one get started and it really IS intuitive. I wrote to their support and sales to express my experience and to tell them I hope they do not abandon it like Hexagons creators did. Im afraid they are diverting their talents elsewhere though. We really need a tool like this for beginners like me. OKay, well now Im off to try Moda 902. Which is pretty damn expensive so it may not be for me either. but its way less than 4500. for Maya. But thats on another thread as I didnt want my concerns or questions for one to get lost in my queries of the other. Thanks for your time and your advice!

Yesterday I asked about Silo, in another thread and learned it does not import or export collada. Today Ive discovered Moda and before download checked the manual and it says it can import and export collada. So Im going to give it a try. However, Im still looking for folks who have experience with it or with something else. And please, not blender. I know its free but it has been the most frustrating program to use. I have hexagon, which has no support, and as far as I can tell does not rig or do uv. And while I dont know anything about rigging and very little about UV I know if I want to create my own mesh shoes instead of just using the full perms I have on hand I need to learn those things as well. So, Im off to install moda and check out the tuts. Ill give feedback when I can for those who may be interested. But Id love to hear from you all. From my Silo thread and further investigation at CG forums I learned Silo is not for me. Not until they work out the kinks and resolve the lack of collada import/export. BUt its a shame. its a beautifully simple, blessed looking tool. It IS buggy as well. I couldnt actually use my mouse to zoom in or out or turn the model but the tools simply MADE sense. It spoke my langauage. lol. I think that is where blender fails. It speaks developer speak and it buries too many things that should be related in unrelated places. And I think thats why its free.

Can you use zbrush to import an avatar...make shoes, texture, uv, rig etc? I thought someone said not, but maybe I was wrong?