VanillaSunsets

I read your post again (and again) coz I find it interesting. I totally can find myself in what you are saying, I was there at 1 point, I think we have all been. I have used RL aspects in SL, like for example an SL family, social connections, friends. I have land, I build a house and a garden, well, ok. it serves as a store nowadays. All are available in SL if we want. We mimic RL and that seems only natural. BUT, I also play Entropia Universe, even longer then I have played SL. There we do not get to choose how our world looks lile, well... not yet. We do not get to build our own homes nor our gardens. Still there is social interactions. There are societies that are much alike SL groups and this works too. So why do we, in SL, pick the RL world as an example. Sure, there are many fantacy themed sims, I must have seen them all. (If you have any new, cool ones, let me know) But the majority of ppl still keep coming back to the sims that mimic RL, to the ppl that mimic RL, to events that sell "better then RL,, but close to it" items? If you take a few steps back... sure, some are the exception to the rule, in SL maybe more then some, but in general... ppl choose RL mimics over VR freedom. So I wonder... ;P

Dealing with this might be hard, balancing between not upsetting the regular,/long time residents and the newcomers. Maybe a "noob-modus" with lots of hints, coz lotssss it will be. Indeed like explaining no-fly restrictions

Nicely put! I find it very interesting to see ppl's points of view on this subject and I find myself finding new angles to look at it. This is very nice

I can see your point

I had wings too, when I look back I find that me escaping into fantasy often was the same times I need the escape from RL. Guess I needed to create some safe area, or just take some distance. But maybe that is just a coincidence.. EDIT: Not saying that residents that wear wing are all escaping RL, it is my personal view

I am also very curious as I toyed with the idea of the parallels between SL and RL, human behaviour and what ppl do when they can build a "reality". What do ppl do when there are no limits. Looking at SL I am starting to think that ppl need those limits, if not provided by others, authorities or for some ppl a God... we create our own limits and are back where we started. trying to escape all these limits. This all sounds very heavy and deep but it also goes for how we look, what we want to look at, how we create our environment, houses and nature in SL.

It is indeed a very interesting subject to let your brain chew on for a bit. I will surely follow that discussion! I see SL as the real world but faster, way, way faster. You can learn a lot from it, it tells you some things about human behavior and about where SL might end up. Maybe even where RL will end up... Very interesting

Agreed. Funny fact is that Blender and SL developed in two totally different directions. I think this is part of the problem. As Blender evolved into a program that is nowadays easier to understand then it was 10 years ago, SL went the other way. Blender has had an interface that made ppl cry, now it has a more "natural" interface, more Windows-like if you wish. SL on the other hand has had an understandable interface and is more cluttered and complicated today. Back when SL started the residents wanted their world to be as different for RL as it could be. Remember we all had fantastic pink and purple prim hair...? We created things that were literally out of this world (all we had were basic prims). The possibilities were endless! Today we want SL to be a very realistic world, as much as RL as it can be... and better. We have set our own boundaries now on what is possible, this is not endless and that is kind of sad. We are trapped in our own expectations, limiting ourselves by no longer thinking out of the box. We made our own mess and made SL the complicated patform it has become. Blender today is able to do the opposite, it now can do the "out of this world" stuff and there seems no limit. This is deep stuff :matte-motes-agape:

Part of my brain agrees with the steep learning curve. The other part accepts this curve and took the time to learn. My first avatar was made over 10 years ago and yeah..., it was sometimes hard to figure stuff out. Back then things were simple, less possibilities and we never heard of Windlight settings, mesh or sculpties. We did not have that many settings and there were less ways to do stuff like dressing. Maybe that is my luck, I got in early. Today SL is way more complicated but you live and learn. Aren't all things worthwhile complicated and hard? If it were easy... would it keep you playing for a long time, or 10 years even, like myself? I doubt it would. Yes, I do think the way things are done in SL could be more simple without making it less attractive. That many ways to put something on, that many ways to unpack something... things like that make it hard on a new resident. It clutters up the viewer. Let's talk about how much of these complicated things we ourselves are responsible for...? Much of it if you ask me! We wanted more, we created more. We wanted mesh hands, now we want mesh bodies. We want it all and we pay the price. We found loopholes and used them, now they are a part of our virtual world. In 10 years I was willing to go from a total noob into a content creator, making mesh ( yep, meaning I mastered Blender and Photoshop etc. too). I make textures, can do a bit of coding, a bit of rigging and I can dress myself, by myself Was it worth all that time and effort? Yes, it was and still is! There is no virtual world that has this much to offer and no other world makes me feel like home the way SL does. My advice to people that find SL hard to learn is to hang in there. Master one thing at a time, ask other residents if you get confused. Use the forum, use Google and You Tube. You are almost never the first person that has that question, it has probably been asked before. And... don't forget to have fun!

Sadly this is what SL has become over the years. When SL was a new world there was more respect for privacy and asking for any RL information was "not done" and I have to agree I liked it better that way. But it is what it is.... don't feel like you are forced into anything, don't feel anything, not even flattered ;-) It is fine to ignore these requests, most of these "men" are sad losers. If they want to be certain they caught a real living and breathing female, maybe they should hunt for their preys in a RL bar or club. But they don't and ask yourself why they don't. That says it all if you ask me. You may want to put a bit of text in your profile telling these gentlemen that you do not voice nor Skype, that may discourage 50% of the losers. Still some will ignore that or just not even take the time to read your profile before IM-ing you. Again, that says enough. You may also try to find friends in other places where there is more respect for females, plenty of places for that. This sounds a bit like you have to change your ways coz others around you do not know how to treat a lady but in the long run it might be worth it. It would be a shame if you would stop logging into SL coz it makes you feel uncomfortable, coz that it can result into. I agree with you that SL should and can be a medium where all boundaries and disabilities are wiped away. And you should use it that way. Don't let this stop you in any way!

I'll wave at you :-P

Being treated rude and called nasty names is always a shock. But it happens... Like IRL not everybody is a nice person. And you can't make them behave to your own standards. Neither can LL. Fact is that it is their land, they pay and they set the rules. As confusing or inconsistent as those may be. Maybe you should look at it this way.... ppl that own land see this as their home, their garden. And they allow you to visit it, no fee charged. In return they expect you to behave according to their rules. Paying for land gives the owner about the same feeling as it were a RL house. That will make them behave the same as a RL home owner. Now ask yourself what you yourself would tolerate in your RL home that you pay for. This may give you a small insight as to why some land owners behave like they do. It isn't nice, but it does explain the behavior. Try to see it their way just to give it some perspective. Then mute them and forget about it fast ;-) I don't approve how you have been treated and I am sure Karma will deal with this rudeness.

Proto99 wrote: so they force people to get in to 2 group ,the builder and the no builder, i need to get an viewer from os grid,to export my object.. why we cant make animation in second life...will it be so hard do make it so, avastar,why it not an update of the second live viewer letting people edit there mesh avatar in world, Sorry of my frustration,but why,will it be so hard, you turn every thing in mesh ,but the viewer is not suitable,to even edit a mesh..... Anyway,i dont build anymore,i made a slot,i will get rich There is no force, like in RL there are ppl that make stuff and ppl that buy stuff. That is the market model as it has always been and always will be in any world that has an economy of some form. It is up to you what you will be. The viewers we talked about are not specific to Open Sim, they are just some viewers that are not uncommon in SL. In fact, Firestorm is maybe even the viewer most used in SL. Yes, it would be so hard to implement your wish list to the SL viewers! And a lot of ppl's hardware will not run that kind of heavy software. Then I suspect you would be back to tell us that it is unfair that just some ppl can use this. The software would just get too heavy for the average player's machine! Avastar... I own Avastar and that is not used to edit your mesh avatar. It is used to make avatars, attachments, animations and such. Yes, it might seem to you everything around you turned into mesh. But then again, it all was mesh from the beginning. A prim is a mesh, every avatar was always a mesh. The viewer is build to interact up to some point with mesh. You can use the sliders to change the looks of your avatar. That works for the user made mesh bodies too. Up to a point ofcourse, every software and platform has it's limits and they always will. That never changed. As to editing meshes that are not avatars, you can edit them. Resize, rotate, move, just like any classic prim cube can be edited. How much you can edit them is up to the creator. Just like it always was from the start. It is ok to get frustrated by changes, especially when you feel like they go way over your head. We all felt like that at some point I guess. It would be less frustrating if you do not make it your goal to get rich fast in SL. The days SL would make you get rich fast are over. It is just a lot of hard work, a lot of studying, trail and error, creativity, determination and a hard head ;-P

Yes indeed, Singularity and Firestorm both have this option the last time I checked. It worked for me on Singularity, never tried it on Firestorm. You would need some skills to ad LOD's and physics in a 3D tool tho. For the OP this might still be an appealing option.

Proto99 wrote: may i suggest an merge prim option in the viewer ,to make more complex shape using less prim count,as when you upload mesh,it will consider how much value the new shape complexity.using the outside surface of the merged prim, This is probably never ever going to happen. This would be like taking a step backwards. The future is mesh for (most) building and in mesh you can make any shape desired. There will always be some room for classic prims. Sometimes, when making very large builds, classic prim will be a LI saver, some use it for collision, sometimes, again, especially in large build, sculpts are a better option. The disadvantage of sculpts is that they have a high number of faces tho. You can get lower face counts in mesh then in a sculpt. To make it even more complicated, when you use a large mesh, you will get punished in LI, large mesh, large count. This is not the case for sculpts. In time everything will have it's place in building. Mesh is not God's gift to builders, prims are not always ugly or old school, sculpts are the "freaks of nature" in SL but will not die out any day soon because large meshes are (way too) high in LI! It will settle :-)

I agree with you that mesh has changed the life of creators. Just not as much as you might suspect. Texturing was always done outside SL, unless you just slap a texture on a prim, that I don't consider to be texturing. Sculpties were also made in 3D software, so are animations. That is just progress, good or bad, that's in the eye of the beholder. About being AFK to build, yes, you spend a lot of time AFK or on the Beta grid to test the builds. But then, when I would build in prims, a few years ago, I would be unavailable too. You cannot chat and concentrate on a good build at the same time. So I would either use my alt or just be incomunicado (or get very grumpy at friends, lol) ;-P There are some tools that let you build in prims In-world and convert that to mesh. That way you will spend more time in the game and less time in 3d software. And using that you can walk inside your build if that is what you like. I like that too, so I get what you are saying very well. It took me some time to get used to just orbiting a camera trough a build in Blender. It just feels different, you get a less specific idea about sizing if you don't work in-world. But you cope, you get used to it after a while if you give it a chance. So there other solutions, no need to build just crap:-)

I so get what you mean, most of us do, lol. The way I would go is buying Avastar, rigging is easier in Avastar and the documentation is not only updated as Gaia reported, it is also specific to the SL skeleton/avatar. There are alternatives, sure, Maya and it's SL rigging ad-on, but then you need to be able to invest in very expensive software. Or keep struggling to get it to work in Blender without any add-on. This is do-able, but it will take you more time. If only on the time you spend on reading and watching the tutorials that are mostly out-dated and harder, much harder to find. That time you can spend on actually making your product, start earning L$ sooner and you will probably make the money you spend on Avastar back in some time. Another way is to buy some full perm clothing, texture those, study how it is made in wireframe, how maps are made and so on... Sell those and save what you earn to buy Avastar. That way you have not spend anything you could not spare, got some practice and have a semi steady income while you work on your own projects. As to the learning curve compared to Blender itself, it's just another few buttons, but this time the buttons will make it easier instead of more complicated. Reading the info on the page Gaia linked to will get you up to speed quite fast as this will be focused on just that Avastar menu and those buttons. If you follow along with Blender opened and your clothing loaded, you will learn by trail and error. Als,o like most of us, lol. Avastar also has the possibility, on their website, to ask questions. Even on this forum Gaia keeps watch and responds to questions by Avastar users almost always (maybe even always, never kept track). I wish you good luck and hope you will create magnificent items :-)

Ah, Gaia, that is great! I know I that will make it less hard for a starting designer. Thank you :-)

Yes, that's just such a shame. It would be a perfect way to save resources tho :-) The object I want to test this on is about 15 meters high. Meaning: only the 2nd LOD level will make a significant difference when it comes to reducing land impact. Most ppl I know have their LOD cranked up all the way to 4 (FS viewer) so little ppl will ever see the lower LOD levels. But I try to be a good girl and improve the efficiency of my meshes as I learn to slowly understand the platform better bit by bit. I would like to have that show in my work. Another point to consider there are still ppl that did not crank up LOD and I would like them to see a decent product too and not just a mess of triangles. Sometimes it is hard tho! SL is a very hard platform to create for these days. The engine is made for gaming but the expectations of the users are going more into the direction of what animation movies are made like. Easily forgotten is that in those movies are not a few thousand avatar's walking around! We all want amazing detail, real cloth wrinkles, realistic design and all this within a smooth frame rate and nice and low land impact. Materials were a small blessing but for large builds this only goes so far. Don't get me wrong, complaining and all.... I still love SL and even more to build for SL. I still find it a challenge to keep up and learn something new every week! It has stimulated me to learn how to use software I otherwise never would have touched. But the fact remains, it is never easy ;-P

The add-on is well worth the money. Documentation however, could be less confusing. Loads of tutorials on You Tube, but mind the difference in versions. There is a l ot of outdated stuff out there. Still, it does make life easier and Gaia is friendly and helpfull whenever she can :-) Another plus is, you will find more ppl can help you here on the forum. Lots of us are Avarstar/Blender users Here we are specialized in the workflow from Blender/Avastar to SL. You will find less information on this pipeline on the regular Blender fora, those fora are less specific.

I am still playing with this concept. Both fun and frustrating. The most logical seems to use one material and map both the uv of the high LOD and the low LOD to one texture. I would use a standard texture change script to change just all sides/faces in that part of the linkset. Still, a problem here is that I should sacrifice in the detail and sharpness of the texture in both a part of the high LOD and all of the low LOD. I therefore I would map out the high LOD larger as that will be seen at closer range. Note that in this case my mesh is large so I will be using just one plane or cube based LOD for the 3 lower levels of LOD. This should make it easier.RL is busy so I am testing this slowly.

There is a free package here that many creators use: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Standard-Sizing-Package/2894727 For fitted I would use the small or xtra small as a base. Most (pls don't be offended if you prefer a plus size) customers are s or xs size. Base your design on that work from there.

Thanks, going to study and test this!

TY Arton, I am trying to visualize this. Normaly I do use scripts for this kind of thing indeed. Using the same material on both LOD's would mean detail loss when working with large objects I assume. As I would have to put them on the same 1024 or 512 texture layout. So let's assume I would go for the other workflow, a script. If I do so, I see myself running into the problem that the high and low LOD's are in fact the same object, named the same. The scripts I use need me to name all parts in the linkset to tell it what to change texture on. I cannot give the high and low LOD seperate names... I think? Maybe I have overlooked some awesome script that can work around this problem? Time for some more brainstorming :-)

Hello fellow mesh weavers :-) I am brainstorming on LOD's and texture change scripts here. Let's say I have an object, made in Blender. This could be a window with curtains, a tree with foliage or a table with a cloth on top. It is made of several objects, it will be imported together and become a linkset in SL. This is my highest LOD for the uploader. I also made a lower LOD model and reduced the tri's on all parts but one. This one has many tris but could be replaced by cube or cross plane geometry in the low LOD model. Now comes the exciting stuff.... This part I would like to be able to change textures on in the high LOD model. How can you make this work on the lower LOD levels? Obviously when I zoom out I get presented the lower LOD's it will snap to the texture that I gave the low LOD cross plane. Is there any way to have the lower LOD change texture at the same time as the high LOD? Can this be done at all? Or should I just make a product in all textures, sell them separately and avoid this mind breaking subject? TY for taking the time to read this and any input is welcome!