Christhiana

OK....so I never noticed before that the number of verts in the uploader is always higher then the verts count in blender. Am I correct to assume that the uploader splits the verts so each triangle has it's own 3 verts? That would explain things a little bit more. Even if this is the case I still find it strange that the verts count is 4x as much compared to the other LODs which seem to be about 2x as much as shown in blender...

I'm uploading a mesh model I made to the beta grid. The LOD2 (low) model has 45 verts and 86 tris in blender. However when in the uploader I select it as the low LOD it says it has 174 verts and 86 tris! So it sees the correct number of tris but for some reason it sees 4x as many verts. Is this a bug in the mesh uploader or am I doing something wrong? When I import the exported collada file back into blender it still says 45 verts. The calculated Li in the uploader does seem right for 45 verts (it should be a lot higher with 174 verts on the low LOD). EDIT I remade the LOD2 model and still the same effect. The other LODs are calculated correctly I'm using the latest firestorm x64 /EDIT

The outbox stuck in initialising is something I hear more of lately. You can file a support ticket for that and LL will fix it server side.

Aw, now you've got me all hungry.... I'd take a juicy stake or a shoarma dish anytime!

A quick and easy sulution would be to have 2 security system installed. One where you have all your friends on the access list and one that gives only you and your partner access. Then you could switch between the two if you want some privacy.

I stand corrected on that. but it is still a bit annoying...

I don't get it, why the agression? I only said it annoyed me...that's a personal opinion. I never said anyone should do something about it, or that I want anyone to change their behaviour because of me. I merely stated the feeling I get when I come across a post like that. If I offended you somehow with that statement then I apologize. Not here to pick a fight with anyone.

I just said it annoys me, don't make a bigger deal out of it then it is...

While that may have been the case once, now it states General Discussion Forum Second Life discussions welcome here! Please follow the community guidelines. It annoys me (only a little to be honest) because I come here to read and post about SL because this is the official SL forum. I don't want to click through posts that have nothing to do with SL. There are literally thousands of forums on the internet appropriate for these topics, why not post it overthere? It was more about pointing out the hypocrite reaction the TS got on posting in the wrong section.

The title doesn't reveal that it has nothing to do with SL so I won't notice until I view it....

And yet you have no problem with a thread that has nothing to do with SL like this: Imagine this. . . 10 minutes of bliss You even posted a reply into that thread "/me presses the Report Appropriate Content button.". You find that appropriate content for an SL forum? Those are the threads that really annoy me. I come here to read and post about SL, not to view music videos (plenty of forums for that).

What could help is, wear something crazy, strange, funny, silly, etc when going to a club. This gives people something to start a conversation over. The same goes the other way around. When you see someone wear something like that, chances are they do that to attract attention and seek conversation just like you.

You really remind me of that movie Shallow Hall. And please don't state that whole of SL sees or thinks something when you obviously have no clue what other people think. I'll form my own opinion!

That's a good point to keep in mind. Build for the purpose! This build is not going to be a castle on a hill at the heart of the sim. I think it will mostly find it's way to 1024-4096 parcels. It's not that details that I find difficult to handle in LODs but rather the shape of the object. Omitting vertices always changes the shape drastically in big simple objects. this is making the LOD switch very visible, where omitting details within a shape (when done right) can make the switch look seamless and even unnoticable.

You have a good point there. I don't think my target audience will put this house on a full sim but rather a small parcel. I ussually have my own viewing distance at 128 and then I wouldn't even see the LOD2 for the larger outside parts of the house. But still I would like my build to add to the scenery of SL for everyone, not just the owner. I'd hate it to have a neighbour next to me with a house that looks like revenge of the triangles from my parcel.

Wow, your house looks gorgeous! And all that for 99 Li? I'm very impressed!

I think for the shutters (I really meant window blinds) that might be the best way to go. In order to have them "pull up", I've already had to had a piece of hidden geometry so that would be perfect for holding the extra material and texture. I could even render a picture of the window blinds (I really meant window blinds) in blender.

I've tried combining parts of the mesh into one object but usually this means a higher Li. I've already spend some time on figuring out how I get the lowest Li there and I'm quite satisfied with the result. I'd probably do it your way if the house consisted of straight walls instead of the column structure I have now. I will give it a try on my next build! I agree with you on taking the extra prims and getting it right. Everything seems to be about low Li nowadays but in the past few weeks I've really learned that ultra low Li comes at a prize...

Yes I've noticed how terrible the world looks with the default SL viewer settings. It was a real eye opener! I wonder if this is a part of the reason there is such a low retention amongst new users. I've compared some parts of my structure with a prim build version but in the case of this house, the prims always come up with more Li. But i've nothing against using regular prims, especially for big simple shapes. ATM the house has a Li of 62 (was about 50 before I started working on LODs), but that's partly due to the detailed shutters on every window (i'm thinking of making them optional for the customer).

Thanks for explaining this! I tested and you're right about the mappings. It's when you reset the UVmapping in blender that all faces become a maximized square. And I do agree with you that it's always a good practise to unwrap. Even if it's just to improve on the skill.

What I meant was that he doesn't need to unwrap the object if he uses planar mapping in SL. In my experience when you don't unwrap, every face is a square streched to the max of the texture. At least for blender. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

One more thing... You can also unwrap one object to multiple images/textures. This way you can get more detailed textures on an object. But for every seperate image you have to assign a material slot to the faces that are in that image together. This is so that you can later add the different textures to your object in SL. Glad to be of help. I'm also learning and ask a lot of questions myself

BTW, if you want to ask a question inworld, I'm mostly on the beta grid nowadays.

You need to UV unwrap if you want to add baked textures (AO, shadows) to your object or if you want to make a texture that fits exactly the way you want it. e.g. a dashboard with dials and switches on it. If you just want to put a repeating texture on your object you don't need to unwrap. e.g. a brick texture on a wall. Not unwrapping might also save some Li. In the image editor (edit mode) there is a button to keep the UV map in sync with the object (what you select on either is also selected on the other). You can now select on the UV map or the object and in the materials tab select the correct material and click assign.

On the materials tab click the plus sign next to the top window to add a material slot. If you also want to add a material to the slot you can click the button below that window with "+ new" on it. If you add a material and your model looks a little dark in SL, that's because when you create a standard material the color is not white but grey. You can change it back to white in edit mode if you need.