Anna Nova

I had been thinking about doing that, it's been effective in the past. One thing that stops me is not knowing how to keep the High and Medium LOD versions in UV-Map sync. The only way I have found of giving the reduced poly version the same- but simplified UV-Map is to do the deletions from the Mapped High LOD version. If that makes sense.

and that is only because you good people here have helped me. The contributors to this thread read as my personal list of the Great and the Good. To whatever extent there is such a thing as a mesh-making apprenticeship outside of paid work and the universities, this is it.

Ya, but they are mostly just colored bits..... But I get the point.

I agree. Let's be clear, unless someone really really wants a copy of this house, and is prepared to sign a Support-Free contract at an exorbitant amount, this is a one-off for our parcel. Most people won't look twice as they pass, and anyone visiting will have to be polite, 'cos I control the ban-switch. It's for fun, and the joy of knowledge.

I'm aware, but thanks. The key here is that in High LOD the texture is mostly color - with a little graininess - the detail comes from the relatively high poly of the struts and edges. At Medium LOD (and Low and Lowest are set 'use above' right now) you can't really see that sort of thing anyway, even with viewer LOD 1.0. I think following Chic's and your input, I may remap it so that the wood, just the window frames in fact, are bigger in the UV Map. At the moment that UV-map is what Blender does for an unwrap - without manipulation - just careful seaming. And as I have 10 of these to do for the house, and would want them all to be to-scale with each other, I don't really want it too fiddly.

It's a 9.7m x 5.3m x 0.3. Here it is in Blender: I am still working on the nodes.

This is one of those threads you come upon in the forums that really makes your week!

Chic, you were right I needed 1024 texture to get sufficient geometry. My learning curve has been almost vertical - and I thought I knew Blender.... I'm finally making progress on this. It is an artform in it's own right, especially the UV-mapping and the Lighting. Here is my first reasonable attempt:

I never saw it before this year, and there are places being added every day. Maybe the 4LA has been repurposed.

err, isn't 'swinging' some kind of adult game? Lots of meshing then.

But unless you can find out the right code, you can't install the API. Or rather the settings for capacity and cost won't be right.

It's free if you already have a supported vehicle (see the list at https://tradeandtreasure.com/gtfo/vehicles/) Pick up the free HUD from the MP store, and start. If you like it, the paid HUD costs 700L. You probably missed the 500L launch price of a huge container ship though.... If you have a MOD vehicle that is in the supported list, you add the API script and it just works.

For the beta tests, by setting the med, low, and lowest LODs to zero in the uploader. That is what I am working on learning how to avoid and still achieve an acceptable result. What I still can't understand is why a mesh with lower triangles and vertices counts comes in with a significantly higher download value.

I see what you say about the Smart UVMap, My optimized ones may be even worse, because my objective is to isolate materials for baking. However I managed to reduce both Tris and Verts, and yet the DL cost went up (Smart to Optimized). I guess I need to do better on the vertex saving and the UV Mapping.

I'm making a serious attempt at making good LODs for last year's build of our octagon house. Because, in ignorance, we made it terribly. You can see it at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ogilvie/134/81/71 and here's a picture. The non-dome walls are made of flat panels, and were made with Mesh Generator, and textured using seamless textures in world. I had planned to take the DaEs into Blender, change the tris to quads, merge co-incident verts, remove some faces that aren't visible, and then using nodes bake a single 512sq texture on it. Then bake the same high-poly texture onto a simplified mesh for the medium, and put that image onto a plane imposter for the Low/Lowest. However, I am getting thwarted by my lack of understanding. I tried 5 different uploads in beta using the Second Life Viewer (and Firestorm viewer, I'm on Linux, so I expected the results to be almost identical and they were) These are the results of one mesh set. Triangles Vertices Download Cost Mesh Generator object (MGO) 7672 6322 3.846 Import-Export no triangulation 7672 6306 3.975 Ditto Tri-Quad, Triangulation on export 7672 6306 3.975 Ditto plus a Smart UV-Map 7672 7235 5.263 Fully optimized mesh with detailed UV-Map 7432 6707 6.475 So a couple of observations/questions. The MGO is obviously quite good, and has preserved the materials, and comes in very low Land Impact. DL is the highest of the LI factors by far. Blender does a good job of turning triangles back to quad and vice-versa - in fact you can't see a difference. Adding a UV Map seems to add Vertices. Is this right? Is there an extra cost associated with UV maps? Or have I done something stupid? Reducing Triangles seems to make the DL cost go up. I was not expecting that. Why? and I haven't even started to make that Medium LOD yet...... Thanks for your wisdom.

I am having great fun in-world playing GTFO! (Get the freight out) I noticed that there seem to be no forum threads about it, so...

That'll explain why I don't see them at all. LL is still catching up with it's Linux viewers. I can wait, nothing missing that would make me give Microsoft or Apple a bent cent.

So does that mean they want us to depend on it never changing? Then it should be documented as a feature.

It's all Windows fault. Or maybe you are not paranoid after all - they ARE out to get you! I don't get it with Firestorm 5.0.1 on Linux.

The answer is to connect via a VPN and chose an exit node in a gambling-allowed place, but be warned the latency is horrible. NB. I am not an American.

Or you could do what I do. And just don't go.

Beware the 1 2 post troll.... Isn't Indiana somewhere in Texas? USA for sure, I guess. And why did the hint start there? (confused European)

Trouble is, if you turn off banlines, you'll drive your truck into them....

One of my heros made a mistake! Cool, it puts all mine into perspective.

I read his point as: the seller can fix the demos. So they can lie. We have no way to know if the demo is the same as the product.