Jump to content

IvyTechEngineer

Resident
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    283

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by IvyTechEngineer

    Model Building

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Hello

    I would like to add some AutoCAD parts that my students have drawn. There is a way to convert and scale them in Solidworks and Blender that works well. In Blender I wanted to add the base material and then add text to the object that is the student's name and maybe the name of the part. 

    The first model has only 200 tris but when I add text the tris jump to 718. Since the text is actually geometry I assume this is not the best way to add text on the object. Maybe it would be better to just create an image use a uvmap to put the student name where I want? I did that and it looks ok but had to edit the uvmap to get it to align in the right place. Comments?

    Assignment1 without text.png

    Assignment1 with text.png

    Assignment1 with image 1.png

    Model Building

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Hey thanks for your efforts on the house, it is very cool. I have already created an STL file from Solidworks and the tris are only 370.in Blender. We are using AutoCAD this semester and I wanted to try my hand at drawing in SL. Do you have refence material on converting the floorplan into a 3D model? I need to do some more work in Blender to be able to draw a floorplan but maybe that will be the next thing I do. I was wondering if there is an object snap feature in SL. I am sure some of my walls are not exactly in the right location. I only use the SL Viewer and not Firestorm. 

    Ivy

    Model Building

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Hello

    I have another project for my students that uses AutoCAD to possibly draw a house in Second Life. There are several challenges with this assignment.  Converting feet and inches to meters can be an issue for some students. We can do that but I am sure some students will have problems or forget. Maybe we can upload a common dimensioned floorplan and students can build the house on top of the floorplan image? 

    A 3D model of the house will give students a better appreciation of the design. I would assume I could scale the image to 2K and even use it in Blender to create a model. That could be fun but I want to start with the SL build first. Any suggestions?

    Thanks

    IvyTech 

    Screenshot 2024-02-13 081442.png

    • Like 1

    Model Building

    in Mesh

    Posted

    I was experimenting with a partial model of my BCC model and noticed that the model had 

    • Vertices = 1553
    • Edges = 4647
    • Faces = 2098
    • Triangles = 3098

    The after the Alt-J, manual mesh cleanup by merging vertices, dissolving edges, etc.., and deleting every other edge loop I was pretty happy but still had some non-symmetry in the mesh. 

    • Vertices = 395
    • Edges = 828
    • Faces = 437
    • Triangles = 789

    Is there away to evenly space vertices around a circle? Also, I still don't understand why the STL file has so many issues with it's geometry. along some of the cut edges. 

     

    Thanks

    IvyTech

    new partial.png

    new partial rev.png

    Model Building

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Hey, thanks for your comments. It seems like I always get stuck in Blender trying to reduce mesh models that I import, lol. I have used the decimate modifier before and that sometimes leaves me feeling like the mesh could be better. I think most of my issues come from using a CAD tool like Solidworks but there is a way to decimate in Solidworks as well which will reduce the total number of tris. I can precisely draw almost anything in Solidworks so I am biased. 

    Recently,  I have been revisiting some of the stuff I did when I got started with building models to see if I could understand and improve the models and workflow. Thanks to you guys I have learned a lot and continue to explore building more and more models for Second Life. 

    Regards

    IvyTech

    Model Building

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Sorry, my question was poorly stated. I want to reduce the mesh by following Bryson's approach but feel like I clean up the mesh first for the various spheres.

    The mesh I am using starts at 8286 for mesh simplification of just one side of a bottom partial sphere it is reduced to 8276 tris.

    The first thing to do would be to merge some vertices around the edge of the partial spheres. Next, I can use the slide vertices to move them so they align around the partial sphere edge. 

    Sliding the vertices does not reduce the tris per se, it just makes the sphere look better. 

    This was really my question. How do you move vertices along a circular edge so they align with the sphere contour?

    Thanks

    merge vertices.png

    slide vertices.png

    Model Building

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Hello

    I have been working with a CAD program Solidworks and Blender to develop models for Second Life. Early on in my post in the thread, I asked questions about reducing mesh density. The process is to create an STL file with Solidworks, importing it into Blender to scale and reduce the mesh, and then exporting it as a DAE file for Second Life. I was reviewing the BCC crystal unit cell model I create a while back and noticed that when the STL file is created in Solidworks it creates a model it says the it should only have 746 triangles but instead, it has 8302 triangles. Not sure what is doing. Then I found this excellent YouTube video that allows you to create low mesh models with Solidworks. 

    In Blender, I just did a shade smooth in object mode with normals. However, I still had a few questions about how to reduce the mesh with the original model. 

    The next question goes back to an earlier version of the mode and reducing the mesh. I can

    1.) merge vertices

    2.) I can use the approach discussed in Bryson Jack's video using the Checker Deselect in Blender

    However, I am unsure how to align a vertices so it would follow the contour of a sphere. If I could figure that out I think it would help.

    Thanks

    IvyTech

    BCC Crystal without support mesh1.JPG

    Picture2.png

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Thanks for the feedback. I think the original SM House had an outside wood plank wall texture on a green background but I do not know how I did it nor where the texture came from, lol I believe I use Photoshop vs Blender and the nodes. I have attempted to search for it using www.tineye.com and the Google image search but I cannot find it. I do remember looking at many old green wood textures on Google. I could find very little info in the metadata except the image was originally taken 11/7/2010 and is 3260 by 2396 with 72 dpi. Some of the Camera info is also provided ... Maybe it is time to learn a little more about Photoshop.

    Thanks

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    13 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

    Just a note to this thread which may have already been said somewhere.  

    Baking to a 2048 x 2048 works very well.  A bunch of us did some testing a couple of years ago and unless it has changed the uploader does a better job of turning that into a 1024 image (maxium more or less in SL) than our various graphics programs --- but might be worth testing.  

     

    In order to get things to bake well (assuming a lot of THAT hasn't changed with the new version) there is a lot of tweaking of numbers and moving of lights etc to get things working. LIGHTING is especially important so don't be discouraged and keep trying.   

     

    Also depending on the building you most likely would NOT want to put ALL your textures on a single image -- for a house (furniture is mostly fine) because you would have enough pixel area to look good.  So in that case maybe "interior walls and floor ------ exterior and trims  ---  roof and ceiling?  It all depends on the build and the size of the building.  

     

    That's just a general statement, not about this build in particular.  Many many tricks to get it all working and it takes awhile to find YOUR best method.   

    I really appreciate your advice on this topic. I wanted to document the workflow of texturing this small house as an example. This forum has been extremely helpful. SL has probably one of the best methods to help users with questions and advice. I have very little artistic ability and maybe this cannot be taught but this forum has really helped.

    Back when I started building in Second Life I was trying to recreate what others had done who are no longer active members in Second Life. It has been challenging because even the best of us, including me, may not fully document the steps we took to build and design things so we can repeat and share how they did it. I have searched high and low for info (Google and YouTube) and came across a few sources but not many of them ...

    Thanks to everyone for you help in my education, lol

    Cheers

    IvyTechEngineer

     

     

    • Like 1

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    house on left done in Blender while house on right done in Second Life.. tiling may be a little different but SL looks better. It was a little fussy with getting all the surfaces textured, lol

    image.png

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Aquila Kytori said:

    Your flying now :)

     

    You should try uploading the individual seamless image textures to SL, apply them to the appropriate faces, adjust the horizontal and vertical scale and compare the quality of the textures with this building that uses the baked single image texture.

    ok, I will give it a try to see what it looks like. I was very pleased with the results so far, just a little tricky to do it. I will also change the margin type to extend. The YouTube videos that were helpful were

    and

    I was able to combine multiple images textures and materials into a single image 2K image and then use that as the image texture for the final version I uploaded into SL. 

    I didn't find a single video on how to do everything but it was my first attempt at using nodes. 

    The image I had before had a stronger green undertone, 24A43B, which I assume I could add to the outside wall somehow ... need to research this a little more ...

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    ok, I attempted to create a single texture map for the UV map of the house and I got this. I think it is ok. Not sure why  some of the images bleed over to the other islands...

    combined.png

    • Like 1

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    ok, I did a little more exploration and found YouTube video that was helpful based on what you were saying. I was able to tile some of the images currently assigned as materials and it looks pretty good. I think I need to realign the UVMap to make sure all the islands of the outside wall have the same vertical reference because of the image texture I am using. 

    My sm house models now has multiple images textures for the floor, inside and outside walls, and the foundation. I was able to tile the images so it looks much better using the shader editor. I got the impression that maybe I could bake the images together to create a single image texture? I think somehow everything needs to be combined but I am not sure how to do that. Maybe I am misunderstanding something ...

    better sm house.png

    better sm house2.png

    • Like 1

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    Thank you for your response. My sm house is based on the one you built and shared on YouTube. I just never figured out textures until recently. I am revisiting some of the things I built before and adding more details in my notes on them. Since I don't use Blender every day I need to keep better notes on the process steps. I have very little artistic ability, lol, but I can paint by numbers. 

    Building Buildings

    in Mesh

    Posted

    ok, I am not sure how to ask this question but as I understand it I can have up to 8 materials for a model. Only one image can be applied to a UVmap? The image can be created like I made it before (using Paint) or images can be uploaded to SL and used on a surface or I can use or buy something in-world. Also, seams can be used to help segregate the UVMap between sections that will have common textures. 

    I have edited the UVMap and rotated all the islands so that when the textures are applied they will align. I did this by scaling and rotating everything. Attached is the UVMap for my sm house that I have been working on. My only other questions is "Seamless tilable image texture". I assume this would be the textures that are already available in Second Life? Otherwise, I could try to buy or dins something. 

     

    Thanks

    Sm House.png

    Store fees?

    in Merchants

    Posted

    I would like to set up a store and list free objects that can be used for educators. How much does it cost and what are the "enhanced" fees?

    Also, I have given all my students some 100 L$ but they cannot upload mesh models to our sandbox area.  Do they need a payment method on record to upload models? How do I set that up for students? Suggestions?

    Thanks

    ivytechengineer

×
×
  • Create New...