Ashasekayi Ra

That would be pretty cool Feynt. How exactly would the maps make the mesh move? Would this be something that would work after LL added code to support it?

If a DMCA is properly filed with LL, they have no choice put to takedown the material. They can't decide not to do a takedown because it doesn't look like it infringed to them. Of course, the other party can file a counter DMCA and get the material put back up if the original filer doesn't take the case to court within a specific timeframe. And frankly, I would hope that someone going to court would have something more unique than doors, windows and columns, which more than likely resemble designs found in real life since the possible forms for those items are so common.

It's doubtful. They have already stated that they won't be creating "flexi" mesh. I suppose the only thing that might give the illusion of hair movement would be a custom skeleton and animation support, which they said they would possibly add in the future.

You're welcome guys.  As Vivienne said, he does an excellent job at teaching and breaking down the fundamentals.

Here's a link to another good video tutorial site called Canned Mushroom. The instructor presents the material in a course style. Beyond covering Blender 2.5, Zbrush and Maya, he has a Photoshop course as well. Blender 2.5 Training Series http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms#g/c/2BA5BDF79FF50122 Zbrush 4 http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms#g/c/1EEE9B16E1AE1CCE http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms#g/c/AF8FE85B2A969BD3 Blender/Zbrush http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms#g/c/D20AAF9ED6B4FC3F Maya 2011 http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms#g/c/F3E8C00791AEC3F8 http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms#g/c/77E4CC90DD3EE818 Photoshop CS5 http://www.youtube.com/user/cannedmushrooms#g/c/74D2451AFCE1C5B5

Vivienne, I'd recommend checking out Robyn's site: http://robynhuffaker.com/sculptblender/tutorial/ The site has some great sculpty tutorials. He covers making sculpts with multiple parts in this tutorial, http://robynhuffaker.com/sculptblender/2010/03/21/fractional-prims/

Here's a couple of sites that explain the theory of modeling: Guerrilla CG - http://www.youtube.com/user/GuerrillaCG An overall 3D primer in video form. These 13 or so short videos make the basic concepts easy to understand. Modeling Ethic: Preface This is a good overall 3D primer in text format. It goes a little more in depth than the above videos.

Thanks Feynt ^^

My first point was that the license was for a kit of PSD texture templates. There was no mention of the SL Avatar mesh or armature. And, the files themselves weren't included in that kit. As it stands, a person simply needs to download an XML file to get the mesh and armature for their avatar. So, no license comes with that. But, I just assume the CC 3 applies to it as well. And yes, many people have read http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. The point is that some people want LL to spell out how it relates to SL clothing and rigged mesh usage. As for me, I've already decided what I think the license means. I was just pointing out the questions that some people want answered from LL legal team since Nyx asked.

Welcome Feel free to drop a question if you need help. There are plenty of people about on the forum that can help with Blender and mesh questions.

http://www.blendercookie.com/ , http://blendernewbies.blogspot.com/search/label/3D%20Modeling and http://gryllus.net/Blender/3D.html have great tutorials for beginning modelers. They are specific to Blender as well. For Blender/SL specific information, check out: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/Mesh-Best-Practices-Blender/m-p/183065#M322 http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/Blender-Best-Practices-Part-2/m-p/711479#M15

Thanks for the links Nyx. However, the license file in that zip doesn't state anything about using the SL avatar's armature in a commercial product. It's my understanding that many people are still confused over how to apply the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 language to SL clothing and rigged mesh. There are some people that think the license gives other people the right to modify and resell their work (without permission) if it includes the SL armature or part of the SL avatar mesh. Personally, that isn't how I interpret the license. But, it is unclear because an issue like this isn't specifically defined by the generic wording of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. It would be great if we could get some clarity on that.

hehe Thanks But, let's see if you like them first. Hopefully, they will be helpful to the community. I really want beginners to see that they can use Blender, and it isn't painful if they have the right training tools.

Yea, it was pretty cool to watch his coding magic. I only attended the early demonstrations. At that time, you needed to be able to install python on a server to use it. I'm not sure if anyone has set up a way for the average person (without coding knowledge or a server) to use it in SL yet. I'm sure it will expand to that though. I think it will be a great asset for beginners that are intimidated by offline 3D modelers.

TheBlack Box, the creator of  Sculpt Studio, is working on a way to do that I believe. He's had a few demonstrations inworld. Edit: a video demonstration 

I'll be making a video series that focuses on Second Life mesh creation. I'll be releasing the first ones later this week. I want to cover the basics of the Blender to SL workflow first. Then, move on to to some fundamentals of modeling clothing and architectural elements. I'll post the link later this week once I upload the first ones.

Thanks Daniel! I'm so freaking excited.

Who said that a rigged mesh had to be sold with modify permissions just because it included an armature that matches the SL one? Even if you did make a rig by hand, it would have to have the exact same parameters if you want it to match the movements of the SL avatar in the case of clothing. As far as non-clothing rigged items, the bone names will still have to match.

Thanks Luc ^^

I'm pretty excited for that release myself. ^^ Btw, thanks for sharing this picture. I thought I had seen most string instruments. The Hurdy Gurdy is one I had never seen. As an amateur ex-violinist, I love to read about interesting string instruments,

That's lovely Mikki,

Welcome

I'm glad to see that this is something you guys are open to.

"That's good news. Will that include a test that the mesh is rezzable? It has sometimes been possible to get through the upload but tghen be told that the mesh is invalid when you try to rez it. (Haven't seen that for some time though.)" It still happened in the version I used 2 to 3 weeks ago. I'll have to download the latest one to see if that has changed.

QFT I think Drongle has expressed what I was going to say quite well. I don't get the point of the "well, why bother adding protection since people can steal anyway" argument. Yes, most assets that hit a person's computer can possibly be stolen. However, the average user doesn't know how to steal certain assets. Bringing back the car analogy, a lower level car criminal might be able to break into and hotwire a low-end car while he is unable to circumvent some of the security measures placed in a high-end car. And yes, there are criminals who know how to break into high-end cars. But, they are a smaller group than the other. However, no one would go around stating that car owners shouldn't lock their doors. Obviously, LL won't be able to stop all content theft. No one can do that. But, they can make the files as secure as they can. That is the responsible thing to do. Once theft has occurred, it is a legal matter for the merchant to deal with. I can agree that the most powerful weapon that a content developer has (outside of legal avenues) after their work has been stolen is the community itself. I do believe that many people in SL are honest and don't want to support stolen content. I have known people that went out of their way to tell a merchant when they have spotted someone stealing that person's work. So, the community can make it harder for blatant thieves to make a profit.