Ashasekayi Ra

TransPleasure wrote: Lol you dont want to know

As Drongle already pointed out, you can either select two vertices and use the J hotkey to create an edge and divide the face, or you can use the knife tool. K is the hotkey for that tool. It comes in handy if you must create a lot of topology over a number of faces quickly.

Jacquelin Seisenbacher wrote: I'm using Blender 2492 and using the process laid out in tutorial. In the past I have been able to upload mesh but now I am having to give it 5-6 tries before it even uploads, and then the rigging isn't working. As in, it isn't rigged at all. So, in The Case Of The Oversized Bloomers, when I go to wear them, it is just an oversized set of mesh bloomers attached to my hand like a newb cube. I am using the current official SL viewer. Is there some glitch going on, or am I completely just messing this up somewhere in the process? I assume that you mean you are using Blender 2.49? I haven't heard about the rigging not working at all all of a sudden. I could take a look at your file if you like. Just PM or IM, and I'll give you a place to send it.

Pamela Galli wrote: I am curious where you got this data. Could you provide a link? I was going to ask the same question, Pam. I would love to see those statistics. @Spica: And, exactly how did you come by this 75% price inflation figure for all of the SL market? I would be curious to see the data this comes from. As for what is good for the market, I'll agree that competitive pricing is very good for a market, lowballing is not. Also, where did anyone bring up a monopoly or setting all products as high priced ones? It was simply stated that *if* a merchant wants to sell a premium, original and handcrafted product, they should not fall into the trap of selling ultra low just to get in with the hopes of raising their prices to their real value in the future. That just does not work. @Sassy: Great post and so true. You are also right about the off-topic drift, so this will be my last off-topic contribution to the thread.

TransPleasure wrote: I have no clue. I did everything just like in the tutorials and so many times. When are you planning to publish new tutorials if I may ask? Hopefully, I'll get a chance to make some new ones next week if I get some time off from work projects. Did you have a specific tutorial request?

However, the cost of labor is not wholly arbitrary for professionals in the content creation business. If the merchant simply buys templates and flood fills them with a purchased texture, he basically put in no labor and can sale his item at a price far below the market value of the item. On the other hand, a merchant that actually makes a quality, handcrafted and original product must recoup the amount of labor that he put into creating a product. Just like RL, there are high priced stores and bargain basement stores that do well. The success of the store depends on the owner understanding his market and offering a product that meets the standards (or lack of standards) of his clientele. And of course, they need to be able to provide that product along with several other key business factors. There are plenty of people that undercut prices that don't survive in SL. At the same time, there are plenty of mrechants that fail because users don't feel their product is worth the high price tag. It is a balancing act. And sorry, slashing a price to 50% less than its actual value is undercutting not competitive pricing. And as I said, undercutting hurts the entire market. That's true in RL and SL alike.

TransPleasure wrote: I use the latest, 2.63 and that item was rigged after I was ready with it. I'm not sure what you mean by "it was a prim not a mesh" in your other post. If it was uploaded through the SL uploader, it would have to be a mesh asset. As for the size, if the avatar you used in Blender was the proper size and your model was modeled against it, It should come in the correct size. (If you joined all three avatar sections, the height of the default SL avatar in Blender would be 1.879 meters) Make sure that your scale in Object Mode is 1,1,1 on your model. If it isn't, use the hotkey Ctrl + A to apply the scale. Right click editing worn mesh is tricky. Usually, you'll need to open the edit window and click something else before clicking the mesh item.

What version of Blender are you using? Is this a static or rigged model?

Hi Jimmy Welcome to the world of Blender. It's a cool and powerful program after you get the hang of it by watching good tutorials. Here are some suggestions: Jason Welsh has two great Blender series that will teach you all the basics that you need to know about modeling and texturing in Blender. Modeling: Texturing: Another great all-around tutorial resource is http://cgcookie.com/blender/ . If you want SL-specific Blender training, try out these two resources: http://blog.machinimatrix.org/category/mesh/ If you search the forum for Blender tutorials, you'll find other resource sites. Also, you can find several Blender classes for beginners at the Builder's Brewery educational SIM inworld. There are a number of Blender groups in world; you might want to join the group Blender Mesh Development.

Darius Taurog wrote: Thank u both for your replies. :matte-motes-big-grin-wink: Darius Welcome

Sassy Romano wrote: Spica Inventor wrote: Your best bet seems to be whatever the prevailing price on similar products are, cut it in half and sell it at that price instead. I don't see how that works, if the merchant is as yet undiscovered, simply giving away at a low price in itself doesn't not aid discovery, it merely means that if/when something is sold, it doesn't yield good revenue. If the product is at the right price point, the challenge is more about how to become discovered in the first place, not give away under value. I have to agree with Sassy on this one. Undercutting is a huge problem in the SL market that hurts everyone. The goal should be to sell your item for a price that fits the reasonable range for products in your chosen market. Then, look for ways to give added value that your competitors are missing. You always have to remember that you can't start off a brand with Wal-mart prices and raise it to Macy prices later.

The creator of the mesh kits that you are referring to has been brought up before in another thread on this topic outside of the SL forums. Some people voiced the same concerns as you. I can only speak for myself not all creators in SL. That being said, I'm not surprised that the market is flooded with content made from those kits. Making a finished clothing product takes modeling, skinning and texturing knowledge. Many people can't master all of the skills needed to make a professional product. On that note, if a texture artists uses the kit to make an amazing handpainted texture, I think that adds considerable value to the product. At the end of the day, I think that there will be a group of people that search for original and unique products that are also willing to pay a higher price for them. Then, you will have the lower priced clothing made from kits that will appeal to another group of people. Now, on the subject of why there isn't more original and unique content, I can only say that I have a number of mesh outfits created. However, I'm really loathe to release them as long as the sizing issue exists. And, I have talked to other designers that are holding off on releasing mesh clothing until that issue is fixed. Once the mesh deformer is released, I think you will see a serious increase in original designs hitting the market.

That is an amazing job for a first project. ^^ Concerning the topic of animating the chair, you may want to swing by Builders Brewery inworld and check out the classes on that topic. They are pretty informative.

You bring up an interesting point. But, I really don't think anyone thinks they are super secret assets. As for me, I make custom mesh items for other merchants. I give them the full perm alpha layer and texture. However, not a single one of them gives a copy of the alpha texture itself to their customers. I think it is more an issue of assuming the end user doesn't need or want that actual alpha texture. If more customers voiced an interest in receiving the alpha texture file so that they can tweak it, I believe most merchants wouldn't mind giving it to them.

Pamela Galli wrote: Ah a light is dawning. I did not realize that CTL A was to apply these when done in Obj mode. I just throught it was some random thing I was supposed to do for some reason. Yessah... Masami just gave a great explanation of it. But yes, CTRL+A applies transformations that you make at the Object level. There are operations in Blender that need you to be at the Object level to work. I haven't run into many of them while modeling assets thought.

beanster Potato wrote: Thank you for the links and info Ashasekayi, i've tried to do the retopolgy routine using Topogun last week but.. it made me want to continue just buying full perm mesh instead of trying making my own. The bsurfaces plug-in looks a little less traumatic and time comsuming so i'll give that a go : ) Bsurfaces really is pretty fun to work with and does the job pretty quickly. Edit: Use the newer version called "Bsurfaces" not "Bsurfaces GPL".

Gaia Clary wrote: Ashasekayi Ra wrote: Option 2: Weight painting by proxy Hi, Ashasekayi, I find your proxy approach interesting. Let me recap (to see if i understand correctly) : You take a basic shape with good topology for animation then add optimal weighting to that shape, and finally copy these weights to similar shapes with different topology ? thus you reuse proven weightmaps for new garment (using weight copy) ? Is it like that ? Is that the same method that we use when we copy the weights from the default Avatar to a new mesh based character ? BTW: A few days ago i received a note about an idea that is currently evaluated in Blender: Maybe one day that could become interesting ... well, who knows Yes, you understand it exactly right, Gaia. That method works pretty effectively with garments that have a simple/basic construction. Hopefully, I'll have time to crank out a video on it. And, thanks for the video clip. That looks pretty interesting indeed. It reminds me of the MD setup somewhat. I hope someone puts the patch in a Blender on graphicall so everyone can play with it.

I don't see a file there.

beanster Potato wrote: Hallo So i've been playing around with mesh/blender for the past couple of weeks (it had to happen sometime) and learned how to make (very) basic clothing in blender, rigging and weighting with acceptable results. However, when I import something i've made in MD, the rigging works fine but I cant get the weighting done in a proper way. Since MD uses triangulated mesh instead of quads, I was hoping someone has any tips or hints on how to properly weight triangulated mesh? Or even better, an automatic way on how to convert triangles into quads? Using automatic weights per bone, deforms the mesh terribly for most bones, especially in case of long sleeved garments. The weight paint brushes does'nt show much improvement either. The 'tris to quads' function in blender is'nt super useful plus that also removes the seam lines that I need for uv unwrapping. Any info is welcome and yes, im new to this obviously, sorry Ps. using blender 2.63 & Avastar There are a number of reasons you shouldn't try to rig/skin a triangulated model. To make matters worse, MD models have Delaunay triangles which basically have no edge flow what so ever. This makes it great for cloth simulation but horrible for models that need defined edge loops for weighting to an armature and animation. So, I have used two different techniques for using an MD clothing model for SL clothing. Also, I've found that exporting your SL avatar from Blender at 1000x scale and using it in MD works pretty well. Then, you just export the cloth from MD at 0.001 scale. Option 1: Retopology In my opinion, this is the best option. You basically make a new mesh on top of the MD model. This new quad mesh has the proper topology needed and has edge loops that can be easily weight painted and tweaked. Retopolgy Links: http://cgcookie.com/blender/2011/08/08/retopology-with-the-bsurfaces-add-on/ http://cgcookie.com/blender/2010/08/30/retopology-and-normal/ Option 2: Weight painting by proxy Another method I have used is to make a few generic low poly reference models that I can quickly use to transfer weight to an MD model. I have these models already weighted well. For example, I'd have a simple box modeled shirt that was the same size as the MD shirt. However, it is very low poly and doesn't have any details of the MD top. I just use it to place weights and tweak them. Afterwards, I'd transfer the weights from that low poly shirt to the MD shirt. Then, if I need to tweak weights in some area, I'd tweak it on the low poly reference then copy those weights back to the MD model. This method can sometimes be quicker than the other. But, I just prefer the visual results of using the retopologized mesh in SL over the native MD mesh with Delaunay triangles. Note: You can convert a triangulated mesh automatically to quads in Blender using Alt+J, but it won't give you proper edge flow.

Did you click the "joint" checkbox beneath "Include Skin Weights"? Also, to see the joints in the preview window, you need to check skin weights and joints beneath that window,

Masami Kuramoto wrote: Instead of working around a bug that has been fixed already, you could as well just update Blender and forget about it. This way you'd also get the latest fixes and improvements to the COLLADA exporter. http://builder.blender.org/download/ Actually, I do work with the latest builds of Blender. I'm not working around a bug. As I already stated, I didn't know that bug existed until this thread. I prefer to work at the Edit mode level and avoid the extra step of applying rotations and scaling operations. Over the years, it has become a workflow choice that has kept me from having issues because of forgetting the application step.

xhyps wrote: Hi. I am new in SL and been doing some practice in 3d using Blender 2.63, I would like to ask if you could help me answer the following: 1. What are the basic things you should know when you want to know how to create a complete avatar or a clothing? 2. Does "retopology" is a critical thing to be learned and what does it do? (I have gone over different tutorials/articles about this topic, claiming it is for beginners but never told why they should be learned and how do they work :-( ). 3. Does learning Scripting is required in creating a complete avatar? 4. Does animation is essential in creating an avatar? Thanks fellas. The basic skills you need to learn is traditional modeling and texturing: Complete modeling series: Complete texturing series: Rigging/Skinning: Look at the Blender/SL links at the end of the text. 2) Retopology is a good skill to learn, But, you don't need it unless you plan to use high poly modeling techniques that need heavy poly reduction such as building a sculpted model in Zbrush or making a cloth simulated model in Marvelous Designer. 3) Scripting isn't *required*. However, if you plan to make a specialized avatar that uses a HUD or special animations, you'll need to either buy scripts or learn scripting. 4) Just like scripting, it isn't required. But, some specialized avatars do use special animations and scripts. Yet again, you could farm out that work or do it yourself. If you do plan on doing some custom animations for a custom avatar, I'd recommend checking out the Avastar plugin that Machinimatrix sells: http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2012/05/01/avastar-1-update-432/ Some Blender/SL mesh tutorial locations: http://blog.machinimatrix.org/category/mesh/

I just tested the bone weight copy script in Blender 2.63a, and it still works fine.

Thanks for illustrating that issue and showing the workaround, Drongle. I've never seen it before. I suppose it is because I avoid working at the Object level like the plague. But, this does explain an issue with a file someone sent me recently. I'm glad to see that it can be easily fixed. And, thanks for noticing it and pointing it out, Pam.

Gaia Clary wrote: It is work in progress though. And if anybody likes to help a bit, then you can grab the current development version of Blender at graphicall.org around tomorrow night and see where the Collada exporter breaks. And report that of course If we find any issues, should we report here or at Blender's site?