Nacy Nightfire

I just received an email announcement from Pixologic re: a stripped down version of Zbrush they have just introduced which has a stripped down price. Here's the link if anyone is interested: http://store.pixologic.com/ZBrushCore-Single-User-License/ - there's a link on that page to another which compares features of this "core" version with the full version.

"What happens is that the dimension along the local z axis is ignored when the LOD switch points are determined so at the distance shown here, the pillar to the left has switched to low LOD model while the one to th left is still in high LOD" Should one of those read "RIGHT"? This bit is a little confusing even if the image clarifies your meaning. Maybe I'm missing something, though and it's not a typo.

For folks who use Zbrush and would like to export as a .dae file natively, the Sculpty plug-in (which also exports standard mesh in Collada format) appears to have been recently updated by Marcus (script wizard of the Zbrush Central forum and all together amazingly genenerous individual). Here's the link for anyone interested in this handy script: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?93650-Second-Life-Sculpties-in-ZBrush-4R7-ZSculpty-Tools-%28updated-Feb-2016%29

One approach is to sculpt a dense detailed model in Zbrush from a densly divided polymesh 3d "tool" of your choice (now made easier with dynamesh). Then you retopologize the dense mesh* either using zsphere re-topology or by creating automatic retopology with ZRemesher using control curves. Use projection in the subtools menu to transfer the detail from the original sculpted model onto the retopoloogy mesh. Add additional subdivision levels to the retopologized mesh and contunue to reproject the details at each level of subdivision. Drop the retopolgized mesh down to its lowest subdivision level to UV unwrap with UV Master . You will also have to set your retopologized mesh to the lowest subdivision level in order to create a normal map in Zbrush. All painting/texturing is done at the at the highest subdivision level and that "polypaint" is then transferred to a texture which will be applied to the exported lo subdivision level mesh. Export the lowest or close to the lowest subdivision level. Import this low poly version of the mesh into Blender to rig/skin and to create lods (or you can make your lod meshes zbrush, but it's probably easier to do this using Blender), export the mesh as a collada file. Export out any texture, normal and or displacement textures you make in Zbrush for uploading to Second Life or to bring into Blender and/or Photoshop for further baking and texturing. I've used the above method but it's not the one I prefer. I prefer to create a base mesh in Blender with the correct edge flow and import that base mesh into Zbrush for sculpting and I add subdivision levels as I add detail when sculpting. This workflow does not require retopology after the fact. I find it takes less time to think the project through at the beginning and start out with the edgeflow that works best for the mesh I'm going to be sculpting then it does to retopologize after sculpting. Usually I go back and forth between Blender and Zbrush, I might texture in either program or in photoshop or do a bit of texturing in all three programs. For the most part I frequently complete the mesh in Blender then go into Zbrush just to give the mesh a few tweaks to correct proportions, etc. I think you can spend a lot of time trying to force Zremesher to do your bidding, but it's just easier to retopologize with zspheres if you are creating topology for characters that will be animated. Edgeflow is really critical in that case. For static items then for the most part the results you get from Zremesher are generally acceptable. *I don't recommend that you try to import that initial dense sculpted mesh into Blender unless you have an extremely powerful computer. You plan should be to import the low poly retopologized version into Blender. The whole point of using zbrush is it's uinquely designed to allow for sculpting super high poly meshes which is not possible or practical in standard 3d programs. This is why it us designed with a single viewport and doesn't allow for multiply views of the object (quad view).

There is a really excellent zbrush forum Zbrush Central which you should check out. You can reach it through the Pixologic web site. I seem to recall a few years back someone posted a plug-in he/she designed for increasing font size, but as the Zbrush gets updated, plug-in authors don't always update their plug-ins to maintain compatiblity with the newer version. This might be something you can check into. Currently in the Properties menu there is a handy magnifier which you can toggle on or off with the shortcut shift M to convert your cursor to a magnifier. You can tweak it's properties via the Properties drop down panel.  Enlarging the buttons in the "Preferences" panel unfortunately doesn't increase the size of the text. You might change the color of the text (Preferences- sub menu: iColors) to change the colors and create a greater visual contrast between the background and the text. Most programs such as Blender, Zbrush and Modo allow you to fully redesign the interface to keep it as spare or complicated as you like. These programs are all very "modular" You remove features you don't use, You can change colors, placement and add specialized plug ins, etc. to create an personalized look and feel to adapted the UI to the way you like to work. And you can start building your personalized interface from a completely blank state or modify thedefault UI set up. In the Blender User Preference menu, for example, under "Themes" you can change all fonts, font size, colors, etc. Most things you think the program should do you will find as an option in Preferences/User Preference.

I'm not the least bit upset. And my attitude evaluation must have worked as I see you are warming to Blender . I'm quite certain you will happy with your decision. Much luck and prosperity to you for the New Year both in SL and out.

Tenly I've noticed you have repeatedly mentioned the program Blender in your mesh forum posts. And you've spoken about it in very negative terms. Many, many Second Life creators are very content using Blender. It's very popular. Keep in mind, also, there are some folks who simply can't afford anything else and they have no other options. To repeatedly bash Blender, expecially where you have very very little experience in 3d modeling is not very tactful. Your analysis of the program and your supposition that Blender is a free program because of it's deficiences (which you mentioned on another of your posts) is incorrect. You may choose use it for free, but Blender.org gratefullly accepts donations to compensate the amazing and brilliant individuals who work on the program. Every year I send a donation. I own and have a lot of experience using Modo, Zbrush and Blender and I must say I generally do my modeling in Blender. I do some of my texturing in Blender and Modo and I mainly texture in Zbrush and Photoshop. Zbrush is great for certain types of modeling, but it doesn't export collada files natively and it's is not necessary if you haven't yet learned the fundementals of modeling. It's unique approach may confuse and frustrate you. Modo is an excellent program for advanced users and it's amazing for things you will never need for Second Life. I consider myself an advanced intermediate modeler and I favor modeling in Blender. And Blenders great advantage is the tremendous amount of training resources for Blender available on the net that are both free and for sale - and quite a bit of it is Second Life specific. The fact that a program you like doesn't export collada files is just a very minor annoyance. Every program imports and exports obj files. If I want to turn a zbrush model into a collada file, for example, I export it as an obj file and import it into Blender and from there I export it as a collada file. So you might rethink your relationship with Blender if only to use it for this one purpose. Prepare yourself to be very frustrated and humbled by hours of failure as it's part of the process. Until you are proficient at a few 3d programs, any problems you will encounter will be undoubtedly USER error and not a problem with the program itself.

You may have restrictions to your trial version of Modo which may restrict your access to changing preferences, but here is where you (in MODO) can change the up orientation of a collada file on input (and/or output, I'm guessing)

For the purpose of Second Life, both Maya and Blender are both used for creating static mesh items for your environment (houses and landscaping items, etc.), for making attachments to an avatar (hair, shoes, swords, guns, etc.), for creating animatable meshes (sp?) such as clothes that conform to the movement of your avatar, for creating the "materials" that contribute realistic or fanciful lighting effects for the textures you will create for these mesh items as well as for making animations for your avatar. These programs can do many other things, but for Second Life these are the highlights. I strongly suggest you start with Blender so you can decide if you have the time and interest to pursue this hobby. This is extremely time intensive endeavor even when considered to be just as a hobby for the purpose of making a few bucks in SL. Although I've not used Maya, I've watched a number of Maya training videos and I would say for the purposes you have listed that Blender is not a more difficult a program to use. Blender gets it's reputation for being difficult, I believe, because once one is acquainted with a particular program it can be very tedious to switch to any other 3d program. The interface, naming conventions of tools and hotkeys are different from program to program (i.e vertex vs point, face vs poly..at the most simple level of naming things) and that all needs to be re-learned. When I've read specific complaints about Blender I notice often these complainers have not taken the time to really learn Blender and all that it can do. They simply make a lot of assumptions that are incorrect. Intermediate and advanced modelers/animators rely very heavily on tools they become familiar with, and most packages offer very similar tools since they need to stay competitive, however these similar tools may operate in a slightly different manner and are often given different names. It can be very frustrating to re-learn it all and this cause folks to unfairly bash Blender, since after committing to memory a large inventory of hotkeys to memory, create special hotkeys, as well as creating macros and scripts of one's own geared toward working fluidly in a program, starting over in any other software package can be a nightmare and is extremely time consuming. Similar to learning a new language, when you switch to a new modeling package you can't get your thoughts out fast enough for your brain and the speed of your creative output slows to a crawl while you learn a new vocabulary. Few people enjoy that experience. I made the mistake of purchasing Modo a number of years ago on on the advice of an advanced modeler I highly respect in SL. She was correct that Modo is an exceptional modeling program, but only for someone who has advanced modeling skills and is already well grounded in all the concepts of 3d art. I switched my focus to Blender and found I got a much better foundation in all the aspects of 3d art. Only now, quite a number of years since I originally purchased Modo, am I able to devote time to learning how to use Modo without experiencing extreme frustration. And nothing being perfect there are tools I love that Blender offers that are not available in Modo (and visa versa). Depending on what I'm creating I often switch between Modo, Blender, Photoshop and Zbrush for a single project. You are starting out without any prior 3d modeling experience so Blender will be an much easier program to grasp then for those who try to switch from another program and there are a huge number of free high quality Blender training videos available on the internet that are Second Life specific. I know of at least one very talented and successful creator in SL who exclusively uses Blender and Gimp create her mesh products. Anything more then what these programs offer is overkill for her needs. [Edited out a stupid grammar mistake]

I have found almost without exception that the scripters I've met in SL are extremely generous with assistance and encouragement. Learning that they are not whiners when it come to others who copy their work makes me admire them even more.

Indeed it can go beyond "selling sand at the beach" if a creator who makes a business out of SL has the right attitude and perspective, which clearly you do have. But if the meshes, sculpties, or for that matter prim builds, have no "value added", then I still thing the sand analogy applies. I agree there is a population of SL participants who want just to see if the can copy for the challenge of it, with no really nefarious intentions. And, yes, many probably like to expose themselves just because they are proud of what they feel they've accomplished and they want to show other folks just how "smart" they are. I suspect the problem, although unsettling when one works hard at an creation, is overstated. Copying isn't the same as packaging, customer service, marketing, listing on the market place, etc. A whole lot of effort that is WORK. Folks I've know who complain bitterly about this problem seem to continue in business and do quite well yet there is always a fear that there is a huge problem of items being ripped which will put people out of business. Short of folks who just get disgusted and close up shop, it doesn't seem to be the case. And those instances where the really big businesses are affected, they have the resources to address the issue head on, they seem to do so through legal channels and they all are continuing in business. Please don't anyone miscontrue what I'm writing here. I'm actually neither a consumer (although I have been a BIG one in the past...I stopped buying things when I learned how to make them and my inventory grew to over 68 thousand objects), nor a commercial participant in SL, and I do NOT condone stealing, ripping or blatant copying of peoples signature work. It certainly does seem to me, however, that to get absolute assurance that one doesn't get copied one should concentrate commercial efforts as a scripter or as you also point out, add significantly to the value of one's sold items by heavily scripting them as the best solution to the problem. I have no commercial inclinations in SL nor do I want to see my friends who DO have commercial inclinations harmed by people who steal. I do thingk, though, that many people who are constantly "up in arms" about this issue are unrealistic in expecting a solid and final solution to the problem and it's a waste to time (time better spent creating more and improved stuff) to dwell on it.

Well this is just silly, so I'll finish with this. The seller was paid when I purchased the item initially. If she required that I re-purchase the item this would be a completely different discussion. And I would probably have re-purchased it if required to so. But the seller did what I would have done. She empathised with my situation, she was flattered that I cared enough to be upset and sad about losing the item, and she gave me another copy which cost her nothing but good will. We ended the interaction well and she did not need more validation a year later. You seem to want to harp on some idea that this decision not to bug her a year later showed an egregious lack of manners, or some such thing. I call it grasping as straws because you have absolutely no point to make here. As to "For me to be a shamer, someone would have to feel shame, correct? If you feel no shame, I can't be a shamer." That is incorrect and illogical. You can clearly make an attempt at this tactic and and be completely transparent in your attempt, and at the same time be completely unsuccessful in your efforts. Clearly the case here.

You wrote (among other things filled with negativity): "The fact that a year later you didn't appreciate the kindness of a perfect stranger enough to let her know doesn't say a word about me." It says a lot about you. It says you are a "Shamer" . You desire to read negative intentions into my words and actions and your attempt to twist my words to make me "wrong" is strong evidence of this. You completely glossed over my expressions of gratitude to the person who helped me. The person who is making an awful lot of assumptions here is yourself. The fact that you take my post so personally, and your defensive reactions to my post which clearly wasn't directed specifically to you belies your idea that you a positve individual.

Then maybe, as I've always suspected, opening up shop in SL is always going to be a bit like selling cups of sand at the beach. It's simply just out there for the taking, regardless of the format. I'm not saying you can't make a good living selling sand if you creatively package and market it, provide some entertainment around it and give good customer service, but at the end of the day it's still sand. It's a huge "head-scratcher" for me that many folks set up shop in sl and then go to war with other shop-keepers who they suspect of either purchasing mesh products on the internet and using them illegally (and they have no real basis for knowing for sure what the arrangement is for these products), or those who might just copy mesh items by modeling them directly. It's pretty obvious it's just part of the cost of doing business. Corporations as matter of course absorb the cost of legal departments to defend their trademarks, patents and copyrights.

I didn't intend to put you in a position of defending or explaining yourself. You did nothing wrong here. I just shared my experience because it's one of a few interaction I have had in SL as a consumer might have been misconstrued as "scamming" when in fact that ws not the case in the least. Undoubtedly there are dishonest, hostile, angry and crazy people who are drawn to SL and will give anyone a run for their money. But I've run into creators who seem to be consumed with being scammed to the point where I feel everyone gets painted with a broad brush of suspicion. Maybe the thrill of the game is just that? Hunting down evil-doer's? I'm not sure. I just threw out the suggestion that you check that perhaps an alt was involved, based on my own experience. Plain and simple.

Wow...did I ever say I expressed myself in "misguided ranting and raving?" Although anxious and perhaps overy concerned in the scheme of things (SL being rather unimportant in balance with my real life). I was polite and grateful to the person who sold the item and she, in kind, was reassuring, polite and gracious. We treated each other politely and decently. And I expressed my gratitude abundently. I said I was upset and irrational. Why? Because I loved the product and I told the creator so. I was not abusive, yet you seem to draw from your pocket of experience and take that leap. It's sad really. And one year later I was not going to track her down with an explanation about an event she clearly didn't get worked up about it was already resolved kindly and professionally. To bring it up again would have been a bit insane. I wonder why you leaped to the idea that the exchange was anything less then respectful. In fact I think that's probably the point of my post. Where does one go with this kind of situation, does one get all worked up and overly dramatic, or do you act positively and professionally and not assume you know every single event is a scam. You can create your a reality filled with negative and unpleasant interactions if you assume you know all and can see every scam a mile away. I like most people have been scammed in SL and RL..we all have. How we deal with it and move forward with each situation in life is telling. edited due to having written in haste. many errors of spelling, etc. corrected. A thousand pardons to every English teacher I ever inflicted myself on as a student.

It sounds like a lot of work for the ripper. Most mesh for sl I suspect is fairly simple geometry. If you have the skills to correct for distorted perspective, it seems like it's just as easy to model from scratch. The real art is in the texturing. If thieves are ripping meshes in this way, what about the UV's and the corresponding textures?

I think alot of folks who texure their houses with built-in dramatic shadowing expect you to view it as a piece of art that takes precedence over the customer's preferences relating to how the sun to rises and set. A bit pretentious, imo. I don't believe you are correct, however, in suspecting that the presence of dramatic shadowing in a mesh signals that the houses (or objects) are ripped. It's a lot of fun to bake dramatic shadows and I think many creators just get a bit carried away with it. It's like too much ambient occlusion. It gets overdone and it won't be appreciated by customers who see their houses as something they enjoy personalizing. I think its a good rule to never use baked in shadows and highlights for anything that will be exterior to a house. And for inside texturing of a house , dramatic baked shadows should be sold as an option with non-directional ao "shadowing being standard. Bear in mind my opinion is free for the asking and worth every penny.

A number of years ago I bought a rather pricey in-world animation product. Due to some glitch of unstablility in SL it disappeared in a sandbox and I panicked. I contacted the seller very upset (probably irrationally so) and let her know it was lost. She didn't see me on her list of purchasers, and said so, but she very good-naturedly gave me another copy. A year went by before I discovered while cleaning out my inventory that in actuality I bought the product via my Alt which explains why she didn't have me listed on her records. So its easy to get all worked up and accuse someone of fraud and a scam. But really if it happens with a customer that's never been a problem before what's the big deal with giving them the benefit of the doubt. If he or she contacts you again with similar complaints, THEN it's worthy of concern. Why not ask the customer if he or she purchased the product under a different name?

I'm glad that was helpful. I hadn't check the program for a while and was glad to see it's been updated with obj being an optional export format, among others. I used the fbx converter when I first found out about the app, but now I don't have to bother with that. RE: Reducing LI impact. Perhaps switching to the method of using 6 intersecting planes just for the medium and low LODs and applying full tree images to the lods/planes on those levels those might help with LOD. I'm thinking since trees are pretty large you might do away with the Low LOD by just make that geometry a simple triangle. And, of course, limit the physics shape to a simple box that fits the diameter of the trunk. Unfortunately I don't have time to test this.

I don't have access to Maya, but I just made a simple tree (see photo taken in SL) and imported the obj file created by the program directly into Photoshop to take a quick look at it. I then I re-exported it as a dae file from PS using the default settings and uploaded it directly to to SL. On upload into SL I just accepted the lods created for me. I didn't run into any upload issues. One glitch was the texturing of the leavesI applied the leaf texture and it's not visible in SL. All the leaf geometry is stacked properly and the normals are in the right direction, but it's not showing up. Possibly I need to break the leaves up into a few material groups, I'm not sure. It all looks fine when I import it into Blender as an obj. I don't like the UV set up for the trunk, but it's no problem to redo those. The program includes a nice bark texture, normal map and leaf image. Edited to add: This photo is taken prior to adding textures. When I add the leaf texture the leave area is just alpha/invisible. Edited a second time to add: Below is a quick and sloppy render in Blender. Right off the bat the textures were visible on the mesh in Blender, but they wouldn't render. I found I had to dump the materials and add them again to make it render correctly in Blender. I'm not exactly sure why they weren't functioning, but it was easier just to dump them and start fresh. I know this isn't especially helpful when talking about using Maya. I thnk the lesson here is it needs some tweaking, but it works. Try the PS method if you have access to it. Edited yet again (this might be some kind of record) to add: I broke up the leaves into 5 separate, but identical material groups and now the image is showing up in SL as you can see. This low detail tree is 22 li so clearly the best use of the program is to create tree images that can be applied to simple planes rather then try to use the geometry as is.

Rather then setting up a seperate, but similar Blender related thread, I hope it's ok to add some custom keys that I have set up that I find very useful (hopefully this will be ok with you Frawmusl). I set up keys 1, 2, 3 to coorespond with selection types vert, edges, faces. For a great tutorial on setting up these custom keys I've included the link below. http://cgcookie.com/blender/2010/05/17/custom-hot-keys/ Additionally, since I use snapping all the time, I set up keys for all the snapping types (increment, verts, edges, faces, volume). You'll find some info on this on the following thread. I'm on a Mac which leaves the CMD key free for all sorts of personalized keys. I use CMD I, CMD V, CMD E, CMD, F and CMD O (increment, vert, edges, faces, vOlume) http://www.elysiun.com/forum/showthread.php?294060-Custom-shortcut-from-2-65-does-not-work-in-2-67 If you are new to setting up custom keys I recommend watching the Blender Cookie video mentioned first.

Lots of these already listed I use all the time. I'll add: ALT B - for quickly slicing a cross section of geometry to be visible which lets you get into tight areas and tweak things. SHIFT B - to box select an area to center and focus on. Also CTL SPACEBAR to toggle widget on and off and CTL ALT Spacebar to quickly set up a custom orientation ALT O to select Proportional Editing constrained to Connected Geometry along with Shift O to toggle thru the influence styles of proportial editing . In UV edit mode I use: ALT A - to scalel uv islands proportionally ALT P - sends all uv islands scattered around to be contained within the UV grid area in a non-overlapped fashion.

RE: "Use your own blog/website for making money and give tutorial about mesh" First let me say that I neither have a blog, nor do I make money via tutorials about mesh on any website. However I see nothing wrong with the practice. I have in the past put together both written and video tutorials re: mesh in SL (in my case for free) and it is extremely time consuming. A good tutorial (and I've failed so far to make a really good one) takes a great deal of time, skill and a talent for teaching and is as worthy of compensation as any digital shoe or skin sold in SL. You are free to take advantage of all the free tutorials on the web including those provided this forum. Those with the drive and talent who feel that their SL time is best spent teaching vs. running a commercial operation in SL or via the SL marketplace or renting land, etc. are as deserving of compensation as any other creator. As it is, when you attend free classes in SL there is a reasonable expectation that you tip your instructor. You can get away with not tipping, but that would be rude and inconsiderate. As long as commercial enterprise exist in SL charging for any legitimate service is acceptable.

Thanks Coby. Very helpful