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How to texture and create clothing from a mesh kit


Thomasine Guisse
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I recently purchased sorme inexpensive rigged mesh clothing kits from the marketplace.  I understand the creator's intelectural rights.  The kits include the UV maps, alpha for av, and two sample texture examples. But the instructions are pretty hazy.  The creator infers that they buyer must create textures.  I have lots of fabric textures bought from SL creators. Are these no good for application to mesh clothing, Do I have to create textures. I bought these kits as a trial to make some clothing for myself, and only go into the work for selling if I need it to pay my SL tier and maybe make a few RL $$.

Also it seems that you can create mesh clothing from in-world from the creator's directions.  There are no clear directions on how to do this, step by step

1) Do I have to use my own created textures--I am no artist!--or use fabric textures from my SL inventory. I have experience in building non-mesh cottages and a few things I built myself, but nothing else.

2) Is the test SL members still in force.  I deal with copyright and have seen at least part of the test so I know most of the answers would be no

3)Builder's Brewery offers classes, but usually I've been unable to attend(due to RL work, etc), classes have filled up, or have been rescheduled.

4)If there is a blog or blogs or a manual to buy, please let me know.

 

Many thanks

Thomasine Guisse

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Thomasine Guisse wrote:

Also it seems that you can create mesh clothing from in-world from the creator's directions.  There are no clear directions on how to do this, step by step

I'm not sure what might have been in those directions that suggested that.  Only prims can be created in-world.  Arbitrary mesh models must be created in third party 3D modeling programs.

 


Thomasine Guisse wrote:

1) Do I have to use my own created textures--I am no artist!--or use fabric textures from my SL inventory. I have experience in building non-mesh cottages and a few things I built myself, but nothing else.

That would depend on your definition of "have to".  Technically, you can slap any image onto any surface, and call it a day, if you really want to.  However, if you want the results to actually look good, there's a bit more to it than that.

In order for a texture to look like it belongs on any particular model, the exture must be created to fit the model's specific UV layout.  That's why the modeler included the UV maps for you, so you could bring them into Photoshop (or whatever your image editor of choice happens to be), and use them as templates upon which to shape your textures.

Just so you know, the reason it just works when you put a plain old fully rectangular texture onto a prim is because the UV mapping of each side of almost every prim is likewise fully rectangular.   The only exceptions are the tops/bottoms of cylinders and prims, which are circles and triangles, respectively, cover as much of the canvas as possible, while still maintaining a square aspect ratio.

An article of clothing is so much more topologically complex than just a simple geometric primitive, it's highly unlikely that its UV mapping would be so simplistic.  Think of it like making a piece of clothing in RL.  You don't just take a rectangular piece of cloth, and fold it up to become a blouse.  You have to cut it into pattern shapes first, and then stitch those shapes together.   It's no different with 3D modeling, and UV mapping.  All the same principles apply.  A non-primitive model will almost never unwrap into a perfect rectangle.  Just like its RL counterpart, it's going to unwrap into pattern shapes that are representative of the topology of each of its component parts.  If your texture isn't designed to fit the same pattern, it's not going to look right.

 


Thomasine Guisse wrote:

2) Is the test SL members still in force.  I deal with copyright and have seen at least part of the test so I know most of the answers would be no

I wouldn't exactly call it a "test".  It's more of a walk-through of basic IP rights.  There's nothing in it that doesn't already pertain to textures, scripts, animations, sounds, even prim builds.  Every piece of intellectual property enjoys the same basic protections.

LL really should have been implementing that same "test" to everyone all along, before anyone was ever allowed to create any type of asset at all (and they've fully admitted that).  It just happens they only thought of it when they implemented mesh support, which unfortunately creates a false impression that mesh models are somehow to be treated differently than everything else.  That's not the case at all.  Again, whether we're talking about mesh models, or texture images, or sounds, or what have you, it's all the same thing, under the law, and LL operates in compliance with the law.  IP is IP, is IP.  Copyright is copyright, is copyright (and let's not forget trademark, which is equally relevant).

Since you say you deal with copyright on a regular basis, this no doubt is not news to you in any way.

All that said, I'm not sure why you brought it up in this particular context.  From what you said, the creator of the models you bought wants you to be able to retexture them, which was why he/she included the UV maps and instructions (even if the instructions were less than clear).  So, as long as you're not planning on ripping off someone else's textures, or redistributing the models in some way that would violate your license agreement with the creator, there aren't any copyright issues.

 


Thomasine Guisse wrote:

3)Builder's Brewery offers classes, but usually I've been unable to attend(due to RL work, etc), classes have filled up, or have been rescheduled.

Is there a question here?

 


Thomasine Guisse wrote:

4)If there is a blog or blogs or a manual to buy, please let me know.

On what subject? 

It sounds as if you're looking for some sort of formula, or sequence of buttons to press, in order to achieve universally good results.  Sorry, but that's not how it works.

You said, "I'm no artist".  Well, if you want to do this, you're going to need to learn to become one.  That's pretty much the whole point.

It's important you understand that these questions about texturing are in no way specific to SL.  With the advent of mesh support, SL now works the same way as every other digital 3D simulation on Earth.  So, if you want to learn about texturing, learn about texturing.  There are literally thousands and thousands of books, videos, tutorials, classes, etc. you can buy, read, watch, or attend.  And then it takes practice, practice, practice, and more practice.

That's not to say it has to be difficult.  But it will take time, and a degree of dedication, just like any other art form.  So, slow down, and enjoy the process. :)

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Making the texture has always been the hardest part of making clothing. The mesh kit lets you get away without having to learn all the complexities of 3D model creation, but getting an item of clothing that realy "pops" and looks good is an art, it will take you time and effort to learn that art.  I've seen a couple of clothing kits that include complete photoshop files, with all the highlight and shadow layers that go into making a finished clothing texture,  if you buy one and have a look, it will give you a lot of insight into a complex process.

Oh, and once you do learn to do textures, you will find the *really* hard part of your plan:  actually selling your wares in sufficient quantities to make enought $L's to matter.  It can be done, but don't expect to get very far with a couple of widely available kit templates.

As Robert Heinlein once put it, TANSTAAFL.

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  • 1 year later...

here is the easiest simplest explanation ive seen and it relates here tho im sure you already know how by now but someone else may have the same question the other answers wanted to get too technical with u lmao

 

 

 Lindal kidd
Recognized Helper
Posts: 5,171
 
Registered: ‎03-20-2009
 
 

 

on ‎12-04-2012 12:30 PM

1.  Open the UV map in GIMP

2.  Create a new layer.

3.  Paint your texture on the new layer (or layers, you can use as many as you need)

4.  Hide or delete the UV map layer.

5.  Merge or flatten any other layers, and/or Save As a .jpeg file.

6.  Import the new texture into SL

7.  Apply the new texture to your mesh object, using the Texture tab of the Build window.

 

in fact i just ran across a complete tutorial on this located here : 

http://www.tdtemplates.com/meshstarterkit/TD%20Templates%20-%20MESH%20Starter%20Kit.pdf

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  • 6 months later...

Thank you Daunte!!!  An actual answer to the question. I have been trying to find the same thing and stating the obvious, that it's not that simple and needs dediction, time and a lot of learning doesn't really help much.  You however, listed step by step instructions that once someone get a bit more knowledge will be able to use as well as, a link to help with the learning curve process.

Thanks sooo much!!!

 

 

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