No problem! Anything I can do to make it more clear helps everyone. If you'd like to make a summary, I think that would be terrific!
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Originally Posted by Antario Denja
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Correct.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Antario Denja
- First, I do have got the (verbal) impression, that whatever i build in AC3D, as long as I filled the gray areas the import into SL will work.
But life tells something else :-) And if it is needed to use specialy prepared cubes, sphere, etc. for the import, it cant be that easy.
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As long as the gray areas are filled--and they take up enough texels that the resolution doesn't get too low in SL--then yes, it will work.
There's no requirement to use the pre-prepared cubes, spheres, etc. I made those only because I knew a lot of people may not be very comfortable with texturing. (As it turns out, I'm discovering that many more people than I thought have *never textured at all*, so I'm working on some things to make this part easier in the next rev of the plugin.)
Now that said, as you have noticed in practicality some shapes work better than others. I started to write a big wordy explanation as to why, but then I decided a picture might explain it a whole lot better.
You'll find a visual guide in the next post.
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Originally Posted by Antario Denja
- Second, obviously there are operations in AC3D which "destroy" this perfectness. I read in a post that i should use "Sculpty Extrude" rather then the "extrude-button" if i want to have good results after import into SL.
There are no-gos in AC3D which hinder the import? Do you have any recommandation on that topic? (I love to use boolean operations). What are these no-gos? Do you have a general recommandation on what will propably stop an import into SL?
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Operations that will almost certainly break the map:
- Extrude
- Boolean
- Greeble
- Make hole
Operations that may or may not depending on your geometry:
- Optimize
But, remember, you can still use "destructive" operations and re-map afterwards. I usually model first and then texture after myself--I rarely use the built-in shapes--but I know that I'm a little more comfortable with the TCE than most.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Antario Denja
- And third, there are limitations on what SL can show which directly limits how compex I should be building in AC3D ((with the import into SL in focus). Do you have anything about this one?
(Like the speakers. No way to get that into SL)
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General SL limits:
- Maximum 1024 vertices. You can have more in AC3D to help it sample smoother, but you won't get more vertices than that in SL no matter how many vertices are in your source model.
- Everything is derived from a sphere. (Or cylinder or torus, if you choose one of the other mapping modes in the SL client.) Imagine you had a ball of clay in a perfect sphere, and you mushed it to make a shape without tearing it apart or reforming the ball. If you try to make something by ripping apart or cutting holes into the ball it won't work. Anything you can make by deforming the ball will. (Incidentally, you probably can make your speakers this way if you make the grill a separate piece... the key is *contiguous shapes*.)
- SL uses only 8-bit precision for sculpt maps instead of the 32-bit that most modeling programs use. This can cause stair-stepping on some surfaces. Increasing the amount of texture space will add more polygons, and can sometimes correct or at least make the stepping less obvious.
I don't know if you've ever used any landscape programs like Terragen or Leveller, but sculpted prims work pretty much exactly the same way. Sculpt maps are just fancy displacement maps. The only difference is a) landscape programs displace a plane, and SL displaces a sphere and b) landscape programs displace only on one axis, and SL displaces on all three.