Thoughts on AC3D for Second Life

lisa · 22nd July 2009, 02:33 AM

Hmm. Possibly.... although a lot of my motivation for attempting such a tool is texture baking. If I could get the geometry back out of SL after the fact in order to bake shadows, it might be okay, but as it stands the only way I know to do it is to do the textures first then re-create the same work in SL.

I've tried glintercept to capture the data out of the client for baking, which (sortof) works for small objects but it's impossible to capture an entire building that way.

Elliott Eldrich · 22nd July 2009, 02:37 AM

Ahh, excellent point! Yes, shadow baking in particular, would be VERY handy. Good thinking. I've tended to avoid doing that in my builds, because it's often done poorly, and the shadows never move. Dynamic shadows would be way better, but at the rate things improve in SL, I don't think we'll see that feature implemented before 2012.

lisa · 5th August 2009, 03:03 PM

Yes, dynamic shadows *would* be nice. I hear Phillip is working on a new viewer outside the main viewer... maybe it will support more of these things, with any luck.

I'll keep you posted if/when/what I come up with.

22nd July 2009, 02:33 AM	#1
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: Thoughts on AC3D for Second Life Hmm. Possibly.... although a lot of my motivation for attempting such a tool is texture baking. If I could get the geometry back out of SL after the fact in order to bake shadows, it might be okay, but as it stands the only way I know to do it is to do the textures first then re-create the same work in SL. I've tried glintercept to capture the data out of the client for baking, which (sortof) works for small objects but it's impossible to capture an entire building that way.

22nd July 2009, 02:37 AM	#2
Elliott Eldrich Junior Member Junior member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 5	Re: Thoughts on AC3D for Second Life Ahh, excellent point! Yes, shadow baking in particular, would be VERY handy. Good thinking. I've tended to avoid doing that in my builds, because it's often done poorly, and the shadows never move. Dynamic shadows would be way better, but at the rate things improve in SL, I don't think we'll see that feature implemented before 2012.

5th August 2009, 03:03 PM	#3
lisa Senior Member Professional user Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 917	Re: Thoughts on AC3D for Second Life Yes, dynamic shadows would be nice. I hear Phillip is working on a new viewer outside the main viewer... maybe it will support more of these things, with any luck. I'll keep you posted if/when/what I come up with.