Creating texture maps for normal prims

My apologies for my nascent understanding of 3D modeling, but here is what I was wondering:

How would one go about using a 3D painting program (I have Zbrush, myself) to create a texture for a plain vanilla SecondLife prim? I suppose one could just use a sphere (for example) and paint it, but would the texture map correctly?

This isn't really a problem for most prims, of course, but it would be tremendously useful for the prims with curved surfaces. And it would lend itself to baking shading in and such as well.

Check out Natalia's tutorial, I think this could be used with any shape.
http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/2007/06/day-279-sculpted-prims-tutorial-part-4.html

You're absolutely right, but I'm even lazier than that technique calls for. I was hoping to paint in Zbrush on a sphere, cone, whathaveyou, create a texture from the polypainting, then apply that texture in Secondlife and have it look as it did in Zbrush.

hmmm.. The tutorial covers creation of sculpted prims. But the question was about how to texturize standard prims... I am not sure, whether the exact same techniques can be applied in all cases, but ...

- For the sphere i know that standard prims use the mercator projection. I remember we have tested it with some planet-surface-maps from NASA. Just imported the mercator-projections to SL and applied them to sphere-objects. and the solar system was virtualized, wooosh

Since sculpties also use the mercator-projection for spherical objects, you should be able to use the same techniques also for prim-objects. I don't know much about zbrush, but i am sure, they support mercator projection, although it may be named differently.

- For Cylinder i remember, it is simple straight forward too. Just bend a plain image along a circle, so you only need to take care about the seem, but no extra hussle there. i think, you can do cylinder textures without hustle in any 2D program.

- For torus i don't know.

- For tappered objects i guess, you just need to tapper your 3D object (sphere and cylinder) in the same way as you do in SL before starting your texturing work.

Sorry for only answering partially. I just never did actually texturise standard prims with individual textures yet.

Yo!,

ZBrush's sphere primitive should already match SL's. But the best way to create textures for other primitives would be to rebuild SL's prims from subtools.

Some examples:

Cube would be 6 planes.

Cylinder=hollow cylinder (inner radius 100) and two Circle 3D's for the top and bottom. Both the top and bottom circles would need a planar UV mapping assigned to them (uvp button in texture panel).

Cone=1 hollow cylinder and just a single 'Circle 3D' for the bottom.

..etc



All the tools that make up each primitive could then be merged using 'InsertMesh' in the Geometry panel. Or a quicker way would be to use the SubTool Master plugin.

After you've painted on your primitive you would then whack the 'GrpSplit' button in the Subtool panel to split your object up into its individual parts (surfaces) and export each part's texture using Col>Txr.

That ZSculpty plugin would help automate the texture exporting stage.

Thanks! I never thought of simply merging (Insert Mesh technique has grown dust since I started using Subtool Master )

I just had a bit of an insight: if I'm creating an object made of multiple sculpties, to texture it seamlessly, I should merge all the subtools, paint away, then do a group split prior to exporting the textures and objects, correct?

That's it.

or you can use the legendary prim.blender system.

it just got updated

That sounds intriguing Almia! Is that a blender plugin?

I use numbered grid I got from someone who made one.
I like Dagmon's the best she was kind enough to share her's with me but
not sure if I can just give it to anyone.
There others out there Chosen
has one but I never was able to see it clearly it look all distorted and wasn't numbered.
It could probably easily made any grid would work that 256 spaces or whatever number
or color grid would work.
I can show example I use it on regular cubes but for spheres its bit tricker.
I don't do sculpties.
I just have number grid I put on prims reflect what I want to draw on it
and paint over the grid in my art program but still fine tuning the scale
for specific things.
This is example of something I was doing when I used one of her grids

yes actually it is.