Maya_support_help_request

Greetings.

I have very much problems with sculpting. I'm using MAYA For making my sculpties. It looks very very good in MAYA(since im on a MAYA master course, I can use some of its features.) So it looks great in maya but when I'm exporting it into secondlife everything is all messed up. (even after the sculpt map fully loaded). I want to ask if there will be an update for secondlofe which is can handle POLYGON objects on the right way (Since it's UV map easy to modify). I know SL using nurbs objects but its not makes any sense. Since usually vga cards can handle POLYGON objects normaly.

MY second question is: I realized that if I delete the UV map form a polygon object and create a new one then I can export it into sl. BUT it still doesnt works few times. (or actully barely works). SO how can I use polygon objects in SL ?

My third question: For example I made a a stair from a sphere. But when I upload it into sl, it looks ok, but the uv map is messed up. Origianlly I made a cube from a NURB sphere, and copyd it 5 times, and scaled them down. Then I usede the attach surface option. It merges the objects together. But when I upload it into sl, the teture map is messed up. How can I fix it?


And WHY sl cannot use CUBE objects? I mean, it can handle spehere, torus, cylinder, plane, but CUBE not. ITs makes no sense since it makes everythnig a lot harder.

Normaly you place a cube object on the grid and copy it then scale them down, then combine them. Itts that simőple. But noooo. It DOESNT works in sl.


So if anybody experienced in MAYA and how to export objects to sl, please help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Regards, Arey.

P.S: Sorry for my english, I'm just learning yet. But I think its mostly understandable.

The official Maya sculpty exporter is optimized for NURBS. The only one I know of that is set up for polys is the one that comes in the SLTK tools package, but that costs around US$1000. If you want to spend the money, go for it, but I'd suggest you just suck it up and learn to get good at NURBS modeling. It's a very important skill to develop, anyway, so you might as well.

Alternatively, you could use another program to do your polygonal sculpts. There are excellent scripts available for Blender, 3DS Max, and Wings3D, among others.


SL doesn't use NURBS surfaces at all. It uses polygons, just like every other real-time engine. NURBS are simply utilized for the source modeling in Maya. The actual sculpties are created as polygonal models in SL.

Just so you know, the idea behind sculpties was to enable the existence of organic models in SL. NURBS are ideal for this. Sculpties were never meant for the kind of hard-edged precision meshes that enterprising residents have since forced them to become.

In the future, SL will support importation of arbitrary mesh models, but don't hold your breath waiting for it. Learn to use what works now.



Simply deleting the UV map and slapping on a new one won't necessarily make a mesh sculpty-compatible. In order for it to work, both the topology and the UV map must be a perfect grid. NURBS are set up that way by definition, which is why they always work. To do the same with polys, you need to work very, very carefully.

But even if you make your poly mesh perfectly, it still might not translate well to a sculpty, since the exporter wasn't designed with polygons in mind. It's set up for sampling NURBS surfaces, and approximating a new poly mesh from them, not for duplicating existing poly meshes.

If you want to make reliable sculpties from polygons, you must use an exporter designed specifically for polygons. Again, that means either buy the SLTK tools, or use another modeling app besides Maya. Or, if you're good with MEL, write your own exporter for Maya (and please, please, share it if you do).



Don't attach surfaces together, ever. Rememer, sculpties are not arbitrary meshes. They have to follow certain rules. The topology must always be unwrappable to a perfect grid of quads. If it's not, it won't work.



It's very simple. All sculpties are based on a plane. A cylinder is simply a plane that has been rolled in 3D space, and stitched along one edge. A torus is the same thing, but stitched along two edges. A sphere is a plane that has been stitched along an edge, and collapsed to poles at the top and bottom.

There's no easy way to make a cube out of a single plane. That's why when you create a NURBS cube in Maya, what you end up with is not one single object, but a collection of six individual planes. If you want a singular surface that looks like a cube, the best way to create it is to deform a sphere.


Nope, that's not how it works for sculpties. Get used to it. Complaining about it accomplishes nothing.



No problem. Your post was very understandable. I hope my answers make sense to you. If you need further clarification on anything, ask away.

Out of curiosity, if you don't mind my asking, what's your native language?

Okay, Thaqnk you very much. ANd yes, of course its makes sense to me. But then there is no meaning point to use sculpties in sl then. I mean, if you can't attach nurbs together,( or polygons, but anyway, polyigons doesnt works anyway) Then you end up at the same prim count as if you bild in sl. So thats not makes any sense then. Of course, its makes if it was created for organic shapes. Beecasue u can make a high detailed head from a single sphere but you cannot do that in sl. So in that way sculpties is working. the only problem is, that I need it to non-organic modelling.

No, maya and every other 3d program was created for polygons. Or let me expalin.

Polygons: mesh modelling( Houses, streets, etc.)
Nurbs: car modelling
Subdivsworks only in MAYA) for movies.

(or at least this is what my teacher telling us. he is a very good character modeller and animator)

Well then I gues I have to use sculpt studio for mesh modelling then. Its a good program in SL. I just tought maya would be easier for me since I'm learning it. But then I have to learn how to use sculpt studio properly.

And about MEL yes, originally I lerned to be a programmer so I could get used to MEL easily. (I mean, the syntax) I already wrote a menu based Flower maker. But I will see if I can find out how to write an exporter for exporting polygons.

Peace, Arey.

Depending on what your building, the prim count from building with sculpties is almost always lower than from using regular prims.

For an easy example, let's say you want to build a cube with rounded corners, like couch cushion. To do that out of regular prims, you'd need to use nine of them (1 cube for the base, 4 cut cylinders for the sides, 4 cut spheres for the corners). Put three cushions on a sofa, and that's 27. But with a sculpty, you could make all three cushions from a single deformed sphere.



Sure you can. Combine a simplistic head shape with a good texture bake, and the results can be very convincing.


I make non-organic stuff out of sculpties all the time. Here's one example:




The cylon makes for a good example because it's a good mix of organic and inorganic forms. It's modeled entirely from deformed NURBS spheres.

It sounds to me like you just haven't been well trained on NURBS modeling, so you're uncomfortable with it. It does take some getting used to if all you know is polygons, but as I said, it's an important skill to develop, whether you plan on doing sculpties or not.


Not true.


With all due respect to your teacher, that's an extremely oversimplified view, not accurate.

NURBS are commonly used in the auto industry, true, but that doesn't mean that's all they're ever used for. Before the advent of subdivs, they were very commonly used in film (and still are, to a lesser degree). And subdiv modeling is not just a Maya thing. There are lots of programs that can do subdivs.

If you want to be a good modeler, it's extremely important to develop your skills with all three surface types. Also, you should always be ready to expand your skillset for whatever new types might come along in the future.

Remember, every platform you'll ever model for will have its own unique rules and quirks. SL sculpties are just the tip of the iceberg. Always be willing to embrace the oddities of each and every system you encounter, and learn to operate (and to push the envelope) within its limits. Don't ever think about what can't be done. Think instead about how you can do what you want within the rules, how can you make the rules work FOR you instead of against you.

For example, you mentioned modeling a five-pointed star. You could make that out of a single NURBS sphere very easily. You just need to learn to think about the problem from a NURBS workflow point of view, and then the solution pretty much explains itself.


Don't give up on Maya so easily. You just need to get some experience with NURBS modeling is all. If your teacher can't help you with that, there are lots of books, videos, and online tutorials that can, plus this forum.

If you really want to use Sculpt Sudio, or any other program, go right ahead. But I'd still encourage you to learn what you're doing with NURBS. It's very important for your development as a modeler.


That would be great. You might want to take a look at the existing Blender and 3DS Max scripts, to take a look at how they translate the vertex position data to sculpty data. I'm not a programmer, so I can't offer much specific advice on that, but I'd assume all it would take would be to translate the same procedures into Maya specifics.

Yes, thats true. All of it. I mean, my teacher only teach us POLY modelling. true, we did try few things with nurbs but just very simple things. So yeah, I have to get used to it. Where can I find any stuff about NURB modelling? A.lso, if you are in SL, I could use some advice there too."