PloppSL: create sculpies with ease

Excuse me, i drop my png file with alpha channel in the PloppSL's painter, the image goes in PloppSL, but the alpha channel doesn't...

instead of the alpha channel i've white color that i must delete, but i'd like to have the image ready with alpha channel

can you help me?
maybe i make a mistake in photoshop?

Carlo: I have had success using a PNG with transparency, not sure why your image is not working. Here is a screenshot of the setup I've used in Photoshop that produces an image that works for me. I choose the No Interlace option when saving.

Woot. This is just way tooooo cute!!!!

I am 50 years old but have always been young at heart and if someone calls me immature, I take it as a complement. But evidently it is much worse then I thought because I had absolutely no problems using this. There are only a handful of buttons and you figure out what they do the first time you touch them. For the ones asking for tool tips; go watch a few hours of Barney (if it still comes on), Pokemon or something and start thinking young again.

Hello Vlad,

we saw your great video tutorial and wanted to ask, if you allow us to link to it on www.secondplopp.com.

Hi Imp. Sure! I have been meaning to contact you and let you know that the video existed. You could even embed the video on your site if you like - just click the Share button on the video player.

I really enjoy using PloppSL and I'm looking forward to future versions of the software.

New versions of PloppSL are now available at www.secondplopp.com (updated windows version and a first mac version)

changes in PloppSL 0.6:
----------------------------
- fixed error on drag and drop of image files into PloppSL
- mac support
- windowTitle changed to "PloppSL" (windows version)
- changed upload icon
- integrated donate screen


In addition we have placed a link to Vlad Bjornson's great video tutorial. Thank you very much, Vlad.

...at startup time, check for an update and let the user know.


Also, how open is the source? This thing is in Squeak, yes?

Plopp and PloppSL are based on Squeak, but they are not open source.
There is unfortunately the need to pay the rent

We try to give back to the community as we can. If we are lucky we even get paid as for the OpenSource Sophie project.

Michael

I absolutely love your ploppsl tool, Imp

Thanks a lot for the flock of sheeps I have now in my uninhabited Open Sim!!!

Imp, I do believe that you have just become as much a welcome addition to the building community as The creature of Rokuro has.

First off, thanks for taking the time to create a version of your program for Second Life Creators.
Second, thanks for making it usable and solving the basic sculptie program; Ie: texturing the object.
Personal thanks because I do believe you got me over the hump with my sneakers. And even if you haven't you helped me and dozens others.
And I love the name!

I do have a problem, my scultpies rez at 90 degrees Y and that ruins the texture. Has anyone encounted this problem?

I don't know if this is the same, but I have done 2 so far. The seahorses rezzed correct, and the texture as well.


While the Angelfish rezzed nose down and I also had to rotate the texture by 90 degrees.


I wonder if is in relation to the orientation of the original?? Seeing as the horses were a more vertical type of picture, while the Angelfish was a more horizontal original?

Just a wild shot in the dark

You can fix this easily, Thunderclap. While editing your object, go to the Texture tab and set the rotation to 0. The default setting is 90 degrees (or maybe -90 degrees can't recall atm).

Setting the texture rotation to 0 degrees should line up your texture correctly.

Thanks for you answer Vlad!

but...

i dont understand, i have saved my file with your same settings.
i have created my image with transparency, saving the selection in channels window and creating alpha channel.
i have saved in png format the file hiding background layer and choosing No interface option, but nothing.
When i drop the image in Plopp i have white color instead of transparency

Thanks Vlad, I figured out the problem was SL not Plopp but was unaware of that setting as I have yet to get a successful sculptie (to my satisfaction)
Ok next problem. At 128 x 128, my texture is twisted when it is on right (i had simply turned the image 90 degrees in PSP then reuploaded it). I can't do fine details.
So I imported my Plopp made one in at 32x32 and was noticed that the twistiness and the seam (which is from them mating of the two halves) are far less.
Do anyone have an texture problems with words, logos or details?
I am trying for the holy grail of prim clothes, single prim shoes and boots.

ok guys I need help!
As simple as this program seems to be, I am still doing something wrong...
I even tried making sculpties using the "premade" drawings but I still end up with a mess...
HELP!

hmm. The problem may be with the Alpha Channel. When I use .PNG files for SL I don't create an actual Alpha Channel Mask. PNG seems to preserve the transparency from the actual image area - unlike a TGA file which needs a specific Alpha mask to create the transparent effect.

If you go back up and look at the image I posted in response to your first question, you'll see that there is no Alpha channel for that image. Try creating and saving your image as .png without creating an Alpha channel and see what happens.

Hmm. That is an odd looking snail Not exactly sure what might be causing your problem

Do other sculpted prims look correct to you?

Is your Object Mesh Detail slider set very low in your Preferences in the Graphics Detail Tab? A lot of sculpties look pretty odd at lower detail settings.

I'll attach a SculptMap image file that I made with PloppSL - the pink snail image that comes with the program. Grab this image to upload and test. If this makes a proper shape then I suppose there is a problem with your install of PloppSL.

Are you editing and re-saving the SculptMap image file that PloppSL produces? If so, you must be careful not to introduce errors with JPG compression or other modification.

Can't think of anything else to suggest...

Actually sensual casanova's problem is mine. At 128x128 there is a twistiness that is imported so that I can't do fine details. My sculpties look like that. However, when I just drew clouds and boots, it took them.
Is there a way for you to add TGA acceptance into PloppSL. If it goes in as a Tga in comes out as a tga? Or a mesh size selector.
I want to make single prim textured boots, and your program has got me over the major hump, I just need the last mile.

Yes sculpties normally look correct to me, and oddly I didn't change anything, thats what the library gave me, my texture also looks different...
I hope this doesnt have anything to do with Vista?

Sensual: Yes, that is very odd. That is not a normal looking sculptmap file. I don't have access to a Vista machine to test, tho. I'm thinking that is might be a bug in PloppSL, or at least some sort of incompatibility with your machine or vista.

The oval sections look normal, but that horizontal banding in the rest of the image is not good. You could try blurring those horizontal lines together as a sort of workaround.

Thunderclap: I wish I knew how to help you out. Are you running Windows Vista? If so that I guess that would match up with Sensual's problem. Imp Wish or someone else involved with PloppSL might be able to offer more info.


There is a bug tracking system on the SecondPlopp.com webpage. Maybe you could list your problem there.

http://bugs.impara.de/impara/login_page.php

No, I run xp service pack 2.
And the two images are to show what my problem is.
I textured the boot with a grid to show the problem better.
First is the PloppSL boot I made from a catalog boot picture. Note the distortion and twistiness.
Second is the grid and a custom made shape done is wings3d. That is how I expected the texture.

This here should be a lot more helpful to anyone is having issues with the twistiness and details.

I took the UV grid I have and threw it into Plopp and saved it. The first image is the UV grid images itself.
The second is the outputted texture of the UV grid.
The third is the actual sculptie itself.
I noticed something else. PloppSLs rgb images (the sculptie texture) are not smooth and uniform like rokuro or anything else. They are jaggy and twisty and I believe that has a lot to do with it.

Thunderclap: I think that the odd texture wrapping is normal behavior for the current version of PloppSL. It does not create a regular geometric, grid-like 3d object and the resulting texture map is similarly warped and twisted.

Here is a pic of a test grid wrapped on three of my sculpties made with PloppSL. This uneven distribution is a result of the way that the software constructs the 3D object. The texture that is output along with the sculptmapp in Plopp will be visually distorted as well but will match what you have drawn when applied to the shape.

The grid sections that have larger areas in this picture would effectively have a lower texture resolution since fewer pixels are covering a larger area of the object.

VERY cute, fun program! But I am also having the "white pillow" problem. I saved my file as a PNG, no alpha channel, transparency around the coloured bits (and it appears that way in the saved file), but when it imports in, the whole thing is one big pillow.

I use PSP8, don't know if that makes a difference or not.

And Vlad, lovely tutorial!