EDIT: SINCERE APOLOGIES--in my addled state I posted to the wrong forum!
Forgive me if I've missed this in the forums. I spent considerable time searching but between my new-ness, and consequent lack of inside vocabulary and the ambiguity of terms I haven't come up with a solid answer.
What I want to do is nothing new:
1) Build something in SL.
2) Export the prims to a common 3D format (OBJ, DXF, whatever).
3) Paint textures and bake in effects and lighting.
4) Upload my texture maps to apply to the original prims back in SL.
What do you say? Is it possible? It seems like several people are / have been working on this but every path I go down to get information about what has been accomplished dead-ends or becomes too difficult for me to follow.
Cheers and happy building,
Cecil