Aware of 'Anim8or'?

Uh, from what I've read so far it appears that there are ways to import 3D models into SL for further developing/texturing, etc. Is this correct? Is it desirable or does it create problems to try and use your mesh based objects while developing models for SL?

Also....in the various 3D posts and articles I've read here so far concerning the use of 'outside' software for creating 3D models - I didn't see any mention of 'Anim8or' when scrolling down the list of free 3d modeling software provided.
Anim8or is a very good alternative to some of the more challenging 3d modeling programs available, and I cut my eyeteeth on this freeware program. If you are able to bring in .3ds files to SL to play with - Anim8or would be a very good place to start your modeling career, especially if you're new.

Also, please be aware that in the list of 'Payware' programs I saw here somewhere - 3dsmax was listed, and it's terribly expensive. Yeah, I know ...it's very powerful, but it has a little brother that is absolutely free called gmax. gmax is not quite as robust as 3dsmax, but the features that you need are all there...and it's a wicked program. It is simply 3dsmax without all the features (plus, no rendering capability), and is provided for free through a 'Turbosquid' download...or if you own or get ahold of a copy of Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2002 (and, I think, 2004) gmax is included on the disk.

Plus, if you find that modeling effectively in gmax/3dsmax to be a daunting task, once again - consider downloading good ol' free 'Anim8or' - it has a great user interface and will export .3ds files. In fact, I use Anim8or often to kick out a .3ds file that is directly importable to gmax, if you wish to continue your work in that program.
Hope this is relevent info, please let me know if I'm out to lunch here....I'm hoping you can import meshes to the SL builder while learning the 'prim' way of life here in SL. Thanks for any further input or feedback, hope I'm on the right track...('m such a noob at all this SL developer stuff!)

GMax is a striped down version of 3ds Max 5 circa 2000-2001. It was released during the "discreet era" to be a free game editor around the time Quake 3 came out. Support was discontinued in 2005.

I would be careful in saying it has everything you need. As you note, it does not have a renderer, so you cannot use it to bake out sculpties via shaders. Gmax can run scripts, but it is very out of date. Although I haven't actually tried it myself I am 99.9% sure the 3ds Max scripts developed for Second Life content creation are not going to work. It is still occasionally used because there were a few games that released plugins for specifically for Gmax that allowed users to create content or edit certain games. For all intents and purposes Gmax is pretty much abandonware at this point.

Yes, it can be used as a modeler, but honestly I would suggest other free apps like Wings and Blender which are being actively supported and have a user base that puts out great plugins, tutorials, and are otherwise generally helpful before resorting to using Gmax. If you have questions regarding using these applications for SL content creation you WILL get answers of some kind here.

I have no experience with Anim8or, but I have not seen any support in this forum for it either. I will reiterate my suggestion that folks new to 3D who want to try it out go for something like Wings3D or Blender.

Also, I would recommend not using the 3ds format. This is a circa 1990s format that has problems with holding UVs even in Max, let alone bouncing from export to import between apps. OBJ format is generally the standard format I would suggest you use for straight mesh export.

There is no built-in "Import obj" or "Import Maya file" or other such direct way to import meshes into SL such as there is in the in-development virtual world called Novoking.

There is a way to use meshes, called Sculpted Prims, or sculpties. It has considerable limitations but does allow one to make shapes in outside 3D programs. You can find a lot of material on sculpties in the texturing and building forums. Look for stickies and use the forum specific search functions.

Also the wiki at wiki.secondlife.com will have info on sculpted prims.

The is a import method that reproduces triangles in meshes with triangles made from SL prims but while it works in a technical sense it is not a very practical system for importing meshes into SL.

If you put

second life wiki 3d modelling software

into a search engine you will find some discusion of 3d modeling software as it relates to use with sculpties at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims:_3d_Software_Guide .

Thank you for the replies, always very helpful, and I enjoy learning through both personal interaction in a forum setting, along with my own personal research methods.

I suggested 'Anim8or' as a great way to dive into 3D modeling in general because of the simple interface, and because it's Freeware.

gmax is certainly not abandonware...not in the flight simulator world anyway...thousands of people use it worldwide to create aircraft and scenery for Microsoft's flight Simulator series. It's only real competition for flightsim stuff is a payware program called FSDS, and I, along with many, still prefer gmax. I have, and continue to build complicated aircraft in gmax, with complex animations galore (landing gear, flaps, spoilers and other control surfaces, all responding to user input as you fly...so much fun!). Mind you, gmax has a bit of a learning curve and I find it easier to build in 'Anim8or' and import the file into gmax for texturing and animations.

I'm sure buiding in-world using prims is common and preferred, but with my familiarity with gmax and Anim8or', I remain interested in the possibilities of importing my meshes into the SL environment. If it seems smarter (and easier, I can be so lazy!) to build in-world in the traditional way, then I may be tempted to just dive in and learn it all from scratch.
Great forum here folks, thanks again for all the replies.

Hi again folks...well...as I try and educate myself here I am leaning more and more to the general consensus that I'm another one of those 'outside 3d program' addicts that needs to give in and learn how to create things within SL, with the tools that are given to work with. I am realizing that it's natural for noobs to SL, with former 3D modeling experience to want or hope for a way to easily import their already constructed meshes into SL, but it seems now like it's pretty well a big pain in the butt to do so efficiently.
This thread cleared up a fair bit for me, especially the discussion on how things are 'streamed' to all within SL, and how the current way of building within SL is probably the best way to go;

/8/43/67251/1.html

I imagine there are people that disagree with this idea....and I still would sure love to see a gamepack or something for gmax, but I guess it's time for me to quit being lazy about learning the new 'in-world' method of effective object creation and texturing! Very interesting stuff to me overall...maybe soon I will have stuff in SL that is good or better than average, and might have a chance to make my mark. Thanks again for all the support so far.