i forgot how to fix exported maya textures o.o;

**edit** problem solved, thanks guys! now just discussing software

see attached pic:
http://harrellhome.net/secondlife/wtf_sculpt.jpg

i've done this several times in the past but haven't had to think about it for a while and seem to have forgotten. after using the export script i have to flip horizontal i believe, to get my object to not be inside out...but i have another problem, as you see the line down the side of the thing i'm importing. it's like the ....the poles of the "sphere" are on the sides instead of the top and bottom of my object as they should be. i've had this happen before and i eventually figured it out, but i've tried rotating and inverting my sculpt texture every which way and i'm having no luck getting the poles back at the top/bottom of my thing.

Before I get to your actual questions, let me say please don't post BMP images to the web. They take forever to download, even on broadband. Use JPG, GIF, or PNG for the web. Thanks.


You don't have to flip the maps anymore. That was months ago, and it was only necessary for a short time. Just make sure you're using the latest version of the MEL script. The export dialog will have a checkbox for Correct Orientation. Keep that turned on at all times and the rotation will be fine.



Actually, it looks to me like the poles are on the top and bottom, right where they're supposed to be. That line looks like an open seam, running from pole to pole. This is common if you've got construction history and transformations on your object in Maya. To get rid of the seam, do the following before exporting the sculpt map:

1. Select your object in Maya and go Edit -> Delete by type -> History

2. With the object still selected, go Modify -> Freeze Transformations

3. With the object still selected, go Modify -> Reset Transformations

4. In the exporter dialog, make sure Correct Orientation and Maximize Scale are turned on.

Do those things, and your sculpt maps should come out fine.

Actually I personally wouldn't be worried at all about that open seam. Rather, it seems from my experience that the SL sculptie previewer has switched from previewing in sphere mode to previewing in planar mode, causing a seam to be seen where there otherwise would be none. To convince me that there's anything to worry about there, you'd have to upload it in-world, flipped just the way your modeler outputs it by default (and you can upload for testing in the Beta grid without using any of your own L$).

However I do see a line slicing horizontally across the object, created by a surface-ordering issue that, conversations with Qarl suggest, may not be so easily fixed, though if, once again, it shows up in-world, it's best to first flip it vertically (pole-to-pole... come to think of it, first make sure your vertical map direction is indeed pole-to-pole, as you don't seem to have it this way in that map on the right edge) and see how that works.

EDIT: it looks like Reitsuki agreed, though accidentally posting in the wrong thread:

hey, and thanks for the help so far. i wasn't aware the export script had been updated so that's nice. saves me one small step. still though, i'm getting that line down the edge, and i'm unsure what's causing it.

http://harrellhome.net/secondlife/wtf_sculpt.jpg
(added pic of final uploaded object and converted to jpg for your viewing pleasure!)

i tried the steps mentioned above about the transformation history, but nothing's different. this isn't a very complex model either. i just followed the basic steps from the maya sculpt tutorial from the wikki. created nurbs circle, duplicated it upwards a few times, resized some of the circles and lofted the thing. i've made several sculpts before using this method but suddenly anything i make seems to be getting that line down it. i swear i had this in the past when i first tried that "to make a balloon" tutorial and after some fiddling i got it happy. just can't remember what i did.

Haha. Woops, sorry, yeah, I don't know how I misposted that. Boy is my face red.

Anyways, simple fix to your problem: Whenever you get this problem, load the sculpt texture up into whatever 2D package you favor... photoshop, gimp, whatever. Rotate the entire image 90 degrees to the left, and save. Viola.

It really sucks, though, because the problem Al and I mentioned is also real - so it's sometimes uncertain if your actually going to have that problem until you upload.

interresting. yes reits, that fixed! and that is what i did in the past also i believe. it STILL looks like it has a line down the edge in the preview window, so i thought it would still have it when i used it in sl also, so didn't try to upload when i attempted it at first. that did fix it though. thanks much!

That's likely your problem right there. Scultpies work best when they're created entirely from completely closed surfaces (spheres). When you start lofting, you open the door for lots of potential problems. Work only with spheres, and you'll never have to worry.

Also, for what it's worth, spherical modeling can be much faster than lofting from curves anyway. You could make that shape of yours from a sphere in 3 or 4 clicks. For more complicated shapes, applying deformers to spheres is incredibly powerful, and really fast. If you're used to relying on lofting for much of your work (like I used to be), then making the switch to working purely from spheres can feel a little awkward at first. Give it a couple days to get used to it though, and you really won't miss your lofts.

lofting across a few augmented circles works pretty well and is generally safe. creates a spherical type object that's open on the top and bottom. my only problem here was the rotating 90 degrees left thing. thank you all for the help!

*ahh didn't read that last bit. i agree i need to learn some more techniques here. i am pretty good with cinema4d and can do alot from scratch with several techniques, but in most cases i have no rules i need to go by. building for sculpties is more picky though and i haven't wrapped my head around how to easily use alot of the tools without screwing up my object and in a way that makes it unsuitable for sl export.

i realize that shape in my example is rediculously simple and i'd have been better off just doing it in rokuro or something even. it was just an example though. i've done some less symetrical things using this concept, such as my golf club heads!

I hear you. Really, I'm just learning deformer techniques myself. I used to be almost exclusively a loft modeler as far as NURBS were concerned. I enjoyed being able to manipulate the curves to perfect the shape of the model. What I've found though is that deformers allow you to do virtually the same thing plus a whole lot more, all in a much less destructive way. Play around with them. They're really powerful.

my main understanding of modeling comes from a cinema4d intro class i took at college a couple years ago, and until sculpties came out i really had no further use for it. we did most of the basic basics. extrude, knife, boolean and deformers. that kinda thing. i'm by no means an expert hehe. are you talking about like the bulge, twist, melt and such deformers which you could attach to primitives to make them to simple things like that? those definately did have some good uses.

i wish there were an exporter for cinema...i've been poking around and see no good way to export from cinema to maya so i can use the export script, though i may be missing something. that's the only reason i'm trying maya out.i feel like i'm almost totally starting over again with new software though, and the limitations on sculpties...needing to be based on a sphere and having the poles a certain way is really making me rethink how i'm used to modeling.

blender looks promising, and i played with it some using that template, but starting from the template sphere seemed very limited, and the process of starting from scratch in blender looked a bit daunting. i can figure out how to build stuff in pretty much any software, but building with SL in mind and exporting your creation to a sculpt texture seems vastly different depending on the software, and that's where i get hung up. basically the only thing i really feel comfortable with right now is maya using circle nurbs, editing the vertexes and lofting.

what do you use?

Hi Fa,

You should be able to fix the sculptie in Maya. I use Blender so not sure of the exact procedure in Maya, but basically you need to rotate the UV map 90 degrees. This does the same as rotating the image, but is done before the bake, so no need for external editing.

I've been blowing away the limitations on sculpties in Blender so you might want to take another look: /8/60/203571/1.html

Check through the thread for a few videos where I make a sculptie from Suzanne ( the monkey head ), from a single vertex using extrude, mirror and spin, and from a plane with full LOD control.

Whatever software you use, the UV map is the issue. As long as you can unwrap the final model to a square you can use any techniques you like