Q re: using other 3d programs to get 3ds max objects into 2nd life.

Hello,

I know there is a thread lower down running in a similar vein, but my question is a little different.

I am a 3ds max user. I am wonding if anyone has managed to use max to make
objects ( not via the sculptie method - which i find hit and miss ) and import them into a another 3d program and export the object to a format that 2nd life will recognize. ( with texturing co-ordinate info )

What about making something with Nurbs in max? Will that help? Or is that the only way?

Or could you direct me to a wiki? The one I read didn't give me the info I was looking for.

I am little suprised and disappointed ( and I don't think i am alone ) that i can't use my 5 years of games industry expience to make things in max and get them into second life.
Getting this solved will lead me to become a full paying member of 2nd life.

Thank you in advance.

There's a plugin I believe that will let you build with second life prims in max then let you export to second life, but you have to use the prims for second life, its basically an offline second life builder. You're better off learning how to build in second life which coming as a max user and having to build alot of stuff in second life, is not a very difficult switch. The rotate and pan camera keys are similar you'll miss nurbs and box/poly modeling though. Sculpty is one of the few tasks I use max for second life. The other is just making the textures for objects like doors and windows and such.

I think Chosen Few will come in here soon once again carrying a copy of his wonderfully interesting post explaining the experience of learning to build in Second Life. Still I'll have a try at explaining what your predicament really is here.

Have you ever learned about how hard it would be to convert a WAV file into to a MIDI file? That's around how hard it would be to convert the average OBJ into Second Life primitives. And as such, nothing has yet been programmed to do just that.

The biggest reason people appreciate "sculpties" is that they're the ONLY effective way to import a mesh of any arbitrary shape, whatever curves it may contain. Even then, each sculpted primitive must be defined by a 32×32 grid (with edges wrapped together in a spherical, toroidal, or cylindrical manner, or untied). They're also affected by JPG2000 compression, although less so if you upload their maps as larger, 64×64 or 128×128 files. Resident builders are talking with Qarl Linden about whether these effects can be removed/lessened. If you don't have the time to learn how other SL primitives work, sculpted primitives will probably end up being your only way to go.

Now if you CAN find the time to learn about this new 3D building format, SL will prove to be an interesting learning experience. Basically, the SL primitives are a highly memory-efficient system of construction whereby a structure is built out of individual easy-to-transmit pieces, each piece being one of 7 different basic forms, stretched, distorted and cut according to a variety of shaping options you're given.

Yes, building in SL tends to seem odd and frustrating for those who have done their building in the more mainstream modeling programs. However, as it's one of very few formats built around maximizing the ability to swifly share your models with everyone around you (absolutely essential in a realtime online building environment like this), it usually takes some adaptation to start using it effectively.

Good luck, and enjoy your Second Life. It's fun when you get used to it.