blender tutorials (text and video) for sculpties and more ...

My problem is that the python scripts for blender 2.48 are not working, there is no UV face select mode. how can I get it to bake the old way. i had it figured out but now once again it say "no images found to bake to" ??? I attempt to go into edit mode select all faces and then create a new image through the UV image window but I can't get the black onto the prim can anyone help??!

Thanks
JBG

Dabubster, do you refer to a blender-update, a sculpty scripts update, or a tutorial update ?
And do you refer to sculpty-map creation, or surface texture creation ?

i will try to answer some of your questions:

1.) domino's scripts work well with blender-2.48a (for me)
2.) face select mode has been dropped long ago and i think, we covered the
new workflow in these tutorials:

http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2008/05/12/blender-surface-textures
http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2008/09/01/texturizing-with-multiple-images

3.) There are some blender quirks introduced lately:

a.) Blender allows you to deselect your object in object mode, but when you enter edit mode again, the object seems to be automatically selected again for editing purposes. When you eventually want to bake, the scripts seem to internally go to object mode and since there is no object selected, they end up with "no image founfd to bake to" which IMHO would probably better said as "no object found to bake from..."

b.) Sometimes, when you are in edit mode, and you want to create a new UV-texture (for your projection map, if you use the workflow we have proposed in the machinimatrix tutorials) then your new uv-texture ends up in the UV-editor as a "single blue face" which indeed is a stack of faces all laying on top of each other. This is because sometimes blender does not copy from the original UV-texture, but creates a new texture and resets it.

c.) sometimes blender does not allow you to add new images in the UV-image editor. This is mostly, because you did not select any vertex in the UV-editor (even if you have selecte some or all vertices in the 3D-view) associating new images to the UV-map needs vertices selected inthe UV-editor nowadays.

d.) If you follow the tutorials mentioned above, then at the end (just before you bake the final textures), please ensure:
- that you realy have created a material
- that your map input contains the projection map (if this field shows a red bakground, you probably have a typo in your name!!!!

If you fail to do so, you will get ... "no image found to bake to" ...


I hope that helps a bit and gets you back to work with the current Scripts the current blender and the current tutorials

happy blending

How do i select all the vertices in the UV window??

I select all the vertices in 3D view but the UV window
has nothing in it just a gray grid. I'm getting a single
blue stacked face sometimes then it locks up.

I need to know how to select the vertices in the UV image editor
and what I'm doing wrong. everything else is set up right,
materials right, though I'm not quite sure how to setup map input,
is it in map input tab in materials window, do you name it the object?

Also can I get a link to the video or if can you point me to it, I would
appreciate it.

Move the pointer over the UV Window and press "a" key. On the UV Image Editor toolbar there is an icon which looks like a quad face, that enables "sync uv and mesh selection" so that whatever you select in one window is automatically selected in the other.

I mentioned the links to the texturising videos before, here they are again:

http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2008/05/12/blender-surface-textures
http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2008/09/01/texturizing-with-multiple-images

To all my knowledge, the workflow described in both videos is correct and it works with blender-2.48. Concerning the creation of the "projectionmap", please create it in "Object mode" to avoid the resetting of the UV-texture. although i don't think, that it matters at all for the descibed workflow...

When it comes to baking at the very end, and you encounter "no image found to bake to", then you should proceed as i reported in step 3.) of my previous response.

I am preparing an update of the texturing videos, but my time is very limited, so don't expect to see something within the nex few days

good luck

Hello,

I tried to create a sculpty from blender 2.46 but it seems that doesn't work. When I choose Render->Bake secondlife Sculpty, nothing appear in the UV Editor except a pink scare and when I choose File->Export->SecondLife LSL, I get a python error but don't see any message. any idea?

Kind regards,

Have you created a sculptie before you tried to bake ? i.e.:

Add -> Mesh -> Sculpt Mesh

Maybe you have created an object, but not a sculpt-mesh ?
The general workflow is:

- Add -> Mesh -> Sculpt Mesh
- edit your sculptie
- Render -> Bake secnd Life Sculpties

hope that helps ?

Hi all;

I have uploaded 2 small new video tutorials for:

- "create a cube with multires"

http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2009/04/25/cubes/#more-531

- "create a closed cylinder with subsurf and Crease"

http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2009/04/28/cylinders/#more-539

The cylinder-video is the first video made on blender-2.48-4. I have used my personal customized GUI here, so it looks a bit different from standard blender.

But all concepts can be reproduced with older and non customized blender-versions too (starting from blender-2.45 i think)

have fun,
gaia

Oh @#$%^& and double *()^%$#!!!!
I had forgotten about SHIFT + e. I played with that years ago, before SL and a few years break. I had not been reminded of this till now.

I've been battling subsurf for some time. My sculpts have been too rounded using it, so I mostly have been just using multires.

Thanks for the reminder Gaia
That's why I'm the amateur and you do the teaching. Keep up the tremendous work. Your readers appreciate it.

In the cube video, you set subdivision to 0 and faces to 4 x 4, these settings also affect the image size created for the sculptie. You should ensure the combination gives the image size desired for the sculpt map. Setting 3 levels of subdivision is the correct setting to get a 64 x 64 sculpt map in this case. You can alway delete or disable the subsurf modifier after the sculpt mesh is created.

Good to see you changed the title page layout for the cylinder one. The cubes one could start rumours

Oh... right... i missed to say that the sculpt map is only 16*16 and you need to assign a new 64*64 map before baking...

So your way avoids this additional new image creation...

I understand your way in detail like this: (remind the goal is: 24 rows of faces on the sides):

1.) Create a cylinder with 4-x, 4-y and 3 levels of subdivision (make 64*64 sculptmap)
2.) go to Multires level 1
3.) rotate 45 deg (optional)
4.) del Higher levels of multires (to remove the catmul-clark smoothing)
5.) set "simple subdiv" mode (keeps the cube a cube when adding multires levels)
6.) Add 1 level of subdiv
7.) go to subdiv level 2
8.) grab the top/bottom vertices, s SHIFT-z to 0 (close the caps)
9.) s z 0.75 (align with next row of vertices
10.) ad 2 more levels of subdiv
11.) bake ....

finished... Is that correct (if you make it with multires) ?


I am not satisfied with the layout, so i will make another change (and some more videos...) to reflect that it is a new series of "quickies" ...

But do you like it (the logo i mean )) ? BTW: I tried to make a cool blender film with a moving camera and all you need to make a cinametic intro But i still need to get the blender camera to move exactly as i want it to move My main problem currently is to keep the camera focus on one point while it moves and rotates. probably there is a function for that which i missed ...

Yes as the initial image is the right size. The list of supported sculptie sizes in the readme is for reference in understanding what numbers work. Odd number faces are supported, you just use the next power of two up in the list for reference.



One of the design decisions I made with the RC scripts was to have subsurf as the default rather than multires. This is because it's easier to turn down or off sub surf and add multires instead when creasing isn't able to add enough detail than vice versa.

I'd also tend to bring the rows out to the poles, rather than the poles in. To get the result you want, I'd have done an 4 faces X, 3 faces Y, 3 subsurf. Model same as before, but then move the middle two rows on the UV map to match the 1/8th positions using snap to pixel and Bake Sculptie LOD to assist.



Add a "Track to" constraint on the camera and set it to the object you want the camera to aim at.

So the "Domino Inside" thing wasn't just meant to be a joke? I'll have a think about handle that type of branding, it can't be based on any existing logos.

It started out as a joke but then i found it too nice to throw away. Well... concerning the similarity to an existing brand, that might be a problem... i do not know... the fonts and the colors are different.. Does that count anything ?

But while we are at it.... Maybe you should make and publish your brand for such purposes ?

something like a "powered by domino" thingy or so ?

I am afraid, that i do not understand your solution.

1.) It gives only 768 faces instead of 1024. ok, that will probably be taken care of during baking.
2.) while in subsurf mode...i have only 4 rows of vertices in y. so after closing the caps, i have only 2 remaining rows... where shall i move them if not to the same z pos as the endpoints ?

i surely miss a step or 2 ?

Yes it is. You can also use loop cuts to insert extra rows where needed if you want to do more modelling without having to reimport.



You move them to the same Z pos as the poles in modelling space. On the UV layout, you move them to 1/8th up from the bottom and 1/8th down from the top.

I can get to a cube only, when i add an additional Crease step like this:

- select all vertices
- SHIFT-E crease to max

then bake. Now the resulting sculptie gets baked as expected. When i do not add the Crease step, the reimported sculptie keeps its smooth edges...

Nevertheless i now can see an additional beauty with your solution... If i have seen it correctly, you can manipulate the density of meshpoints up to a certain point by shifting around the vertices in the uv map ... But my first quick test showed that it works, but i get some unexpected results. I will take a closer look to that when i remake the cube video. Thank you for the hints, Domino! As usual there was something new to learn

That's an artistic choice step. I removed the subsurf modifier completely. I could have changed it's type to Simple Subdiv, or as you said use the crease tool. It depends what you are going to do next. For bake and reimport, then removing modifier is fine. For moving things about but keeping sharp edges, setting subsurf to simple is fine. For a model with variations in the curvature on different edges, then crease makes sense.

Hi, again.

I just wanted to inform you, that a new Video-tutorial is available:


http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2009/09/23/from-plane-to-cube-with-no-effort/

It introduces a technique to create Sculpties out of planes, which leads to sharp edges, good texturising properties and NO POLES!

In case you are interested, please take care to read the comments on the page. The UV map can be optimized even more without effort. But as that is more about texturing, i will setup another video which will take care about such optimisations in the context of texturising a sculpty with blender.

Have fun
Gaia

Way to go, Gaia!
You and Domino are prime candidates for my Hall of Fame............. and that isn't just the Friday night red wine talking!!