Rhinoceros again

OK.. I asked if using Rhino would be possible, and got a 'yes' which made me so happy since I know how to use it.. now for my other questions =P

I've never used a 3d program to make sculpties, and dunno if Rhino is different from any other. I can figure out how to transfer files into sculpties and then upload just fine, but making the sculpty itself.. not sure how to go about it, so here's a few questions:

Rhino is advertised as a NURBS editing program by the way, for those who still don't know
Rhino3d.com

To make a sculpty using Rhino, do I have to start with a specific primitive shape, such as the sphere or cylinder? I know people always say that sculpties all start as a sphere or something, but does that mean I have to literally start out with a sphere?

If I want to make multiple sculpties for one object, can I do it in one file, or do I have to make the whole object, then move the parts to seperate files?

Can I only use certain mesh qualities (I mean number of editing points, cant recall the term), or can I make it 400000000 editing points and go super detailed? (I know, uploads will destroy some detail at this point).

Thats all I can think of for now, but will probably come up with tons more..

and thanks all for just reading this even ^^

EDIT:: Once I get into this enough, if it proves different enough from what I can read for tutorials for 3ds and such, once I get good enough, if noone else has by then, I plan to make tutorials for Rhino. Its a more obscure program than 3ds and others I know, but in my opinion its easier to use, and some of the plugins I've are simply wonderful, and can help to see how something will look in SL

(My freshman year of highschool, I made some scenes, and looking back, using Flamingo and Penguin, they looked rather like the SL environment does...)

Here's some work a HS freshman can put out, after only about a month of tinkering:
freewebs.com/timeseer

(note, that page hasnt been changed in about 3 or 4 years so... bleh)

Hey Okiphia. Just like last time, I can't speak to the specifics of Rhino itself since I've never used it, but I can offer some insights into NURBS modeling itself that you'll probably find helpful.


I would recommend that you do start with a sphere, but strictly speaking, you don't have to. As long as your end result is a singular, contiguous surface, stitched on one side, and with two distinct poles, you should be fine. The easiest way to do that is to start with a sphere, but if you'd rather follow another procedure, go for it. I don't know why you would, but that doesn't mean you can't. I hope that makes sense.


Assuming the exporter works the same as the exporters for other programs, you should be able to have as many objects as you want in a scene, and export them directly from that scene.


The sculpt map is only going to describe a 32x32 mesh. So putting more than that into your source mesh is just a waste. If the exporter samples the surface the way it does in Maya (I'd be surprised if it didn't since NURBS are interpolated surfaces), then technically you can have your source mesh be as detailed as you want, but the details will not be preserved in the ouptput if they go beyond 32x32. In fact, due to the way NURBS interpolate, I don't recommend going beyond 16x16.

Thank you! You're my hero =P