This question comes up whenever anyone with modeling experience enters SL. The answer is as follows.
Arbitrary models cannot be imported. If you want to use Maya or Max or any other 3rd party modeling program for SL, you can, but it has to be done in a very specific way. There's about a 99% chance that you wont be able to use your pre-existing models, as it's unlikely that you would have constructed them in the way that SL requires. However, if you're good with whatever your program of choice happens to be, then you should be able to learn to use it for SL fairly quickly. It'll just take a little getting used to. For information on what I'm talking about, see wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims .
That having been said, 90% of what you see in SL was created directly in-world. Sculpted prims have only been around for a few months now. Before that, absolutely everything was made in-world, as is most of what still gets made now. I'd highly recommend you learn to use SL's primary in-world modeling system before you make the jump to sculpties. That's really the only way to learn how SL works. Sculpties are really cool, and you can do some amazing looking things with them, but they can't replace regular prims entirely. To start with sculpties instead of regular prims would really be to confuse the issue. Take it one step at a time.
If you're used to something like Maya or Max, then SL's building tools are going to seem a little frustrating, even childish, at first (your word was "archaic"
. Trust me though when I say that they are anything but. It's just that SL's modeling system is fairly unique. It takes a bit of getting used to. You won't have access to a lot of the tools you're used to using all the time in Maya or Max, and that can have you tearing your hair out in the beginning. But as you work, you'll find that the opposite is also true. There are a few tools SL has that I wish Maya, Max, and others would incorporate (planar movement constraint handles, and heads-up rulers, for example).
Because modeling in SL is so minimalistic, it forces you to think about the process of making a model in a way you ordinarily wouldn't. As a result, you start developing specific problem solving skills that more full featured modeling applications like Maya and Max allow you to bypass. In the end, learning to use SL well will make you a better modeler both inside SL and out.
As I often say when this subject comes up, once I started getting good in SL I found that my poly counts per model in Maya were going way down while the visual quality was actually going up, and my texturing skills increased a hundred fold. Give it a little time, and I'm sure you'll say the same thing. Just about every other modeler I know has.
After you've got a good handle on SL's original modeling system, move on to start including sculpted prims (sculpties) in your work. You're probably gonna be a little frustrated with sculpties at first too, but give it a little time and it will click. It's an unusual workflow, but once you get the hang of it, you can make some awesome things.
EDIT: Not sure why this posted twice. Internet hiccup during save maybe? Mods, please delete this copy. I wasn't able to delete it myself.
