Blender and Blender/Second Life ... not the same ...

In trying to create a sculptie texture in Blender for upload to SL, I followed Amanda Levitsky's tutorial and found that it does a good job ... for objects that can be sculpted from a cylinder. I understand seams and unwrapping and how the UV map will transform a prim into an object; however, I wonder if you can start ONLY with a cylinder and work from there. Are there tutorials that show how to create sculpties for upload to SL utilizing a shape other than a cylinder? I've made the vase she illustrates in her article and a pillow ... but, how, for example would you start with a cube or cone or torus? I know the seams are important but trying to figure out where to place them on more complex shapes seems very difficult.

Any help will be appreciated!

David Abernathy's video tutorial on Wings3d showing the process from beginning to end with a sculptie in SL is quite good!

Thanks!

David who?

Hi there Tiziana,

I have done a lot of experiments with sculpties made in Blender and I also learned with
the levitsky tutorial, and as long as you can completely uv map your area in a flat covered manner it appears that you can start with any shape you wish.

What is described in the levitsky tute are guidelines based on getting the best results
in the shortest amount of time. They are not actual constraints, the big thing you need to
keep your eye on is the uv map You can start with a cube but you will want to increase the number of vertices, you can do this using the 'multi-rez' function but make sure to apply your changes before attempting to bake it.
Another thing to keep in mind is that in SL all sculpties have a default uv texture map of a
sphere so while you may have had good success with your shape your texture may appear
goofy depending on how your uv map is prepped or tortured for that matter,.

I hear there is a script out there that you can use to change the uv mapping shape of a
sculptie inworld, I forget the name of it right now.

You are also not required to delete pole vertices however in many case it can make prepping your uv map that much easier as well as avoid a certain amount of vertex
pinch on your textured sculpt on certain primitive shapes. Always make sure to
adjust your uv map whenever you do delete any vertices as they will cause a hole or a stripe in your uv map usually along the top and bottom of the map.

In blender I have had success with spheres, cylinders, cubes and planes, I haven't needed
to go beyond those as with the edit tools and the sculpt function you can create pretty much any shape you want anyway.

If your baking sculpties in blender then you have already done the hard part. When you
find a good set up with a prim or shape you like save the blend file and you can then
use it as a quick jump off point when you want to use that one again.
Blender allows you a certain amount of freedom to experiment as you are not as limited by
an export script.
Don't be afraid to color outside the lines!

I will attempt to apply your very helpful tips in my next project. It's good to hear that possibilities lie within my reach ... I'm very grateful for your help!

Good luck!