If you're a serious content creator though, you'll want to put the time and effort into learning a more complex program. How much time are you willing to invest? If you want to just make a few sculpted objects, a simple standalone utility like Rokuro might suit you best.Blender is a nice alternative to professional suites like Maya and max because of its flexibility and price (it's free), but its user interface is arguably less intuitive. Free programs run the gamut between the pro and hobby levels and you'll have to consider other factors when choosing between them. Programs such as Amorphium, trueSpace and Milkshape are aimed at professionals and casual hobbyists, but not all of them are going to have the full 3D studio capabilities of some more expensive programs. ![]() Lightwave, zBrush and programs in their price range are powerful professional tools while still being within reach of a reasonably well-to-do person who's dedicated to their SL design work, but these are probably still overkill for pure sculptie creation as most of the features you pay for go beyond the general tools to create sculpt maps for Second Life. Programs like Maya and 3ds Max are powerful, but if you're not already seriously into 3d modelling, they're probably overkill. How much money can you (or are you willing to) spend? The cost of 3d software ranges from "free" to thousands of dollars.It depends on a number of factors which will vary from user to user: What programs are the best for making sculpties? Check the system requirements on the software vendor's webpage for specific details. A few professional programs (like Maya) say they'll only support high-end workstation graphics cards but it will still run ok on a regular setup. Some programs will run fine on something as old as a Pentium III. If your computer is capable of running the Second Life client, you should have no trouble running most of these programs. Which you use will ultimately come down to personal preference and what your exporter will handle best.įor most Second Life users, this shouldn't be a major issue. Many programs such as Blender and 3ds Max offer this function in a limited sense to help with precision detailing but not to the extent of programs built with this method as their focus, such as zBrush. Brush Sculpting: With this method, you use your mouse or pen tablet and a series of adjustable brushes to literally sculpt on the 3d surface like clay.Subdivision Surface: Subdivision modelling shares some of the advantages of both NURBS and polygon modelling: the shape is manipulated using sets of control points that allow for both smooth surfaces and precise details.The methodology behind sculpted prims is very largely based on them. NURBS: NURBS modelling uses series of curved splines to define the shape of an object and are excellent for smooth, organic shapes.Polygon Modelling: The most mature method and the choice output for most games and realtime rendering in which you directly manipulate the faces, edges and vertices of an object.Modeling Methods: Over the years a variety of different 3d modeling techniques have emerged, each having various strengths and weaknesses.It can also make it easier to create regular textures for your model you can apply colours, patterns or just a template guide to your model and bake it out for upload or further detailing in a paint program. For example, it allows manual export of sculpt maps with Blender and Lightwave. If this functionality is built into the software, it is available to user-generated scripts. Built-in texture baking/generation: This term describes the ability to create/"render" textures and export them to image files.Plugins and SDKs can do the same thing but may not be available. User Scripting: A script interface is one of the easiest and fastest ways to add functionality to a program or to automate tasks the program is already capable of.Although support for these features isn't necessary in order to create sculpt maps, it can make the process a whole lot easier. Note: Resident-made sculpt map tools and offline previewers now have their own page.Įach software entry includes a rundown of features that are particularly useful for creating sculpt maps. Each entry lists the software package's web site, operating system support, cost and trial versions if applicable, and the licence. This page offers a list of 3D modeling software for use with sculpt maps for Sculpted Prims, along with a short explanation of popular 3D file formats. 1.3 What programs are the best for making sculpties?.1.2 Do I need a really powerful computer?.
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