Posted 4 years ago
·
Author
Original Tutorial By xJonnx
Download Blender 2.45 from : http://download.blender.org/release/
Download Python 2.5.2 from : http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.5.2/
There have been a lot of advances in using Blender, so I thought I would make up this quick tutorial on how to get a basic shape (I will be using a cube) from Blender version 2.45 into IMVU Previewer usint the CAL3D exporter that is included with Blender. I will not cover manipulating the mesh or the previewer.
Open Blender. There will be a cube, a lamp, and a camera. Personally I never use the camera or lamp, so I press the "A" key twice to select all objects, then the "X" key and choose delete selected objects.
Set up your view properties as shown in the image.
Go to top view (NUM pad 7) Be sure to use the num pad and not the number keys. If you use the number keys, it will just take you to a different layer and you will not be able to see your mesh.
Press the space bar, highlite add then mesh then cube
Click on cube. The cube will appear pink. Use the scroll wheel to zoom out.
Switch to right side view (num pad 3)and grab the blue triangle of the manipulating tool
and raise it 100. you can see how far you raise it by looking at the numbers at the bottom left of the 3d screen
.
To move it in even increments, hold the ctrl key while moving it.
Switch from edit mode to object mode by pressing the tab key or selecting in the drop down box
.
Switch to Top view (Num Pad 7)
Make sure the 3d cursor is at 0, 0, 0
Press "A" key to deselect the cube. press the space bar, select add, then armature
I stretch the bone out to 100 using the method used to move the cube as described earlier.
Use the green arrow (y axis). Change to wireframe
Press "A" key twice to select the entire bone and rename it Root.
Make sure to hit enter after typing Root to finalize the bone name.
Press "A" to deselect Root. Left click your mouse to one side of Root. Press Space bar,
select add, then Bone. Size it up 100 as described above.
Right Click on the bottom ball of the bone to select it. In the drop down box next to the field Child Of, select Root
Switch to pose mode by selecting the drop down box next to Object Mode
The bone will turn blue.
Press the "I" key and select LocRotScale
Switch back to Object Mode using the drop down box and right click on the cube. You should end up with the image below.
Now we are ready to add textures. Change view to UV Face Select.
Split your screen (hover your mouse over the top divider line until you get a double arrow, then right click, and choose split area)
You will have to move the mesh over because it will not split through the mesh. Change your new screen to UV/Image Editor. The screen will be black with a gray nondescript square in it.
To move between screens, move your cursor over the part you want to work with.
In the 3D window, press the "a" key to deselect all the faces. You should be in top view (num Pad 7) Right click on that face. It will turn pink. Go to the editor view and click on image, then open. The directory you have saved your mesh in will open up. Click on the arrow high lighted below
to browse to where you have your textures saved. Click on the texture you want to use, then click on open image. Your texture will show up in the Editor window. At this point, the texture is applied to that face. It is applied one texture per face. (For example, if there are 4 faces selected, the texture will be applied to each face.) At this point, you may want to play with the different unwrapping options so you get used to them. (Personally I use Bounds a lot). Apply your textures to each side of the cube.As a review, the following Num Pad keys are for views...
Num Pad 1 Front view
3 Right
7 Top
CTRL+1 Back
CTRL+3 Left
CTRL+7 Bottom
If you change to object mode and textured, then you should have what looks like the image below.
Now we are ready to export!!!
Stay in object mode and switch to wireframe. press "A" key until nothing is selected. Right click on the mesh, hold shift and right click on the armature.
Press CTRL+P, select Armature,
then name groups. Press "A" key to deselct everything, then right click on the mesh. Press Tab key to change to edit mode. Press "A" key until all vertices are deselcted, then press it again to select all of them. In the bottom left corner click on the arrow next to the word bone and select root. Then click the assign button.
Press tab to return to object mode, hold shift and right click on the armature. At this point I save just in case the exporter crashes.
Click on file, export, CAL3D
The page that opens is the folder where you saved your mesh. I always export there. Click on CAL3D EXPORT. In the pop up window that opens, click OK. If you move your cursor away from the box, it will disappear, and you will have to click on file, export, etc again.
If you do not get an error message, then you are good to go!!!! If you do, post a screen shot of the message (it will be on the control console) and we will try to figure it out from there.
I won't go into the previewer. I will let you know that the previewer reads textures from Blender flipped. You will have to adjust them so they are facing the correct way. It is just something we have learned to deal with until it is fixed.
The final attachment is what the cube looks like in Previewer. You can see what I mean about the textures.
I hope someone finds this helpful. Happy Blending!!!
Many thanks to yokoed for asking me to help him learn Blender. This tutorial is the result of those lessons.
Download Blender 2.45 from : http://download.blender.org/release/
Download Python 2.5.2 from : http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.5.2/
There have been a lot of advances in using Blender, so I thought I would make up this quick tutorial on how to get a basic shape (I will be using a cube) from Blender version 2.45 into IMVU Previewer usint the CAL3D exporter that is included with Blender. I will not cover manipulating the mesh or the previewer.
Open Blender. There will be a cube, a lamp, and a camera. Personally I never use the camera or lamp, so I press the "A" key twice to select all objects, then the "X" key and choose delete selected objects.
Set up your view properties as shown in the image.
Go to top view (NUM pad 7) Be sure to use the num pad and not the number keys. If you use the number keys, it will just take you to a different layer and you will not be able to see your mesh.
Press the space bar, highlite add then mesh then cube
Click on cube. The cube will appear pink. Use the scroll wheel to zoom out.
Switch to right side view (num pad 3)and grab the blue triangle of the manipulating tool
and raise it 100. you can see how far you raise it by looking at the numbers at the bottom left of the 3d screen
.
To move it in even increments, hold the ctrl key while moving it.
Switch from edit mode to object mode by pressing the tab key or selecting in the drop down box
.
Switch to Top view (Num Pad 7)
Make sure the 3d cursor is at 0, 0, 0
Press "A" key to deselect the cube. press the space bar, select add, then armature
I stretch the bone out to 100 using the method used to move the cube as described earlier.
Use the green arrow (y axis). Change to wireframe
Press "A" key twice to select the entire bone and rename it Root.
Make sure to hit enter after typing Root to finalize the bone name.
Press "A" to deselect Root. Left click your mouse to one side of Root. Press Space bar,
select add, then Bone. Size it up 100 as described above.
Right Click on the bottom ball of the bone to select it. In the drop down box next to the field Child Of, select Root
Switch to pose mode by selecting the drop down box next to Object Mode
The bone will turn blue.
Press the "I" key and select LocRotScale
Switch back to Object Mode using the drop down box and right click on the cube. You should end up with the image below.
Now we are ready to add textures. Change view to UV Face Select.
Split your screen (hover your mouse over the top divider line until you get a double arrow, then right click, and choose split area)
You will have to move the mesh over because it will not split through the mesh. Change your new screen to UV/Image Editor. The screen will be black with a gray nondescript square in it.
To move between screens, move your cursor over the part you want to work with.
In the 3D window, press the "a" key to deselect all the faces. You should be in top view (num Pad 7) Right click on that face. It will turn pink. Go to the editor view and click on image, then open. The directory you have saved your mesh in will open up. Click on the arrow high lighted below
to browse to where you have your textures saved. Click on the texture you want to use, then click on open image. Your texture will show up in the Editor window. At this point, the texture is applied to that face. It is applied one texture per face. (For example, if there are 4 faces selected, the texture will be applied to each face.) At this point, you may want to play with the different unwrapping options so you get used to them. (Personally I use Bounds a lot). Apply your textures to each side of the cube.As a review, the following Num Pad keys are for views...
Num Pad 1 Front view
3 Right
7 Top
CTRL+1 Back
CTRL+3 Left
CTRL+7 Bottom
If you change to object mode and textured, then you should have what looks like the image below.
Now we are ready to export!!!
Stay in object mode and switch to wireframe. press "A" key until nothing is selected. Right click on the mesh, hold shift and right click on the armature.
Press CTRL+P, select Armature,
then name groups. Press "A" key to deselct everything, then right click on the mesh. Press Tab key to change to edit mode. Press "A" key until all vertices are deselcted, then press it again to select all of them. In the bottom left corner click on the arrow next to the word bone and select root. Then click the assign button.
Press tab to return to object mode, hold shift and right click on the armature. At this point I save just in case the exporter crashes.
Click on file, export, CAL3D
The page that opens is the folder where you saved your mesh. I always export there. Click on CAL3D EXPORT. In the pop up window that opens, click OK. If you move your cursor away from the box, it will disappear, and you will have to click on file, export, etc again.
If you do not get an error message, then you are good to go!!!! If you do, post a screen shot of the message (it will be on the control console) and we will try to figure it out from there.
I won't go into the previewer. I will let you know that the previewer reads textures from Blender flipped. You will have to adjust them so they are facing the correct way. It is just something we have learned to deal with until it is fixed.
The final attachment is what the cube looks like in Previewer. You can see what I mean about the textures.
I hope someone finds this helpful. Happy Blending!!!
Many thanks to yokoed for asking me to help him learn Blender. This tutorial is the result of those lessons.