[sldev] [PATCH] VWR-1110: Scuplted Prims: Ability to Import .OBJ Files

[John Hurliman]

Dzonatas wrote:
> John Hurliman wrote:
>> Looks great, I put a vote on it. If this doesn't make it in to the 
>> viewer I can at least implement something similar in sculptpreview, 
>> and maybe a command-line version can be written that is 
>> cross-platform. Taking OBJ importing a step further though, another 
>> idea I had was to allow temporary OBJ models to be loaded in to the 
>> Second Life world and moved around. No interaction with the server, 
>> but the scenario is you have talented 3D architects or modelers that 
>> construct something in AutoCAD or Maya and you want to make the best 
>> adaptation possible in to Second Life. You could load the OBJ file 
>> and resize/move it in-world, and then hand-create prims to match up 
>> to the original model as close as possible. Loading OBJ files in to 
>> vertex arrays isn't difficult, but any idea on how much work there 
>> would be to get client-side objects in to the rendering pipeline and 
>> be able to drag them around without sending any network updates out?
>
> Awesome ideas!
>
> Temporary objects appear to already exist, but they are just not used 
> much.
>
> You know people have had a hell of a hard time to get sculpt objects 
> imported into Second Life. I don't doubt it has just wasted a lot of 
> their time. Perhaps, this is a fix for such time wasted mistakes that 
> people make over and over as they struggle to make content in Second 
> Life. I know I would be pissed if I bought a package worth about $400, 
> like ZBrush, and found out it still doesn't work as easily as like 
> Maya, worth $3000 and more. I've read lots of stories where they have 
> just given up.
>
> Hmm. Based on (1) opinions of premium users and (2) the already 
> popular format of the OBJ file format, Maya just seems unpopular.
>
> Kind-of reminds me of when the World Stock Exchange had troubles with 
> it software and only certain people could buy and sell stock. Luke 
> tried to leave it open by demand, but soon there was more demand to 
> shut it down until fixed. People were pissed either rather it be open 
> or closed at the time. Finally, Luke paid lots of his own personal 
> money just to get it fixed. In such a wide-eyed allusion, two people 
> that pay a premium membership do not appear to get equal support 
> unless one has a modeler that directly outputs sculpt maps.
>
> How do you think the current state of the sculpt map feature, being 
> only really supported with an expensive program, affects a business 
> like the WSE?
>
> Dz
>

I'm not sure about the connection between sculpted prims and your friend 
Luke, but I agree that there are some missing pieces in the content 
development workflow and I think this might be a decent band-aid or 
supplement. If anyone starts working on this let me know and I can try 
to lend a hand.

John