Who still uses sculpties?

[Gusher Castaignede]

With mesh already here for quite sometime why would we still
be using prims? Prims can be even be exported as collada to
open in 3d software such as Blender 3d and others to further
customize and reupload, but am sure many still use prims
alongside meshes. Sometimes we want to further customize
them externally without converting to meshes and want to
share this tool I use that can do that...it can import prim
sculpt maps and export the sculpts.. has powerful uv tools
to guide you on precise texturing and even reshaping the
sculpt a bit.... the plugin for this tool is a separate download...

[Tess Juel]

(Posting two replies to keep things organised, one slightly off topic about prims and another about sculpts and the Ultimate Unwrap 3D software)

With mesh already here for quite sometime why would we still
be using prims?

A bit off topic and I know it's meant to be a rhetorical question but since you ask:

We still use prims because:

• It's a quicker and easier way to make objects than mesh.
• It offers a much gentler learning curve than mesh.
• It doesn't require any external software.
• There's usually no need to worry about LOD and physics models. (Yes, I kow, lots of mesh makers don't worry about these anyway, they just bodge them. But they should!)
• Prim builds are considerably less laggy than mesh (and sculpts). This is true even if they end up with a much higher tri/vertice count. (If you don't believe me, read this: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=6575&p=32422 ) The only exception is if we make linksets with hundreds or thousands of prims; those can be really laggy because of SL's and OpenSim's poor handling of linksets.
• Building with prims is usually fun, building with mesh can be boring, frustrating and tedious.

There is a fundamental rule in business that says you have to have some kind of edge over your competetion. It doesn't have to be much and it can be anything but it has to be something. OS' (and SL's) only two edges are the flexibility of the grid concept and the superior inworld building/editing features. (SL also has the advantage of a large, well established user base while OS, compared to SL - but not other platform - offers an even more flexible grid system and, of course, lower prices and more freedom.) Remove the grid and the prims and OpenSim is no longer a relevant virtual reality platform for the 2020s.

[Tess Juel]

Sometimes we want to further customize them externally without converting to meshes and want to share this tool I use that can do that...it can import prim sculpt maps and export the sculpts

Interesting but you forgot to post links. I found the program with a Google search but not the plugin.

I think sculpts still have their use today.

Converting prims to sculpts i always a bad idea on opensim. Yes, you can save a bit on the prim count that way but that's only because the prim counting formula is dodgy. When it comes to actual performance prims beat sculpts any day.

Sculpts can sometimes be an acceptable alternative to mesh for builds that can't be made with prims though. Sculpts as a concept are actually more performant than messh but because of the poor implementation, they will always perform worse than well made meshes. However, sometimes the perfomrance difference is so small it doesn't really matter.

[Gusher Castaignede]

Fixed the links..just click images..

Tip: When uploading meshes many new users find it confusing
why the collision mesh is not aligning with the actual mesh
object forcing them to just make them by hand inworld.
Anyway, to solve that issue all you have to do is name
the meshes in this format.. examples..

- house.dae / house_phys.dae
- table.dae / table_phys.dae

.....once you upload the mesh it automatically grabs the collision mesh to upload!

[Crash McCloud]

*Raises hand* Good, old-fashioned sculpty fan here, for things that can't be made with prims. (I lag around most mesh.) I'm a shopper though, not much of a builder. Unless I had a tool that could turn a lot of prims into a single sculpty! Is that what you're offering, or can I buy sculpty stuff at your store?

[Gusher Castaignede]

Most of my sculpty days are over now and have mostly moved to
3d modeling now... if you have draw distance in your viewer
high you will lag, especially if you have less than 2gb video
graphics memory embedded on a laptop versus a pc/mac with
dedicated memory... checkout this page on tips to reduce lag..
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/How_to ... references

*Raises hand* Good, old-fashioned sculpty fan here, for things that can't be made with prims. (I lag around most mesh.) I'm a shopper though, not much of a builder. Unless I had a tool that could turn a lot of prims into a single sculpty! Is that what you're offering, or can I buy sculpty stuff at your store?

[Fayre Scribe]

I still use sculpts and prims in my builds. Why? Because I like them and I don't find them laggy at all. Now put me in a town full of mesh, and I can't even walk across the street. Granted some things look very nice in mesh. But I do still like good flexi hair and skirts, not the plastic stretchy ones.

[Gregg Legendary]

i use prim, sculpty, mesh, depending on my mood and abilities.

[Snoots Dwagon]

I don't build or create at all any more. I enjoyed building with prims because everyone was on a level playing field. But when mesh came in, my interest in building quickly faded. I will admit that mesh is impressive and makes the world look more awesome. But it's a very steep learning curve, we can't make true mesh in-world (LL didn't think it necessary to include a sculpty or mesh creator within the viewer), so I can no longer get together with other builders and experiment like we once did.

I've often wished they had come out with a "256-point sphere" prim that one could stretch to whatever they wanted. Instead they came up with sculpties and mesh... and for me that ruined the in-world building experience. No one wants to buy prim items any more. That eventually ruined my virtual world experience, because a lot of the fun was in building, merchanting and selling items. I can't compete with the mesh people and I have no desire to learn mesh. I enjoy building in-world, and mesh doesn't allow that. Creating with prims and then using a mesh converter doesn't have the same end-effect. Can't round corners, make odd shapes, etc.

So while mesh has become the de-facto standard and I appreciate what can be done with mesh, I'm hardly ever on the virtual worlds these days. For me, mesh just kind of killed one of the things I really enjoyed: building and selling in-world.

[Gusher Castaignede]

Interesting perspective...

If you like shaping and stretching like clay to create objects
then the software to do that exists and is much inuitive than
the primitive tools that opensim/sl has to offer...

With PBR coming soon it's gonna increase the platform's value
than what it currently is. PBR + Meshes is the current standard
and opensim/sl has finally caught up with it.

That said, the power of sculpting exists in many 3d tools free
and paid....

[youtube]https://youtu.be/-P1QKoIPx-k?si=kb8x-TlPnfbtUvtI[/youtube]

I don't build or create at all any more. I enjoyed building with prims because everyone was on a level playing field. But when mesh came in, my interest in building quickly faded. I will admit that mesh is impressive and makes the world look more awesome. But it's a very steep learning curve, we can't make true mesh in-world (LL didn't think it necessary to include a sculpty or mesh creator within the viewer), so I can no longer get together with other builders and experiment like we once did.

I've often wished they had come out with a "256-point sphere" prim that one could stretch to whatever they wanted. Instead they came up with sculpties and mesh... and for me that ruined the in-world building experience. No one wants to buy prim items any more. That eventually ruined my virtual world experience, because a lot of the fun was in building, merchanting and selling items. I can't compete with the mesh people and I have no desire to learn mesh. I enjoy building in-world, and mesh doesn't allow that. Creating with prims and then using a mesh converter doesn't have the same end-effect. Can't round corners, make odd shapes, etc.

So while mesh has become the de-facto standard and I appreciate what can be done with mesh, I'm hardly ever on the virtual worlds these days. For me, mesh just kind of killed one of the things I really enjoyed: building and selling in-world.