How to make a vase from a sketch
Open Rokuro pro and let's start with Rokuro tab to make a vase's shape.
In Japanese Rokuro means a pottery wheel so I decided to start with a pottery vase as my example.
Once in Rokuro tab, you can start creating your shape right away by moving control points. However, it is always better to first draw a sketch of your shape and use it as a base for your future sculptie. It gives you precision and makes your work faster.
When you import your sketch into Rokuro pro, it is positioned automatically in the middle of your working area so make sure your sketch more or less looks like a square to match it.
To import the sketch, go to View > Load background and choose your sketch file.
Use the sketch file as a guideline and move the control points.
In second life the resolution of a sculpted prim depends on the distance between sculpted prim and your camera view which is also called LOD - level of detail. You can't see the maximum resolution of a sculptie unless your camera is in a close proximity of it. That's why it's important to arrange your square control points (colored in blue, black and red) into the defining positions of your sculptie. In other words, a round grey control point should be treated as supportive points and colored square control points should define the form of your sculptie especially corners and angles.
When your shape is done, you can save the sculpted map in .tga format by going to FILE > SAVE. It's recommended to include _SP into the name of the file to make a distinction between your sculpted map and texture.
How to make a texture for vase sculptie
You can download the default grid texture here : http://kanae.net/secondlife/rp_images/Mesh.png
Before making your own texture convert this grid image from an index color into an RBG mode and add an additional layer on top of it in your graphics software like Photoshop. The grid will be your base guideline for drawing a texture. Then draw on top layer and compare of grid numbers on your bottom layer with their positions on your sculptie in rokuro pro. Rokuro pro can use PSD file as a texture. Only your top layer will be displayed.
X0-X3 the inside of the vase
X4 the bright blue opening of the vase
X5-XC is the blue graduation of the outside of the vase
XF is the bottom color
Now go to Rokuro pro and in your menu select TEXTURE > LOAD, choose your PSD file of the texture and click ok.
The vase is done. You can experiment by yourself with the texture by adding noise, more depth into the shadow and light. Remember that you can always preview your texture in Rokuro pro viewer before uploading it to SL. Here I added a bit more feeling of potted ceramic to the texture by applying noise effect.
As I previously mentioned, in-world your sculptie will look different depending on how far your camera is from it. When it is in close proximity, your sculptie will have high resolution. However, when it is zoomed out, your sculptie will morph into a much simpler shape. That's why it's important to make sure that the loss of resolution is minimum by positioning all your square control points into its strategical place.
In Rokuro pro you can check how your sculptie will look with middle and low resolution and adjust your square control points accordingly to minimize the loss of resolution. In menu go to VIEW > VIEW LEVEL > MIDDLE.
With middle level of resolution, your sculptie will look something like that which is very close to our original image. Always check your sculptie resolution this way to avoid low LOD items.
However, try to avoid creating your initial form in this view. As you can see, grey control points are not displayed here so if you forget or don't move them at all to match your shape, when uploading to SL, you will receive quite a few unpleasant surprises so use this view only to check the strategical placement of your square control points.
Remember, that you cannot upload your texture into SL in PSD format so transform it into tga, jpg or png format before uploading. Your sculpted map can be in tga or png format.
When you import your sculpted map into SL, in preview window it will be upside down.
The sculpted map will be imported into SL as a texture and will be automatically placed into your texture folder. Import your previously drawn texture for the vase too. It will also go to your texture folder. Now let's make a sculptie.
Rez a new prim and in its edit window go to object tab and choose sculpted out of drop-down menu. Click on default sculpted texture and choose your sculpted map. Rotate it to 180 degrees to bring top of the vase up. Apply previously drawn and imported texture and see the results. Even if zoomed out, your vase looks great!
Next, let's make a half full glass of wine. The method will be the same.
http://rokuro.slmame.com/c6438.html
translated by Dendre Benelli.
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