SL Tutorial: How to Build a Mesh-Based House in Blender

Aywren Sojourner has a handy, step-by-step guide in three parts on her blog:

• Part 1: The Very Basics
• Part 2: Planning
• Part 3: Windows & Doors

Most SL tutorials are published as videos on YouTube, but as Arwen explains on /SecondLife, there's advantages to having an illustrated, textual guide instead:

My very first try at Blender, I was pausing and rewinding a video over and over again to get a concept right. It's not terrible if you have more than one monitor, but if you only have one, then you're tabbing out of one program, going to your browser, etc.

I'm always interested in blogging tutorials, by the way, so if you have a favorite (including your own), please post in Comments!

Comments

[Aywren Sojourner]

Oh wow, thank you for highlighting my blog posts! I'm honored!

Really, I started putting together some of these posts as a little cheat sheet for myself, so that I'd not forget the things I struggled to learn about Blender so far. I thought maybe it could help someone else, too, so I started posting them.

I'm absolutely not against videos, but as a content creator IRL, I know there's a benefit for providing tutorial information in both written and visual formats. Some people learn better from one or the other. I actually do best if I have a bit of both -- especially if there's complex topics I'm working through for the first time.

So while I may sound a bit harsh about video in my one comment, I totally send my respect and appreciation to folks who make video content. I do link to the video resources I learned from out of my thanks and because I recognize that video is a good visualization that can enhance a written document.

I also have a number of other posts in this series I've not yet written -- texturing, baking, exporting, importing. There's a lot I haven't covered yet because of lack of time.

Thanks again - from a long-time reader, often lurker, of your blog! :)

[Chic Aeon]

Re your turtorial interest :D

I have a full line of Blender Tutorials for SL (using Cycles Render engine) up for awhile now. They can be seen at YouTube here (playlist in order): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnUjXtZrc64laa7-1NUSY8pjXedwQj7kn

The same are also available to watch on Slartist (posted in backwards order like a blog. Blender 1-2-3 starts at the beginning and Blender 4-5-6 is more advanced. https://www.slartist.com/browse-the-tutorial-chic-videos-1-date.html

There are PRIM building tutorials that I made primarily for Opensim but are certainly applicable to SL too.

And some Windlight tutorials to boot.

:D

[Aywren Sojourner]

@Chic

Yes! Yes, I've worked through your intro series and it was a HUGE help in figuring out why my things wouldn't texture when I uploaded them (this one took me hours to struggle through until I found your series... I'm ashamed). Your videos were also a huge help in figuring out physics.

Thank you so much -- I'm absolutely planning on linking your videos in future posts, if you don't mind.

[Chic Aeon]

@Aywren

Glad they helped. I was a computer teacher for a long while (adults) and so in my videos I went VERY SLOWLY and repeated OFTEN. I can remember all those learning videos that I had to stop every few seconds and work through -- and I swear sometimes they just DIDN'T work anyway LOL.

And then there are all the Blender tutorials that have nothing to do with making "game assets" which is what we need in Second Life and similar platforms.

So this was a starting place for those that wanted to learn about Blender Cycles Game Assets for Second Life *wink* and I am happy that so many folks have found the tutorials helpful. :D

[Aywren Sojourner]

@Chic

Yeah, I believe you were the first one I heard mention that objects uploaded to SL can only have 8 materials assigned to them. I saw that and went... "Well crud. Now I have to break my whole project apart!"

Better to have learned it then than to wonder why I was breaking my upload every time! Thank goodness for the Beta Grid! XD