Convert OpenSim Regions to Unity3D for the Web With Groundbreaking Service from Linden Lab/SL Alum

This looks pretty big: Tipodean, a start-up I wrote about last November from Linden Lab enterprise manager Chris Collins, is launching a new service that converts OpenSim OAR files to 3D mesh files that can then be displayed in Unity's web plug-in. In other words, this is a way to take the 3D assets that usually require a heavy and relatively obscure program (i.e., OpenSim) to install and run, and instead put them in the far more accessible Unity3D web environment, which has a much larger install base. Just as impressive: Chris has hired Jon Brouchoud (in SL Keystone Brouchard), one of the best real life architects to work in Second Life (he developed the award-winning Wikitecture), who now works in more open platforms, like Unity.

Jon's helping Tipodean to launch this because, as he tells me, "I've seen first-hand how many of the clients I've worked with would benefit from a conversion service like this. It will enable them to enjoy the best of all worlds, and to take their projects to the next level by re-imagining them within the context of a development engine like Unity3D, while also maintaining the community and collaborative opportunities of working in OpenSim.

The image above gives you the basic idea of how it works, but Chris Collin lays out in much more detail all the ways this service can be applied, with some demos you can try out now. Read on, read on:

"So the advantages of publishing out to Unity3d are:

• You can run your content in a browser, executable, Smart device
• It will run on much lower end machines and you have the ability to have an onboarding experience that matches your use case. e.g. If you do not want a sign on process or you want the sign on to be connected with Facebook.
• You have much great concurrency capabilities. Run in Single player (no backend server) or you could run Peer-to-Peer multiplayer therefore having 10's of thousands of people on your content with no multiplayer server needed. Here is a basic example of Peer-to-Peer:

1. Click this: http://converter.tipodean.com/crescendo/element1/multiplayer/WebPlayer/index.html
2. Put your name in "save" and click "Host" then "Start Server"
3. Tell one of your friends or someone next to you to click on the link in 1. They will see your computer and they can click "Join"
4. You will now see them, and there is no backend server to this.
5. Send this link out to a 1000, 10's of thousands etc and they can setup there own games and get people in. If you are unable to get out on your firewall you can just run it locally and tell the other person on your network your IP.
6. This is just an example of multiplayer in Unity3d there are many others and you could tailor the entire experience. Obviously if you wanted to roll this out you would put in nice avatars, etc."

Still more advantages and links from Mr. Collins:

• Run in Facebook e.g. apps.facebook.com/builtbuyme
• Embed up into Google Sites: http://unitysites.tipodean.com/
• Really do whatever you want at scale, in full control of the experience leveraging all your OpenSim content
• Key to the above is that you are using your content from OpenSim converted into Unity3D. that conversion only needed to happen once
• If someone has models already in a mesh format we could bring them direct into Unity3D without needing OpenSim or SL."

By the way, this isn't to say Keystone's given up on Second Life entirely, by the way; it's just a matter of using SL at its best, and platforms like Unity3D when that's more ideal: "From an architectural perspective, I'm still a big believer in the collaborative potential of prim-based modeling," he tells me. "There's nothing like rezzing a prim and sketching out a design concept alongside a group of collaborators in an immersive 3D world, then watching them modify the model to test their own ideas on-the-fly. There are still so many advantages of working within SL and OpenSim, but there are some cases when you want to enhance the project with some of the features available in Unity3D. Lighting, for example, is a really important part of architectural visualization, and Unity's dynamic lights and lightmapping features can make a huge difference."

So there's that. Whether it works as promised is yet to be seen, but now I point you, 3D developer, to the place where you can see if that is so. Report back here if you're so inclined.

Comments

[eddi haskell]

I tried it. It works but, it took forever to load at our beach house but would work much much faster with no sculpties and complicated textures. It is by no means even a facsimile of the Second Life viewer running at low settings. However, I can see it having value as an extension of Second Life and other worlds in a very planar low texture environment as a way of communication with someone or perhaps having a browser-based general meeting.

I still am doubtful of the workings of Second Life in a browser-based environment in current environmental settings, although the browser=based beta test was interesting. Second Life will remain a large-client downloadable "game" for those of us who like realistic graphics in reliable environments for quite some time.

[Chris Collins]

Hi eddi,

You are referring to our other Unity3d product the web viewer (that connects direct to OpenSim SL). This is a new product that takes all the content and converts to COLLADA to run direct in Unity3d. You should check out this link : http://www.tipodean.com/converter/web-demo.html . We have a few examples of what you could do with the content. Single Player, Multiplayer, Embedded in Facebook, Embedded in Google Sites.

[Ramesh Ramloll]

Great

[Xlent1]

This is same kinda thing we already have. The unity opensim viewer we use can dump back to a unity scene in their editor . Issue is really who cares and who would pay. Of course the DRM is circumvented so then there are a lot of potential areas for abuse . My view is to just use unity and remake from scratch whatever is useful. It will be better result and probably faster. 

Maybe we will just opensource our code.

[Wordfromthe Wise]

what do you mean by " require a heavy and relatively obscure program (i.e., OpenSim) to install and run, " ???

[Melissa Yeuxdoux]

Nice if you can run the Unity plugin.

[Ehrman Digfoot]

It's insane the lengths people will go to just to avoid some basic 3D modeling.

[pixels sideways]

And it's only $2000 (which I assume is not in some form of Open Sim currency) to convert your $10 USD/month "open sim island" and prim creations into another format! And that's the base price starting point. $2K. Seriously? Who is this for?

And I'm going to venture a guess this is only for mesh forms and textures of your prim creations so if you have an island full of scripted objects, the scripts won't port but as noted, they do provide additional services for additinal $$$.

KACHING!

From Tipodean Technologies site:

"Our Conversion service.

Our conversion service starts at $2,000; a basic conversion can be completed within a week. This price includes hosting a single player and simple multiplayer version of your converted builds for a 6-month trial period, free!** To see a demonstration of content that we have converted, check out the Demo area.
If you need additional Unity3D development, a larger set of islands, or consulting services in your Unity3D project the conversion service can be bundled with other services.

** The offer is capped at a monthly bandwidth usage of 100 GB a month. To give you an idea of how much usage this is, 100GB should give you approximate10,000 sessions a month without going over the bandwidth usage."