Today we are happy to present one of younger MadPea team members: RAG (Rag Randt). He combines having fun in Second Life with learning for RL. It was exciting to hear him talking about the benefits of mesh building.
Quan Lavender: You are quite a
long time in SL. Was building your main interest from the beginning?
RAG: Well, not too intensely. I
was concerned with uploading my 2D art. I wanted to display my 2D art
in SL as a promotion for my RL work, but quickly found out that SL
was not that kind of market..too small. But then i discovered the
work of A.M Radio and Bryn's. I discovered a whole new communication
medium: a new way to tell stories. So i realized I needed to learn
how to build here and about the same time mesh was being talked
about. I got interested in the open source 3D program 'blender'. So
for the past 2 years I have been studying and learning blender
Quan Lavender: You started with
smaller artworks, I still have and love that cute house with windows
and went to 3D then.
RAG (rag.randt): Yes, I learned
building on my own through Building Brewery and tutorials on blender
guru and blender cookie. I would like to get back to artwork soon.
But no time.. I have so much to learn with mesh and blender and much
more!
Quan Lavender: But good to have
you in the MadPea team now :)) So, what are you building here?
RAG: Well I am thrilled to be
here! And I learn a lot too. I build stores for the builders which
are run down structures to fit in with the general decay of the new
sim build. This is my first and my last store using prims, because
now I know how to upload mesh and textures integrated and it is much
more efficient with lag etc. good for the sim performance. This
store is 77 prims, the mesh houses are 15. That is important! But have
a look here. This house is the latest mesh upload :) Its fun working
with mesh, so flexible.
 |
| The Prim Store |
Quan Lavender: In which way is
it more flexible than sculpts or prims?
RAG: I am not limited in any way
with mesh because I can make it in blender using points lines and
faces; making any shape possible and relatively easy and less laggy
in many instances!
Quan Lavender: I experience that
too as user, but why is mesh less laggy?
RAG: Because we can control the
amount of verticies (points) the structure has. So for instance if I
have a simple cube. In a sculpt that has to have 1024 points or
verticies. With mesh, i can make that same cube with 8! And I am
working on my first car to upload too. There is a trick i am
learning.....I can upload a beautiful car, but it would be 1000 prim
equivalent! So, I am learning to make a low PE car but texturing it
so that it looks high PE (prim equivalent).
 |
| The Mesh House |
Quan Lavender: You
are designer RL, does your experience in SL helps for your RL job?
RAG: My RL job is changing into
SL technology: mesh...I am looking to become a master mesh designer
and will use 3D technology to supply the growing 3D industry. In SL
and any 3D application. My traditional 2D print illustration industry
has been in market decline for a long time now and the 3D world is a
new medium for me as an illustrator/designer. It's a tough transition
but its good for the brain to learn new things. But i can apply all
my old techniques. Mesh consists of two major components: topology
and texturing.
Quan Lavender: You
have fun and learn at the same time! That is perfect! Do you
think that 3D animation and 3D worlds will have an increasing
importance in future worlds?
RAG: Yes. In many industries
such as education and advertising, training and of course gaming.
Quan Lavender: Thank you Rag,
that was interesting! Is there anything you want to say to our
readers?
RAG: Always learn new things, then you will never feel left behind in life and make sure your mesh
has good topology. This is the way you structure the mesh in an
object. With good topology you have good textures and good movement.
