Sculpted prim
Encyclopedia
A sculpted prim (or sculpty, sculptie, or just sculpt) is a Second Life
3D parametric object whose 3D shape is determined by a texture
. These textures are UV maps that form the rendered 3D sculpted prim. Sculpted prims can be used to create more complex, organic shapes that are not possible with Second Life's primitive
system.
, but instead of encoding surface normals they encode surface positions. They are also similar to displacement maps
, but instead of a single scalar distance, there are three values — one each for the X, Y, and Z coordinates. Sculpt textures are also very similar to parametric
(e.g. NURBS) surfaces. See Sculpted Prims: Under the Hood article for details. Minimum recognized size is 8 x 8. Maximum recognized size is 128 x 128. larger can be uploaded but will be treated as an image and compressed.
The UV map is embedded into the sculpty on creation. When uploaded into the Second Life asset server, and rezzed (rendered), it will form the shape imposed on it. However, the actual texturing must be done in a separate file, the map of which will be based on the conceived shape. For example, a liquor bottle would have its label on its forward face. However, there is only one face on a sculpty as it is either a sphere, torus, cone, or cylinder (cube also exists but the texture covers all the perceived faces so the rule applies). For the liquor label it would be located on a specific section of the lower left quadrant.
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
3D parametric object whose 3D shape is determined by a texture
Procedural texture
A procedural texture is a computer generated image created using an algorithm intended to create a realistic representation of natural elements such as wood, marble, granite, metal, stone, and others....
. These textures are UV maps that form the rendered 3D sculpted prim. Sculpted prims can be used to create more complex, organic shapes that are not possible with Second Life's primitive
Geometric primitive
The term geometric primitive in computer graphics and CAD systems is used in various senses, with the common meaning of the simplest geometric objects that the system can handle . Sometimes the subroutines that draw the corresponding objects are called "geometric primitives" as well...
system.
Technical details
A sculpty is a standard RGB texture where the R (red), G (green) and B (blue) channels are mapped onto X, Y, and Z space. Sculpt textures are similar to normal mapsNormal mapping
In 3D computer graphics, normal mapping, or "Dot3 bump mapping", is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents. It is used to add details without using more polygons. A common use of this technique is to greatly enhance the appearance and details of a low polygon model by...
, but instead of encoding surface normals they encode surface positions. They are also similar to displacement maps
Displacement mapping
Displacement mapping is an alternative computer graphics technique in contrast to bump mapping, normal mapping, and parallax mapping, using a texture- or height map to cause an effect where the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface are displaced, often along the local...
, but instead of a single scalar distance, there are three values — one each for the X, Y, and Z coordinates. Sculpt textures are also very similar to parametric
Parametric surface
A parametric surface is a surface in the Euclidean space R3 which is defined by a parametric equation with two parameters. Parametric representation is the most general way to specify a surface. Surfaces that occur in two of the main theorems of vector calculus, Stokes' theorem and the divergence...
(e.g. NURBS) surfaces. See Sculpted Prims: Under the Hood article for details. Minimum recognized size is 8 x 8. Maximum recognized size is 128 x 128. larger can be uploaded but will be treated as an image and compressed.
The UV map is embedded into the sculpty on creation. When uploaded into the Second Life asset server, and rezzed (rendered), it will form the shape imposed on it. However, the actual texturing must be done in a separate file, the map of which will be based on the conceived shape. For example, a liquor bottle would have its label on its forward face. However, there is only one face on a sculpty as it is either a sphere, torus, cone, or cylinder (cube also exists but the texture covers all the perceived faces so the rule applies). For the liquor label it would be located on a specific section of the lower left quadrant.
Free sculpted prim creation software
- BlenderBlender (software)Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
with the Domino Designs scripts - Wings 3D with the sculptie plugin
- InWorld Sculptor Tool Kit - not available anymore. Is now sold as Sculpt Studio for 4999 L$!
- Sculpted Prims: 3D Software Guide
Commercial sculpted prim creation software
- Aartform Curvy 3D
- Autodesk Maya
- Autodesk Media and Entertainment's 3ds Max
- Hexagon by Daz3d
- Inivis AC3D
- Moment of Inspiration (MoI) (save as a 3dm (opennurbs) file and use 3dm2sculpt to convert to a sculpty)
- NewTek LightWave 3D
- Pixel Lab SculptyPaint
- Pixologic zBrush
- ROKURO(lathe) - Sculpted Prim Maker - A simple NURB curve maker and revolver (a "lathed" object is one that is perfectly symmetrical around the center axis)
- Sculptie-O-matic transform inworld linksets into sculpties directly
- Strata 3D
- TheBlack Box - Sculpt Studio
- TATARA - Sculpted Prim Previewer and Editor - Kanae Project top of the line; Sculpted Prims can be edited in the five modes: ROKURO/TOKOROTEN/MAGE/WAPPA/TSUCHI (contains ROKURO tool(above) and TOKOROTEN tool (below) ) ~L$5000
- TOKOROTEN(extruder) - Makes sculpted prim texture TGA file of the pushed-out/extruded objects (makes cookie-cutter style shapes). As of mid-2008 the maker of Rokuro ceased making either available for free; it is now L$2500 (~$8 USD).
See also
- Displacement mappingDisplacement mappingDisplacement mapping is an alternative computer graphics technique in contrast to bump mapping, normal mapping, and parallax mapping, using a texture- or height map to cause an effect where the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface are displaced, often along the local...
- Normal mappingNormal mappingIn 3D computer graphics, normal mapping, or "Dot3 bump mapping", is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents. It is used to add details without using more polygons. A common use of this technique is to greatly enhance the appearance and details of a low polygon model by...
- NURBS
- Parametric surfaceParametric surfaceA parametric surface is a surface in the Euclidean space R3 which is defined by a parametric equation with two parameters. Parametric representation is the most general way to specify a surface. Surfaces that occur in two of the main theorems of vector calculus, Stokes' theorem and the divergence...
- Polygon meshPolygon meshA polygon mesh or unstructured grid is a collection of vertices, edges and faces that defines the shape of a polyhedral object in 3D computer graphics and solid modeling...
- UV mappingUV mappingUV mapping is the 3D modeling process of making a 2D image representation of a 3D model.-UV mapping:This process projects a texture map onto a 3D object...