{"id":1186,"date":"2019-04-23T12:13:58","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T11:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2023-09-07T15:54:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T14:54:17","slug":"imvubasics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvubasics\/","title":{"rendered":"Blender &#038; IMVU Creating"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69ee5c9517783\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69ee5c9517783\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvubasics\/#starter-files\" >Starter Files<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvubasics\/#tutorials\" >Tutorials<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvubasics\/#missing-images\" >Missing Images<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvubasics\/#cal3d-obsolete\" >Cal3D obsolete<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvubasics\/#avatar-scale\" >Avatar Scale<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>For IMVU creators newer versions of Blender present a relatively significant change to the product development process that might mean an upgrade not being as meaningful as thought, especially over the current established version, Blender 2.79. The short answer to asking whether Blender 2.8 or above can be used to make content for IMVU is &#8220;<i>yes<\/i>&#8220;. The slightly less short answer is &#8220;<i>yes, but it kinda depends<\/i>&#8220;, largely on the additional steps needed to make projects and files functional due to the changes that have occurred.<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"background-color: #9d2600; color: #fff;\"><p><b>Action<\/b>: IMVU has released a dedicated Toolkit for Blender. For more information on this and how to use to Toolkit see &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-studio-toolkit\/\">IMVU Studio Toolkit \u2013 Installing<\/a>&#8221; and here &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/tag\/imvu-studio-toolkit\/\">IMVU Studio Toolkit For Blender<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-studio-toolkit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 98.5%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/imvu-studio-toolkit.jpg\" alt=\"IMVU Studio Toolkit for Blender\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Find out about IMVU Studio Toolkit for Blender.<\/i>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote style=\"background-color: #fc0; color: #000;\"><p><b>Action<\/b>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/blenderimvu\/\">Learn to Create with newer versions of Blender here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/blender-basics\/\">learn more about the changes introduced with newer versions of Blender here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/imvu-furniture-blender-28.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/imvu-furniture-blender-28.jpg\" alt=\"A properly texture IMVU item in Blender\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>An IMVU furniture properly textured in Blender 2.80.<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"starter-files\"><\/span>Starter Files<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>For newer versions of Blender the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-starter-files\/\">IMVU Starter Files<\/a> have been updated to be properly compatible with the application, everything needed to create functional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/tag\/accessory\/\">accessories<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/tag\/furniture\/\">furniture<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/tag\/furniture-room\/\">rooms<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/tag\/clothing\/\">clothing<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/tag\/poses\/\">poses<\/a> is included in each ZIP.<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"background-color: #e0e8f0; color: #000;\"><p><b>Download<\/b>: for more information on the Starter Files for Blender and what&#8217;s included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-starter-files\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">see here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/files\/imvu\/KatsBits - Blender Avatar Starter Files.zip\">Avatar Starter File<\/a> (c.8 MB).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/files\/imvu\/KatsBits - Blender Room Starter Files.zip\">Room Starter File<\/a> (c.3 MB).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/files\/imvu\/KatsBits - Blender Furniture Starter Files.zip\">Furniture Starter File<\/a> (c.4 MB).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"tutorials\"><\/span>Tutorials<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Even for those familiar with using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/tutorials\/#virtualdevelopers\">Blender 2.79 to make custom content for IMVU<\/a>, Blender 2.8+ and above presents a few changes that may catch the unsuspecting off guard. For more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/blenderimvu\/\">see here to learn how to use Blender to make<\/a> accessories, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/tag\/poses\/\">poses<\/a>, furniture, rooms, or specific types of items &#8211; hats, rings, skirts, socks etc. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/blenderimvu\/\">Find out how here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"missing-images\"><\/span>Missing Images<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>When opening old *.blend files into Blender 2.8+ and newer versions the most immediate issue are missing images (<i>notwithstanding being in the correct &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/blender-basics\/\">display mode<\/a>&#8216;<\/i>). This is due entirely to Blender 2.8+ no longer supporting &#8216;<b>Multitexture<\/b>&#8216; and &#8216;<b>Blender Render<\/b>&#8216; (<i>Blender Internal<\/i>), the default legacy systems used to display objects on screen in previous versions of the application (Blender 2.79 and below).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/missing-textures.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/missing-textures.jpg\" alt=\"Missing Material properties, obsolete and unsupported\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Accessing Material Properties in Blender 2.8+ reveals a lot of &#8216;missing&#8217; properties previously available in Blender 2.79 and below, now considered obsolete, they are no longer supported.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>The fix for this requires the conversion of old materials to the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/material-basics\/\">node-based system<\/a>, using the <b>Node Editor<\/b> (<b>Shading Workspace<\/b>), so that rather than having separate <i>Material<\/i>, <i>Texture<\/i> and <i>Image<\/i> properties comprising an assigned material, the settings and options normally selected during creation of old, are now &#8216;<b>nodes<\/b>&#8216; or distinct blocks linked together into a larger group forming a Material &#8216;tree&#8217;, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/material-basics\/\">three for standard materials<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/alpha\/\">five for basic transparency<\/a> (image based alpha).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: the use of nodes only applies to the display of materials\/images in Blender, for IMVU, so long as the normal naming conventions are followed (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-materials\/\">material names being numerically appended <i>[n]<\/i> where &#8216;n&#8217; represents an incremental number<\/a>), meshes will import, and be assembled with, materials in Create Mode.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/standard-material.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/standard-material.jpg\" alt=\"The most basic node-based Material for IMVU\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/transparent-material.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/transparent-material.jpg\" alt=\"A basic node-based Material with 'opacity'\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>The most basic node-based Material in Blender 2.8 requires <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/material-basics\/\">three nodes<\/a> that correspond to materials of old (image, top), whereas materials with transparency, at least to display in Blender 2.80, need <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/alpha\/\">two extra nodes to accommodate transparency<\/a> (alpha\/image based).<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"cal3d-obsolete\"><\/span>Cal3D obsolete<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It may possible to utilise Cal3D for IMVU content exported from Blender 2.8+ and newer but it&#8217;s unlikely to happen with the availability of FBX and the age of Cal3D essentially ensuring its general obsolescence (<i>there is no Cal3D exporter for newer versions of Blender<\/i>). To export FBX files from Blender for use in IMVU <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/tutorials\/imvu\/fbx-import.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">follow the FBX export\/import guidelines here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: export will differ depending on the product type, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/tutorials\/imvu\/fbx-import.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">see here<\/a> for general details.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/fbx-export-browser.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/fbx-export-browser.jpg\" alt=\"Cal3D is no longer supported as an export option for Blender\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Cal3D is no longer supported as an export option for Blender which instead favours FBX, exporting to which is the same as previously established &#8211; select the objects to be exported and choose FBX (.fbx) from <b>File \u00bb Export<\/b>.<\/i><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"avatar-scale\"><\/span>Avatar Scale<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Avatar and object scale has not changed with Blender 2.8+ and newer so the available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/imvu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Starter Files<\/a> remain the default reference point for IMVU content. If meshes need to be loaded or transferred to Blender 2.8, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-append\/\">Append<\/a> can be used to bring those Objects into the newer version &#8211; briefly, to do that, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-starter-files\/\">Starter File<\/a> open click <b>File \u00bb Append<\/b> then in the Browser click the <b>Objects<\/b> folder from the file opened and select the items to load.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>Design note<\/b>: assuming previous projects were created in Blender, anything subsequently brought in to Blender will be correctly sized and scaled relative to IMVU. For more information about scale as it relates to IMVU see &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/smforum\/index.php?topic=798.0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How tall are IMVU Avatars?<\/a>&#8221; or &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/imvu-append\/#object-scalesize\">Append for IMVU : Object Scale\/Size<\/a>&#8221; &#8211; when loading older *.blend files disable <b>Load UI<\/b> lower-left of the <b>File Browser<\/b> to ensure old interface settings are not used (reset <b>Clip Start<\/b> and <b>End<\/b> once the project has loaded &#8211; see below).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote style=\"background-color: #fc0; color: #000;\"><p><b>Important<\/b>: If objects are at a different scale to the Starter File avatars (IMVU uses a scaling that&#8217;s approximately 100x larger than Blenders), before doing anything make sure the 3D Cursor is at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/snap\/\"><b>0,0,0<\/b><\/a> grid centre and check the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/pivot\/\"><b>Pivot Point<\/b><\/a> is set to <b>3D Cursor<\/b> &#8211; activating Scale (S) with this done will resize selections relative to the cursor rather than individual object Origins (especially important for files appended or imported into Blender from other applications). With this done, a few options are available because the above establishes how big or small the files being brought into Blender are, making it possible to then compensate at export from, or import to, one or the other (another 3D application and\/or Blender).<\/p>\n<p><center style=\"background-color: #9d2600; color: #fff; width:98.5%\">DO NOT ADJUST THE AVATARS INCLUDED IN THE STARTER FILES, ADJUST CUSTOM CONTENT IN RELATION TO THEM ONLY &#8211; THIS IS CRITICAL TO ENSURE CORRECT PRODUCT SIZE\/SCALE.<\/center><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/avatar-scene-scale.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/images\/tutorials\/blender-28-imvu\/avatar-scene-scale.jpg\" alt=\"Avatar and object size hasn't change for IMVU\" width=\"900px\" height=\"500px\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>Avatar and object size and scale hasn&#8217;t changed for Blender 2.8+ so using the available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/imvu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Starter Files<\/a>, everything remains properly scaled as it should relative to IMVU (press <span class=\"shortcutkey\">N<\/span> to display <b>View<\/b> properties in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/blender-basics\/\">Sidebar<\/a>).<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,230],"tags":[473,472,210,203,194,103,471,327,366,474],"class_list":["post-1186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-imvu","category-tutorials","tag-append","tag-avatar-scale","tag-cal3d","tag-fbx","tag-imvu","tag-materials","tag-missing-images","tag-node-editor","tag-shading-layout","tag-starter-files"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1186"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6932,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1186\/revisions\/6932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katsbits.com\/codex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}