Make IMVU Accessories In Blender

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In the following videos recorded live on Twitch (videos may include off-topic chat and other discussion not related to the subject at hand), watch how jazzKat shows us the process of making a very simple gift box accessory items for IMVU. Beginner friendly.

Download: files to accompany this project;
– IMVU Accessory File (c. 2 MB | *.blend, *.fbx, *.jpg, *.png).
– Gift Box *.blend File (c. 600 KB | *.blend, *.jpg)

Blender Basics

The main way to manipulate the 3D View in Blender is using the MIDDLE mouse button (MMB); click hold and dragging the mouse ROTATES the entire scene; SHIFT + click hold dragging MMB will TRANSLATE, strafes or moves the Scene LATERALLY (up/down, left/right); CTRL + click hold dragging MMB will ZOOM the Scene.

  • MMB = rotate
  • Shift+MMB = translate
  • CTRL+MMB = zoom

When wanting to select various things in Blender; LEFT click (left mouse button – LMB) tends to be for selecting, adjusting, changing properties, options and settings; RIGHT click for selecting objects and user generated data.

Design note: To learn more about using Blender try this exercise, "An Introduction to Blender for IMVU Creators" (PDF available).

Make An Accessory

The videos below walk through the process of making a very simple accessory gift box in Blender that’s textured, positioned and then exported to FBX for import and assembly in IMVU.

Steps summary

  • Delete default cube so no materials are available (optional)*.
  • Add a new Cube – Add » Mesh » Cube.
  • Add new Material (plus Texture and Image).
  • UV unwrap cube – Mesh » UV » Reset.
  • Duplicate Cube to make bow – Object » Duplicate Objects.
  • Make ‘bow’ Material (plus Texture and Image).
  • UV unwrap and edit UV map.
  • Append to Accessory Starter File – File » Append.
  • Assign Vertex Group and Parent to Armature.
  • Export – File » Export » FBX (.fbx).
  • Import and assemble.

Design note: * as the default Cube has a pre-assigned Material the object was deleted to better reflect what is more likely going to be the case; a mesh being added to the scene without Materials, requiring their generation.


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