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Game Editing => IMVU Creator Community => Topic started by: appolon2 on November 23, 2018, 03:51:25 PM

Title: Reflective furniture - object is not reflected
Post by: appolon2 on November 23, 2018, 03:51:25 PM
(https://image.prntscr.com/image/9NZgYxRZQIuVHryu0_cIaw.png)
(https://image.prntscr.com/image/mpesDrROSvi6BWc-N0yphg.png)

https://prnt.sc/lm25q1 (https://prnt.sc/lm25q1)
https://prnt.sc/lm26hn (https://prnt.sc/lm26hn)
In the first photo the object is reflected on the floor
When I uploaded on imvu the object is not reflected

[EDIT] just edited to add images, cleaned title a little. kat
Title: Re: the object is not reflected
Post by: kat on November 24, 2018, 07:40:13 AM
Basically, IMVU doesn't use 'true' reflection or reflective surfaces in the sense they might be understood in other games. To get the same effect you have to duplicate the item, invert it (flip it upside-down), and then drop it below the 'floor' surface - your item then comprise two meshes, a 'correct' and the inverted mirrored copy. The effect is then completed with the use of a semi-transparent floor (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/imvu/opacity.php) through which the duplicate can be seen.

With this said the visual effect only works in rooms where the author has either made allowance for semi-transparent floor (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/imvu/opacity.php), or the room the item is used in has such a floor - in normal rooms the duplicate will be hidden from view.

Make sure when exporting both meshes are included - using FBX (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/imvu/fbx-scaling.php) both items can be exported from Blender at the same time (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/imvu/fbx-import.php), using Cal3D the meshes will need to be joined together.

Basic scene in Blender (in GLSL so Material transparency can be seen (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/blender/scene-view-alpha-transparency.php#object)) showing a semi-transparent floor between a giftbox that's duplicated and flipped upside-down (Alt+M to Mirror, then » Z) to create the 'reflection' (remember to use Apply and then Flip Direction to fix the mesh appearing inside-out after being flipped upside down).

In IMVU the Blender scene is automatically imported and assembled as three objects (exported as separate objects to the same FBX file from Blender) with three materials, the TRANSPARENT one (shown using IMVU's default 'can't find the image' texture) is important here as it has a 2x2 auto-generated mid-grey image that makes the floor appear semi-transparent based on the grey value (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/imvu/opacity.php#setup).

Incidentally, did you know you can export Material-based transparency to FBX and IMVU will automatically generate the appropriate grey-scale image it needs to make the resulting material in IMVU match the value used in Blender? Make sure to set up the scene and objects as instructed here (https://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/blender/scene-view-alpha-transparency.php#object) for this to work properly.
Title: Re: Reflective furniture - object is not reflected
Post by: kat on November 26, 2018, 07:49:43 AM
Watch the following to see how to set up a transparent Material (no texture/no image) in Blender (shown) that can then be exported and converted on import to IMVU (not shown, see above).