How to create mesh anime head

[QueenNeon]

I'm interested in learning about how to create anime heads. How would I go about learning?

[Cathy Foil]

First you will have to learn how to use a 3D Modeling program.  Blender is probably the most popular program for creating mesh for Second Life.  It is powerful and it is free though the user interface is pretty bad making it more difficult for beginners to learn.

There are other free 3D Modeling programs you can use, Sculptris comes to mind, though many of these can not export directly as DAE files which is the file type that SL uses to upload the mesh.  If they can export as an OBJ file then you could import that OBJ into Blender and then export it out as a DAE file from there or if they export as a FBX file you could use Autodesk's free FBX Converter program to convert it into a DAE file.  Autodesk's FBX Converter also converts other types of files such as OBJ and 3ds files with these you would first have to use the FBX Converter to convert the files to FBX format and then convert them to DAE files.  Be warned though converting a file twice can have unexpected results or not work all together.

If you have a bit of money Steam has some very interesting 3D Modeling programs on sale right now for under $100 UDS.  They look like a lot easier to use than Blender.

http://store.steampowered.com/genre/Animation%20%26%20Modeling/

Whichever program you decide to go with you can usually find tutorials on YouTube for them.  Since Blender is the most popular free program there are probably more tutorial for it.  Personally I would recommend against starting off with Blender but I am sure many would disagree with me.

My best advice is start with something very simple and then gradually work up to more complex mesh creations.  While anime heads are fairly simple in shape you will have to rig it to the Second Life skeleton which makes it more complex.  Learn how to make the head shape first.  Then learn how to make UVs and texture it.  Then learn how to rig a simple cube to the skeleton and then rig your anime head.

I hope that helps.
Cathy

[QueenNeon]

 Thanks alot for the info, Cathy!:smileyhappy: