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Description
Recently, I've been seeing a lot of SketchUp 3D Warehouse models being converted for use in MMD. This is a bad practice for a variety of reasons. Putting aside the moral aspects of using other peoples' work (as I've covered that subject ad nauseum) there are real technical issues with this practice. Many models in the 3D warehouse are built to a very high level of details which means that they have very high poly counts. Also a lot of the building models were probably built by either architects or more often architectural students who are honing their 3D modeling skills. Architectural models are built using a lot of details because that's what is required of architectural and engineering models. These types of models are not designed for, nor are they suitable for MMD use.

MMD is a "game". Game model designers approach 3D models from a very different angle. They have to work to a polygon budget. For every scene in a 3D game, they cannot go over a certain number of polygons for ALL models in the scene. The usual strategy is for the bulk of the polygon allocation to go to the player controlled assets - in our case, these are the MMD 3D performance models. These can be (within reason) be highly detailed, but even here, if you look carefully at the way top modelers like Tda and Mamama (just to name two) build their models you will find that they allocate their polygon count very carefully. They only model what absolutely needs to be modeled and use texture maps to build detail. Architectural models are different. They may also use texture maps for details such as bricks. No one is insane enough to build every brick that goes into making a house. But things like moldings are built in detail, where as in game modeling usually these are rendered using texture maps.

The more efficient an accessory model is, the better it is for MMD as more system resources are allocated for the performance models. Why is this important? Well with architectural models, there is hardly any movement. A model is set up to create the scene and then it is rendered, often using very sophisticated rendering engines to produce near photographic results. Game and MMD models on the other hand need to MOVE. And they need to move a lot, on average 30 times every second assuming you have set up your MMD to use 30 fps. Which means that the computer has to redraw EVERYTHING 30 times every second - now can you figure out why it's a bad idea to use an architectural type model for MMD?

But almost any idiot can download a model from the 3D Warehouse and convert it for use in MMD. It's done with a plug-in (several are available) and basically, it's a single click operation which is so hard that some people demand to be credited for it. Somewhere along the line, the person who spent the effort to build the model in the first place becomes missing from the equation and our Japanese MMDC counterparts have yet another finger to point at the moral standards of the Overseas MMDC.

Now, honestly, I've used a lot of 3D applications. These are production quality applications which you either need to take a course to learn or read a lot of big thick books. SketchUp on the other hand is EASY. Literally, anyone can pick it up and be up and running with it to create even professional quality models in a very short period of time. For more experienced modelers, it is an application that they can just "build" things with, without having to reach over constantly for the manual. Even professional game companies use SketchUp to at least initially set up complex scenes.

Plus it is FREE ...

Additionally, there are a multitude of tutorials on YT and elsewhere teaching you everything from the basics and up. You don't have to go to a school to learn it nor read a big thick manual (as there isn't one). It is not a program built for idiots, it's actually a professional grade Architectual modeling program. Because it is so easy to learn and use, thousands of people of all ages have learnt how to use it and achieve superb results with it. Which means you can too.

This tutorial is just an introduction. I cannot pretend that it is other than that as there are limitations to this type of format. But, it's enough to show you how you can pick up a copy of SketchUp and build at least a simple stage (or whatever) for your favorite MMD character. Seriously, it is not hard and the little effort that is required to learn how to do this is rewarded by you being able to see your favorite MMD character perform on a stage you designed and built yourself. What more can anyone ask?

Anyway, I do hope you find this tutorial at least to be an eye-opener. It's a little bit open ended and perhaps lacking in details, so within reason, I will be willing to answer any questions you have.

Full credits are at the bottom of the panel, but I would like to especially thank *Digitrevx for loaning me a copy of chibi Ani-Chan for use in this material.
Chibi Ani-Chan: *Digitrevx (Texel Works) ~ private collection
Ani-Chan (C) AniMiku.com

Please respect my time and not ask for links to models and resources - all these can be easily found by spending some quality time with Google or another search engine.

Description
Recently, I've been seeing a lot of SketchUp 3D Warehouse models being converted for use in MMD. This is a bad practice for a variety of reasons. Putting aside the moral aspects of using other peoples' work (as I've covered that subject ad nauseum) there are real technical issues with this practice. Many models in the 3D warehouse are built to a very high level of details which means that they have very high poly counts. Also a lot of the building models were probably built by either architects or more often architectural students who are honing their 3D modeling skills. Architectural models are built using a lot of details because that's what is required of architectural and engineering models. These types of models are not designed for, nor are they suitable for MMD use.

MMD is a "game". Game model designers approach 3D models from a very different angle. They have to work to a polygon budget. For every scene in a 3D game, they cannot go over a certain number of polygons for ALL models in the scene. The usual strategy is for the bulk of the polygon allocation to go to the player controlled assets - in our case, these are the MMD 3D performance models. These can be (within reason) be highly detailed, but even here, if you look carefully at the way top modelers like Tda and Mamama (just to name two) build their models you will find that they allocate their polygon count very carefully. They only model what absolutely needs to be modeled and use texture maps to build detail. Architectural models are different. They may also use texture maps for details such as bricks. No one is insane enough to build every brick that goes into making a house. But things like moldings are built in detail, where as in game modeling usually these are rendered using texture maps.

The more efficient an accessory model is, the better it is for MMD as more system resources are allocated for the performance models. Why is this important? Well with architectural models, there is hardly any movement. A model is set up to create the scene and then it is rendered, often using very sophisticated rendering engines to produce near photographic results. Game and MMD models on the other hand need to MOVE. And they need to move a lot, on average 30 times every second assuming you have set up your MMD to use 30 fps. Which means that the computer has to redraw EVERYTHING 30 times every second - now can you figure out why it's a bad idea to use an architectural type model for MMD?

But almost any idiot can download a model from the 3D Warehouse and convert it for use in MMD. It's done with a plug-in (several are available) and basically, it's a single click operation which is so hard that some people demand to be credited for it. Somewhere along the line, the person who spent the effort to build the model in the first place becomes missing from the equation and our Japanese MMDC counterparts have yet another finger to point at the moral standards of the Overseas MMDC.

Now, honestly, I've used a lot of 3D applications. These are production quality applications which you either need to take a course to learn or read a lot of big thick books. SketchUp on the other hand is EASY. Literally, anyone can pick it up and be up and running with it to create even professional quality models in a very short period of time. For more experienced modelers, it is an application that they can just "build" things with, without having to reach over constantly for the manual. Even professional game companies use SketchUp to at least initially set up complex scenes.

Plus it is FREE ...

Additionally, there are a multitude of tutorials on YT and elsewhere teaching you everything from the basics and up. You don't have to go to a school to learn it nor read a big thick manual (as there isn't one). It is not a program built for idiots, it's actually a professional grade Architectual modeling program. Because it is so easy to learn and use, thousands of people of all ages have learnt how to use it and achieve superb results with it. Which means you can too.

This tutorial is just an introduction. I cannot pretend that it is other than that as there are limitations to this type of format. But, it's enough to show you how you can pick up a copy of SketchUp and build at least a simple stage (or whatever) for your favorite MMD character. Seriously, it is not hard and the little effort that is required to learn how to do this is rewarded by you being able to see your favorite MMD character perform on a stage you designed and built yourself. What more can anyone ask?

Anyway, I do hope you find this tutorial at least to be an eye-opener. It's a little bit open ended and perhaps lacking in details, so within reason, I will be willing to answer any questions you have.

Full credits are at the bottom of the panel, but I would like to especially thank *Digitrevx for loaning me a copy of chibi Ani-Chan for use in this material.
Chibi Ani-Chan: *Digitrevx (Texel Works) ~ private collection
Ani-Chan (C) AniMiku.com

Please respect my time and not ask for links to models and resources - all these can be easily found by spending some quality time with Google or another search engine.