IMVU Studio is our next generation creator tool, currently in development. It serves as the foundation for new features and optimizations on IMVU Desktop and Mobile, allowing Creators to take their products to a whole new level.
What You’ll Learn
In this recorded Learning Session, we’ll show you vital new features you should be using when creating in IMVU Studio. Knowing these workflow tools will help you get started in IMVU Studio much more quickly and keep your workflow fast and efficient.*
- Part 1: @TaunTaunTonic, head of the IMVU Studio product team, will walk you through IVU Studio features that are vital to your Creator workflow.
- Part 2: @TaunTaunTonic and IMVU’s Digital Artist @Drosselmeyer will answer questions from Creators attending the Learning Session.
Questions & Answers
(Verbal answers are recorded in the video)
Q: I’m new and I want to be a creator. How can i get permission to create?
A: Great question. You need to become a VIP first. More information can be found here https://about.imvu.com/creator-program-details
Q: Is the size of furniture products also going to upgrade from 2mb?
A: We are considering this.
Q: Can I ask why the extra maps (shine and normal) add so much weight to the products? Is this something that can be changed ?
A: Every asset adds to the size of the product. The largest contributors are textures, followed by meshes and animation. The best practice is to only use normal and shininess where needed, and keep your images sized for how large they will appear on screen. Smaller objects can use much smaller textures. Also size each map type appropriately. Often the diffuse and shininess can be smaller in dimension than the normal map. The normal map’s main function to add detail so it should be the largest of any of the maps you use.
Q: Does the texture changing (by saving it) work with Corel Paintshop Pro as well?
A: Yes. Any texture editing application. You just need to save to your Studio Project folder.
Q: As for clothing or even furnitures, in which spot I put the normal map in ?
A: In the Materials component, select a material. In the Inspector panel look for the ‘Normal’ map in the ‘Texture’ section
Q: Does IMVU Studio pull in close like Classic (Client) does? And if so how do i pull it in close so i can see what I’m doing?
A: Yes it does. You can zoom in close using the mouse wheel or two finger zoom on a touch pad.
Q: How do i transfer files from Classic (Client) to IMVU Studio?
A: You can import the CHKN file for your client project into IMVU Studio
Q: If there is a furniture with a character animation for 2 or more people? And is there a way to put Dummy avatars on those spots so you can check out all the animations?
A: Adding an actor it not a feature yet, but is planned. Meanwhile, you can use room decoration to put mannequins in all seats.
Q: Is it possible to put more standing positions in rooms if so how do you put them in ?
A: The standing seat node are built into the room product.
Q: I have tried to build products and resubmit them. I had to resubmit my items 3 to 4 times before it changed.
A: When you submit a product it has to go through Peer Review. Your product will not be available for sale until it passes Peer Review.
Q: Once a product has been published and approved can we go back and make changes to it and resubmit the change in this product?
A: Yes. As long as there have not been any derivations from your product.
Q: How can I make my own tshirt?
A: If you asking about the mesh that the texture goes on, for that you need a 3ds editing application. There are many, but creators typically use Autodesk 3ds Max or Blender. Blender is free: https://www.blender.org/
Q: How can I make eyes, skins etc?
A: That would be a great topic for a future session. We are also in the process of updating our Creator Education Center and will look into adding this for IMVU Studio: https://create.imvu.com/
Q: How can I make the texture of the shirt?
A: There are several applications that you can use. Popular ones are Adobe Photoshop or GIMP. GIMP is free https://www.gimp.org/
Q: Does the shiny feature show in IMVU Classic (Client)?
A: No. Shininess only shows in IMVU Desktop, the IMVU Website, and IMVU Mobile.
Q: is there a way to include the product page into studio rather than having to go to the website like on the old imvu?
A: No, IMVU Studio is a stand-alone application.
Q: Regarding assets, does it just take a single folder or the entire directory? As I have over 50GB of textures which is too much to have on the new studio at once.
A: The Studio Project folder is a single folder.
Q: I frequently use animated Icons, anywhere from 2 to 6 layered .gifs. Will those be accessible in Studio?
A: Not planned, but we will add it to the list of features to consider.
Q: Will there be a way to add shadow to the avatars?
A: We are going to be adding this in the future
Q: Do you have tutorials for IMVU Studio?
A: Yes, you can find them here https://create.imvu.com/knowledge-base/intro-to-imvu-studio/
Q: Will the number of characters allowed in a product name increase?
A: We are not planning to lengthen the product name at this time.
Q: Does *hiressnap & *hiresnobg work in studio for exporting a pic directly to my desktop?
A: Yes. More information can be found here: https://create.imvu.com/knowledge-base/hiresnobg-shapshots-in-imvu-studio/
Q: I want to know how to make animated texture on studio.
A: This is a great topic for a future session!
Q: Can I edit an old product I made on IMVU Classic (Client)? Even if it’s several years old?
A: Yes! If your old products made on IMVU Classic are published, they will show in your Published section in IMVU Studio. You can also import a CHKN file from you client projects folder.
Q: Can products that have been created in Studio be edited in the Client now or in the future?
A: They can, but we do not encourage it.
Q: Will the peer review turn over time change or be still used here
A: Peer review will still be in place.
Q: Will the classic shop ever go away or replaced?
A: Right now we support both Classic and Next shop on Web. At this time there is no planned end of life for Classic Shop on the Web.
Q: Would it be possible to see a slower tutorial for shiny maps in the near future?
We have it! https://create.imvu.com/knowledge-base/imvu-studio-how-to-make-and-add-shininess-and-normal-maps/
And for a technical tutorial https://create.imvu.com/knowledge-base/imvu-studio-shininess-technical-tutorial/
Q: I’ve tried quite a few derivable products from IMVU Studio and I have yet to have one show the derivation map. Is there something in settings I need to hit or something?
A: The derivation history is available as of version 0.33 and shown under the product preview when choosing a base product to derive from
Q: Where can I see the first Learning Session, where you introduce us to IMVU Studio?
A: Here you go: https://create.imvu.com/knowledge-base/imvu-studio-learning-session-1-imvu-studio-basics/
Q: Will you ever be able to customize the catalog icons the newer IMVU Website catalogs?
A: We are exploring the idea of how to let creators setup their own shop image.
Q: Will upgrades in future will allow old products to function well and be still edited?
A: We are trying our best to support products made in the Classic Client.
*This Learning Session took place May 14, 2021, and the information shared is specific to this time period.