Rokuro 4.2.0: symmetrical sculpted and mesh shapes with ease

Posted on by Inara Pey

Rokuro is one of a number of programs created by Second Life user Yuzuru Jewell under the Kanae Projects name. It can be used to create sculpt maps outside of SL, which can be saved as .TGA files and then imported for use in-world to generate sculpted shapes

In the new release, version 4.2.0, Yuzuru has added the ability for Rokuru to additionally save generated maps as Collada file, allowing them to be uploaded into Second Life as mesh items (XML, OBJ are also supported).

Rokuro – meaning lathe – offers a simple and effective way of creating symmetrical shapes for use in Second Life, and the website provides a host of samples and templates with which to get started with the tool and which can be easily modified to suit your needs.

Rokuru - create symmetrical designs as sculpts or meshes
Rokuru – create symmetrical designs as sculpts or meshes

The UI itself comprises two parts – on the left, a “finished product” preview pane which displays a representation of your model, which can be drag-rotated in all three axes to examine the design, and an editing panel on the right, in which is displayed as a plan view of your shape, the right side of which can be edited (the left will automatically reflect all adjustments made). A range of menu-supplied options (including access to default shapes) and a range of settings provide a good degree of flexibility within the tool.

A shape created in less than a minute on Rokuru and uploaded to SL
A shape created in less than a minute on Rokuro and uploaded to SL

Rokuro is offered free of charge (although donations towards its ongoing development and the development of Yuzuru’s other products are always welcome), and is available in Window 32- and 64-bit versions, and is also available for the Mac. For those wanting to explore the capabilities of the tool in more depth, there are a range of tutorials available both in-world and on the Marketplace.

As mentioned above, Rokuro is one of a range of products made by Yuzuru to assist content creators, the entire range currently comprising:

  • Rokuro
  • Rokuro_Pro – a version of Rokuro which includes a texturing capability and a series of plug-in tools
  • Tokoroten (“extruder”) – creates extruded forms of sculpted prim
  • Tatara – an advanced sculpted prim editor which includes functionality from Rokuro and Tokroten and well as three additional modes, which can be used individually or collectively to create sculpt maps
  • Shibori (“iris” – as in camera eye) – a “shrinkwrapper” for shrinking a sculpt around a given shape
  • Nomi (“chisel”) – creates a sculpted prim or mesh with a relief surface from one picture using the picture’s brightness
  • Hanko (“seal”) – a tool which allows you to add your signature to a sculpt map

Note that some of these tools require the purchase of a serial number from Yuzuru’s in-world store, but time-limited versions are available for download through the Kanae Projects website in order to “try before buying”.

Related Links

With thanks to Yuzuru Jewell.

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Published by Inara Pey

Eclectic virtual world blogger with a focus on Second Life, VR, virtual environments and technology.

3 thoughts on “Rokuro 4.2.0: symmetrical sculpted and mesh shapes with ease”

  1. Rokuro was my first sculpting program — I was crushed that only the free standalone version was ever made for Mac (and yes I requested it). I am thrilled this mesh maker is for Mac! I realize it is no Blender, which I use now, but for certain quick and dirty things I think it will be a good tool to have.

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  2. These apps are such wonderful tools. I could NOT have done without them over the years, particularly with sculpts. I still use them on occasion, as they are just faster than any other method for some things. They are a definite must have addition to any sculpty (and now mesh) toolbox. As stated above, they are NOT blender or 3ds max or maya, which is actually one of the benefits of these applications, not a drawback; The beauty of the tools lies in the simplicity. They do what they do very well, without having to spend tons of time learning how to work with them. They are simple, effective tools, yet quite effective in the right hands for doing a considerable amount of work. I have used them for everything from trees to furniture, bas relief sculptures to architecture.

    Kudos to Yuzuru for making and offering such wonderful tools to the SL community, and continuing to update them with the new collada export capabilities. The lab needs to give him some sort of lifetime achievement award for supporting the community with the Kanae project all these years.

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