No such thing as a flexi-prim

[RANT]

I know this will likely fall on deaf ears, but I find it increasingly irritating that folks are referring to the new floppy prims as "flexi" prims.

It just ain't right.

The number one most popular (and normal), definition of flexible is:
"bending and snapping back readily without breaking"

There are many many flexible objects that I would love to make that are just completely impossible with the new prims. Don't get me wrong I think they are a great innovation, but I think it's an abomination to refer to them as "flexible" when they are simply not.

Even if you take the more generalised definition and don't include the "snapping back" part, there are still many things that are "flexed" (as in merely bent), that are similarly impossible to model with the new prims. For instance, something I have been wanting for ages is the ability to take a simple rod or board and then bend it slightly, ("flexing" it.)

Is this possible with the new prims? No.

The new prims are floppy prims. Their chief characteristic is that they flop over in the wind, to gravity, or to some other force.

They do not flex. They are not even bendable.

They merely flop.

[/RANT]

"Is this possible with the new prims? No."

Wrong. YES.

Script the item to toggle between flexible and inflexible. Check the wiki.

Musuko.

Well I realise it was a bit of a rant, but this is not correct.

There is no way to make a simple "flexed" (bent) rod with the new prims.
You can make a "floppy stick", but not a bent rod.

While it's semantics, I have to say it anyways...

If you set the tension up high, they do "snap back" more rigidly as you mention... And while I will agree that with the default settings they are more "flop" than "flex"... I think the fact that the new function is called "flexible path" is the main reason that the term "flexi prims" caught on so quickly.

As far as a board or rod flexing slightly... Depending on what your trying to do exactly, setting both Tension and Drag up to 10, and Softness to 1 or 2, and see if that's more what your looking for. Now, if you leave it in place it will stay bend, but if you're attaching it or moving it more than very slowly it will still "flop" around - it would be awesome if they had a "lock to/freeze in this exact position" function, I think that might be more what you're getting at.

Technically speaking, they are prims with a flexible path. The path is flexible in the sense that it can be set to floppy, and then be set back to rigid. (insert obvious joke here)

In addition, depending on your settings, the prims can be set to act more "flexible" than "floppy". You might think of it as a scale 0 - 10, where 0 is very floppy, 6 or 7 is flexible, and 10 is completely rigid.

And remember, either way, each adjective describes properties of matter. The objects in SL are but visual representations of objects, and thus neither one is really accurate.

I find this whole thread about bent rods just a bit vulgar....

When this feature first appeared in preview I posted on a thread about whether we could 'freeze' the flex, which I guess is part of what you mean if you want something that stays in a particularly 'bent' shape? Hopefully it will come with a future update as it would enable us to include much more organic shapes into our building.

Mind you, as a first iteration, what we have now is fantastic

What sounds better anyways for advertising, Floppy or Flexy?

I prefer to call them 'faecal prims', since according to a certain linden, the code was programmed by a guy who did some peanut boy that looks like faecal matter. That explains the sudden unplanned appearance in SL.

http://www.ventrella.com/

Click on the peanut boy section.

Is this about Mr Hanky, the christmas poo?

I would have preferred speedtree

Floppydong does not sound too cool.

As I understand it, this would be utterly impossible with the current implementation. The problem is that flexible is a CLIENT-SIDE effect; the SL servers know nothing about the current position of the prim. In fact, that current position is DIFFERENT for each user who is looking at it, because the client-side calculations are done independently. That's also why they can't be physical; the server can't do proper collision detection, because it doesn't even know exactly where the prim is!

Not sure why the fact that it's client-side should make it impossible to have the ability for the client to freeze a flexible prim in a certain position. I don't see how one follows the other.

Sounds good. "Floppy" it is. Thanks, Dianne.

Because there is no position to freeze it in, so far as SL is concerned. It just "is". It's a set of parameters to send to your client, much like llTargetOmega, which your client then animates independently of the server... on the server, there is no animation. Thus, no way to freeze it halfway through.

I'm not saying that the current feature set would allow it, but I could easily see a combination of options that would allow it, regardless that it's a client side effect - there's no reason why a static set of parameters couldn't be sent to the client so the client renders a flexible prim in a certain fixed position, that's all I'm saying. That's it's a client side effect does not exclude that possibility by any stretch of the imagination.

Anyway, it's kind of moot as I would expect it to be implemented anyway

By this time next year, I should be able to boast that I built my buildings using 'frozen christmas poo'.

I have to agree with Shirley.. As it is now it would be very difficult to freeze the prims in a certain position in hope of making it look fancy in your house or whatever, 'cause only your client knows that the prim has been frozen in that position. The server wouldn't have any clue where the prim might have been frozen since it's all client-side, and that means no other player would be able to see it.

On the other hand though, it would be fairly easy to make available.
If the floppy prims where client-side while being floppy, but then if you froze them, the server would just detect it's position and such, and then save it as a regular prim.. Shouldn't be too hard to make I think.

I haven't played around with it much but can't you sort of freeze them by using the X, Y and Z pressure settings? I seem to recall I was able to keep a prim bent by raising one of those values.