Are there any tricks to get textures to line up across prim joins?

This is a VERY basic question

Say you have a prim which is a solid cylinder standing on end and put a brick pattern on it.

Then you make another the same, but cut a section out (like for a doorway) and stack this on the 1st.

Now you fight to get the textures to line up as on the 1st you may of set 10x texture repeat around the whole cylinder, and on the other one (with the cut-out) you can't set 10x as it (appears) to be 10x on what's left of the prim, so you have to reduce the repeat amount by the amount you have taken out of the cylinder.

This, combined with perhaps they are different heights so you are trying to get both vertical and horizonal patterns the same sizes on different sized touching prims.

Is this really just an "artistic" problem, and it's just "keep adjusting it" till it looks right, or are there some tricks to doing this?

Most "random" textures (plaster, cement, grass etc etc) you can get away with, but when you are dealing with blocks/bricks/paving etc, it seems a nightmare (at times)

I'm not sure I see what you're doing. If I put a brick pattern on a cylinder and cut a segment out if it, the texture on the outside of the cylinder doesn't change at all. No need to adjust repeats. Yes, I do have to change the vertical repeat if I mess with the cylinder's Z dimension, but that's easy math. If you reduce the Z dimension by 10%, you need to decrease the vertical repeat by 10%. Same thing if you change the diameter of the cylinder.... decrease it by 10%, you need to decrease the horizontal repeat by 10%.

But maybe I misunderstood the question?

Piggie: The answer to your question is within the following post, download the test pattern4.png. I’ve used this many times with my builds and it’s a lifesaver.

Heres a tip example:
You have two prims side by side, one at full stretch, 10m, the other at 6.5m.
If the 10m prims texture scale is set to 1:1
The 6.5 m prims textures will match at 0.65 scale.
So.. match the scale of the texture to the size of the prim and all is good.
The textures are stretched exactly the same.
On cylinders I find 6 - 9 - 12 repeats work but mostly done by sight.

and thanks again to Chosen Few for that wonderful alignment pattern

Many thanks to you all for your advice on this one.
You are quite right in that at times I need to get the calculator out and do the maths as opposed to just trying to tweak it into position by eye.

Also, many thanks for the link to "Chosen Few's" colour grid which I shall experiment with later as I'm sure it will help a LOT.

What would be great (no ida how they could do it) is if somehow they gave you the option of applying one texture across multiple linked prims as if they were one surface.
that would make life so easy

Again, thanks.

Pay attention to the texturing choices, as sometimes you want then on, and sometimes off:
Planar/default
Stretch texture/Don't stretch texture

Thanks.

I've never had need to try Stretch function yet and although looking at it a coupe of times, I've yet to work out why I would use the Planar function.

use planar on flat surfaces, not round/curved ones.

Piggie .. as well there is a tool 'EasyTexture' I think that does a wonderful job of evenly applying a texture across multiple prims. After buying and using it I could not imagine how I ever lived without it

Take a cube, taper it on X to 1.000, and skew on X to 0.500. Apply a repeating pattern, like shingles, to it. Look at the triangular faces, and try it with both default and Planar texturing. When you switch to Planar, you'll have to change the repeat each direction to either 0.400 or 0.200, depending on your texture size.

What you'll see is that default will ALWAYS screw up the texture on one of those triangular faces. It will be at an angle and distorted.

Planar will be perfect on all faces. Once you see how it is used, you'll wonder how you ever survived without Planar textures. Especially whem making roofs or other things that require tapered prims.

But Planar only works on FLAT surfaces, so never use it on a curved surface, like the sides of a cylinder, or a cylindrical hollow.

Would just like to say a BIG thanks again to all of you for your postings re my original question.

I tried the coloured grid made by "Chosen Few" last night and it made such a difference in seeing how things should be lined up. Very very helpful.

Also thanks for the screenshot showing the planar texture mapping, again, I'd not really understood it's function before.

All I need now is some front end to help me view/organise and use textures from my inventory. I know from searching there are a few out there. Though not sure which one (at the moment) would be best to use.

One query I do have...............

when you see "in-World" texture packs for sale, or given away as freebee's that are full perm. Do we then assume these are free to use on your builds and do whatever you like with them, even (possibly) where you may sell your own creations that use these textures?

I have one that is a HUD that's useful. Honestly though my textures are supremely disorganised and I just upload and throw it in a heap with the rest (bad Os).

Textures need to be full perm to be useful, so texture sellers are forced to present them that way.
Using full perm textures on your products is, of course, what they are for.
Reselling the textures or handing them out to people is a very bad thing to do.
Many or most texture sellers include an informational notecard with their wares, I think, detailing the way a buyer should proceed.

(My opinion follows, others may well disagree.)

The assumption with freebie textures from reliable places (eg NCI, Free Dove, a few others) would be that the texture is free to use for personal things, free to use for sale objects, and free to give away but not to sell.

The assumption with purchased textures would be that the texture is free to use for personal things, free to use for sale objects unless stated otherwise, and NOT free to give away (or sell).

The best thing to do, of course, is to check with the seller, and/or look for licencing notecards or signs.

I store my purchased textures in different organisers from my freebie textures. It's slightly more annoying to search through, but makes it much less likely that I'll accidentally give away a texture I had no right to give away.

My remarks just addressed textures that were purchased, as the freebie thing is such a mess that no one could know whether they were meant to be free or not and I didn't want to go there

I have the Hippo Image Viewer, from the fine folks at Hippo. Actually, *several*, as it's copy, so I keep textures in diff ones according to category. *changed my SL life!!!* That, and shoving things I don't want to deal with and don't care about *that* much into prim boxes and then back into the inventory, to cut down the inventory number!