Skyboxes

This may seem like a stupid question, but I really just don't know, and I'm tired of hitting up my SL guru

How do you build a skybox? I mean, how do you get it up there, floating on seemingly nothing?

when you edit an item, you go into the "Object" tab, and that is where the magic happens.


'Position' determines where the item is by longitude, latitude and z=height within your sim.

alter your z number to something like 600 (for example), then fly up and it will be magically suspended there.

Sit on the edge of the skybox before you change Z and you'll go up with it.

Oops - wrong place!

Or you can also rezz a platform at the height you want your skybox and build up there. Tends to be less laggy.

Cool! Thanks!

I have a cool building platform called Workspace Buster. You simply drag to ground and then sit on it and it rezzes as a platform at 300m. If you want one let me know.

Just remember to focus your camera upon yourself before you change the z axis and watch out when you stand up - falling off sky platforms can be quite fun, but it's a bit anoying if you are building.

I have made a simple get-u-up disc out of two cylindrical prims. The upper one stays as it was rezzed while the lower one is made into a 10m diameter disc. If I want to rez one of my sky structures I just rez the disc on the ground, sit on the cylinder in the middle, re-set object Z co-ordinate (altitude) to, say, 500 or 600 metres and entre.

Then I find myself sitting at the new height. I need to stand up, that's why the disc part is 10m diameter, so I'm less likely to fall off.

Next I rez my chosen sky structure onto the disc - this works even if the structure is much bigger area than disc. Usually the top of the cylinder protrudes through the floor of the sky structure so it's easy to select and delte the disc when its job is done.

Thanks Chas, I'd love one! I think I'm ready to have my first skybox - my hubby (RL/SL) and I have a roommate, and I'm thinking it would be nice to have a little privacy

Done. Have fun!

I have a simply HIDEOUS lump of multicoloured wood with two prims stuck to it ... useful as a lift and to sit on your bum whilst you work. Plus, if the camera borks you don't plummet to your grisly ... harmlessness ...

/me makes note that a perimeter fence should be the first part of the build....

: (

Waaaa?

I use it to place the skybox! It's not my furniture.

Meh.

I think HoneyBear means so she won't fall to her indignity when building

Ohhhhhhhhhh ...

I thought she was scared I might move my hideousness next door.

LOL

now that WOULD be some megaprim walls LOL

LOL...exactly

Speaking of megaprim...can I use one for the foundation of the skybox? Or would I be better served using small ones?*

*being full aware that megaprims may be going the way of the Edsel.

I'd not go above 20x20 any more personally. I have one build which would suffer if they take away that size but everything else I could grumpily replace with 10x10s at least.

Falling is the best part. Sometimes I even remember to wear my parachute

Another way to rezz an object in the sky. Fly up to the location where you want it. Select the object in your inventory and choose wear, it will attach to your hand at an odd angle. Then select the object on your hand and select "drop" from the menu. It will drop onto that spot in the air with an upright orientation. You can then move it around if needed to center it inside your property lines.

Well, it's kind of a weird thing...the vertigo I experience in RL when approaching the edge of something very high (like the 33rd floor, where I work), seems to follow in SL. If I approach an edge too fast, my stomach goes nuts and I feel dizzy. Lame, huh?

Maybe I should try parachuting and see if I can't get over this...lol.

I have a free "workspace buster" that I modified to use whatever prim is inside, and I put a 20x20x0.5 platform in it. When you rez the buster, it's just a box. You sit on it, and it goes to the height (specified in the description) and rezzes the platform, which you end up standing in the middle of. You could then duplicate that prim to make the ceiling, make the walls yourself, and texture to your heart's content.

IM me ingame if you'd like a copy. Perhaps I should put it up as a freebie in SLX.

Note: be conscious of where the boundaries on the ground are, and make sure the skybox doesn't hang over the edge.

I also have a freebie parachute if you need one)

Whether to use 2 20x20's vs 8 10x10's depends on how limited you are for prims versus how averse you would be to rebuilding if they went away. I've been places where 6 prims really meant a lot, and it's not hard to rebuild a floor & ceiling. But if prims are no issue, then you can save yourself the potential hassle. (Oh, 20x20 can be easier to texture well, too.)

I doubt they'll kill the 20x20's -- they're just too useful for big builds. But I've been wrong before!