Eliminating texture flicker... tips?

I'm sure this has been brought up a million times ...

If I put two prims next to each other, sometimes the texture will flicker. I know how to set the prim locations precisely with the object properties but that doesn't always seem to fix the problem.

Anyone have tips for fixing this annoying problem?

--Jack Lambert

sometimes perfect isnt perfect enough. when math fails eyeball it lol. its flickering cause its overlapping so you have to move one prim a bit.




jester


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Im extremely anal and I know what you are talking about, even when the math is perfect things will flicker. I usualy do what I call a little "number dance' and just literally to up/down .001 untill its perfect. Basically eyeball it.

I have noticed that sometimes from a distance things that are close to over lapping (like a smaller prim in a larger one) sometimes the one inside will start to flicker out, I think this is due to rez loss and how high your object detail is. It usualy happens with the rounded objects as I think they loose faces/definition as you zoom out.

Yeah, I hear ya - I hate the dreaded flicker!

Here are some tips that often work for me:

1. Zoom in REALLY close on the joint (from side or top angles). Determine if there is even the slightest gap or overlap. Then, use the X,Y,Z coordinates fields within the edit dialog to tweak the appropriate vector(s). If you use the arrow buttons, note that they will move the object .010 per click, so it is sometimes better to manually type in a value until you achieve perfection.

2. Texture the adjoining sides to match the exposed textures. That may not work if vastly different textures/colors are applied to one exposed side vs. the other. In those cases, I sometimes apply a 100% transparent texture to the adjoining sides.

3. If you are building a fixed object (i.e., a building), try to orient the initial prim's vectors so that they each end in zero (e.g., 116.10, 56.30, 62.0 vs. 116.132, 56.33, 62.01 -- this is kinda like a cornerstone). It makes calculating the placement of an adjoining prim much easier. For instance, if I am building a wall that is 30 meters long, I place the first wall prim and copy the X or Y vector (depending on the direction the wall is heading). Then, it's real easy to just add 10 to the first vector to perfectly place prim two into position.

I'm no pro, and there are lots of other builders out there with way more experience than me. That said, the above tips have helped me quite a bit. Even so, I still get a flicker now and then. In cases where the flicker is only obvious from some obscure angle, I usually just leave it be. Have fun!

unless it's a building that specificaly takes into account the shape of the terrain, I build everything starting with the root prim rotated to 0,0,0 with it's centerpoint
rounded off to an integer in all 3 position vectors (EG: ###.000, ###.000, ###.000). Similar to the 'cornerstone' mentioned above only taken one step further.

Once the entire object is complete, I link it and then rotate and move it to it's final position or add/tweak vehical scripts or whatever.

This way, the majority of prims are simply set to 0,0,0 and easily positioned during construction and while 'deflikering' the build.

Makes life much easier during construction if you can use this method.

One solution, mentioned in another thread, is to apply a clear texture to the sides of the prims where they meet to form the seam.

I've used it, and it seems to solve the problem.

I've also tried this, and it does work. Another option is to use a gray texture on the interior edges, darker gray for darker textures, lighter for lighter. But again, this doesnt *Always* work.

- Sam

Something to consider when trying to seamlessly tile a bunch of prims:
Texture hidden faces with a 100% alpha texture.

flickering means you've alligned prims perfectly and so the two textures are fighting to be seen, causing flicker. I've noticed that if you zoom in really close on the prim and nudge it using your mouse a tiny amount, it will move in-world and stop flicker but the coordinates will stay the same in the edit panel.