Problem with size .001

Ok, I read the really great tutorial about how to get things smaller than .001, but my problem is that I can't get prims that small. I set dimensions to .001 and they jump to .010 when I click on a different field. I'm sorry, I'm sure this is a horrible n00b question, but what the heck am I doing wrong here?

I'm on a Mac, if that matters. But I think I saw the same behavior on the old PC I used to use.

Thanks in advance for any guidance,

neko

Hi Nekokami! You can make objects smaller that 0.010 if you use the Cut Begin and End and other features of prims. As far as sphere's are concerned, you can't make them appear as a sphere and smaller than 0.010, but you can make them look like little jewels using the Dimple Begin and End feature.

if the problem is the numbers changing back when you click a different field that's definitely not what should happen. i can't say how the Mac version works but i sometimes have prims jump back to previous states if i try to build something while i have a big download or streaming music in the back ground. is something else hogging your bandwidth? any room mates using the internet at the same time or pirating huge movies?

you might try entering the number then hitting enter before clicking another field. just in case you aren't already......

The creative cutting and dimpling techniques for making micro-prims smaller than .010 do work, but the numbers displayed in the edit window don't actually reflect dimensions smaller than .010. Essentially, the prim is still .010 meters tall/wide/long, but due to the cutting or dimpling, much of that .010 is actually empty air.

For example, create a sphere and set its size to .010 in all dimensions. Now change the dimple settings to 0.49 and 0.51 (the smallest they will go). You'll end up with a flat disc that is much smaller than .010 meters in thickness. Now change that sphere to a box, and you'll have a flat plane, approximately .010 by .010 by .0002 meters in size. The edit window will still say that it's .010 by .010 by .010, but it's definitely thinner than that in one dimension.

ooooh hehe got it. thanks Chandra. i was totally misreading Nekokami's question until you posted.

yeah the sooper secret tiny prim method works because of dimpling spheres and all that does is trims away part of the prim. the tiny prims are technically never going to be smaller than the limit of 0.01 meters. the trick is that the dimpling makes part of the prim invisible like Chandra said.

depending on the numbers you use for the dimples it can be really easy to figure out the visible size of the tiny prims which is what i did in that tutorial. sorry i should have made it clear that they only look that small but sl still think's they're 0.01 and bigger.

bottomline is don't worry if the edit window says 0.01 and you want to go smaller. if you dimple it to 0.25 and 0.75 for example, that's a 1/4 off both the top and bottom so it's 1/2 the height and so it's "actually" 0.005 meters. etc etc for other dimple settings. hope that helps.

Thanks all, I'm less confused about the subject of the minumum prim size now (and how to get around it with clever tricks), except for wondering why the heck we have 3 decimals of precision if we can't use them....

Oh well,

neko

you can see that third decimal place in use with position and if you want to make a 0.015 prim you can. you could think of a 0.01 prim as really being a 0.010 prim i guess hehe.i think the 0.01 limit on prims is because of the physics system.

seems like someone was saying we actually have more than three decimals of precision but the fourth and beyond are only accessible through a script. could be wrong.