Second Life Forums Archive - Making Mega triangles

Xenon Tobias

Registered User

Join date: 10 Jul 2008

Posts: 6

06-15-2009 10:38

Hello fellow builders can anyone tell me what size mega prim I need to create a triangle with sides of 20 metres ( and possibly other sizes up to 60 metres too) I transformed a 20 x20 x 0.25 megaprim to a prism and got some ridiculous size which I couldnt even correlate to the original prim (I might have expected the sides to be an exact amount shorter - they werent...)

If anyone can point me in the direction of premade triangular mega prims that would be a big help too.

Thanks

Dekka Raymaker

thinking very hard

Join date: 4 Feb 2007

Posts: 3,898

06-16-2009 08:14

a very recent thread in RA

/327/ca/326027/1.html

Anya Ristow

Vengeance Studio

Join date: 21 Sep 2006

Posts: 1,243

06-17-2009 02:46

You can't. The best you can do is construct it out of smaller prims, like this...

http://wpc.puzzles.com/history/tests/2000wpc/images/triangles-1.gif

The easiest way to create equilateral triangles <= 10m is to res a cube, size it to Z = .8660254 * X, set Y to your thickness, and taper it to a point.

If you're using the Linden viewer you might not be happy with its 3-digit accuracy. You could create a script that you drop in a prim that when touched would re-size the Z dimension to .8660254 * X and then delete itself. I can write one if you like.

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Prognastat Vellhi

Registered User

Join date: 30 Apr 2007

Posts: 16

06-17-2009 14:01

From: Anya Ristow

You can't. The best you can do is construct it out of smaller prims, like this...

http://wpc.puzzles.com/history/tests/2000wpc/images/triangles-1.gif

The easiest way to create equilateral triangles <= 10m is to res a cube, size it to Z = .8660254 * X, set Y to your thickness, and taper it to a point.

If you're using the Linden viewer you might not be happy with its 3-digit accuracy. You could create a script that you drop in a prim that when touched would re-size the Z dimension to .8660254 * X and then delete itself. I can write one if you like.

There is a viewer that has more accuracy during building than the Linden Viewer? Which one would this be?

Anya Ristow

Vengeance Studio

Join date: 21 Sep 2006

Posts: 1,243

06-17-2009 15:00

From: Prognastat Vellhi

There is a viewer that has more accuracy during building than the Linden Viewer? Which one would this be?

I don't know if there are any viewers that are released like this, but you can hack your own viewer if you're willing to edit some files in your SL installation. Here's how to change the maximum transparency value you can enter from 90% to 100%:

http://tentacolor.com/2006/12/06/decrippling-the-ui/

The file he refers to is in (e.g.) skins/xui/en-us, I believe.

Now that you know how to make that change, you can make others. I recommend making a backup of the xml file you change. I don't have the field names written down, so I can't tell you exactly what to look for, but I've make a few changes that look like this, to change both the decimal accuracy of the size fields and also their width (to display more digits):

before...

text_enabled_color="110, 15, 15, 255" width="87"
spinner bottom_delta="-18" decimal_digits="3" follows="left|top" height="16"

after...

text_enabled_color="110, 15, 15, 255" width="94"
spinner bottom_delta="-18" decimal_digits="5" follows="left|top" height="16"

Edit:

Don't copy-n-paste what I posted--I had to remove some things that were causing the forum to vomit. Just examine the changes I made (the "width" and "decimal_digits" fields).

Ugh.

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Prognastat Vellhi

Registered User

Join date: 30 Apr 2007

Posts: 16

06-17-2009 15:35

Thanks, I'll be sure to do this since the accuracy of the viewer has always annoyed me same for the constantly having to either change the alpha to full script wise or add the alpha texture to it.

Ceera Murakami

Texture Artist / Builder

Join date: 9 Sep 2005

Posts: 7,750

06-17-2009 16:37

From: Anya Ristow

The easiest way to create equilateral triangles <= 10m is to res a cube, size it to Z = .8660254 * X, set Y to your thickness, and taper it to a point.

I wish we had thought of this when it was briefly possible to make megaprims. It never occurred to me to make a bunch that had a 1 to 0.8660254 width to height ratio. If we ever get a chance again, I'll put that on my "desirable sizes" list, for sure!

_____________________

Sorry, LL won't let me tell you where I sell my textures and where I offer my services as a sim builder. Ask me in-world.

Chosen Few

Alpha Channel Slave

Join date: 16 Jan 2004

Posts: 7,496

06-17-2009 18:28

The apparent width of a prism (Y axis) is .866 the width of its bounding box. So, to make a prism appear to be 20M on a side, you'd need the prim size to be 23.095M. It's unlikely you'll be able to find a 23.095M megaprim, but you can probably find a 23M one. That will give you a 19.918M prism. Hopefully, that's close enough for your purposes. If not, you'll need to build your triangle out of more than one prim.

Another option, of course, would be to sculpt it. But the principle of that kind of bothers me, since expending 2048 polygons on something as simple as a triangle would be about the most inefficient build I could think of. It would certainly work, though, as long as you don't care about physics or collisions.

_____________________

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Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.

Gaia Clary

mesh weaver

Join date: 30 May 2007

Posts: 884

06-18-2009 05:12

From: Chosen Few

Another option, of course, would be to sculpt it. But the principle of that kind of bothers me, since expending 2048 polygons on something as simple as a triangle would be about the most inefficient build I could think of. It would certainly work, though, as long as you don't care about physics or collisions.

Technically it could be possible to use small sculptmaps (4*4 = 16 faces is the smallest possible map as far as i know, but it currently is impossible to import such a map to SL, because it is too small...

.
8*8 faces would be another option, but such maps dont import lossless at the moment grrr...

If SL will finally support small sculpties error free, you could beat the standard prims regarding face count

How they will react regarding LOD behaviour is just another story ... (which means: "i don't know"

Chosen Few

Alpha Channel Slave

Join date: 16 Jan 2004

Posts: 7,496

06-18-2009 08:49

I didn't know small sculpties were even an option. When did this happen?

_____________________

.

Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.

Making Mega triangles
Xenon Tobias Registered User Join date: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 6	06-15-2009 10:38 Hello fellow builders can anyone tell me what size mega prim I need to create a triangle with sides of 20 metres ( and possibly other sizes up to 60 metres too) I transformed a 20 x20 x 0.25 megaprim to a prism and got some ridiculous size which I couldnt even correlate to the original prim (I might have expected the sides to be an exact amount shorter - they werent...) If anyone can point me in the direction of premade triangular mega prims that would be a big help too. Thanks
Dekka Raymaker thinking very hard Join date: 4 Feb 2007 Posts: 3,898	06-16-2009 08:14 a very recent thread in RA /327/ca/326027/1.html
Anya Ristow Vengeance Studio Join date: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 1,243	06-17-2009 02:46 You can't. The best you can do is construct it out of smaller prims, like this... http://wpc.puzzles.com/history/tests/2000wpc/images/triangles-1.gif The easiest way to create equilateral triangles <= 10m is to res a cube, size it to Z = .8660254 * X, set Y to your thickness, and taper it to a point. If you're using the Linden viewer you might not be happy with its 3-digit accuracy. You could create a script that you drop in a prim that when touched would re-size the Z dimension to .8660254 * X and then delete itself. I can write one if you like. _____________________ The Vengeance Studio Gadget Store is closed!
Prognastat Vellhi Registered User Join date: 30 Apr 2007 Posts: 16	06-17-2009 14:01 From: Anya Ristow You can't. The best you can do is construct it out of smaller prims, like this... http://wpc.puzzles.com/history/tests/2000wpc/images/triangles-1.gif The easiest way to create equilateral triangles <= 10m is to res a cube, size it to Z = .8660254 * X, set Y to your thickness, and taper it to a point. If you're using the Linden viewer you might not be happy with its 3-digit accuracy. You could create a script that you drop in a prim that when touched would re-size the Z dimension to .8660254 * X and then delete itself. I can write one if you like. There is a viewer that has more accuracy during building than the Linden Viewer? Which one would this be?
Anya Ristow Vengeance Studio Join date: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 1,243	06-17-2009 15:00 From: Prognastat Vellhi There is a viewer that has more accuracy during building than the Linden Viewer? Which one would this be? I don't know if there are any viewers that are released like this, but you can hack your own viewer if you're willing to edit some files in your SL installation. Here's how to change the maximum transparency value you can enter from 90% to 100%: http://tentacolor.com/2006/12/06/decrippling-the-ui/ The file he refers to is in (e.g.) skins/xui/en-us, I believe. Now that you know how to make that change, you can make others. I recommend making a backup of the xml file you change. I don't have the field names written down, so I can't tell you exactly what to look for, but I've make a few changes that look like this, to change both the decimal accuracy of the size fields and also their width (to display more digits): before... text_enabled_color="110, 15, 15, 255" width="87" spinner bottom_delta="-18" decimal_digits="3" follows="left\|top" height="16" after... text_enabled_color="110, 15, 15, 255" width="94" spinner bottom_delta="-18" decimal_digits="5" follows="left\|top" height="16" Edit: Don't copy-n-paste what I posted--I had to remove some things that were causing the forum to vomit. Just examine the changes I made (the "width" and "decimal_digits" fields). Ugh. _____________________ The Vengeance Studio Gadget Store is closed!
Prognastat Vellhi Registered User Join date: 30 Apr 2007 Posts: 16	06-17-2009 15:35 Thanks, I'll be sure to do this since the accuracy of the viewer has always annoyed me same for the constantly having to either change the alpha to full script wise or add the alpha texture to it.
Ceera Murakami Texture Artist / Builder Join date: 9 Sep 2005 Posts: 7,750	06-17-2009 16:37 From: Anya Ristow The easiest way to create equilateral triangles <= 10m is to res a cube, size it to Z = .8660254 * X, set Y to your thickness, and taper it to a point. I wish we had thought of this when it was briefly possible to make megaprims. It never occurred to me to make a bunch that had a 1 to 0.8660254 width to height ratio. If we ever get a chance again, I'll put that on my "desirable sizes" list, for sure! _____________________ Sorry, LL won't let me tell you where I sell my textures and where I offer my services as a sim builder. Ask me in-world.
Chosen Few Alpha Channel Slave Join date: 16 Jan 2004 Posts: 7,496	06-17-2009 18:28 The apparent width of a prism (Y axis) is .866 the width of its bounding box. So, to make a prism appear to be 20M on a side, you'd need the prim size to be 23.095M. It's unlikely you'll be able to find a 23.095M megaprim, but you can probably find a 23M one. That will give you a 19.918M prism. Hopefully, that's close enough for your purposes. If not, you'll need to build your triangle out of more than one prim. Another option, of course, would be to sculpt it. But the principle of that kind of bothers me, since expending 2048 polygons on something as simple as a triangle would be about the most inefficient build I could think of. It would certainly work, though, as long as you don't care about physics or collisions. _____________________ . Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.
Gaia Clary mesh weaver Join date: 30 May 2007 Posts: 884	06-18-2009 05:12 From: Chosen Few Another option, of course, would be to sculpt it. But the principle of that kind of bothers me, since expending 2048 polygons on something as simple as a triangle would be about the most inefficient build I could think of. It would certainly work, though, as long as you don't care about physics or collisions. Technically it could be possible to use small sculptmaps (44 = 16 faces is the smallest possible map as far as i know, but it currently is impossible to import such a map to SL, because it is too small.... 88 faces would be another option, but such maps dont import lossless at the moment grrr... If SL will finally support small sculpties error free, you could beat the standard prims regarding face count How they will react regarding LOD behaviour is just another story ... (which means: "i don't know"
Chosen Few Alpha Channel Slave Join date: 16 Jan 2004 Posts: 7,496	06-18-2009 08:49 I didn't know small sculpties were even an option. When did this happen? _____________________ . Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.

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Making Mega triangles