Efficient Texture Mapping

I'm texturing a build and due to its curvature I've decided to apply a carefully aligned grid to the whole thing, so I can detail it very precisely in photoshop. Ie.



I can then use that grid as an overlay in photoshop.... You get the picture.

Anyway it occurred to me that instead of using a new texture file for each individual prim, I can probably get different sections in the same texture file. So instead of multiple 256x256 files, I could use a 1024x1024 containing doors, interior and exterior walls, windows, etc., etc. and rely on one or two texture files at most to texture the entire build.

Firstly, is that a good or bad idea? (From a sim efficiency POV.)

Also, I wonder what kind of resolution I should use in a 1024x1024 texture file. How many metres square do you think I should cover? I'd like to fit as much as possible in there, but not so much that it looks crappy and low-res in-world.

Thanks. =)

I use 1024x1024 texture sheets to replace 16 256x265 box textures in my store. The result was that the whole place loads faster and gives slightly better framerates. It's worth doing as long as you don't have too many of them.

Thanks Chip. I think I'll go ahead with it. I guess I can experiment with resolution on the beta grid first. =)