I Really NEED a Texture Guru......

Can anyone explain to me why Textures do not line up the same on both side of an Object? They should be centered on both sides to start but they aren't, especially on a hollow, round object. I've made several buildings (houses and stores) and as I make textures with progressively more detail it becomes more important that they "line up". As an example....
I made 2 textures for 3 walls (2 flat & 1 round (half cylinder)), they have windows in them and the inside wall finish on one and the outside wall finish on the other with the outside windows tinted and the inside windows clear. The 2 textures are identical as far as size and shape and window position, but when I put the textures on I get the outside lined up perfectly and the inside is way off, and visa versa. I'm going nuts trying to work around this and I'm hoping there is a nice, helpful Guru around that can make me understand this. I've spent hours trying everything I can think of......and it seems like some end up backwards or upside down from the other side too. Is there a formula I don't know about? You would think that "Planar" would fix this problem, since it does so well on floors, but it doesn't......and why doesn't that feature work on cylinders? ...........
So much to learn.....sigh......so little time

Looking forward to getting this figured out so I can sleep tonight.....virtual addiction, you know : )


Thanks,
ShastaBert

For spheres, think of the texture as the map on a globe. Have you ever seen the globe cutouts? The one that looks like several ovals, but all offset? That's so the "texturing" follows the lines of the sphere. Same in SL, but more so as texturing follows the lines of the prim.

In the world of mathmatics, there is no such thing as a curved surface. Only straight lines. Curves are made by using many straight lines at varying angels to create the "illusion" of a curve.

SL spheres are NOT spheres. They are a flat square folded around itself (not really, but best way I can describe it). This makes for that "scrunched up" look at the top and bottom of the sphere and for the "line" at the back.

How exactly the lines flow on the "map" for texture a sphere is beyond me (never looked that close, just dealt with it). I do think the Linden that did that needs to lay off the LSD a bit.

About the only way I know to do such textures correctly, is to have custom textures made to match the build. Conversly, you could cut the sphere in half, copy it, and place the same half on the opposite side. Downside there is the prim-count.

You might also play with torruses and tubes which might give you the same look and texture differently.

~Jessy

Hi Shasta, I'm afraid I'm not your expert, but there are two things worth mentioning.

1) Definitely try the Texturing Tips forum further down the forum list, as you'll have a far better chance finding real experts there.

2) You didn't mention if you already know about how to edit textures separately -- meaning editing the texture on one side of an object, but not the other. If you're not familiar with that, it might be the solution to your problem.

I think you mean in the "world of 3-D modeling", right? Because there are plenty of genuine curves in mathematics!

Probably best off posting in the 'building' or 'textures' forum.

This may be overly simplistic but it sounds to me like you need to use the 'select texture' option fromm the edit screen. You can then position the texture on each individual face of a prim.

Thanks for that reply, Jessica, but I think you misunderstood. I never said sphere, I said cylinder, or to be more precise, half cylinder. So basically, a flat, curved surface. I also said that I'm making these textures custom, specifically for this build. My problem is that Textures DO NOT match each other from one side to the other (front and back). If you could adjust each side independently, there would be no problem, but since you can't it creates a problem that is not mathematically explained. 2 Identical Textures should be identical from front to back..........
HELP!

ARE YOU SH-TTIN' ME? All this time and I never knew you could adjust each side seperately!?!? @#$%$#@

This is unbelievable!

I guess sometimes I just get so deep "into it" that I overlook the obvious. THANK YOU for pointing out that the answer is right under my nose!

Porky, You are my new Guru