Do you buy furniture or make your own?

I recently rented some really inexpensive land and plopped a freebie house on it as a place to sort my junk in private. I had rezzed a box to sit on for this -- seeing the av standing there for long periods of time makes me feel tired. But the box got old fast. It looked like -- a box.

I went shopping for furniture and was astonished at how inexpensive most of it is. I looked at the shapes and found most of them are -- boxes! Well, with a couple of other prims stuck to them. So I tried to build my own and within a half hour came up with a living room set that only looks a little tacky, each item made up of 3 to 4 prims. I even discovered I could make my own upholstery with some simple Photoshop texture filters.

So - do you buy furniture, and if so, is it just the convenience of not having to build it yourself? Or are you actually buying someone's design/fashion sense? Or are you buying unique poses that a few furniture items come with?

I have found making furniture fun and far more doable than making clothes (since my eyes glaze over when tutorials go into Alpha channels and such). Maybe I should try to be an interior designer in SL. Thanks -- KC

I have a gothic furniture shop, so I do make it. I don't know what you consider expensive, but furniture shops are pricey to run as they need a lot of prims compared with most other items.

Not everyone has Photoshop or can use it very well, the main look of items in SL is down to textures, they make or break an object.

If you enjoy making furniture and textures, then you could try starting your own business. You never know if you will be successful or not until you try. You will probably need to spend out some money on a decent sized plot to show it and items like decent poseballs will really help with sales.

I make my own furniture.

There are two sorts of people in SL... those that see an item and say "oooh I want that, how much is it?" and the other sort who see an object and say "Ooh I want that, how is it made?"

I am of the latter sort.

I look around with a 'Builder's Eye' all the time, seeing how things are put together.

Pose balls for furniture are very easy to make. I do my own animations and poses, or use free ones from freebie boxes. If you want a poseball kit contact me in world.

Good luck

Imogen

Poseballs are far from essential, in fact for most furniture it's much nicer to not use them. Pose scripts can go in any prims, so just put them in the seat of the chair and adjust the script as appopriate.

One of the things I have always loved best about Second Life was the premise that you can technically create everything you see, if you have the time/inclination/skills required to make it... stunningly like real life in a way, but simplified down in concept to the hallowed plywood box.

Ive tried my hand at building all sorts of things, some exceeding my expectations, some really awful and a waste of time. In the decision whether to build or buy, it depends completely on how much time or effort I want to put into having it. Of course, occasionally, even 3 and a half years later, I still see things that make me giddy with wonderment over how it could possibly have been made.

If you enjoy making furniture or anything... make it. You'll enjoy SL much more if you do things for the joy of it rather then the profit of it. That way you will be having fun on your way to becoming (drum roll please....) SL's NEXT TOP DESIGNER!!! But then, that's pretty much like real life too.

And this is a really good reason to make your own furniture. It's astonishing the number of furniture items that are made--and somehow sold--with dedicated poseball prims floating over them, many merrily llListening for somebody to /1show them, no less.

[Edit: Meant to add...] As the worst rough-edges get worked out of sculpties, though, it will raise expectations of furniture-quality-to-primcount ratio, and sculpties with compelling baked lighting and textures are somewhat out of reach of the casual home-furniture builder, at least given the current tools. So there's some prospect that "proper" furniture-making will take on the same status as skin design, as the domain of those possessing rather specialized skills and willing to invest a *lot* of time.

I agree. Furniture is mostly for decoration instead of actually sitting on it. But that doesnt mean that poseballs or sit scripts have to be applied without quality. I put a lot of effort in making my items outstanding with the best possible shapes and textures, but I also spend a lot of time creating my own sit animations AND placing poseballs in a way that they dont float randomly, but actually blend into or even become part of the design.

What shocks me is that so many furniture creators see poseballs and animations as just the end of a job. Sometimes it looks ridiculous. With a little more time spent you can easily make some quality with them.

i buy it. the only thing i make is eyes, dog collars and clothes...

speaking of.... i want to make a 'miniature' castle on my land. where can i get great furniture along those lines?

I'm one of the ones that buys it. My only attempts at building have been the framed pictures on my walls, some simple tiki torches & vases that I've made and textured to match my other furnishings and a vanity table & stool that I added a purchased mirror to.

Lots of times I'll see simple low prim furnishings and think, "I could probably make that", but my personal tastes tend to gravitate towards the stuff thats a bit more detailed. So I'd say most times, I'm buying someone's design and fashion sense.

Also, if I see something I really like, the poseballs and/or animations often have a large contribution to my decision to buy or not. I like the ones that either make me look sexy or relaxed and comfortable. If its just a standard sit, I'll most likely pass it by and keep looking. Even though I don't actually sit that often, when I do, I'm wanting the poses that makes me look my best.

My current sofa is just about perfect. The colors, the texture and design is awesome. The poseballs show/hide by clicking the surface of the sofa, but when they do rez, they are of a color and texture that blends into the fabric of the sofa. The poses are very much to my liking, though are a bit fem if my boyfriend were to use it... so I textured a couples cuddly sitting pose pillow that I bought to make it blend with colors of the sofa, and voila, no more prissy sitting for him.

I've bought chairs because they had the "conversation" animation in them. We got a dining set that has an eating and drinking animation menu (works great with the placemats that rez food on demand). For me, its all about getting things that add to the realism of our second life and are also a bit unique in design.

Usually I look for something in the mid prim range. Though I love the highly detailed pieces, I just don't have the space for them. I just look at them with envy and keep going.

I make it and sell it, but we also buy it when we find good pieces.

Basic furniture is not hard to make. I try to make mine stand out with scripting. (I have a desk set in gothic and classic styles that has a chair that scoots back when you sit, forward after you sit and then triggers a writing animation, for example.)

But I'll happily buy a well made piece rather than try to build it myself, if the price is reasonable. Partly that's to support other SL merchants and partly just because it's easier.

I make my own. I make them in four basic shapes: cube, sphere, pyramid, and I use the special wood texture

In a freebie house... use freebie furniture... study how each is made, and challenge yourself to build your own house and furniture...

There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that every aspect of your home in SL, is from your own effort.

Both.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and encourgement.

I'm thinking (maybe incorrectly) that poseballs may be more adjustable for the end user than putting an animation script into a cushion. My own experiments with this gave me the impression I could adjust the rotation and height of the pose ball over the seat to adjust to my avatar height. I too have seen these textured to look like throw pillows and that works great. I never understood why they are usually so large and garish.

I have had a little success making sculpties using Wings 3D, but I don't have a clue how to bake textures as described. If it isn't fun, I probably won't do it. I work hard enough in real life. But thanks for the heads up so I won't sink too many L$ into a business that could quickly become obsolete. I may try it for fun anyway, and hopefully not rip off anyone due to inferior product.

3ring, how miniature? I have been admiring a cool landmark giver that was set up at NCI Fisherman's Cove, advertising an intermediate building tutorial. It is a black ball with an entire scene inside that looks like a hologram of tiny furniture with spot lights and shadows -- absolutely amazing! Don't know it it's still there. I haven't seen anything like it for sale, though. Cheerio! --KC

Pose balls are adjustable when they're separate pieces, but some makers link them as part of the full piece so you can't move them unless you use some advanced object editing techniques (and then only if the object is modifiable.)

But yes, assuming you have the permission needed to move them, they are easier to adjust than internal animations.

I started making my own not that long after I came into Sl, just over a year ago, because, I'd sit in furniture and .. well it was enormous! I always ended up looking like a wee kid, legs dangling (and I'm no shortie, my avvie is 6'2" barefoot! ) and I'd think...'why is all the furniture so humoungously big?!'

So, I've been making furniture since then and quite enjoy designing attractive stuff, that is beautifully textured and lowish in prims, although not just three boxes stuck together I initially used Craig Altmans' commercial animations but now I've even learned to animate so I could design sits and reclines that fit well with my furniture.. so , it's all good

I used to buy furniture, although I could easily build it myself. I just don't have the time anymore to create lots of decoration objects without intent to sell them, and good looking furniture is too cheap not to buy it. So I thought.

But recently I noticed some severe chat lag while sitting on an oriental seat cushion. I checked the sim resources, and the cushions appeared on top of the scripts list. Luckily they were modifiable and the poseball script was a freebie with full perms, so I had a look at it... and was shocked.
Unnecessary complicated, reading animation name and sit position from notecards. A listener on channel 0 (!?!) to show and hide the poseball, only needed by the designer perhaps while working on the furniture (but ctrl+alt+T would do the same trick). A menu on click that I never noticed, using a second listener, with unneeded functions like switching to other animations (there was only 1 animation in the poseball) or to let only the owner use the poseball.

I changed the scripts in all 7 seat cushions and went to check my other furniture. In some of the modifiable chairs, stools and garden benches I found other freebie scripts, not as bad as the ones in the seat cushions but also with a listener to show/hide the poseballs and countless global variables. I wasted more than 2 hours optimizing scripts and deleted all furniture without modify permission, to be on the safe side.

It's great that every creative soul can build and sell things in SL, but builders who use scripts in their wares should know how to script or at least use lagless scripts from trusted sources only. My purchase decision was only based on the looks of furniture so far, but that has changed now. Alas, I can't check if something lags my sim without buying it first, so I'm now reluctant to buy furniture at all.

I build my own and buy from others as well. I love beautiful things and will buy high end stuff to inspire me.

Checking 'Edit Linked Parts' is advanced?

I love building stuff in SL! ITs so easy compared to a "professional" 3D Modeler, But involves a bit more 'trickery' to get stuff to look right.

I like seeing something really cool that someone built, click on it and use Edit to how it was built and getting that "OH WOW!! I never thought of that" feeling.

Actually for my Residential spot, I did break down & buy some beach chairs. Mostly cuz I didnt feel like making 'em myself.

Ive built stuff. But show me something fresh, innovative, stylish, and I'll buy it.

Maybe not "checking Edit Linked Parts" alone. But try explaining how to select the entire object first, then tick the Edit Linked Parts and deselect just one prim, so that she/he can change the color of all the object except one prim (without ungrouping it all). Now THIS is hard

Buying or making comes down to time and pleasure doing it. I personally also try to see first how things are made and, if I can, make my own. Problem is.. I don't have the time or mood to keep doing my own versions of it all, so yes I buy stuff. It also gives me pleasure to spend money on other peoples work too, and yes, original stuff gets most of my money

I prefer to make things myself but there been few things I bought or had other friends do for me.

Off topic -- but on this note I wonder why no one has scripted a device that rezzes products in the showroom which then disappear as another example is requested -- a 3d catalogue of sorts that would save showroom space and reduce prim counts. Such a device might even rez entire decorated rooms at a time -- or I could just be dreaming. Maybe shoppers don't have the patience for a room to rez, or the script is not possible.

If I thought of it, surely someone has already tried it. If not, that's my free idea for the month. -- KC

Lol thanks for your free idea KC. ) I already use a holorezzer for colour/texture versions of my furniture sets and it works great. But what I've noticed is that people mostly buy furniture items that are on display all the time. I had a colour version as an example in my shop, because of lack of space and prims. Then I bought land to extend my shop and I put the previous example as a complete set on my land permanently. It sold much much better than before.