Making Steps Efficiently?

I'm still learning my shapes for building, but even with the Prim Finder showing me pretty pictures and spinning them around, I still often have difficulty in determining the right shape for making something -- or maybe the proper shapes for making it with fewer prims -- as I absolutely suck at visualizing shapes/spatial stuff in my head.

So I have constructed some steps off my deck, modeling them after some others that I saw. Now they are very prim heavy -- the main risers are 3 prims on each side (total of 6) and then another 6 for each rounded end and another 6 for the curved middle, for a total of 24 prims. So I am trying to figure out if there is a way to use less prims. Here is a pic of the current steps:



Is there a way to do this WITHOUT going to a ramp with a stair texture on it and without going to sculpty cuz I am not ready for that yet? Or am I stuck with this count if I am determined that I want this type of stairway?

Here's the most efficient way to do it. For each straight part, you can get two steps out of a cut cube. Remove one quarter of the total, by cutting from 0.125 to 0.875.

For each round part, use a tube, and you can do the same thing, two steps per prim. Give the tube a profile cut, from 0.125 to 0.875. Then cut away 3/4 of the path, 0.75 to 1.00. For the top tier, you'll want a Y hole size of 0.50. For the lower tiers, you'll want the hole to be a bit larger (which means go with a smaller number).

This will put you at a maximum of 8 prims for every two tiers. That's four cubes to form the straight parts of the steps, and four tubes to form the rounded corners.



You can cut one of those out, since you only need 3 corners, not 4. So it's actually 7 prims per two tiers, for your particular needs. For all six tiers, that's 3 sets, which puts you at 21 prims.

Thank you -- I kept laying prims down trying to do something similar to that and just was not quite getting it.

Would you be willing to go with cylindrical steps?

This design has 5 steps each 0.2m (~8" high and each successive step is 0.5m less in radusstaring x & y = 4.5m, cut path is B 0.25. It would be easy to modify to your specs for 1 prim per step with a trade-off of using more physical space.

Gnubee, if you go with tubes instead of cylinders, and profile cut them as described in my previous post, you can cut your prim count in half. Well, almost in half, since you've got an odd number. Five steps would take three prims, and so would six steps.

I'll have to check that out - haven't done much with tubes. Thanks for the tip!

I was using the cut-away boxes for the actual steps (so 2 steps per box prim), but was using the cylinders for the rounded parts and thereby needed one per step. I'll make up a set of steps totally rounded, but using tubes instead of cylinders to get two steps per prim, and see how that looks in the overall design of the steps.

At the very least, one way or the other, I'll be able to knock off quite a few prims since I figured even going with Chosen's initial concept, I'll be able to get it down to 5 prims per 2 steps, as I only need 2 sets of the box part and then 3 sets of the tube parts - which still would take it from 24 down to 15.

Thanks much for the help.

Chosen, could I ask for clarification on yourt instructions, please?
I read the thread with interest, looked at the jpg, and simply mentally filed the info when you first wrote for possible future use, thinking 'that sounds straightforward'.

I find I now need precisely what you describe but can't for the life of me get the tube to turn out as your image!

Would you kindly set out the exact values for the various parameters please - I started happily with the Path Cut but things went to pieces after that. I've been twisting the prim and yoyoing it back and forth thinking I've almost got it but the bl***y thing just won't play the game!

I'm quietly impressed at the distorted shapes I am managing to come up with and it looks like there's a whole new field of torturing to mess about with but the one shape I need is eluding me.

Thanks in anticipation.

Hmmmm... All the numbers you need are right there in Chosen's post. Start with a new tube. Path Cut B=.750, E=1.00; Profile Cut B = .125, E = .875; Hole Size X = 1.00, Y = 0.50. That's all you need to do.

Sure, Carbon. I did list the parameters already, as Rolig pointed out, but evidently I didn't do it clearly enough for everybody.

Here are the exact steps:

1. Rez a default tube.

2. Flip it over, on either the X or Y axis. Note, tubes are rotated 90 degrees on Y, by default. If you want to flip it by the numbers, rather than rotating by hand, the simplest thing to do is just to set Y to 270.

3. Set the Y hole size 0.50, to close the hole.

4. Apply a profile cut, beginning at 0.125, and ending 0.875. You should now have what looks like a 2-tiered wedding cake, a thick cylinder with a thinner cylinder on top of it.

4. Apply a path cut, beginning a 0.75, and ending at 1.00. This will remove 3/4 of the circumference, leaving a 90-degree "pie slice".

That's how to make the top two steps. For the next two down, you'll want to increase the size on Y and Z, and then reduce the Y hole size.

If you're sticking with default size for the top two, then size for the next two would be 1x1M instead of 0.5x0.5M, and the Y hole size would be 0.25. Remember, each set of steps gets incrementally larger, by the same amount. The increment is the size of the top tier.

The third tier will be a little off, only because hole size precision is limited to 2 decimals. Prim size is 1.5x1.5M, and the Y hole size should be 0.165. But the closest you can do is 0.16. This will make the fifth step down be slightly too narrow. There's really nothing you can do about it, though, short of replacing the tube with a pair of cylinders, or resizing that tier (or the whole staircase) a little bit.

OK, I'm prepared to recognize my mistakes - stupidity,even!

It must have been the time of night, the drink, age, or a combination of them all.

Word blindness - I was following your specs but working down the attributes from the top in the edit pane and was constantly transposing Path Cut and Profile Cut.

Sorry for my apparent lack of understanding, and thanks for your forebearance.



While I'm here, however..........
Is it possible to do the same in reverse and have a concave step in place of the convex one?
I'll go experiment but don'tt hold out a lot of hope given my performance to date!

Update - tried and by golly, got it!

Path Cut B 0 E 0.225
Hollow 35
Hole X 0.41 Y 0.5
Profile Cut B 0.125 E 0.375

Mummy - look I'm a builder.........
Off for a drink to celebrate!!