How to keep large buildings together?

Hi,

I'm currently creating a large building, but I cannot link all the prims as they are too far apart. This means every time I logon I have to reposition all the different parts (e.g. floors, walls, etc) before I can continue building.

Is there an easier way to do this?


Cheers,
-Saiko.

Build and link it in sections, and use something like Builder's Buddy or Rez-Foo to pack up, rez and position the final structure. You're going to hit a hard limit at 30 M distance and at 255 prims. To exceed that, seperate sections is the only way to go.

Yes, link parts, and try to make the root prim similar for the different pieces if you can. For example, pieces of floor that are all on the same axis. This makes repositioning a LOT easier.
I also found it works best if all pieces fit like a jigsaw, but aren't cut off just along one axis plane. Try to have some edges that fit into one another, so you can make minute adjustments based on those corners. This saves a lot of camera work

How big is big?

I like to just open up an edit box and then drag a selection box around the entire build. right click and "take"

when setting it back out, open an edit box first
then drag the large build back out. You can still rotate and move the entire build as one object while the edit box is open.

I have tried this method.

When I put a building together I tend to line things up with even measurements, using an even meter coordinate for some main parts of the structure in all three dimensions.

When I re rez a saved building I find it very difficult to put it back on a similar spot. Using the numbers destroys the building as it only moves one component (not sure which one, but probably the last selected one). Moving it with the mouse does not seem to line it up with the grid.

Maybe I am missing something?

You need to have an edit box open and leave it open while you move and rotate your build. Once you get it where you want it, close the edit box.

Once the edit box is closed , the large build goes back into its individual linked pieces.

I think what Ed was referring to is the inability to place a large multi-part build back at round number coordinates this way. My experience has been that it's darn near impossible to get the individual pieces at <128.0, 64.0, 10.0> or anything like that, since SL seems to align the editing grid with the center of gravity of the whole object or some such thing. Not a big deal to some, but some builders prefer to place objects right on integer coordinates to make additions and changes easier down the line.

My apologies if I misread Ed's concern.

Thanks Anti, exactlly what I meant!

Thanks Anti, that is exactly what I meant.

Using Builders Buddy now. It's a bit tedious, but it gets the job done.