Making a sink - overlapping prim problems

I'm having some issues in creating a sink (set in a counter).

I began initially by cutting a hole in a box, setting my "bowl" down into it, and fitting cut boxes in around it to fill in holes. (Mind you, this does not have to be the BEST looking thing in the world, but it should serve its purpose.) It was looking really good, but before I took a copy to use elsewhere, I realized that I hadn't textured the countertop. So I found a suitable texture and colored it, but then I realized that it looked like the prims used to make the countertop were overlapping the "bowl" prim, even though the bowl was higher than the other prims. There was a small amount of overlap between the prims, but the bowl was thick enough that I thought it would just "absorb" the overlap inside it. (If that made any sense.)

Anyway, after mutilating the sink in an attempt to fix it, I started over, using a hollowed cylinder around the bowl and fitting flattened boxes around it to close off the holes. I used the same number on the Z-axis, and from some angles it does appear that all the prims are flat across (minus, of course, the bowl). But when you move around, you can see the edges of some of the prims, as though they're sticking up. Or, sometimes parts of the prims become insistently transparent with no alteration of my own.

Is there any way to fix this problem without sculpting something new? I don't want to say that I'm "throwing" this together, but I was hoping to get things done quickly, and using a complicated sculpting program (i.e. learning to use it, and then actually creating something with it) seems somewhat beyond the scope of this.

I'd be tempted to leave the sink surround "rough", and stick a phantom prim on top of the counter, with a transparent hole in its texture so the basin can show through. Then the limits of prim holes won't matter much.

I'm not sure I have the mental picture right here, but it sounds as if you have taken a somewhat complicated path to make a sink. I made one myself just the other day, and it looks great. I took a rectangular prim for the countertop and cut a circular (actually elliptical) hole in it. Then I took a hemisphere with a diameter slightly larger than the hole, turned it "bowl-side" up and stuck it on the bottom of the counter, centered on the hole. I embedded a small cylindrical prim in the bottom of the bowl to simluate a stopper, linked the three pieces, and was done --- except for building the rest of the cabinet and adding the plumbing fixtures.

I don't know where you are seeing "overlap," but the way I did it looks very similar to many bathroom sinks I have seen in RL in my lifetime. Quick, clean, and low-prim.

Honestly, as sculpties have become more prevalent in Second Life, I recommend you go out and either buy a sculpty pack that has the sink shape, or have a sculpty artist construct you a custom piece.

If it's important to you to have the best looking sink, I'd use sculpty now'adays. If you don't care...follow the previous tips of design.

The trouble with sculpties is still the big blog problem. They've put a lot of work into that and the map loads are a lot less unreliable than they used to be, but they still have a way to go.

I agree with Rolig Loon on construction. Their method is roughly what I did the last time did a pair of bathroom sinks on a counter.

It sounds to me like you used a 32-bit texture for your countertop. There are some marble textures in the Library that were inapporpriately saved as 32-bit, and which show alpha glitches even though they are not obviously alpha textures. Fast check: Turn on "Highlight transparent", and if the countertop gains a red tint, you have 32-bit textures there.

To take Rolig's suggestion a step further...

Counter: A cube prim with a circular hollow in it. Streach to make it the thickness and counter width you want, and lengthen sideways to make the opening oval.

Sink bowl: Sphere, hollowed 95%, dimple start 0.500, dimple end 0.95. Invert and streach as needed, to make an oval basin with a small drain hole.

Sink drain rim: Not necessary, but another copy of the sink bowl, Sphere, hollowed 95%, dimple start 0.900, dimple end 0.95 should make a small ring at the bottom. Or use a hollowed cylinder here.

Sink rim: Torus, shaped to make a rounded rim for the sink, and embedded into the counter.

Sink cabinet: Textured prims as needed, maybe with working doors.

Plumbing: Not necessary, but sections of cylinders and torii can make any normal plumbing pipe shape.

Have fun!

I AM THE BIGGEST IDIOT IN THE WORLD! I've been building in SL for about 7 months now and I never realized you could change the shape of the hole you cut... UGH!

Thank you, everyone for this SIMPLE solution...

That's TOTALLY what was happening ('cause once I made a "simple" sink, as suggested, it was still showing transparent...) so I guess I need to find a new texture...