Best Builders Tools

I can also vouch for prim.docker its a great tool for the price. Bang for your buck wise this is the tool. Basic aligning is all that a creative builder really needs.

VBS is good too (virtual builder) but it takes some getting used to.

I have skid prims as well and find I use this least out of all my tools. Its just too slow and quirky. Its basically just prim.docker with a bunch of laggy bells and over complicated whistles as far as I'm concerned. Don't get me wrong if you probably knew the tool back and forth as well as the creator you might get somewhere with it, but I find it frustrating that the balls take forever to rez/don't rez in laggy areas which seems to be everywhere now. Also it tends not to "see" objects you put near the skids prim a lot of the time. If your working big projects clicking a skid prim can put you in a virtual "sea" of dots in align mode. The frustration comes in lag as well when you click a skid prim to get the balls or resizing bars to rez and they don't so to re-rez them you need to click again, its click on click off, so if your lagging its just like a vendor skipping pages. You sometimes get stuck in this rez/unrez cycle cause your clicks are queued.

Prim.docker is what I use 99.99 percent of the time. This along with shift_dragging what you have aligned can make your building go much faster. Aligning prims is the most frustrating and time consuming process and prim.docker for 499 has handled this very well. There are certain lag issues with it as well, as with anything, but it is easy to tell when it is working/not working.

Hope this helps.

Skidz Prim and Prim docker are for sale at SLexchange.com. You can download a video tutorial from each product to see which is better for you.

I use PrimDocker too, and am quite pleased with it. The lag issues you speak of, Tender - could they be something else? I had a little trouble with PrimDocker for a while - sometimes, clicking on functions would trigger different functions, and would keep doing so indefinitely. This is remedied, I've found, by clicking on the Miscellaneous tab, then clicking on the Align tab again.

The only remaining mild irritation is that after aligning, colourings of the prims will often change. Best to do all the aligning prior to texturing, therefore.

Thanks for this thread. The alignment tool in prim.docker alone is worth 10x the price (or 100x the price?) of any of these apps.

I'm fairly new to Second Life, but I've dabbled in 3D modeling for some time.

I work in advertising, and back in the mid-90s seriously considered getting into broadcast animation. I learned an app that was widely used in the industry at the time called Infini-D (it is no longer a supported app, it was killed by a newer breed of apps like 3D Max, but I still use Infini-D, now and again). Several years ago, I considered a career change to pursue my interest in architecture (always trying to find a way out of advertising, ha!), and I took a year off to goto Pratt (then I came back to my senses). The 1st year program's software studies focused on 2D in AutoCAD and 3D in 3D Max. I faked my AutoCAD work using Adobe Illustrator because I've been using it for 15+ years and it was one less new thing to learn, but I picked up 3D Max pretty quickly. The interface was remarkably similar to Infini-D. Today I also ocassional use an app called Swift-3D for making vector based 3D animations for Flash.

After having given way too much information, I get around to my point that the modeling tools in SL leave a bit to be desired. Anything I can add to make the modeling environment feel/work more like a profesional 3D app would be hugely appreciated.

My frustration is that you have to model "in world" and nothing in the way of import filters seems to exist. What I would pay for a DXF importer.

Or a filter that could import EPS paths, built in Illustrator, as extrusions or revolves.
That alone would absolutely rock! It's the way most developers make complex shapes for apps like 3D Max, anyway.

On a related tangent- All things being relative- cost is almost no object. When I read $300L for a helper app, with an exchange rate of L$270 to US$1, I don t see $300, I see $1.10. That's a software app for 1/4 the cost of a cup of coffee at Starbuck's.

I'd spend US$1000+ (L$270,000.00) for a robust professional SL building application. On average I'll spend 5x that on software each year and it's tax deductible.

That's my 2¢

Thanks again for the app tips. I can tell I'm going to need all the help here I can get.

PS.
I'm impressed, no, I'm amazed! at what some people have been able to do using the rudimentary tools available within SL. Hopefully opening up their source code will lead to a proliferation of developer tools.

1. Flip Script aka the "Prim Mirror Tool". Truely one of the most useful tools I own.. and pretty much the only one I use. with any regularity.
   
   
   
2. The grid's stupidest scripts (I think I need to sell a package called that)... little scripts that just have a while loop in them. Basically I have a few variants, but they constitute "move this up 100M".. drag the script onto the prim or object, and it goes shooting up 100m, or 50, or 10.. whatever the specific script specifies.. then the script self deletes. Darn useful when installing skyboxes
   
   
   
3. A really good chair. There is nothing more annoying than being 30m away with your camera, working on some primwork at the opposite end of your build, when some jerkoff decides to orbit you. (that builder's Buddy sounds similar to a chair I built in some respects. Definitely going to have a look at adding a few modes to my chair now.)

Beyond that, a few decades of art classes.

Of course.. you can be taught to build.. but you can't be taught art.

Has anyone used a tool called "Prim Finder" with "Prim Finder Rezzer"?

I've searched the forum for it and come up empty handed. I can't even find a single thread here that mentions it.

It has a catalog of 200+ primitive shapes. There's a big billboard and in the ad, it makes it appear as though you can just flipp through the pages and pluck a shape down when you find what you need. But once I bought the thing, It turns out there is this 19 step process (which doesn't include the 5 steps for "getting started", and it look s like you may have to do this every time you create a shape. I'm not sure, but here it goes:



I've been going over and over and over these steps, litterally for hours now. I cannot get it to do a damn thing at all. Absolutely nothing.

There's that old saying, if something looks too good to be true...

I bought the prim rezzer thing.

I've only used it once. The directions were kind of confusing but I got it to work fine. Send me an IM in game and I'll try to help you out with it.

I think it's a neat tool but I just haven't had time to use it to build much lately.

Best tool in SL if your going to build thats a must have... Skidz Primz. This is the tool of tools.

a 4 function calulator ....

Personally i use skidz prims and love it. It is easy to use once you get used to it, and learn to use all the more complicated features. Once you get the hang of it, it's awesome.

What I am planning to do is invest in Builder's Studio. I will use that to create the walls and floors, then use skidz prims to add the doors, windows etc...

may I ask who makes the builders eye ? I've looked and searched but cannot find it..

You can now build the walls and cut out windows and doors all in the Virtual Builder package. Brilliant package and highly recommended.

okay, on all these alignment tools...

do any of them do cut torii? you know, like i want to make an S shape, so i have two half-cut torii and want to snap the ends together? and taper them... oh, and line up other shapes on the cut ends, too. like cylinders and spheres, at least.
i've only seen prim docker in action, and only to align cubes. which, really, how hard is that? ;) (well, i mean for a script.)

in fact, do they do any cut shapes at all? like im trying to assemble a boot that has a half cylinder front, a slanted, tapered box sole, and a half-cylinder heel. can they get all those seams to match up? stuff like that?

and isn't there a builder.... magazine, e-zine, or... i dunno, something? an info site? that does in-depth reviews on tools and stuff? that would be SO handy.

Another building tool is the Texture Display HUD by Imhic Schlegal, my talented sweetie.
Pretty nifty - displays 45 textures at a time on a very slim hideable HUD with filters and its very user friendly. Excellent customer support and service as well.

There are lots of other makers and methodologies of texture organizers.
You really owe it to yourself to get one, no matter whose you buy. I can't live without mine.
For me the key to success in building is to get what I do done as fast as I can, and trying to find textures is sooo time consuming and frustrating - you know they are in there somewhere ..but dang it where?

Here's a link so you can read about Imhic's - if you are so inclined
http://www.slboutique.com/index.php?p=buy&itemid=177861

I liked Prim Finder, after half an hour trying to get the back of it to do something . Then I RTFM and all was well. But I outgrew it pretty fast. I think it's a good learning tool until you learn all of the things different prims can do - especially good at teaching how the faces of a prim react to cut and twist changes.

My current favorite tool is Lestat Extreme Texture Organizer - it took a while to get all my textures into it, but saves me a lot of time and inventory space now - I can rez a the currently updated copy where ever I happen to be building, and share it with friends.

Is there a tool that can give the exact coordinates for the corner points for a prim? It would be very helpful when calculating where to place a prim so that the corner would be at exactly 128/63.999/32..

Thanks! Excellent list!

Also, another place with the latest free builders tools is the freebie area in Caledon's capital - just map "Caledon VictoriaCity" and there are several there on a cart right by the telehub.

Cadroe just dropped the latest ShapeGen version to me the other day, also he tells me it's on SLExchange (I hope I have that info right).

For an example of what ShapeGen does, look at the circular roads in Victoria City, and imagine having to place, fit, and texture all of those by hand. Impossible without something like ShapeGen.

The best tool: the built in building grid - it has the added bonus of lining up your objects on the world grid making it simple to line up prims/builds on land borders.

I have tried various scripted building tools and have always had great, fast results by using the building grid.

Check out the video tutorial

-2fast

Regarding Prim Finder. Out of the box you can rez prims and do whatever you like with them (edit/copy/transfer/sell).

The steps for customizing it are only needed if you want the Creator of rezzed prims to be yourself - this means other people that right-click on the prim will see you as Creator but apart from that there's no difference. The steps are a little convoluted but only need to be done once. It's fiddly because you essentially have to extract the prim out of the Rezzer and replace it with a fresh new prim originally created by you (while transfering over the script inside too) - that's the only way for prims rezzed by this tool to have the user's name show up as creator unfortunately.

I'll hopefully be making the instructions for this more straight forward in the near future but in the meantime if anyone has trouble with this then I'll be happy to make your customized Rezzer for you. I certainly dont want people spending hours on this! For this I just need you to do the following. Create a new prim on the ground the normal way (do not use Prim Finder). Enable all three permissions (copy/trans/sell) for that prim. Rename the prim so it includes your name (makes things easier for me later!). Take the prim to your inventory. Right-click the prim in your inventory and do a quick sanity check that all three permissions are still ticked. Transfer to me by dragging the prim from your inventory onto my profile page. I'll then receive it next time I'm in world and I'll send you back your own customized Rezzer. Leave me an IM to let me know you've sent it.

Note that the Rezzer is locked to the owner. So if you leave the Rezzer in world you dont have to worry about other people coming along and using it to create prims. Several people can have their own Rezzer placed near the Prim Finder and prims will only ever be rezzed above the Rezzer owned by the avatar currently operating the Prim Finder. In fact anybody can obtain their own Rezzer for free and use it with any Prim Finder in world. Each user of the Rezzer (even if they don't own the Prim Finder) can follow the optional customization mentioned above.

I love the prim finder! What an amazing piece of work; I use mine out of the box so I can learn to make the prims myself. Thanks for this wonderful tool!

I recently got the Prim Finder and decided to perform the optional customization process so that I'll be listed as the creator for each prim. Each step was easy and the entire procedure only took about 5 minutes.

I can understand why someone may be initially put off by the high number of steps, but once you see that the procedure was broken down into numerous short steps for the sake of simplicity, you shouldn't have any hesitation in going through this.

I've been a resident only a little more than 2 months, and it was easy for me. I wish all instructions for things in SL (and RL!) were written as clearly as these.

I use a few in game tools. Favourite is Primarray, which lets you play with relative position and rotation of sets of prims or, usefully, link sets.

Mathbuilder is similar, more powerful, but not as flexible. Good for large spheres.

I have Primdocker, but haven't got round to setting it up so that any structures I make with it have me as the creator, so I haven't really used it yet.

I haven't tried Skidz Primz itself, but their Skidz Primz Dozer is very useful for landscaping.

Interested in Builder's Eye now having read this thread and I'm off to look for it on SLex in a minute.

Skidz Primz has been nothing but a hassle to me since i bought it. Sure, its useful when I snap things into place every once in a while, but half the time I can't get a wall to snap to the other wall because the dots don't show up on the other one. Then, when I respawn the whole thing because it despawns in my sandbox, all of the walls I snapped into place are rotated by at least 1% creating giant gaps that I manually have to rotate to fix.

Then I realize I have to go through this drawn out process just to make it say I built it..

It's easier to just put the walls in place yourself.

And now when I select the whole thing, I cant change the name to something other than "Built with skidz primz"? Theres probably some way to fix this, but does it really need to be there in the first place?

I'm glad you liked my PrimArray tool FYI Mathbuilder is just my old ShapeMaker tool being resold. If you would like a modern version with new features, pick up ShapeGen for L$100 on SLExchange.