how to bulid exactly connected pieces?

When building furniture, how to make each piece exactly connected to each other? Do we need to use the "meter" numbers in the Edit Panel? But how to know how many meters should it be? Thanks!

do you have the grid activated? in the edit window make sure "Use Grid" is checked, and in the tools menu, check Snap To Grid. also, using copy selection is usefull if want the prims to be the same

and, practice practice and more practice really helps.

i usggest using maths to place the pieces you wish to connect perfectly, however curved edges like cylinder sphere and torus are a pain to line up because they have impair number of edges.

but for most adjustments you can count on mathematically placed surfaces to meet perfectly.

However do not trust the SL interface for precise positioning of prims because it is only precise to 0.001 meter.

The position of a prim is always its center on any axis. So if you wanted to line up one prim with another on the x axis for example you would want the distance on that axis to be 1/2 its dimension on the same axis.

If a prim is rotated the axis you are trying to connect on may not be the same corresponding letter as the axis that prims length is on but you can view the stretch function to determine which length to use.

To be honest though calculating and typing in numbers is pretty laborious most people just use some type of tool like Prim Docker or Skidz Prim, although its useful to know the principal.

Hope that helps.

Just for the record:

Kyrah is cRaZy, but she is still great. <3

Math is even cRaZiEr and sucks to build with.

Just snap everything to grid and align it using the numbers in the Object tab of the edit window.

Why is there not some option to auto align things in the first place.

My very first builds were so mis-aligned. But i loved them anyways

I just drag, drop, zoom in, and eyeball it. (^_^)y

Learn to use the various grid options. Use Selection for Grid is very handy when aligning prims. There really is no reason to use math to align prims. Use math to do initial sizing if you must, then switch to using the grid. Actually, I use Snap to Grid for initial sizing.

Learn to turn on and off Stretch Both Sides in conjunction with Snap to Grid. You can make things in precise sizes that way.

Also, using Copy Selection will place a prim pefectly aligned to an edge.

I compete in speed builds every week and I use these techniques extensively. There is no way I could ever win a speed build competition if I had to calculate placement of prims.

That there's all true... Almost all my builds are done in this order....

Rez a cube, change it to the shape I actually want... Position, texture, and size.

Shift-Copy in the alignment direction I want, wash, rinse, repeat. (^_^)

Shift-Copy really is the greatest way to go seamless most of the time. Some good examples from stuff I've done are my tossable razor blade and the toybox in my Burning Life build. (^_^)

I really only use the grid for angles, and only if I plan to repeat the angle more than once. And I take advantage of a texture alignment grid for really killer seamless builds. Usually, after I'm done, someone will ask "is it a sculptie?" or "is it a mega"" and that's the moment I beam with pride. =^-^=

Ditto.

I tried snapping to the grid etc, too much work for me. what works for some, does not always work for others.

How to create perfectly aligned prims with one click:


Rezz prim.

In the EDIT menu (it is now on your screen) go to CREATE tab again (square #4 on top)

Check COPY SELECTION and CENTER COPY.

Now click the surface you want the next prim to be connected to.

A new prim will be rezzed, attached perfectly to the first one, being a copy of the one selected before.

You can do that with any prim of your choice, and also with link sets.

If you wish to do this repeatedly, check KEEP TOOL SELECTED as well.

If you wish to create circled arrays instead of straight ones, use ROTATE COPY.

This is certainly true. My way of working does not lend itself to organic builds for instance. I have lots of problems with that type of build, I know.

Also, precisely aligned edges can sometimes cause flashing of textures. I have to adjust for that sometimes by actually typing in numbers to remove a thousandth of a meter from the size of the offending prim.

you can always use a calculator and do the math manually - Grid and calculator and a notepad works for complicated things that are too small to zoom in on

Monalisa is spot on.

I will only add that if the prim you are "copy selecting" is hollow or cut in some way it may not line up perfectly.

and my favorite trick. This uses Monalisa's copy selection technique, but goes one step further.

Say you have two prims you just cant get to line up to another, but they have different dimensions/ rotation etc....

> With copy selection clicked and in the create dialog, select the prim you want to locate seamlessly..
>Then click on the face of the prim where you want the copy to appear.
>the sim(or viewer) does the math =)

This works best with cubes and cylinders as there are limits to this trick.

edit: yay 100 posts!!

One thing to mention: if you are building something that's going to be left out for a long period of time, and especially something that's going to move regularly under script, you might not want to align the prims exactly.

This is because, if the prims are exactly aligned, any amount of prim drift will break them apart. It can be desirable to have them overlapping slightly, and then make the textures exactly the same to prevent the "z-buffer burn" effect.

Wow. Yumi I never thought to build prim drift overlap into something. That makes me rethink a few builds =/ Does that include linksets?



I did just make a easy to follow "copy selection" set of tutorials =)

I set them out near my entrance if anyone try a walk thru =) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Wild%20Rice/195/112/22

Where is Monalisa's copy selection?

The maths method is not difficult if you remember a simple formula

For the axis you want to move just take

(size prim A + size prim B)/2

This will give you the amount you have to move prim B to get it to line up perfectly

Of course you have to remember if you want to add or subtract that amount depending on which way you wish to go


TIP:_ look at the coloured arrows. the pointed end is positive the blunt end is negative

And remember if you make a mistake there is always CTRL Z to undo the move

Also... if you are copy-dragging prims... before you create the copy, set your grid mode to "local". Then when you copy-drag the prim, you can snap it to "1x" on the grid to align it perfectly.
Remember to set the grid mode back to "world" (or whatever you normally use) afterwards.

In the edit menu (the menu that opens when you edit a prim). Go to the create tab. "Copy selection" is one of the options you can enable by checking one of the checkboxes right below the prim types.

There is a handy tool called Prim Docker ($499L). I'm looking at buying it.

Search in-world or on SL-Xchange.

Can you please explain the texture alignment grid or should this be in the texturing folder? I cant find the grid in my edit box

Alas, even if you get the prim parameters exactly correct you can easily run into situations where the prims do not appear to join. The prim parameters are used by the viewer to generate a polygon mesh for each prim. There is really no guarantee that the meshes for two supposedly adjoining prims will actually meet up. Even if they do there can still be discontinuities in the lighting characteristics between two prims.

I use prim.docker (search for it inworld or on SLexchange). It saves my eyes, aligning, touching prims and aligning textures. It doesn't work with megaprims though.

I also use an automatic prim aligner, but not prim docker. It makes the work go faster and produces a much better product.