"Building for dummies!"

Hello

I'm not so new to SL, but I haven't done much building. I've learned to edit stuff that I can modify. Such as putting a picture in a frame without ruining the frame itself, changing colors on danceballs from pink/blue to white/black, adjusting texture to fit the object, changing size and such. But there's BIG holes in my knowledge.

So can I buy a book on Amazon? What will you recommend? Suggestions please? I've looked it up in Amazon, but what's the best book for me? I'm not thinking to have a business, just to make stuff for myself, and help others organizing events, decorating and smaller projects.

Are the books updated to new SL functions as windlight? Or is building basics the same as it "always" has been? I'm looking for a book since I like to hold a book and have it next to my keyboard, instead of having notecards and video tutorials open.

I have read Nathalia Zelmanovs blog with great interest, but it doesn't work so well for me to do it myself. I think it's more confusing then a good old-fashioned book. Yes, I'm a good old-fashioned girl....I even bake my own bread! (RL)

And yes, while I wait for your suggestions... someone tell me how I link together stuff that I have already unlinked???? I had a 1 L gazebo I started to play with....I found out how to unlink it and delete the part I didn't like, but now I haven't managed to link the rest together again....

Hi Marianne - if tutorials aren't the way for you to learn, perhaps a live class will work better for you. I'm actually holding a class for new builders tonight at around 5:00 p.m. sl time.

Under your search tab, check "Events" then click the drop down box and check "Education" there you should find classes that are being given during the SL time listed. A lot of the beginning building classes are free. Mine are! We're going to build an incense burner tonight.

To relnk the items that you've unlinked, Just edit one piece and shift/click to select each and eveyr other piece in the gazebo. When you have them all selected, do a control L to link. In the future, when you want to delete a piece you don't like, just select edit linked parts and click only the piece you want to delete, then unlink and delete the one and there you go.

Sorry for the typos - was typing blind this morning.

There are two or three books on Amazon. Sorry I have no personal recommendation. In general, it is best if you look at them and pick the one that seems best for *you*. That is, you might hate *my* favorite book.

I recommend the walkthrough tutorials at the Ivory Tower of Primitives to start with. There are mobiles that show you each topic being discussed.

Cntrl-L to link...Shift-Cntrl-L to unlink...you can also look on the menu at the top of SL...not sure when one it is under....View?....World? You will have to look to see.

The best way to learn to build, in my opinion, is just do it....experiment...ask questions here in the forums...take some classes...build with a buddy...but I think the most important thing is to build something simple that you want to build. That way you can become familiar with all the edit tab options and can experiment. I am new at this myself and that is what I have been doing. If you get frustrated, just go do something else and come back to your project later.

I have had great help from "Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life" which you can get from Amazon, and other places too I am sure. It gives some nice overviews over what is possible to do, some hints on how to get started etc.

As the other comments says, the real way to do is to go ahead and do it. But the book gave me some ideas - prim torture, and textures in photo shop was nice for me. So, book in one hand, and edit mode in the other hand - and 1000 failures and experiment later I feel reasonable confident - though this forum had been needed for several things as well (tx. all).

Goto my shop link on my profile picks or my adverts.
on tp into the shop there is a free book on building and a sandbox to use, or i have a few building areas with displays for you to learn for free. or you can buy myt book on amazon.

Ivory tower of prims FTW!

Other than that the best thing to do is go to a sandbox and just build. No book/tutorial is going to do as much for you as your own experience.

I was recruited to serve as technical editor for "Second Life: A Guide to Your Virtual World" by Brian A. White. It has chapters on getting started with building, texturing, and scripting (among other things), with several tutorials for each. I haven't read any of the other books to see how it compares, so I can't say whether it would be better or worse for your purposes than any other, but it's worth taking a look at.

Many residents contributed various tips and tutorials into it. Forum regulars and semi-regulars who come to mind are Ceera Murakami, Johan Durant, Robin Sojourner, Chip Midnight, Julia Hathor, Willow Zander, and myself (sorry if I left anyone out). But it doesn't stop with just us forum lurkers. By my rough count (which might be incomplete), at least 55 SL residents added to the book in some way.

You can find it on Amazon, or at your local Barnes & Nobles (assuming they have it in stock).

Chosen Few is a lurker? Jeez, I hate to see someone who is active.