Second Life Forums Archive - !!!!SL's BEST Building Tips!!!(I hope)

Beatfox Xevious

is THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

Join date: 1 Jun 2004

Posts: 879

01-11-2006 13:41

From: Nepenthes Ixchel

I'd go further and say don't use light. If you want lighting effects do them with pre-baked textures. Light causes a severe loss of frame rate, and a lot of people (such as myself) turn it off because we got sick of dropping to 2 frames a second. Full bright is a good substitute for light in many cases.

It should be noted that local lighting got SIGNIFICANTLY faster with the release of SL 1.8. If you haven't turned it on since then, I suggest you at least try it and see how well it works on your system now.

Nevertheless, I do agree that light (as opposed to fullbright) should only be used where it's really necessary.

_____________________

My Beatworks: Zephyr Chimes wind chimes, the KanaMaster Japanese kana tutor, and the FREE Invisibility Prim Public. Look for them at the Luskwood General Store in Lusk (144, 165).

"You have been frozen. You cannot move or chat. A pony will contact you via instant message (IM)."
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Torley Linden

Enlightenment!

Join date: 15 Sep 2004

Posts: 16,530

01-11-2006 13:44

From: Beatfox Xevious

It should be noted that local lighting got SIGNIFICANTLY faster with the release of SL 1.8. If you haven't turned it on since then, I suggest you at least try it and see how well it works on your system now.

Nevertheless, I do agree that light (as opposed to fullbright) should only be used where it's really necessary.

Do you mean 1.8 compared to 1.7, or on the whole?

I wish that was true for me on the whole, but I haven't found it to be in my experience, compared to Local Lighting in 1.6.x.

BTW, are Shadows also CPU-bound like Local Lighting? I haven't played a lot with them yet.

_____________________

TonyRockyHorror Hauptmann

two-for-one special

Join date: 5 Nov 2005

Posts: 76

01-11-2006 14:46

my tip to add is build a quick-n-dirty model of your project in a sandbox or somehwere. don't worry about exact alignment. use highly contrasting prim colors.

then select all the prims in it, and shrink the whole thing at once. then link the whole thing, if some of it couldn't be before because of the distance limitation. now take it into your inventory.

whip it out on-site for your build and use it as a reference when you go to work on the final build. it helps me to get a good idea in my head and visualize it and plan for better prim-use efficiency is i can look at it 'completed' before i start on the final build process.

Brookston Holiday

Registered User

Join date: 29 May 2005

Posts: 58

Big Objects on Small Land

01-11-2006 21:26

Sometimes, especially when building on water, it is difficult to see if your object is located completely on your land. A trick I figured out was to select all my objects and make sure that the total prims was equall to the total objects in the objects tab of About Land.

Maybe obvious, but it took me a while.

Thanks for all the great tips from everyone before me.

Damanios Thetan

looking in

Join date: 6 Mar 2004

Posts: 992

01-11-2006 22:22

Make sure you have edit window open (CTRL-3) before rezzing anything with multiple objects, you want to manipulate afterwards, as it will automatically select all rezzed objects.
When having overlapping prims (texture shimmers), it's often easier to just use a full alpha (transparent) texture to one of the faces instead of nudging one of the prims. This way you can keep it all on grid (more or less).
When building on grid and taking backups, it's often wise to try to link as much together as possible. It's a lot easier to realign a few objects to grid after rerezzing. instead of going over all 100s of prims.
Prims can be quite versatile, before adding another prim to give a certain shape, try if you can use cut/hollow to create the shape in less prims. (Esp. the box prim and 0.125/0.375..1.0 ) cuts icw hollow can give you a lot of stuff like door openings/walls/roofs etc...
Be aware of the caveats though. The insides of cut/hollowed prims can be tough to texture.
It's often a good thing to set the grid level to 0.125m and switch off 'subunit sampling' (or whatever it's called). The 0.5 grid is often too crude to do precision building. 0.125 is about the minimum size where you can 'drop' prims into place.
When moving bigger constructions (outside the selection range), sitting on the object you're working on can assure you are keeping in selection range. (This sometimes plays tricks with the camera though)
Try moving larger constructions rather than taking/rezzing. Rezzing large constructions often results in packet loss and prims not rezzing. Also make sure before you take a larger construct to note the number of total prims. This way you can check if everything rezzed correctly.
Don't use the half sphere icon in create tab to create half spheres It's often better for texturing reasons to take a full sphere and dimple it to 0.5.
When trying to reach prims 'inside' other prims for texturing, you can either:
1. Move the blocking prim out of the way, texture and use undo (ctrl-z) to move it back into place. (This works also for linked sets, except sometimes root prims can be annoying)
2. Use the debug menu (CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-D) and use 'hide selected', now select the blocking prim and immediately after that, select the (now visible) prim you want to texture. It's invisible but you can texture/change it. Also works great for finding lost paintings etc. in walls

_____________________

Art Laxness

Registered User

Join date: 24 Sep 2005

Posts: 34

01-12-2006 01:04

When you first start to build, rez one of each kind of shape and see what all the options do.

Also dont use the build window to change between position, stretch and rotate. Just keep on position and hold shift and ctrl.

Simple stuff

Erin Talamasca

Registered User

Join date: 18 Sep 2005

Posts: 617

01-12-2006 01:25

From: Brookston Holiday

Sometimes, especially when building on water, it is difficult to see if your object is located completely on your land. A trick I figured out was to select all my objects and make sure that the total prims was equall to the total objects in the objects tab of About Land.

The way I dealt with this when icing over my section of our lake was to turn on land boundaries and use marker prims - 23/30m 'sticks' which I'd temporarily sink into the lake bed at the edges of my parcel. That way I know that when a prim on the surface touches it, it's close to the edge of my land. If I go past the marker, I've gone too far.

Lora Morgan

Puts the "eek" in "geek"

Join date: 19 Mar 2004

Posts: 779

01-12-2006 08:01

From: Erin Talamasca

The way I dealt with this when icing over my section of our lake was to turn on land boundaries and use marker prims - 23/30m 'sticks' which I'd temporarily sink into the lake bed at the edges of my parcel. That way I know that when a prim on the surface touches it, it's close to the edge of my land. If I go past the marker, I've gone too far.

Same with building anything in the sky. Just rez markers in the corners of your parcel, and send each one up to the altitude you'll be building.

Baron Grayson

Vote for Pedro.

Join date: 23 May 2004

Posts: 43

multiple selection stability

01-12-2006 11:39

I was reading this earlier..and was trying to think of something not yet contributed. If this had already been mentioned, my apologies. I'm going on memory here.

If you do a lot of complex, multiple prim selections and have ever mistakenly clicked anywhere on the screen and lost your selection..this little trick may be for you. Of course it's still possible to lose your selection but if you're in the habit of hitting control 1 to pan around instead of panning in edit mode..it's a little harder to lose them.

Toggling between Ctrl 1 and Ctrl 3:

Ctrl 1 keeps all of your selection intact while allowing you to pan around with your camera..This is called focus mode. Clicking the screen moves your point of view. Often I zoom around, pan in and out and make careful planning...

When I am ready to select the next piece/s I hit Ctrl 3 and my arrows are back and I'm in edit mode again with a nicely preserved multiple selection.

the only downside is if you turn your avie...the selection is lost. so be sure to use your camera...don't walk around.

My only workaround for this is to actually sit on a prim while selecting. This prevents the selection being lost while in focus mode as you can no longer walk.

!!!!SL's BEST Building Tips!!!(I hope)
Beatfox Xevious is THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE Join date: 1 Jun 2004 Posts: 879	01-11-2006 13:41 From: Nepenthes Ixchel I'd go further and say don't use light. If you want lighting effects do them with pre-baked textures. Light causes a severe loss of frame rate, and a lot of people (such as myself) turn it off because we got sick of dropping to 2 frames a second. Full bright is a good substitute for light in many cases. It should be noted that local lighting got SIGNIFICANTLY faster with the release of SL 1.8. If you haven't turned it on since then, I suggest you at least try it and see how well it works on your system now. Nevertheless, I do agree that light (as opposed to fullbright) should only be used where it's really necessary. _____________________ My Beatworks: Zephyr Chimes wind chimes, the KanaMaster Japanese kana tutor, and the FREE Invisibility Prim Public. Look for them at the Luskwood General Store in Lusk (144, 165). "You have been frozen. You cannot move or chat. A pony will contact you via instant message (IM)." - mysterious system message I received after making off with Pony Linden
Torley Linden Enlightenment! Join date: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 16,530	01-11-2006 13:44 From: Beatfox Xevious It should be noted that local lighting got SIGNIFICANTLY faster with the release of SL 1.8. If you haven't turned it on since then, I suggest you at least try it and see how well it works on your system now. Nevertheless, I do agree that light (as opposed to fullbright) should only be used where it's really necessary. Do you mean 1.8 compared to 1.7, or on the whole? I wish that was true for me on the whole, but I haven't found it to be in my experience, compared to Local Lighting in 1.6.x. BTW, are Shadows also CPU-bound like Local Lighting? I haven't played a lot with them yet. _____________________
TonyRockyHorror Hauptmann two-for-one special Join date: 5 Nov 2005 Posts: 76	01-11-2006 14:46 my tip to add is build a quick-n-dirty model of your project in a sandbox or somehwere. don't worry about exact alignment. use highly contrasting prim colors. then select all the prims in it, and shrink the whole thing at once. then link the whole thing, if some of it couldn't be before because of the distance limitation. now take it into your inventory. whip it out on-site for your build and use it as a reference when you go to work on the final build. it helps me to get a good idea in my head and visualize it and plan for better prim-use efficiency is i can look at it 'completed' before i start on the final build process.
Brookston Holiday Registered User Join date: 29 May 2005 Posts: 58	Big Objects on Small Land 01-11-2006 21:26 Sometimes, especially when building on water, it is difficult to see if your object is located completely on your land. A trick I figured out was to select all my objects and make sure that the total prims was equall to the total objects in the objects tab of About Land. Maybe obvious, but it took me a while. Thanks for all the great tips from everyone before me.
Damanios Thetan looking in Join date: 6 Mar 2004 Posts: 992	01-11-2006 22:22 Make sure you have edit window open (CTRL-3) before rezzing anything with multiple objects, you want to manipulate afterwards, as it will automatically select all rezzed objects. When having overlapping prims (texture shimmers), it's often easier to just use a full alpha (transparent) texture to one of the faces instead of nudging one of the prims. This way you can keep it all on grid (more or less). When building on grid and taking backups, it's often wise to try to link as much together as possible. It's a lot easier to realign a few objects to grid after rerezzing. instead of going over all 100s of prims. Prims can be quite versatile, before adding another prim to give a certain shape, try if you can use cut/hollow to create the shape in less prims. (Esp. the box prim and 0.125/0.375..1.0 ) cuts icw hollow can give you a lot of stuff like door openings/walls/roofs etc... Be aware of the caveats though. The insides of cut/hollowed prims can be tough to texture. It's often a good thing to set the grid level to 0.125m and switch off 'subunit sampling' (or whatever it's called). The 0.5 grid is often too crude to do precision building. 0.125 is about the minimum size where you can 'drop' prims into place. When moving bigger constructions (outside the selection range), sitting on the object you're working on can assure you are keeping in selection range. (This sometimes plays tricks with the camera though) Try moving larger constructions rather than taking/rezzing. Rezzing large constructions often results in packet loss and prims not rezzing. Also make sure before you take a larger construct to note the number of total prims. This way you can check if everything rezzed correctly. Don't use the half sphere icon in create tab to create half spheres It's often better for texturing reasons to take a full sphere and dimple it to 0.5. When trying to reach prims 'inside' other prims for texturing, you can either: 1. Move the blocking prim out of the way, texture and use undo (ctrl-z) to move it back into place. (This works also for linked sets, except sometimes root prims can be annoying) 2. Use the debug menu (CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-D) and use 'hide selected', now select the blocking prim and immediately after that, select the (now visible) prim you want to texture. It's invisible but you can texture/change it. Also works great for finding lost paintings etc. in walls _____________________
Art Laxness Registered User Join date: 24 Sep 2005 Posts: 34	01-12-2006 01:04 When you first start to build, rez one of each kind of shape and see what all the options do. Also dont use the build window to change between position, stretch and rotate. Just keep on position and hold shift and ctrl. Simple stuff
Erin Talamasca Registered User Join date: 18 Sep 2005 Posts: 617	01-12-2006 01:25 From: Brookston Holiday Sometimes, especially when building on water, it is difficult to see if your object is located completely on your land. A trick I figured out was to select all my objects and make sure that the total prims was equall to the total objects in the objects tab of About Land. The way I dealt with this when icing over my section of our lake was to turn on land boundaries and use marker prims - 23/30m 'sticks' which I'd temporarily sink into the lake bed at the edges of my parcel. That way I know that when a prim on the surface touches it, it's close to the edge of my land. If I go past the marker, I've gone too far.
Lora Morgan Puts the "eek" in "geek" Join date: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 779	01-12-2006 08:01 From: Erin Talamasca The way I dealt with this when icing over my section of our lake was to turn on land boundaries and use marker prims - 23/30m 'sticks' which I'd temporarily sink into the lake bed at the edges of my parcel. That way I know that when a prim on the surface touches it, it's close to the edge of my land. If I go past the marker, I've gone too far. Same with building anything in the sky. Just rez markers in the corners of your parcel, and send each one up to the altitude you'll be building.
Baron Grayson Vote for Pedro. Join date: 23 May 2004 Posts: 43	multiple selection stability 01-12-2006 11:39 I was reading this earlier..and was trying to think of something not yet contributed. If this had already been mentioned, my apologies. I'm going on memory here. If you do a lot of complex, multiple prim selections and have ever mistakenly clicked anywhere on the screen and lost your selection..this little trick may be for you. Of course it's still possible to lose your selection but if you're in the habit of hitting control 1 to pan around instead of panning in edit mode..it's a little harder to lose them. Toggling between Ctrl 1 and Ctrl 3: Ctrl 1 keeps all of your selection intact while allowing you to pan around with your camera..This is called focus mode. Clicking the screen moves your point of view. Often I zoom around, pan in and out and make careful planning... When I am ready to select the next piece/s I hit Ctrl 3 and my arrows are back and I'm in edit mode again with a nicely preserved multiple selection. the only downside is if you turn your avie...the selection is lost. so be sure to use your camera...don't walk around. My only workaround for this is to actually sit on a prim while selecting. This prevents the selection being lost while in focus mode as you can no longer walk.

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