Smooth multiprim water

Its relatively easy to get some water surface flowing on a prim side. But how do I connect multiple prims to get water surfaces larger than 10x10?

Whenever I connect more than one prim I can easily adjust the textures so that they seem seamless. But as soon as I use the anim script they get out of synch and you can clearly see the different prims, because the texture offsets don't fit together anymore.

Is there any way, to "synch" the texture animations over a large water surface?

linking and unlinkig the prims will sync animations...

using linked messages can resync the animation by turning it off and back on really fast, its not perfect and it wont work if the texure isnt resed apon resync.

other than that i think your SOL with llAnim

It did not for me. That was my first try, but it seems that - as the script will only animate the prim it is in - they run seperatly after being created. I will give it another try as soon as I am inworld.
I am not sure that link messages are fast enough for that, honestly. There will be small diffs in timing that should lead to small diffs in offsets. Or am I thinking on a wrong track?
Sorry, you've lost me. What my "SOL"?

Try shift-dragging the object (make sure the anim scripts are still in the prims).

The object that is left behind will be the copy and all of the scripts should reset at the same time thus syncing up the aimations.

Hi Intent (cool name!), when I shift drag something, the "remaining" object is resetted, but not the one that is moved. So the animation in the remaining object is started anew (if it is started by "onrez". If it is in synch with the new object is totally accidental

If I group/link more than one and shift drag them all, of course the first group is resetted. But still the anims do not synch allways. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Funny thing: its most often the root prim that is out of synch.

There's got be a better way!

Ya'know.. I thought about this a while ago.. and the solution is actually simpler than you think..

Being a client-side effect, texture animations arent running until the object comes into so.. so if you have a group of 10 water prims all together.. as long as you see them all at once, the texture anims will synch up for the most part.

Trying to make them sync when you make them wont affect whoever sees them later..

As Leena pointed out, texture animation is entirely a client side effect, so there is really no way to guarantee that animations across multiple prims will synchronize. You can get close though by setting the script to reset every so often in accordance with the SL clock. It won't be exact, and it will still seem out of sync from time to time, but it's about the best you can do.

Also, make sure you're using a texture that tiles on all sides. This will greatly help to minimize noticeability when it's out of sync. The library water textures are not all suitable without modification in Photoshop.

By the way, even Linden-created animations don't synchronize perfectly. A good example of this is the new ripple water effect in the 1.8 preview. It's really cool for sure, but if you look at it critically, you can see where the individual surface patches meet. There are edge lines al over the place where you can see where one animated instance ends and the next begins.

*sighs* Not, what I wanted to hear but an explanation at least. TY Leena, TY Chosen!

It was not clear to me that it is a client side effect. I missunderstood it to be a "global" or server-side feature because the effect changes the objects attributes (texture offsets), you can see in the edit-object dialogue. And that allways seemed like the indicator for server side changes to me.

You live to learn - and love ...

and yes using linked messages do cause abit of drift
and sol = SH-- outta luck