Detail vs. prims

ok, so i have taken everyones advice on here about using prims for detail, and so instead i have used textures only. what does everyone think of this quick train model i snapped up (this will be the train model used in my RP sim, but with graffiti and an inside added)



i mean it looks better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but if i had to make a train (without an inside) for work and i made that and sent it to em i'd most likely be fired. why does SL have such a low region prim limit? there needs to be something done about it (mesh prims, shadows, normal mapping, even realtime bump mapping)

What can be done to add more detail to that modal (and others like it) so they don't look so flat and 1998 style? without using to many more prims

prims: 13 prims, can easily be reduced to 9 prims with texture detail

prim usage: 4 prims are for the 2 doors with door scripts, 4 prims for the outside of the train (front/side/back/otherside but this can be 1 hollowed prim), 2 prims for the roof (i can make it one on the final modal) and 2 prims for the wheels (yes this can be made as part of the main texture, wich will happen)

but apart from that, are there any other ways i can prim save, but at the same time add really high levels of detail?


edit: the 4 prims for the outside of the train will be used to texture the inside, so that can't be reduced sadly, as using the inside of a hollowed prim the textures go all funny and near impossible to align.

Chaos, this is a building question, so you really should take it to the Building Tips forum.

i did think about that, but even thou i am using a train as a modal (yeh this is building, but cloths/hair etc arn't) , this is a generic problem thru-out Second Life, cloths/hair/huds temp-on-rez etc

Chaos, this really isn't the place to ask this question. But I'm glad that you have resorted to the use of textures instead of prims for all the detail. For the rest of us, the difference is marginal whether the shadow of a ledge is generated by SL's lighting engine or by Photoshop. That said, the difference is not in how many prims used, but in the shadowing on the texture. Do more work in Photoshop.

I'd be cautious about alpha textures down low, near the floor or wheels.

Here's why.

First, if it goes on tracks, those are probably going to be alpha tracks. Which will look bad if there are transparency and draw issues with alpha wheels. This is why the trains I have done have non-alpha wheels.

Second, people wear alpha textures on shoes and clothes. If they go in there or near the train, again, draw issues with alpha on alpha.

its a building question..period..

and it looks fine. maybe make the wheels prim or something

its not so much the small details that matter, it is when you have, say for example a chair or table on the ground, and under it it looks as light as it does anywhere else, AND also the prims to make bookcase (or any other detailed piece of furniture) use up at least 7 is ridicules.

edit: yes i am aware of alpha texture issues, unforunatly there is jack shit we can do about that without using another 20 prims

also i think this is a pretty valid question, why not post it here. i am looking for resident answers, and this is the resident answers forum

This is a generic BUILDING problem thoughout Second Life. It belongs in Building Tips, or if you want to solve it by creating custom textures, then it belongs in Texturing Tips.

Very cool looking train.

hehe thanks i made the textures, but it does not satisfy me, i'd like it to be ALOT more detailed that than and i'm sure it looks better in that scaled down pic than it does in SL itself

building is or rather should be the balnce between prim count and use of texture. i'm guessing you went way low on prim count to try and prove a point that is not nessary to prove it's called balance

No i need relitivly low prim count so i can construct the full size city, and be able to have renters in it without running out all the time

It looks fine.. but you misunderstood us anyway

You need less prims where tons aren't NEEDED. Like your 25 prim barstool, 8(?) prim beer.. things like that. For a train, you dont have to use 2 or 3 (Which is what that looks like it might be, iono)

well the whole town will be low-mid prims, but i am sticking by my famos 25 prim barstool,

famous for prims or for quality?

If quality, make a 3-5 prim version using sculpties dude... same quality if you know how to do it well.

i would, but i very very very very much doubt they have a plug in for AC3D to export sculpties

wanna bet? check the building forum sculptie tools thread, down near the bottom of the first page (Dunno if theres more than one page)


http://www.inivis.com/secondlife.html

By putting AC3D and sculptie into Google yields

http://www.inivis.com/secondlife.html

as an url for sculptie plugins for AC3D.