How do you design and build large buildings

Do you builders who specialize in big architecture (mansions, cathedrals, etc..) have any method (or tips, or tricks) in creating them? For example, do you make floorplans first, or build as you go? Do you design them on paper, or start from scratch?

I just get a basic idea in my head and go with it. I have found my best ideas come when I don't get stuck to a plan.

After the site plan is prepared I begin an iterative process in which a sketch on paper or a CAD drawing is refined concurrently with refining a 3D sketch using prims in SL.

Very large designs need this in order to compensate for distortion when viewed in SL. It is not possible to simply design on paper, or with a CAD system, translate that directly to prims, and have that design appear on your screen with proportions intact.

I always make templates for all 3 axes, line them up accordingly, and build on top of them. For large complex curves I usually build a scaffolding first, and then "skin" it afterwards. Also, I almost always have several reference photos or drawings open in a seperate window.

Stay tuned to SciFiGeeks.net for an upcoming tutorial on this subject, as well as an in-world class or two.

I generally build straight from my head, although I have made a few things from reference pictures. I usually use 10x10x10 prims to get a feel for the space, move them about, plan in 3d...look at things from different angles.

I love making a building fit the terrain, hardly ever use terraforming to change it.
Cali

Like others have said, it's all in the brain for me. I study the topography of the parcel, get input from the owner as to what they want from the build and start with prim #1.

I usualy look at pictures and such for some ideas, inspiration, what have you.

Then i just go for it. I'm no expert though, I have only made a few large things.

Traxx you are insane to CAD stuff.

My best large builds are straight outta my head too. I find that when I get too caught up in trying to make a build look 'exactly' like some photo from that other world we live in, then my build starts to look like another 'Box Build" bleh! Now if we just had a way to link large builds together, ahhhhhhhh what paradise that would be!

A floor plan..

First put it on paper and sketch it .. then I will recreate by drawing it to scale in photoshop (ok its never exact lol)

For small builds.. i wing it

It's all in my head for me. Occasionally I raid google images for inspiration (recently had to google up some pics of gothic architecture, for instance), but otherwise it all gets figured out in my head.

The main thing that you may want to look into for big buildings is repetition. Repetition seems to make the building more "cohesive", I guess (sorry, not a REAL architect )

So, if you have a large hallway (let's say 10m by 50m), put a support beam every 5 meters. Or a window design every ten. Or whatever. A repeating element makes the building seem bigger and better (better than simple walls anyway).

Just some thoughts. LF

Great thoughts, Lordfly. Repetition is good, and of course a consistent theme is key.

I tend to work in-world from inspiration, rather from paper or CAD. I'll start with an idea and work out some key elements, then play around with composing those elements into a cohesive whole. Some parts are easy, some are hard. All of my successful builds have started with a thought of a particular thing I wanted to try out. My longtime home started with me wondering if I could build something around a hexagonal floorplan. I built a big hex and some walls and it just grew up from there.

One of the drawbacks of my iterative/evolutionary approach is that I tend to tear down and rebuild a fair amount. Maybe as I get more experience I'll be able to accelerate the process. For now I find it enjoyable and effective.

I tend to sketch a few things out to develop an idea in my head, and then I start rezzing prims. Often the design I end up with is substantially different from initial sketches, because I'll tweak the design as I go. An initial vision in two-dimensional paper often doesn't survive contact with the three-dimensional environment, and when I'm actually inside a build, I'll often find things that need to be changed to make it feel right.

I sometimes use reference photos; the best example is the Stonehenge replica I built for the Winter Expo last year, and then rebuilt on my own land. I Googled for images, which I uploaded and consulted while building. In particular, I had a plan view of the entire site, which I stretched onto the tops of nine 10-square-meter prims to serve as a guide for placement of stones. I placed the stones directly on top of the guide. Once I had the initial layout done, I deleted the guide and just started fooling with individual rocks to make the place feel more natural.

My latest big build is a floating space station based on a pentagonal layout (yes, I'm a masochist). It's massive enough, and built from strange enough angles, that I needed to do some pre-calculation to make sure I could fit it on an oddly-shaped plot of land. I started by going into land-edit mode and sketching out the borders of the land on graph paper, which I then transferred into Illustrator so I could make a scale plan view of the entire site. From that, I could determine the dimensions and positions for the edges of the build, and I roughed in the basic layout with prims. From there, it was a simple matter of filling in the framework and embellishing with details.

I agree wholeheartedly with Lordfly's comment on repetition. The mind has a hard time coping with scale unless it has some details to latch onto, and obvious structural elements at regular intervals make a large build much more believable. I find it's worth the extra dozen prims or so to add support beams or other architectural doodads to a big wall.

Even if I'm building straight from my head, I still try to have some sort of plan in mind. In particular, I find it easier to build a large structure if I can break it down into building blocks that fill in a large grid, using 5-meter or 10-meter squares. It's much easier to make everything line up nicely if most of the build conforms to a regular grid, and it has the side benefit of providing regularity and cohesiveness to the structure.

Cali,

I like your way of thinking for a plan.. Is there anyplace you can
point me to that you have done..as to see some of your designs.

Nala

Hiya - yes, I have a couple of large builds in Rapture sim, which are open to all. you will soon be able to see Numbakulla, where I have built a number of large things, when it opens this week.

I have pictures of most of the other buildings I have made. If you Im me in game, I will send some or show you round the Rapture places . I'll try to append a picture of my late lamented castle in Dore....
Thanks
Cali

I don't do a lot of big builds, but I also look at pics for design ideas.
Luxury Real Estate is a treasure trove of different styles, from Greecian villas to mansions and modern co-ops.

I just rez a maxed out cube and go from there. I rarely have any idea what my builds will look like, other than as needed for it's function, but instead build on the fly, which to me is far less frustrating and much funner than trying to follow an exact plan or copy a RL build.

I'm actually an architect in real life.. and I can't use a plan to build by in game.. it just doesn't work for me. I get an image in my head and just kinda go from there.. it usually turns out quite different though.

Thanks for the link Jonquille! I've been looking for something like that for a while.

(I zen build - which has gotten much easier since I discovered snap to grid, so I can improvise without flashing textures everywhere by the time I'm done.)

Once I get my dsl installed and am able to get back into SL I hope to build my first house. I have drawn it out in grid paper and I hope it is to some scale, but I think i will have to change those plans. I have seen some of Traxx's work and I have to say he is very good. I guess the CAD really helps. Too bad I have not used my AutoCAD in 3 years I have forgotten everything, and to think at one point I had planed to design an entire 3D house on it at one point. I hope Traxx won't mind if I ask him for advice.

I'm with Azazel. Great link!
And I'll bet that company would be surprised that their site was being used to inspire builds in a fantasy world