How do I make a curved bridge?

I want to make a curved bridge. What type of prim do I use? I'm assuming I would hollow it and cut it? Can anybody tell me real quick the basics of how do to this?

(Yes, I know I really need to find time for some building classes!)

Thanks
Princess Ivory

Easiest thing is a cut & hollowed cylinder. Stretch it to the width you need.

A

What numbers would my cuts be? (I don't quite understand how that part works).

Do you have a picture of what you have in mind? How big?

In general, I suggest three things...one is to go somewhere, rez a big "thing", and then experiment with the parameters in the edit window, and get a feeling for waht they do. Try diff shapes, too.

Second, remember that your bridge might need more than one prim.

Third, go find some bridges you like, and use Edit to get some idea how they are made. You might have to use Menu to disable Edit Only My Objects.

Good luck.

I need to span a 25 meter canal.

You can IM me in game and I will help you.

Most prims are no bigger than 10m, so you cannot use *one* prim to make a 25m bridge. Imagine the bridge you want. It is probably made up of several pillars, a ramp up each end, the part that spans the water, and so on. The roadway will probably be several boxes, each made long, narrow, and thin, and carefully lined up. You will need some picturs of roadway to paste on them (textures).

The pillars will be tall, thin cylindars with some sort of wood or stone texture applied.

Are you getting the idea.

if I am sounding idiotic, forgive me for starting out too basic.

There are a couple of places...

Public Help Island
Ivory Tower of Prims

and others where there are tutorials for this kind of thing...

lee

Ok, a basic curved bridge to span 25M with a flat area in the center is easy:

Cylinder 1:
Hollow to 95%
Path cut 0.000 and 0.250
Stretch to width and height you'd like.
Center portion box
Flatten to match hollowed Cylinder 1 (not sure of exact dimension, maybe .250?)
Stretch to width and align with flat side of Cylinder 1.
Cylinder 2:
Drag-copy Cylinder 1 and rotate 180 degrees. Align with Center portion box.

Make each piece (on the spanning width) to be 8.33 (C1), 8.34 (Box), and 8.33 (C1copy).

This does not have any supports, no railing, etc. Flesh it out however you'd like.

A

Ah yes, that size really changes things. Normal prims only get to 10m in length, so you can't just stretch a single elliptical arc across the whole thing. Thus it would be tough to actually maintain a curve across the bridge unless you wanted to use up a single prim for every single flat angle on it (in which case, try Shape Gen).

Alternatively some mega-prims may do the job, if they don't prove to be too buggy, but, they're controversial....


Yes, to make the simplest bridge curve for one side, make a Cylinder prim, and then (using the shaping options in Edit window > More button > Object tab) give the Path Cuts a pair of values such that they are .25 apart, like 0.00-0.25. Rotate it (using ctrl-drag or the Rotation numerical entry) to a direction you want it to face, like an X-Rotation of 90.00 (degrees). Stretch it all the way out to 10.00m (ctrl-shift-drag, or change the Size entry) and you will have a 5m long curve. then apply the Hollow option to your preference.

For an interesting though quite similar alternative, try the Tube prim instead of the Cylinder. Be aware that its X & Z are switched, and instead of Hollow, you adjust the Hole Size. It also textures differently on the sides. If you decide to use it, you can take advantage of it's Hollow and Profile Cut to create a form with its own side walls.

EDIT: looks like they beat me to posting it.

Or alternatively, I think it would work well with two ramps on each side and 1 cross-cut cylinder or tube arc piece in the center. That would suggest a different curve, like an inverted and rounded "V", gives another possibility. Or, using 5 pieces, a concave arc piece to start up on one side, then a rising ramp, then a center convex arc piece, another ramp downwards, then a concave arc piece down on the other side. Interesting project.

Or you could try using a cube, hollow it using a circle and cut it in half. You would end up with a flat top (the road) and a nice arch over the water. Obviously you'd need maybe 3 of these so you'd have to mess with the cut on the outside two so they match the arch shape of the middle piece.