Tutorial/Tip - General Building Methodology

Heyos ^_^

(NOTE::THIS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY PICTURES LATER TODAY FOR CLARITY. Just not at home to get them atm)

SO... in this little thingy, which I'm not sure if to call a tutorial or amalgamation of tips/hints, I'll be explaining my method of starting, and continuing a project, in a way that allows me to generally use prim-saving methods, and attractive methods from the start.

First of all, my method ONLY works with a project that has a specific end-point in mind. If you're just going where the prims take you it's a bit different. Now then.. on to the info!
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Step 1: Visualizing
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First of all, I figure out the idea, before doing any building at all. If it's a house, what style, how big, etc. For this example I'll try to keep my methods with prim-log cottage in mind. (Covers many different techniques). So, let's see.. how would I want it to look? I personally can't draw for my life, so I just imagine it, and keep the mental image in my mind.

Let's say that this cottage will have two rooms. A Bedroom, and a larger 'sitting room' with a fireplace, and two windows in the living room, one in the bedroom. Roof made of logs joined at a line in the air (So the front would look like /\ and the side would be a rectangle). A single door in the front.

There's a basic image. Not worrying about furniture, only architecture (Which the fireplace counts as).
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Step 2: Beginning Building
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Next, after I've got my 'basic' idea done (Sometimes more detail, sometimes less), I lay out the floor. Floor always comes before walls for me, so that I can see how much room I have from the start, and won't be surprised.

If my building has an odd shape, then I will try different shapes together to make the floor with as few prims as possible, while being able to keep the texture angles correct (Never forget textures should align properly in the end, which takes some work)

After the floor, for this log cottage, I would make straight walls next, not log walls. That way I can quickly work out where I want logs to be, and where I'll have doors and such, and get a general idea of how it will look in the end, before I actually make the true walls.

Since I've now got some guidelines for my cabin, I'd make three base logs. Three is my personal choice, so that I can have three distinct log colour/texture/whatever to make it not all one exact log, as it looks less real if they all match.

From those three logs, I would continuously copy them by SHIFT+LMOUSE dragging them, and aligning them to the wall. If I want a window or a door, I shorten the logs to stop where they should, which is actually easier this way than it is with normal walls (In my opinion). I would overlap the corners of the logs to create a 'jointed' look, so that there isn't a little gap where they meet, and so it isn't just stopping inside of the other logs. (Think of the corners of a rustic log cabin. The 'lincoln log' corner effect)

OK, so we've got our walls. We have spaces open for windows and doors, so it's starting to look like a house. But we're still missing a roof. The angle of my roofs usually are by eye, whatever looks best to me. For this example, a log roof, I would take a single log, and angle it however I wanted, and make it long enough to go from just past the edge of the walls, to just past the center of the house (At the angle you want it, not 90* to the ground).

Then, I would add a sphere right where I want the logs to cross, link the log to it, and use that sphere to rotate the log 180*, and bam, the first two-log roof section is done. Then just SHIFT+LMOUSE drag it over and over to cover the rest of the roof.

OK, so now we have a basic house, with gaps and such in a couple places that we need things.

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Continuing the Build
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Now we need to fill in the gaps that are a problem first, the front of the roof (And the back) since there is now a triangular gap. I have two options, a flat covering, or more logs. For this tutorial thingy, I'll use flat, since it's harder in my opinion. (Logs would just get progressively shorter)

To do this, I would make a triangle block (Cube, taper one axis to 100%), and make it as thin/thick as I want it to be to match the wall. Next, center it in the empty space (Don't resize it but for thickness yet) by checking the X/Y location of a full-length wall log, and copying that. Now, I'd stretch it (By hand) to get it to fit in the sides, using the checkbox marked 'stretch both sides' so that I could keep it centered. After it's stretched to fit sideways, I'd turn off the 'stretch both sides' checkbox, and work on fitting it top to bottom. I wouldn't use the both sides method because in all likelihood, I didn't center it vertically, only horizontally.

Then just SHIFT+LMOUSE drag it and use the X/Y location of an opposite wall log.

Now I've got a log cabin, with no gaps that aren't OK to be left open! (Only gaps now should be windows and doors for this example)

For my windows, I just fill them with a thin cube, stretched to fit the hole, and then set to about 75% transparent. Doors I use a generic freebie door script, and whatever textures I have lying around. Not much you can mess up with those two items if you're used to building.

Now, however, we need an inside wall (Two rooms, remember?) If your house has a wall that has no window/door in it, you can simply copy that and move it to be in the right place/orientation, it's fastest. Or you can build a whole new one with the same method as above (Way up there)

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Tips and Hints
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So, we've now completed out little empty house. But That was all really basic, right? Here's a few hints and tips to make things just go easier.

1. When visualizing a project, try to envision it in prims, not the end result. This will allow you to see how prims will work in different parts, and you can try to visualize alternate methods of getting the shapes you want. (Drawing counts as visualizing too) In my mind I come up with a prim outline of a build, and use that to figure out where I can try to save prims.

2. Copy prims! There is no reason to remake every wall section/window/column, absolutely no reason! Just use SHIFT+LMOUSE drag to copy a prim, or linked object, and it will save you quite a bit of time. Sometimes you can even copy floors to make walls!

3. Link things effectively. I mean don't link random parts of the house together, link parts that make sense, like the front wall would be linked with front window(s) and door(s). If you can link EVERYTHING at once, then feel free to, but you probably won't want to until you're completely done.

4. Single-prim Unlinking. If you go to a linked object, and open your Build window, there is a 'select individual' mode in the top of the window. Select that, and select any prim(s) you want unlinked, and then hit CTRL+SHIFT+LKEY to unlink JUST those prims. This will keep the linked object linked, while removing that one prim. (This took me forever to learn... I kept unlinking and relinking whole projects)

5. Learn to use cut and hollow and skew and such to your advantage. If you're making something in an odd shape, you'll need to know the shapes you can make with each prim type. Mess around, figure out what all the options do, and use those to make odd shapes.

6. Don't over-prim it. If you add unneeded prims, you'll be limiting yourself, since you can't add as much to make it look good. If you can make steps out of a sculpty, and a plane to walk on, it's generally better to do that than it is to use 10, 12, 500 prims for a single staircase. You need to find a balance between prim allotment and quality. (More prims=higher quality in most cases, but not always).

7. Learn to align things properly. You can use the local ruler mode to move things/stretch things based on it's original place and/or size, and you can use math to place/size other things. Learn both. Do not rely on tools, because you can't always use them (No script areas and such) Also learn to work on a grid-textured platform. Helps with sizes and such, and helps keep things together in my opinion.

8. Texture before AND after building. Texture your 'base' pieces first (The ones you copy for everything else) and then when you're done building, go back and align the textures depending on where they are. Don't just expect it to be right because it is somewhere else in the build.

9. Know your limits. Don't volunteer/take a job for something you know you can't handle. If you do, you'll simply become frustrated, and you'll give up or not do as good a job because of it. Keep things within your skill range, and do harder things to learn on your own, don't do them for clients, since it will take longer and not be your best work.

10. Use sculpties. OK. I know, not everyone can make sculpties easily and whatnot, and some are downright against them (I was initially.. figured I didn't need them) but sculpties are magnificent. Buy some column, furniture, etc sculpty textures if you can't make them. Chances are you'll use them plenty. Most freebie sculpty texture kits come with columns, beveled cubes(Super useful), and tons of other things you'll use when you never think you would. Texturing is harder for a sculpty, but even when just done simply (Not actually making a texture for it, but repeats and angles and such look pretty good) it can look really nice.

11. Don't use sculpties. OK... not in general, but for things they aren't needed for. It takes less prims, but lags clients more, so it's generally better to use sculpties for things that will REALLY benefit from them than using it for something that looks like 3 or 4 prims anyway.

12. Use your imagination! You can get really creative to save prims without losing quality, like using a single prim and an interesting texture to be one thing on one side of a wall and another on the other (My favorite I've seen was a toilet on one, white, porcelain, and on the other side was a bronze sconce).

13. Have fun. Always. If you're not having fun, your work will not be as good, and you won't like doing it nearly as much, and will just stop eventually. Don't do it if it's not fun. There are other ways to make money in SL, and there is no reason for you to do something you don't like.

Here's my building tip: Make a scale model first rather than just jumping into a full-sized build. A scale model lets you work out any design issues that you might not have realized or thought of when sketching your ideas on paper or in your dreams.

I work in 10:1 scale, so a wall that will ultimately be 10m wide x 5m high x 0.1m thick (for example) is scaled to 1m x .5m x 0.01.

After I build the model, I take a little time to see if there is a more prim efficient way to get the same look. It's far easier to experiment with something that's one tenth the size of a full building.

Once the scale model is finalized, then I rebuild anew piece by piece, using the scale pieces as my pattern. Where I might have spent a few days fiddling with the design in the scale model, the full-sized building goes up very fast because I know what size and shape each piece needs to be and how to place it.

Plus, you also have a scale model you can whip out of inventory to show your friends!

I've never successfully used this personally lol.. I'm much better at building big than small (Clumsy with the camera is part of it)

It is a good tip though, for those that can build small, it's invaluable. The one time I did successfully do a scale model, I ended up with everything perfect in record time, it's a good technique ^__^

Thank you, Nickola

I love my scale models and usually make them just when testing a design idea or theory. When I'm making a custom house for someone I often give them the maquette of their house I made in the design stage as a cute toy.

True they tend to be even more prim heavy than the houses themselves but I love the work in miniature.

~Cy