Wiley Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life
Contents
1. Elm E L ADVANCED BUILDING TECHNIQUES You re now intimately familiar with the inner workings of prims and all of the build options With a little practice you should be able to construct just about anything But now it s time you roll up your sleeves and really get dirty In this chapter you are going to refine your building techniques and push the limits of what prims can do for you a e ar ta LE pi Y es L__ ER 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 42 9 5 07 1 27 27 AM Seoorosseseeceseeecseeseeeeeseeesceceseceseseeeseseeesesceeeseessereececeseeseceseseeecec hie OU s 94 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 43 9 5 07 1 27 31 AM Prim torture is the phrase Second Life builders use to describe the sick sadistic process of morphing prims into exotic new shapes that even Linden Lab may not have anticipated The results can be useful bizarre artistic and sometimes utterly paradoxical This section will expand your understanding of how prims really work and arm you with some tips and tricks to get the most bang from your prim buck E PATH CUT A path cut causes a wedge gap to appear in the prim such that the point of the wedge lines up with the prim s z axis An easy way to visualize this is to imagine the prim as a pie viewed from above and the path cut as a slice taken away by a hungry kid The cut will normally begin in the corner of the prim for those that have corners such as boxes and prisms2. Set Path Cut B 0 625 and E 0 875 oa OO D Use Shift Alt to size the prim as small as it can get 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 50 9 5 07 1 27 45 AM Technically this prim is still 1 Centimeter in size but by using Path Cut and Dimple we got the actual size to half a centimeter for any given side Figure 3 13 should give you a feel for how much smaller things can get from the 0 01m minimum Figure 3 13 Three boxes of size 0 5m 0 010m and 0 005m M BUILDING AN EVEN TINIER BOX Hollow when combined with cuts and dimples can also be used to overcome the 0 010 meter minimum prim size limit Let s try it 1 Rez a sphere 2 Set Hollow to 95 and set Dimple to B 0 53 and E 0 55 3 Set the Path Cut to B 0 620 and E 0 640 4 Shrink the whole prim using the size handles until it s a teeny weenie prim The prim is now a fraction of the size of the 1 centimeter box Figure 3 14 To make slight adjustments on the shape of the prim to get something closer to a cube you may want to reduce the hollow or the dimple Figure 3 14 Even compared to the 0 005m prim the third one from the left the micro prim is barely a speck 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 51 CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 51 9 5 07 1 27 46 AM M CONSTRUCTING A DELICATE CHAIN Let s create the links of a very delicate chain Figure 3 15 1 Rez a torus and size it down to 0 010 on all sides 2 Set Hollow
3. s hollow effect on a tube M PROFILE CUT Profile Cut is available only in radially extruded prims This feature is extremely useful for creating a variety of complex shapes that look like they use many more prims than they actually do Let s explore the Profile Cut options by making a little lounge table out of a tube Set Hollow to 95 and Hole Size Y 0 45 Now do a profile cut of B 0 25 and E 0 90 As you can see we now have a lovely restaurant table complete with base a central stand and a tabletop all with one single prim If you want to simulate a tablecloth set the profile cut B 0 20 By copying and reducing Figure 3 9 Aimee s five prim patio furniture set The the size of the table the same design stools are minor variations on the table design Fig a attractive low prim chairs igure 3 9 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 48 9 5 07 1 27 40 AM Ww Figure 3 10 This torus has some sexy curves The torus is even more interesting with Profile Cut Doing a profile cut of E 0 65 will give you a shape with a round base like to stretch this shape along the z axis and use it as a low prim streetlamp Now set Hollow to 95 and set Profile Cut to E 0 55 You ll start to see an hourglass shape Figure 3 10 which you can adjust using the Hole Size Y value Mi RADIUS DELTA AND REVOLUTIONS Figure 3 11 A scroll created by adjusting the Radius Delta of a tube Radius Delta is available
4. 42 AM Using Revolutions values on a torus is the foundation of an entire Second Life industry known affectionately as Hoochie Hair To make a single curl of hair rez a torus set Revolutions to 4 00 set the X and Y taper to 1 00 and set the skew to about 0 90 You now have a curly strand of hair Copy this approximately eight thousand times link and apply to the head Figure 3 12 You now have a doo that will slow anybody s client to a grinding halt which obviously is undesirable so use tori spraringly We will talk Figure 3 12 Aimee making cute banana curls using revolved more about hair creation in tapered tori Plywood colored hair is in fashion this season Chapter 5 Working with Clothing and Accessories WORKING WITH TINY PRIMS As you recall the minimum size for any prim is 0 010 meters or one centimeter This is fine for most builds but some projects such as jewelry require far more intricate detail This section will extend your knowledge of prim torture to whittle the little prims down to almost microscopic sizes Mi BUILDING A TINY BOX We will start by making a box that is 0 005 meters on all sides To do this we will trick the box into being smaller than advertised by adding a dimple 1 Rez a box Change the box to a sphere under Object Building Block Type Set the Dimple Begin value to 0 50 leave the End value as 1 00 Change the prim type back to a box
5. You can choose any value between O and 1 but there are eight commonly used cuts you should commit to memory for frequent use Figure 3 1 Cut values of 0 0 0 25 0 5 and O 75 are used to create diagonal cuts from corner to corner while values of 0 195 0 375 0 625 and 0 875 create cuts from edge to edge e050000 0 0 2 N Ul 29000 eewpee 375 o rra trs Path cuts are essential for creating shapes that are more complex and detailed than the basic building blocks themselves For example to create a drawer handle you could use a hollow cylinder or torus and then cut it in half cut value 0 5 However path cuts can also be used to conserve prims Lets say youre building a set of stairs each step 0 25 meters tall You might consider using one box for each step but by using cuts you can halve the number of prims Simply use a 0 5 meter box path cuts of 0 125 and 0 8 5 creating an L shaped prim stacking these boxes corner to corner would give you the exact same steps but would consume only half the number of prims Figure 3 2 Figure 3 2 Four steps created using four prims left and the same number of steps created using just two prims right 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 44 9 5 07 1 27 32 AM E HOLLOW Figure 3 3 A room using four prims left and the same room using one prim right Remember that the Hollow feature works along the path of an extruded 2D shape This means that for linear
6. current position You can also elect to TER 1 TER 2 CHAPTER 3 un 9 5 07 1 27 51 AM Snap one or more prims to the grid along the x and y axis using Tools Snap Object XY to Grid or by pressing Shift X This can be handy because it works on multiple selected prims saving you the trouble of having to snap each one individually to the grid For finer grid control you can bring up the Grid Options window Figure 3 16 by pressing the Options button in the Edit window going to Tools Grid Options or pressing Ctrl Shift B This window allows you to set the grid units and the extents for the grid and brings up a slider that lets you set the opacity for the grid You can also get a finer level of detail by changing the grid units or enabling the Sub Unit Snapping option The Show Cross Sections option colors the area of the prim where it intersects the grid making it easier to judge perspective Finally you can change the characteristics of the grid itself by using the Use Selection for Grid option in the Tools menu or by pressing Shift G This feature will adjust the proportions for the grid units based on the dimensions and rotation of the currently selected prim F a F One of the biggest pains in the virtual keister is making stairs The problem is that very small errors from one step to the next eventually e result in a sloppy overall appearance Therefore eye balling stairs is not recomm
7. to 95 and set Profile Cut values to B 0 28 and E 0 30 We now have a very tiny chain link that is about half a centimeter in diameter but let s not stop there 3 Set the hole size to value X 0 25 and Y 0 45 You could go even smaller but the shape would no longer look like a chain link Figure 3 15 Aimee examines her miniscule new bling 4 Now copy and rotate the teeny bling made with hollow cut tori prims until you have a little chain 5 Turn on Shiny for a pretty metallic look You just learned how to make a tiny item but after you have those skills you can simplify things by working on a large scale when working with small prims then resizing the item when its complete In most cases especially for rings will work at 50x scale so that no dimension x y or z axis size will be less than 0 5m use cuts and tapers to produce sizes smaller than my chosen minimum When you must work with small prims work on top of a larger prim with a contrasting color It is very easy to lose tiny pieces When determining final size of your item at least when it s intended to be sold or shared consider that other people may want it a different size than how you made it Allow for a little extra shrinking wc F i Mr er pe ee R a ee EL Th oe a 2 7 BUILDING BY THE NUMBERS By now you must think youre quite the hotshot using movement size and rotation handles like a pro But dont g
8. APTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 APPENDICES INDEX 47 9 5 07 1 27 39 AM Pan Tor lt J WORKING NITH TINY JUMBERS eo TORIAL BUILDING A STAIRCASE sheared tubes behave much like other radially extruded prims but you may notice that the tube looks a little odd when Top Shear is applied to it The top and the bottom seem to have a little distortion in the form of a bump But when you look inside the prim by doing a path cut of B 0 250 and E 0 750 you can plainly see that the distortion is caused by the inside corners of the base 2D rectangle which do not tilt when shear is applied Figure 3 8 Figure 3 8 Shear applied to a tube looks odd A cross section of the prim shows that the rectangular base shapes are the reason M HOLE SIZE Hole Size exists only on radially extruded prims As mentioned in Chapter 2 Mastering Second Life s Basic Building Blocks this feature has a very confusing name since its values control the hole size only indirectly by adjusting the dimensions of the 2D base shape The X value which represents the x axis adjusts the hole depth while the Y value which pertains to the y axis makes the hole smaller by widening the base shape Hole Size is useful for fine tuning tori destined to become vehicle tires or inner tubes You can also use it to simulate the cylinder
9. X 0 400 Figure 3 18 Perfect spiral stairs Now we want to place the two prims perfectly side by side so we are going to use the math we learned earlier 3 Take half the X size of the first prim 1 5 2 0 75 and half the X size of the second prim 0 4 2 0 200 4 Add the two together 0 75 0 2 0 95 5 Find the X position of the first prim add 0 95 to it and then use that as the X position value for the smaller pivot prim You now have two prims set perfectly side by side You may want to tint the smaller pivot prim to another color such as red you will be deleting the other pivot prims later but for now we will be using them as a center point for rotation Now you need to link the two prims together In the previous chapter mentioned how the order in which you select prims prior to linking is very important Well this will be your first real example as to why When we link prims the last prim selected becomes the root prim the prim around which the whole build will rotate when we start to enter rotational values 6 Select the long step first and then Shift select the smaller pivot prim Press Ctrl L to link your prims The root prim glows yellow when selected while all other prims glow blue 7 As we did with the regular staircase we want to start out with our stair snapped to a spot on the grid Go to Tools gt Snap Object XY to Grid or use Shift X and then use the planar drag handles to
10. dy Now we ll build a column that will finish off the look of our spiral staircase 13 Edit the first little pivot step 14 Set the building block type to Cylinder 15 Stretch the cylinder along the z axis until it becomes a mighty support pole giving apparent strength to our beautiful creation 9 5 07 1 27 54 AM
11. ended but give it a shot so you can see for yourself Instead you should use the Grid Options menu to make perfect stairs in record time Figure 3 17 1 Make the first step Rez a box and set its size to X 1 500 Y 0 400 and Z 0 050 That s a fine looking step Figure 3 17 Stairs made perfect by using grid features 2 Now bring up the Grid Options window and set Grid Units to 0 300 meters This is a decent distance from one step to the next 3 Now you must make sure the first step is aligned to the grid so pull on the planar drag handles in all directions until the prim snaps into one of the grid spots 4 Now Shift drag the planar drag handles upward creating a whole new step and then drag the step in the Y direction 5 Now do it again 10 more times Ta da Perfect steps 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 54 9 5 07 1 27 51 AM ER 1 ER 2 Now let s make something a CHAPTER 3 little more impressive a spiral staircase Figure 3 18 This time were going to use a combination of grid snapping and rotation 1 Rez a step with the same 4 dimensions as the last a step X 1 500 Y Ee 0 400 and Z 0 050 ER7 and again set Grid Units ER 8 to 0 300 ER 9 ER 10 2 We now want to link a ER 11 pivot point into the step A a Drag copy another step in the X direction so both ER 13 steps sit side by side then 1 R 14 resize this new prim so DICES that it s a perfect square set
12. et too smug your work is going to be sloppy until you learn one more critical concept building by the numbers The limitations of the prim handles become apparent when a project has little room for error When adjacent prims are not positioned perfectly against each other you may see a subtle line 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 52 9 5 07 1 27 48 AM disrupting the smooth surface When prims overlap improperly the textures on the overlapping prims may flicker as they fight to decide which texture is on top When you build by the numbers you use some simple math to position and size your prims perfectly E THE M WORD MATH For our first example we ll build a 20 meter long wall As you know the prim size limit is 10 meters so we will have to use two prims 1 Rez two prims and enter the following size values X 10 000 Y 0 500 and Z 5 000 2 Copy and paste the Y and Z position values of the first wall over to the second wall This will line up the two wall segments on all but one axis We don t want the same values for the X position on both wall segments that would cause both wall segments to occupy the same exact space Instead we will do a little math so both prims are precisely side by side 3 Find the length of the first prim the x axis size and divide it by two That s 10 2 5 4 Find the length of the second prim the x axis size and divide it by two That s also 10 2 5 5 Add the two t
13. ing two dissimilar prims next to each other then using your camera controls to zoom back from them When producing rounded corner builds the effect is quite apparent One of the most useful unintended aspects of LOD is the one prim door called an automatic iris because of the way the opening dilates and contracts like an iris To produce this rez a box and hollow it to 95 0 Now give it an end twist of 90 degrees and a z axis height of 0 01 As you zoom your camera toward it it will appear to open it will seem to close as you zoom away This is because SL is rendering it with fewer polygons as the distance from the camera increases However the effect will not be the same to each viewer your friend standing back some distance may see you walk through a seemingly closed door 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 46 9 5 07 1 27 37 AM Figure 3 6 Tapering turns the prism into a mysterious shape with a two dimensional side object size happens only on one end rather than on both E TOP SHEAR Figure 3 7 Shear on a linearly extruded shape left versus a radially extruded shape right 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 47 Taper is fairly straightforward with linearly extruded prims It lets you transform a cylinder into a cone and a box into pointy box This is handy especially when you want to create an obelisk or a monument But tapering a prism is far more interesting Let s try it Rez a prism and set the begin B and e
14. ists can sometimes be used in compensating for lower mesh detail in cylinders Remember that all prims even round ones are actually made up of flat triangular polygons People with lower end graphics cards typically run with lower mesh detail settings and so cylinders may appear blocky Adding just a little twist maybe a value of 25 or so creates a greater illusion of roundness Figure 3 5 A 10m cylinder background and a 20m tube twisted to cheat the 10m size limit foreground Finally twists behave very strangely on spheres enabling the most abstract art designs As you know spheres are radially extruded semicircles Adding twist to a sphere will cause these semicircles to rotate around the point that would be the circle s center This causes some odd effects when part of the semicircle pulls away from the z axis and leaves a section of the prim undefined This undefined area allows you to see right through the sphere Usine Lever oF DeraiL LOD to Your ADvANTAGE Level of detail or LOD as it is usually called is a graphics trick used for processing management Prims when viewed from a distance are rendered with fewer polygons This has a number of annoying effects along with a few useful ones Among the annoyances is the apparent shrinking of round prims most notably the sphere but also the tube ring torus and cylinder compared to rectangular prims and to each other You can see this by creat
15. ly extruded objects a hollow will appear along the z axis much like with path cuts but for radially extruded objects Hollow will hollow out a rounded shape While most hollow shapes match the extruded 2D shape you can also hollow out a circle a square or a triangle Like path cuts Hollow can be used to help save prims For example if you want to create a room with four walls you might use one box per wall totaling four boxes But the sawy builder could use one large hollowed box Figure 3 3 That s four wall surfaces for the price of one If you need to add a door simply play with the cut values Unfortunately the door will have to appear in the corner of the room since that s where box path cuts start Using a hollow prim as a room is a great way to save prims but it has one drawback When you try to alt zoom inside the room Second Life s camera will become confused and start behaving as though you are trying to look at the outside of the prim This can be annoying So using a hollow prim as a room is recommended only when prim conservation is your highest priority E TWIST Twists are the weapon of choice for many organic builds such as trees and flowers Like hollows twists occur along the path of extrusion so they behave quite differently for linearly extruded objects and radially extruded objects Linearly extruded objects are fairly straightforward for example twisting a box can give it a cruller shape and if
16. nd E taper values to 0 00 Now slowly increase the B taper value to 1 0 and watch the sides of the shape You will notice that one side buckles outward while another side buckles inward In fact the inward buckling side buckles so far that when you reach a taper of 1 0 part of the prim becomes two dimensional Figure 3 6 This is because all prims are made up of triangular polygons Press Ctrl Shift R to see the wireframe of the prim so you can see how the prim distortion works As always Taper is a different animal when applied to radially extruded objects For tori tubes and rings Taper works very much like the Hole Size option except that the change in 2D base For linearly extruded prims Top Shear offsets the 2D base shapes along the x and y axis so they are no longer located directly on top of one another This creates a slanted or sheared appearance The maximum offset is 50 percent so there will always be at least a 00 percent overlap between the top and bottom shapes For radially extruded prims Top Shear is more like side shear The two parallel shapes that are moved in relation to each other are located opposite each other halfway along the circular route around the z axis This makes the prim slope from one side of the loop to another Figure 3 7 This looks fairly natural and can be useful for organic builds such as statues of animals or people CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CH
17. ogether 5 5 10 You now have the offset 6 Find the x axis position for the first prim add the offset of 10 to that value and paste the result into the X position for the second prim If you did everything correctly you should have two wall segments sitting side by side There will be no gaps and no overlap It s mathematically perfect Mi USING SNAP TO GRID Another way to build precisely is to use the grid and the Snap to Grid option The Use Grid option is found in the Edit opte Er window along with an Options button en a that allows you to control the details GTS To use the grid grab the planar drag i less neral Object Features Texture Content if j Profile Profile Sot Touch grab default oF Figure 3 16 The Grid Options window 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 53 handles the little triangular move handles for the axis along which you wish to move A white grid will appear around your prim the grid includes a solid white line that represents grid units and finer lines that represent sub units You can toggle Snap to Grid mode by pressing G or going to Tools gt Snap to Grid Snapping to the grid is a lifesaver when it comes to allowing you to set precise positions without having to do as much math By setting the Ruler mode in the Edit window you can chose between using the global grid which is based on global coordinates and local grid which adjusts the grid to fit the prim s
18. only for radially extruded prims It lets you vary the distance for the 2D base shapes from the prim s z axis The result looks something like a scroll Figure 3 11 To see this rez a tube set the Hole Size Y value to 0 05 and set the Radius Delta to 0 947 This scroll is rolled up for only one revolution If you want to roll the scroll up more you will need to change the Revolutions setting however there are some catches First youre allowed a maximum of 4 00 revolutions Second the moment you change the revolutions the Skew value for the prim is adjusted automatically to prevent any part of the prim from overlapping with itself This creates a prim that looks more like a spring or a telephone cord than a scroll To see the effect of Revolutions on Skew rez a tube and change the Revolutions value from 1 00 to 1 01 You will notice that the prim instantly sets its Skew to 0 50 Although some edit features are available only for certain prims you can sometimes carry those effects over to other kinds of prims For example if you apply a dimple to a sphere then change the prim type to box you will be left with a box that is smaller than the size values indicate See the section Building a Tiny Box for details Feel free to experiment with different settings and then switch prim type to get results that go beyond even Linden Labs expectations 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 49 ER 1 ER 2 CHAPTER 3 9 5 07 1 27
19. snap the step on the z axis 8 Using the planar drag handles Shift drag the step upward to produce another step 9 Do this several more times until you have a stack of steps with 0 300 meters between every step Now we are going to rotate each step by entering incrementally larger numbers into the Z rotation axis We can rotate each step at any increment as long as we use the same increment for each step think 10 degrees of rotation per step will look nice 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 55 9 5 07 1 27 53 AM 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 56 10 Leave the first step alone z axis rotation of zero and set the Z rotation for the second step to 10 00 degrees The next one will be 20 00 degrees then 30 00 then 40 00 so on and so on You should now see an attractive spiral staircase The next step will be to remove the pivot points 11 Select all the steps and press Shift Ctrl L to unlink them all 12 Delete all but the first little pivot steps the rest are no longer needed Why keep the first pivot point Well when you get used to building by the numbers certain prims may become valuable simply because they hold position or size data that you may need later In this case were going to place a cylinder down the center of the spiral staircase You could rez a new cylinder and then go through the mathematical process of finding the exact center of the spiral but why bother The pivot prim contains that information alrea
20. tapered to a point it could make a convincing drill or unicorn horn Figure 3 4 Transforming a tube into a M bius strip using twist 042 057 Chapter 03 indd 45 Radially extruded objects on the other hand cause one of the ends of the extruded loop to break continuity and flip around If you enter a twist of 180 degrees on the beginning part of a tube it causes a half twist where it once again meshes up seamlessly with the end This creates the famous shape known as a M bius strip Figure 3 4 Performing the same trick on a torus makes a pretty lily like flower shape Many prims become distorted when twisting Here is a cool trick that takes advantage of this As you know there is a 10 meter limitation on prim sizes But say you wanted a cylinder larger than 10 meters perhaps for the foundation of a castle or for a landing pad for a spaceship TER 2 CHAPTER 3 9 5 07 1 27 35 AM Impossible Not if we torture the prims enough Create a 10 meter tube and set the Y Hole Size the hole size on the y axis to 0 05 which is the smallest possible value Now enter a begin B twist of 90 and an end E twist of 90 recommend starting at smaller Twist values and working up gradually to 90 so you can see how the prim becomes distorted and begins to spread out By the time both values are set to 90 you re left with a cylinder that has a 20 meter diameter It almost feels like cheating Figure 3 5 Tw
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