Sunday, April 4, 2010
Common Building Mistakes
I was recently talking to White Lebed, well known artist and curator of several art destinations in SL. We were talking about the architectural side of SL and the building of buildings in SL. One of the topics she brought up was the common mistakes individuals make when they "Build". Well having done many a building during my time in SL, I am familiar with the mistakes that occur while creating something. I may even venture to say I may have made every single mistake that's possible while creating over the time I have been in SL.
So I am going to address a few of the more common SL mistakes one can make when building. The list is in no specific order or of importance, so here goes:
*Attempting to Build with out your tag on, took a few tries when I was new to figure this one out.
*Creating to large an object on a parcel to small to support it, or rezzing a part of a build while going over the prim limit.
*Rotating an object that's too large to be turned on a small parcel and having it sent back by an auto return set to 0 by a neighbor (gezz) :)
*Not texturing a prim while creating it so that the non showing sides are bare prims (plywood texture) and having to go back and do it later when prims are linked.
*Going back to texture a bare section of a prim, when it is linked and not using the Texture Edit to texture it and texturing the whole object one texture all sides of all prims linked (yikes) did that a few too many times till I learned that one.
*Making prims different sizes along the same stretch of wall, floor, ceiling etc. Makes for a difficult texturing later on.
*Attempting to line up the axis on a single prim with an axis of an object when the object has multiple size prims attached in the group.
*Copying an important section of the build to rezz and use later and just leaving its name "object" (ok which "object" is it out of the 350 objects in inventory???
*Making a copy of an object by drag edit and its not the original prim (may be an other owner/your copy stays put, the original is dragged)- you lose the script perms or controls when edit drag copy some scripts.
*Not setting perms on prims or objects you make.
*Using a mega or an other creator prim in your build and making that the parent prim, so your not shown as the creator.
*Tinting, highlighting, shading a prim different that the prim surrounding it, so it looks off.
*Building a creation in a light setting that's not normal to most individuals in SL, I use an extremely bright light setting to build, so I always have to check to make sure not to dark for normal settings.
*Making a copy by drag edit when it is in an object and not unlinked from the object and the edit has been reset.
*Deleting here is a subject all to itself :)- Deleting platforms your working on, deleting an object behind an alpha that you did not want to delete, deleting an object rather than a prim.
Well that's a few of the more common ones that will occur as you build in SL.
Then of course you can add in advanced build technique errors, scripting or rezz box mistakes and the list just gets bigger and bigger.
Good Building
Nyx
Monday, August 23, 2010
Archived - Prim Pushers - Improving Your Building Skills Overall
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Improving your Building Skills Overall
The truth is the only way to get better at most anythings is to practice and practice often. When I first came in world before I had a place dedicated to building and creating, I used sandboxes or friends places with prim limits of course and practiced twisting prims, basic designs and texturing.
I still occasionally pull out a wild twist I had done in the early days. I guess the ones I made then where just from tweaking the prims over and over. Change a type of prim from one to another and continue to change the parameters as I went along. The point was I was practicing the basics that all advanced builders have learned and utilize in all builds they do.
The same can be said for improving your design skills, this can be achieved in a few ways;
Visit other places in world that are at a better level of skills in building that you are at currently.
Look on line at pictures of places, designs, buildings, architecture from all ages and all styles.
Read about the development of styles and design principals the more you learn the better your understanding and abilities to apply these principals will be.
Step out side of your comfort zone, try something you haven't done before and have fun while trying it.
Improving your Building Skills Overall
The truth is the only way to get better at most anythings is to practice and practice often. When I first came in world before I had a place dedicated to building and creating, I used sandboxes or friends places with prim limits of course and practiced twisting prims, basic designs and texturing.
I still occasionally pull out a wild twist I had done in the early days. I guess the ones I made then where just from tweaking the prims over and over. Change a type of prim from one to another and continue to change the parameters as I went along. The point was I was practicing the basics that all advanced builders have learned and utilize in all builds they do.
The same can be said for improving your design skills, this can be achieved in a few ways;
Visit other places in world that are at a better level of skills in building that you are at currently.
Look on line at pictures of places, designs, buildings, architecture from all ages and all styles.
Read about the development of styles and design principals the more you learn the better your understanding and abilities to apply these principals will be.
Step out side of your comfort zone, try something you haven't done before and have fun while trying it.
Archived Prim Pushers - The Forgotten Art in SL
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Forgotten Art in SL
I was at the opening of the M Linden Art Exhibit at the Lawrence Wilson Gallery at the University of Western Australia the other day. The UWA campus is a wonderful place to visit there are multiple connected sims allowing you to see a large cross section of Art by many artists. Plus very nice RL renditions of buildings from the Universities campus along with SL inspired builds.
At the opening of the M. Linden Doodle art exhibit, there was a large showing of individuals from the SL art community. White Lebed, Glyph Graves, Miso Susanowa, Ralphaella Nightfire, Mills Frolic, Igor Ballyhoo, Soror Nishi, Chantal Harvey, Larkworthy Antfarm and about 70 other individuals. While on the RL side viewing in on computers from across the globe was Len Zuks the renown Australian artist, who was also the host of the event at the University of Western Australia where he and Jay Jay Zifanwe and many department heads from UWA with guest viewed real life sculptures and SL created renditions of Lens sculptures by Miso Susanowa. The highlight of the show in both worlds was the revealing of M. Lindens (Mark Kingdon CEO of Linden Labs). Doodle art collection that was collected and turned into a show in both worlds by curator White Lebed. The collection can be viewed at the UWA campus in world at the WASP sim, also there are wonderful machinima videos about the art of M. Linden produced by Chantal Harvey,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=War8_f0Ef2I
and By Larkworthy Antfarm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMXka6fuU_c
which can be viewed on line, copy and paste links.
M Linden did a nice job of explaining a little about himself and how art had been a part of his life for a long time. It was a wonderful time and was nice to see we all doodle and have a lot in common.
The M. Linden Doodle Art exhibit can be viewed at:
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia (UWA)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/239/216/28
After the main event many individuals stayed around and chatted as usual for an event like this. During this part of the evening I brought up the topic of how I personally felt that one of the in-world forms of art is not reported on or really discussed that much in world by individuals or by the dozens of in world magazines that cover the topics of art and in world places to see and experience.
When asked what that was, I stated I was referring to in-world architecture (buildings) and how it is a form of Art to it self. I was surprised by the varied responses I received from that statement, they ran the gambit from the metraverses is only to create and design creations that are not possible in real life to the comment that many architectural events are covered but it was revealed that they where build contest or recreations of famous RL architects and their builds in the real world. Now these comments where from knowledgeable creative and capable designers and builders in world that I have come to know and respect their abilities and creations.
I stated that I really love and respect the architect mentioned Frank Lloyd Wright, my personal favorite and that builds that cannot be created in RL are a great thing for and to do it SL. But SL is an opportunity to design and create any thing you want to, not matter what format or design it follows RL or SL. I made the point that architectural builds in SL either fantasy based or real life based designed are not seen as an Art form in SL and are the step child of Art that's created in SL.
This is demonstrated clearly by the low percentage of artists that participate in the Imagine/Flagship Challenge of the UWA challenge. On average you have 5% of the individuals from the monthly challenge participating in the Flagship side. When I have personally spoken to artists and individuals who have gone to the UWA challenge to view the art and builds most admit they have not seen the Flagship builds and when attending the Challenge party each month it's usually the first time a larger percentage of them have seen the flagship builds for the first time. I know this to be true because I get comments in IM chat telling me I had not seen this before what a great build, also I have spoken to other Flagship builders and its a common thing to them also.
So I guess my question, the point of this article is why are builds of architectural nature a step child to art it self in SL when some of the builds in SL are truly amazing creative and technically challenging forms of art them selves. That apply all the same principals and techniques that are used to create Art forms in SL, texture creations, designs and creating processes, scripting and other SL based creations techniques.
I personally feel that its based on several reasons, the first being there are literally thousands of fair to badly designed and built buildings in SL. So many so that they have become the accepted norm in the metraverse we inhabit. Second when a truly RL based building is come upon its accepted as the way it should be and is not given an other thought. I will state that the art community portion that reports on art and the creative side of it will identify and talk about fantasy based builds occasionally which is a good thing to see and have as recognition of buildings as an art form in SL. But at last RL renditions of any type of build that are not in a competition usually a rendering of a famous build or designer are not addressed or seen as an art form.
Now, I know that the low participation rate in the UWA Flagship is not all based on the reason, individuals do not like or consider building to be an art form. But I do believe that Builders of Building be they RL based or SL based do need to improve their skills and get beyond the prefab mind set of building structures in SL. The release of the free homes by the Lindens to new land owning accounts alone should be awake up call to all prefab builders in SL. There are only so many variations and texture redoes one can apply to the few shoe boxes styles they create that are called creative and stylish homes in SL before it just wont fly any longer. This is not to say all are the same thing over and over type builders but there is a great percentage that are in SL.
And to the Art community as a whole I suggest you embrace the creative design and creation of builds in SL as the true art forms they are, be it a RL or SL based design. For isn't Art the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. Which is one of the things that happens when you enter into and experience a truly great building in SL no matter what style or design it is.
Nyx
The Forgotten Art in SL
I was at the opening of the M Linden Art Exhibit at the Lawrence Wilson Gallery at the University of Western Australia the other day. The UWA campus is a wonderful place to visit there are multiple connected sims allowing you to see a large cross section of Art by many artists. Plus very nice RL renditions of buildings from the Universities campus along with SL inspired builds.
At the opening of the M. Linden Doodle art exhibit, there was a large showing of individuals from the SL art community. White Lebed, Glyph Graves, Miso Susanowa, Ralphaella Nightfire, Mills Frolic, Igor Ballyhoo, Soror Nishi, Chantal Harvey, Larkworthy Antfarm and about 70 other individuals. While on the RL side viewing in on computers from across the globe was Len Zuks the renown Australian artist, who was also the host of the event at the University of Western Australia where he and Jay Jay Zifanwe and many department heads from UWA with guest viewed real life sculptures and SL created renditions of Lens sculptures by Miso Susanowa. The highlight of the show in both worlds was the revealing of M. Lindens (Mark Kingdon CEO of Linden Labs). Doodle art collection that was collected and turned into a show in both worlds by curator White Lebed. The collection can be viewed at the UWA campus in world at the WASP sim, also there are wonderful machinima videos about the art of M. Linden produced by Chantal Harvey,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=War8_f0Ef2I
and By Larkworthy Antfarm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMXka6fuU_c
which can be viewed on line, copy and paste links.
M Linden did a nice job of explaining a little about himself and how art had been a part of his life for a long time. It was a wonderful time and was nice to see we all doodle and have a lot in common.
The M. Linden Doodle Art exhibit can be viewed at:
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia (UWA)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/239/216/28
After the main event many individuals stayed around and chatted as usual for an event like this. During this part of the evening I brought up the topic of how I personally felt that one of the in-world forms of art is not reported on or really discussed that much in world by individuals or by the dozens of in world magazines that cover the topics of art and in world places to see and experience.
When asked what that was, I stated I was referring to in-world architecture (buildings) and how it is a form of Art to it self. I was surprised by the varied responses I received from that statement, they ran the gambit from the metraverses is only to create and design creations that are not possible in real life to the comment that many architectural events are covered but it was revealed that they where build contest or recreations of famous RL architects and their builds in the real world. Now these comments where from knowledgeable creative and capable designers and builders in world that I have come to know and respect their abilities and creations.
I stated that I really love and respect the architect mentioned Frank Lloyd Wright, my personal favorite and that builds that cannot be created in RL are a great thing for and to do it SL. But SL is an opportunity to design and create any thing you want to, not matter what format or design it follows RL or SL. I made the point that architectural builds in SL either fantasy based or real life based designed are not seen as an Art form in SL and are the step child of Art that's created in SL.
This is demonstrated clearly by the low percentage of artists that participate in the Imagine/Flagship Challenge of the UWA challenge. On average you have 5% of the individuals from the monthly challenge participating in the Flagship side. When I have personally spoken to artists and individuals who have gone to the UWA challenge to view the art and builds most admit they have not seen the Flagship builds and when attending the Challenge party each month it's usually the first time a larger percentage of them have seen the flagship builds for the first time. I know this to be true because I get comments in IM chat telling me I had not seen this before what a great build, also I have spoken to other Flagship builders and its a common thing to them also.
So I guess my question, the point of this article is why are builds of architectural nature a step child to art it self in SL when some of the builds in SL are truly amazing creative and technically challenging forms of art them selves. That apply all the same principals and techniques that are used to create Art forms in SL, texture creations, designs and creating processes, scripting and other SL based creations techniques.
I personally feel that its based on several reasons, the first being there are literally thousands of fair to badly designed and built buildings in SL. So many so that they have become the accepted norm in the metraverse we inhabit. Second when a truly RL based building is come upon its accepted as the way it should be and is not given an other thought. I will state that the art community portion that reports on art and the creative side of it will identify and talk about fantasy based builds occasionally which is a good thing to see and have as recognition of buildings as an art form in SL. But at last RL renditions of any type of build that are not in a competition usually a rendering of a famous build or designer are not addressed or seen as an art form.
Now, I know that the low participation rate in the UWA Flagship is not all based on the reason, individuals do not like or consider building to be an art form. But I do believe that Builders of Building be they RL based or SL based do need to improve their skills and get beyond the prefab mind set of building structures in SL. The release of the free homes by the Lindens to new land owning accounts alone should be awake up call to all prefab builders in SL. There are only so many variations and texture redoes one can apply to the few shoe boxes styles they create that are called creative and stylish homes in SL before it just wont fly any longer. This is not to say all are the same thing over and over type builders but there is a great percentage that are in SL.
And to the Art community as a whole I suggest you embrace the creative design and creation of builds in SL as the true art forms they are, be it a RL or SL based design. For isn't Art the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. Which is one of the things that happens when you enter into and experience a truly great building in SL no matter what style or design it is.
Nyx
Archived Prim Pushers - Perspectives in SL and Building
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Perspectives in SL and Building
One of the biggest challenges in SL for many builders new or seasoned is getting the perspective of the build correct. The first challenge comes from the viewer it self and the distance you are from your avatar and the field of site you have of the avatars view of the world around it. Then you have the misconception that the building should be in size proportion to the average height of an avatar, this is compounded by individuals believing that real life dimensions apply to SL. It creates a unique set of challenges and views that do not always work so well in the SL environment.
So as you can see there is a lot of information you must take into consideration when making a build to interact in and have a good experience with. Some of the things you need to take into consideration when builds is the average avatar is not the height of the average human. Along with the view most people have are from above and behind their avatars head, so your view is raised up by about 3 feet and back about 6 feet on average(forgive not in meters).
This makes the ability to build in perspective based on the average avatar size more difficult. Compounding this is the desire to attempt to build in scale by some builders and people in general, It does not work well, just walk around a build done in RL scale and see how often your cam is outside the walls or attempt stairs halls that turn. Your lost in the walls, simple as that. What good is to have a build built to scale and you cant enjoy it??
The other challenge are the silly avatar measuring devices, they usually just go to your eye height and are usually older by a few years. So they give you information about the so called average height before the avatar growth spurt in 2008 where it seemed lots of avi's got taller and maxed on the height. ( I wont mention I'm 8'2")
So I use a build concept for SL that I call "SL" view or Sight Line view, this is a style of design I developed specifically for Sl builds that avatars occupy. It follows the basic rules of design but adds in the factors I discussed to allow for a better SL experience. So the height of walls and the layout of the builds is a little higher, wider and a little more open in feel and look than some typical builds in Second Life. I do this for a few reasons.
First so you can see better while in one of the builds and cam easier while moving through it. This allows for you to place furniture in a way that when you sit you are not outside the walls looking in at a wall and not your interior. I also suggest you do not place furniture and interactive items against the outer walls of the build. As in RL any interior designer will tell you come away from the walls and live in your space.
Second I use this concept allowing you to see where you are and where you want to go while in the build. Low ceiling and small confined spaces make the build feel claustrophobic and excessively textured.
I suggest you develop interactive areas inside your home and have the enjoyment of seeing what has been created for you with out feeling crushed and having a blocked view.
Along with a more open use of prims the proper application of textures and color scheme will help make the build seem open and airy. So lighter colors up top and darker at the base, while applying a lesser repeat ration on lower sections and not overly repetitive ratios up top.
By openning the build demensions and proper texturing and your builds will fit the smallest to tallest avi and look and feel right every time.
Nyx
Perspectives in SL and Building
One of the biggest challenges in SL for many builders new or seasoned is getting the perspective of the build correct. The first challenge comes from the viewer it self and the distance you are from your avatar and the field of site you have of the avatars view of the world around it. Then you have the misconception that the building should be in size proportion to the average height of an avatar, this is compounded by individuals believing that real life dimensions apply to SL. It creates a unique set of challenges and views that do not always work so well in the SL environment.
So as you can see there is a lot of information you must take into consideration when making a build to interact in and have a good experience with. Some of the things you need to take into consideration when builds is the average avatar is not the height of the average human. Along with the view most people have are from above and behind their avatars head, so your view is raised up by about 3 feet and back about 6 feet on average(forgive not in meters).
This makes the ability to build in perspective based on the average avatar size more difficult. Compounding this is the desire to attempt to build in scale by some builders and people in general, It does not work well, just walk around a build done in RL scale and see how often your cam is outside the walls or attempt stairs halls that turn. Your lost in the walls, simple as that. What good is to have a build built to scale and you cant enjoy it??
The other challenge are the silly avatar measuring devices, they usually just go to your eye height and are usually older by a few years. So they give you information about the so called average height before the avatar growth spurt in 2008 where it seemed lots of avi's got taller and maxed on the height. ( I wont mention I'm 8'2")
So I use a build concept for SL that I call "SL" view or Sight Line view, this is a style of design I developed specifically for Sl builds that avatars occupy. It follows the basic rules of design but adds in the factors I discussed to allow for a better SL experience. So the height of walls and the layout of the builds is a little higher, wider and a little more open in feel and look than some typical builds in Second Life. I do this for a few reasons.
First so you can see better while in one of the builds and cam easier while moving through it. This allows for you to place furniture in a way that when you sit you are not outside the walls looking in at a wall and not your interior. I also suggest you do not place furniture and interactive items against the outer walls of the build. As in RL any interior designer will tell you come away from the walls and live in your space.
Second I use this concept allowing you to see where you are and where you want to go while in the build. Low ceiling and small confined spaces make the build feel claustrophobic and excessively textured.
I suggest you develop interactive areas inside your home and have the enjoyment of seeing what has been created for you with out feeling crushed and having a blocked view.
Along with a more open use of prims the proper application of textures and color scheme will help make the build seem open and airy. So lighter colors up top and darker at the base, while applying a lesser repeat ration on lower sections and not overly repetitive ratios up top.
By openning the build demensions and proper texturing and your builds will fit the smallest to tallest avi and look and feel right every time.
Nyx
Archived Prims Pushers - Advanced Building Lessons
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Advanced Building Lessons In SL
Improving your skill sets as a builder can be a time consuming ordeal, especially if your an occasional builder or artist in SL. After looking at the basic tutorials and taking build class in world there's not a lot of information or training for advanced abilities that is easily found or available. I have come across a couple of places that give some great advice and information in a group discussion or training format that may be worth opening up a space in your groups to participate in.
The first is the now combined UWA / Burniversity Artist talks that happens on a monthly basis, some of SL most creative and unique builders and artist do an informal but information packed talk about special projects or building processes they use in world.
The group to join is either to attend these great sessions:
UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge - Hosted by Jay Jay Zifanwe and quadrapop lane ~ The UWA group has the largest Art & Build challenge in SL, a monthly contest going on for a yearn now half way through
Burning Life - Hosted by Dusty Linden & White Lebed ~ The Burning Life group is the in world version of Burning Man with a large vast knowledge base of every conceivable skill set needed in SL
Besides Introductory Building lessons occasionally some of the Building classes in SL have advanced techniques discussed, some of the more established schools will have a wider variety of information available at them.
Here's a few I have visited or attended over my time in world. There are many schools in world and I can't visit them all, so if you know of a good one please post it.
Builders Brewers
Fermi Sandbox and University
Happy Hippo Building School
Ivory Tower Library of Primitives
NCI Class Building
Oxbridge Class
TLE Educational Network
The other place to get some good advanced skills training is from builders and designers that sell build products. Off the top of the head I can think of a few, but remember these are places of business that are not build classes but belonging to the group does have advantages and information normally not obtained:
Kerhops Innovations
Skidz Partz & Sandbox Gate
Sweet Sculpties
To name just a few of hundreds available.
Finally the last good place to look is in Groups, the amount of information and knowledge that's shared in groups is over whelming. Bigger groups or extremely specialized groups will serve your interest best. So look on the search or ask fellow builders and store owners that specialize in build products or do what I like to do Profile pick look in peoples Picks to see where they go and like you will be amazed at the places and people you will find from profiles.
So look for build, texture, script, sculpt, animations, gestures groups to help you learn more about how to in SL. As always do the search and look in the SL Wiki for a starting point! Then start interacting and sharing what you know and find out something new. This is only the in world help available there is a whole universe outside of Sl with tutorials, videos and information available for you, so explore and post what you find that's good and helpful.
As always your welcome to post once you join the group and all questions will be answered. Your also welcome to drop by the in world Prim Pusher location to pick up tutorials and some builders texture tool box items.
Nyx
Advanced Building Lessons In SL
Improving your skill sets as a builder can be a time consuming ordeal, especially if your an occasional builder or artist in SL. After looking at the basic tutorials and taking build class in world there's not a lot of information or training for advanced abilities that is easily found or available. I have come across a couple of places that give some great advice and information in a group discussion or training format that may be worth opening up a space in your groups to participate in.
The first is the now combined UWA / Burniversity Artist talks that happens on a monthly basis, some of SL most creative and unique builders and artist do an informal but information packed talk about special projects or building processes they use in world.
The group to join is either to attend these great sessions:
UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge - Hosted by Jay Jay Zifanwe and quadrapop lane ~ The UWA group has the largest Art & Build challenge in SL, a monthly contest going on for a yearn now half way through
Burning Life - Hosted by Dusty Linden & White Lebed ~ The Burning Life group is the in world version of Burning Man with a large vast knowledge base of every conceivable skill set needed in SL
Besides Introductory Building lessons occasionally some of the Building classes in SL have advanced techniques discussed, some of the more established schools will have a wider variety of information available at them.
Here's a few I have visited or attended over my time in world. There are many schools in world and I can't visit them all, so if you know of a good one please post it.
Builders Brewers
Fermi Sandbox and University
Happy Hippo Building School
Ivory Tower Library of Primitives
NCI Class Building
Oxbridge Class
TLE Educational Network
The other place to get some good advanced skills training is from builders and designers that sell build products. Off the top of the head I can think of a few, but remember these are places of business that are not build classes but belonging to the group does have advantages and information normally not obtained:
Kerhops Innovations
Skidz Partz & Sandbox Gate
Sweet Sculpties
To name just a few of hundreds available.
Finally the last good place to look is in Groups, the amount of information and knowledge that's shared in groups is over whelming. Bigger groups or extremely specialized groups will serve your interest best. So look on the search or ask fellow builders and store owners that specialize in build products or do what I like to do Profile pick look in peoples Picks to see where they go and like you will be amazed at the places and people you will find from profiles.
So look for build, texture, script, sculpt, animations, gestures groups to help you learn more about how to in SL. As always do the search and look in the SL Wiki for a starting point! Then start interacting and sharing what you know and find out something new. This is only the in world help available there is a whole universe outside of Sl with tutorials, videos and information available for you, so explore and post what you find that's good and helpful.
As always your welcome to post once you join the group and all questions will be answered. Your also welcome to drop by the in world Prim Pusher location to pick up tutorials and some builders texture tool box items.
Nyx
Archived Prim Pushers - Texture Tool Box
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Texture Tool Box
One of the challenges artist and builders have with texturing is having the right texture to correct small little things that often pop up in a build. This is especially true when working on an existing project or working on an original self created texture job and you have not made all the textures you needed or the design came out different than expected. So over the course of time we all have the go to textures we use to correct or create the texture we need while creating a project.
I have included some basic textures that I use to develop or correct on the fly when an issue comes up during a build. They include a texture to help with glimmer when one side of a prim is light and the other is dark, such as the ceiling and roof textures on the same prim. Also included are some simple graphic designs that can be used to create some very visually striking designs when applied to textures and tweaked to the desired effect.
The best way to use these is to apply to a prim, shape the prim and then arrange and tweak the texture to the desired effect. I have found using offsets and angles with the textures and multiples gives a wide variety of looks to one texture.
Then use the the "UI - color under cursor" to match the tint of the texture your are working on to the surrounding prims and you have a great looking fix or creation on your build. Hint* often due to the color of the texture being tinted you will have to move the tint guideline numbers RGB - HSL to get it to match perfect.
Here is an example of a textures I carry in a folder on all jobs I do.
The first set I use I call Correction textures, they help eliminate glimmer and shimmer or alpha edges in builds. This texture is applied to the not seen section of the prim that has a light side and an opposite dark side to the prim. By tweaking and tinting you should eliminate any and all glimmer.
The next set I use for creating effects on prim to match designs on builds I may not have the original texture or want to create a fast unique texture with out going into photo shop or gimp. Sort of a fast fix on the fly which does work very well. This set consist of several different types of black and white textures from straight lines to waves and circles, depending on the build and texture needed at the time.
You can also create your own set of work texture tools in photo shop or gimp, I have done some simple straight forward ones in stone and wood which can help in many styles and types of builds.
* Included are two sample of this, I want to thank Infiniview Merit for doing the original samples for me and the more advanced looking one. Since that time I originally spoke to him abut this concept I have taken the time to learn how to use the Photo shop program I have correctly. Thanks again Infiniview.
One of the things I do enjoy is using the sets to create one of a kind looks on walls or columns, so be creative and expand your texture tool box.
All of the textures seen and additional ones can be acquired in world at the Prim Pushers location on the Waka Sim 33 95 45
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Waka/33/95/45
Nyx
Texture Tool Box
One of the challenges artist and builders have with texturing is having the right texture to correct small little things that often pop up in a build. This is especially true when working on an existing project or working on an original self created texture job and you have not made all the textures you needed or the design came out different than expected. So over the course of time we all have the go to textures we use to correct or create the texture we need while creating a project.
I have included some basic textures that I use to develop or correct on the fly when an issue comes up during a build. They include a texture to help with glimmer when one side of a prim is light and the other is dark, such as the ceiling and roof textures on the same prim. Also included are some simple graphic designs that can be used to create some very visually striking designs when applied to textures and tweaked to the desired effect.
The best way to use these is to apply to a prim, shape the prim and then arrange and tweak the texture to the desired effect. I have found using offsets and angles with the textures and multiples gives a wide variety of looks to one texture.
Then use the the "UI - color under cursor" to match the tint of the texture your are working on to the surrounding prims and you have a great looking fix or creation on your build. Hint* often due to the color of the texture being tinted you will have to move the tint guideline numbers RGB - HSL to get it to match perfect.
Here is an example of a textures I carry in a folder on all jobs I do.
The first set I use I call Correction textures, they help eliminate glimmer and shimmer or alpha edges in builds. This texture is applied to the not seen section of the prim that has a light side and an opposite dark side to the prim. By tweaking and tinting you should eliminate any and all glimmer.
The next set I use for creating effects on prim to match designs on builds I may not have the original texture or want to create a fast unique texture with out going into photo shop or gimp. Sort of a fast fix on the fly which does work very well. This set consist of several different types of black and white textures from straight lines to waves and circles, depending on the build and texture needed at the time.
You can also create your own set of work texture tools in photo shop or gimp, I have done some simple straight forward ones in stone and wood which can help in many styles and types of builds.
* Included are two sample of this, I want to thank Infiniview Merit for doing the original samples for me and the more advanced looking one. Since that time I originally spoke to him abut this concept I have taken the time to learn how to use the Photo shop program I have correctly. Thanks again Infiniview.
One of the things I do enjoy is using the sets to create one of a kind looks on walls or columns, so be creative and expand your texture tool box.
All of the textures seen and additional ones can be acquired in world at the Prim Pushers location on the Waka Sim 33 95 45
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Waka/33/95/45
Nyx
Archived Prim Pushers - Textures in the SL World
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Textures in the SL World
Recently, I was having a conversation with an other Builder in SL about different types of builds and why some people focus on one particular design style and usually just produce that format and variations of it only. We discussed the reasons why, some where as simple as they have a market for that particular type of build, they have mastered that style, or its what they like and enjoy building. Finally after several different reasons where brought up one that I had never considered was mentioned. It's the only type of textures they have in their tool box.
Well being a certified "Texture Whore" it had never crossed my mind that a lack of textures could limit the type of builds one could make. So I asked around and found this is a little more common than I had imagined. So what I would like to discuss is ways to get around this issue and allow individuals to produce a wider variety of build styles with even a limited amount of textures.
The first place to look for textures is to do a search in the SL search box "Free Textures" it came up with a response of over 5000 hits. Now will all 5000 of them be the best free textures on the grid not likely but it will give you a starting place to begin looking and searching for textures.
There are also some great texture makers in SL that have stores and do specials and discounts on textures as promotions. Some stores sell singles and others just sets. So by exploring a few stores you will see a range of style qualities and prices. Procuring a good basic build set of textures, doors, walls, windows, floor, roof and so on will go a long way in allowing you to build various styles.
The other place to increase your texture collection is to make them yourself by using one of the many programs available to create textures such as Photoshop or Gimp. Each has its strong points and cost factors, but learning how to use even the demo free versions of these programs will increase your texture abilities and collection.
The other way to increase your texture stock is to use them in ways most people would not consider. I have a build partner that I have done a lot of builds with and she was always amazed at how I would use a texture that was made for a particular thing in a totally different way. By stretching and tweaking a texture you can create allot of variations from a small supply of textures.
Textures in the SL World
Recently, I was having a conversation with an other Builder in SL about different types of builds and why some people focus on one particular design style and usually just produce that format and variations of it only. We discussed the reasons why, some where as simple as they have a market for that particular type of build, they have mastered that style, or its what they like and enjoy building. Finally after several different reasons where brought up one that I had never considered was mentioned. It's the only type of textures they have in their tool box.
Well being a certified "Texture Whore" it had never crossed my mind that a lack of textures could limit the type of builds one could make. So I asked around and found this is a little more common than I had imagined. So what I would like to discuss is ways to get around this issue and allow individuals to produce a wider variety of build styles with even a limited amount of textures.
The first place to look for textures is to do a search in the SL search box "Free Textures" it came up with a response of over 5000 hits. Now will all 5000 of them be the best free textures on the grid not likely but it will give you a starting place to begin looking and searching for textures.
There are also some great texture makers in SL that have stores and do specials and discounts on textures as promotions. Some stores sell singles and others just sets. So by exploring a few stores you will see a range of style qualities and prices. Procuring a good basic build set of textures, doors, walls, windows, floor, roof and so on will go a long way in allowing you to build various styles.
The other place to increase your texture collection is to make them yourself by using one of the many programs available to create textures such as Photoshop or Gimp. Each has its strong points and cost factors, but learning how to use even the demo free versions of these programs will increase your texture abilities and collection.
The other way to increase your texture stock is to use them in ways most people would not consider. I have a build partner that I have done a lot of builds with and she was always amazed at how I would use a texture that was made for a particular thing in a totally different way. By stretching and tweaking a texture you can create allot of variations from a small supply of textures.
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