How many meters squared does the 512px terrain textures cover per tile?

[JosMojo]

I am thinking about how to scale a texture for my terrain. How much land does each tile cover?

I realise they all blend together but I need to know for scale reasons...

[jeffrey11488313394]

hi

he is what linden say about textures for uploading.

You can upload TGA, PNG, BMP, or JPG files with at least 24-bit color, for quality and compatibility.  Files at lower bit depths may fail to upload.  PNG (24-bit) and TGA (32-bit) files allow the use of transparent effects (for example, in a stained glass window) via an alpha channel. Most modern image editors can convert between formats.

Supported image formats   Second Life supports TGA (32-bit supports alpha channel), PNG (24-bit supports alpha channel), and BMP. When you upload an image, the Viewer internally converts it to JPG2000 for optimized future transmission. For best quality, try to avoid uploading JPGs; their already-compressed quality degrades further because of the double conversion.   Texture sizes   Textures should be as small as possible — texture size is highly context-sensitive so it takes experienced artistic judgment. For example, if you're texture-mapping a tiny pebble, its detail can be negligible compared to a giant tree in the same scene. For general use, 512x512 is a fair balance.   The maximum resolution for an uploaded texture is 1024x1024 pixels; if you upload a bigger image, it is scaled down to 1024x1024 pixels. Even if you have a fast Internet connection and a top-end graphics card, your computer can only display a finite amount of texture data.

you can find more informaton in the knowledge base tab.

enjoy SL

byee

[Rolig Loon]

There's no way to answer that question.  512 x 512 px is not a physical size.  It simply tells you how many pixels there are in each direction (X, Y) on the texture.  Whether you put the texture on a 1m square "tile" or on an entire sim that is 256m x 256m, there are still 512 pixels in each direction.  If you're putting the texture on a prim, it can be any size you like.  If you use it as a ground texture, your "tile" is the size of an entire sim.  When you are applying a ground texture to a sim, you'll usually use either a 512 x 512 or a 1024 x 1024 texture, depending on how sharp you want the detail to be.  You can't change the number of repeats the way you can on a prim.

[Rolig Loon]

Um.... read the OP's question, Jeffrey.

[Ceera Murakami]

I did an experiment once to check this. Unfortunately I can't find the snapshots that documented it any more, and I am no longer an estate manager with a sim I can play with, but I can tell you an easy way to find out.

Make a 512 x 512 texture that has a definite edge - like a white square that is black for a couple of pixels at the edges. I used one of the 10 x 10 'builder's grid' textures with a bullseye pattern in the center, since it made it very easy to see the repeats.

Apply that texture to all 4 height levels in a sim. Put a prim on one repeat where the land is fairly flat, and streach it to cover the width of the terrain texture repeat. That will give you the exact size that the texture will always repeat at, regardless of what size texture you apply to the ground. Count the repeats along one edge of the sim to see how many times it repeats.

I seem to remember that it comes out to a certain number of repeats (Eight? Ten?) plus one half two thirds of a texture repeat, in each direction, and that the starting point for the repeats depends on the sim's position on the SL grid. For example, one sim might start with a whole repeat in the NE corner, and 2/3 on the East and South edges. The next sim to the East does a 1/3 of a texture on the West edge, and 1/3 of a on the East edge. The next one East starts with 2/3 of a texture and ends with a full texture. You have no control over this. Where the repeats start is solely based on its location in the SL grid.

As I recall, trying to apply a 1024 x 1024 texture to sim terrain is a waste of resources. SL scales all terrain textures to 512 x 512, regardless of what size you uploaded it as, before applying it to the sim's terrain. Try it yourself. Apply a 512 x 512 version and a 1024 x 1024 version of a terrain texture to land, and see if you can tell any difference. As I recall, both will look like the 512 version.

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EDIT - I found some snapshots... Unfortunately I don't have one that is zoomed out enough to count the number of repeats across the whole sim. But my avatar is standing in the middle, which gives you some sense of scale.

The repeat offset is really ugly. It's a certain number of repeats plus 2/3 of a repeat! This is one sim with a red grid, and the sim next to it with a green grid. :

PLEASE NOTE: Although the 512 x 512 texture in the photo above is marked as a 10M x 10M grid, the size when applied to the terrain was NOT 10M x 10M. It was more like 12M x 12M, or something else weird.