Is there a tutorial for building a simple house?

[Lindal Kidd]

I haven't seen one, but I can write out some very basic procedures here for you.

1.  Put down a foundation.  Megaprims are good for this, and there is a free megaprim finder/fetcher on Xstreet called the SALT HUD.

2.  I find that more megaprims are handy for outlining the house, even if you intend to replace them later with smaller prims so as to make openings for stairwells, windows, and doors.  Put up one megaprim wall, and SHIFT+Drag it to make the opposite wall.  SHIFT+Drag again to make a third wall, then rotate it 90 degrees and move it into place.

3.  With three walls in place, if you plan to have a second story, place the floor for it.  Allow at least 5m for each floor.  Less will appear cramped because of the default camera position a couple of meters above your avatar.

4.  See how you like the proportions.  Adjust as needed.

5.  Decide where you want door(s).  Rez a new wall prim the same height as your "placeholder" wall, and wide enough to go between one corner and the door opening.  Delete the placeholder.  SHIFT+Drag to copy this prim and slide it to the other side of where the door will be.  SHIFT+Drag again for another copy and slide it over the door to frame the opening.  Re-size it to fit between the prims to the left and right of the door.

6.  Use similar techniques to build walls around window openings.  You can see that I like the SHIFT+Drag method...it lets you keep wall parts aligned perfectly.  You can use this method to make windows, too.  Place it and size it to fit the opening, then just reduce the thickness and texture it with a blank texture, a black color, and 80% transparency...or use a window texture for panes, etc.  I also like using the numeric entry boxes where possible for precision, especially the rotation ones.

Building your house aligned to the world coordinates simplifies things greatly, as all rotations are 0, 90, 180 or 270.

Texturing your walls before SHIFT+Dragging copies can save you a lot of texturing time later.

Selecting all the edges of walls and making them fully transparent can make seams between prims less visible.  If transparent does not work for your application, texture the edges the same as the outside or the inside of the wall.

Don't forget the value of cut and hollowed prims.  If there are no openings in it, a single prim can form three sides (heck, even four sides) of a building, or the roof, floor, and two sides if you turn it sideways.

Textures are important.  Spend some time choosing some really nice exterior and interior textures.

Once the shell is done, add details like interior walls, staircases, and doors.  Decorate by placing rug prims, pictures on the walls, planters, and other details.  Make the house "work" by scripting the doors to open and shut, and the windows to tint.  Add some local teleporters...they're more convenient than stairs, many times.

[Lindal Kidd]

I haven't seen one, but I can write out some very basic procedures here for you.

1.  Put down a foundation.  Megaprims are good for this, and there is a free megaprim finder/fetcher on Xstreet called the SALT HUD.

2.  I find that more megaprims are handy for outlining the house, even if you intend to replace them later with smaller prims so as to make openings for stairwells, windows, and doors.  Put up one megaprim wall, and SHIFT+Drag it to make the opposite wall.  SHIFT+Drag again to make a third wall, then rotate it 90 degrees and move it into place.

3.  With three walls in place, if you plan to have a second story, place the floor for it.  Allow at least 5m for each floor.  Less will appear cramped because of the default camera position a couple of meters above your avatar.

4.  See how you like the proportions.  Adjust as needed.

5.  Decide where you want door(s).  Rez a new wall prim the same height as your "placeholder" wall, and wide enough to go between one corner and the door opening.  Delete the placeholder.  SHIFT+Drag to copy this prim and slide it to the other side of where the door will be.  SHIFT+Drag again for another copy and slide it over the door to frame the opening.  Re-size it to fit between the prims to the left and right of the door.

6.  Use similar techniques to build walls around window openings.  You can see that I like the SHIFT+Drag method...it lets you keep wall parts aligned perfectly.  You can use this method to make windows, too.  Place it and size it to fit the opening, then just reduce the thickness and texture it with a blank texture, a black color, and 80% transparency...or use a window texture for panes, etc.  I also like using the numeric entry boxes where possible for precision, especially the rotation ones.

Building your house aligned to the world coordinates simplifies things greatly, as all rotations are 0, 90, 180 or 270.

Texturing your walls before SHIFT+Dragging copies can save you a lot of texturing time later.

Selecting all the edges of walls and making them fully transparent can make seams between prims less visible.  If transparent does not work for your application, texture the edges the same as the outside or the inside of the wall.

Don't forget the value of cut and hollowed prims.  If there are no openings in it, a single prim can form three sides (heck, even four sides) of a building, or the roof, floor, and two sides if you turn it sideways.

Textures are important.  Spend some time choosing some really nice exterior and interior textures.

Once the shell is done, add details like interior walls, staircases, and doors.  Decorate by placing rug prims, pictures on the walls, planters, and other details.  Make the house "work" by scripting the doors to open and shut, and the windows to tint.  Add some local teleporters...they're more convenient than stairs, many times.

[Taka McMahn]

Hi Calliope , I had the same problem when i first started buildings houses. They have a great building tutioral at NCI but dont know if its still there and it wasnt really on houses specific. If you like tho you can contact me inworld and i can teach you some things to give you a start on it.

Cheers Taka

[Kornscope Komachi]

Yes there is.
It's the first stop for all new prim builders.

Lookup: Ivory Tower of Primitives.

[Faubio Alter]

Four walls same height and width and depth

Two triangles (gable ends) the weight and depth of the walls

Two roof panels to cover one half the area of the sloping gables. (Optional) make them larger if you want overhangs

:-)

Just about any kid can draw one up for you. You will need to straighten the chimney  kids make them leaning.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=kids%20drawing%20house&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS365US365&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

::-D

You can do this

[Calliope Brentley]

I've been to the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives, but do you mean they actually discuss building houses? I haven't been there in a while, but I thought they only had the basics.

[Calliope Brentley]

Thank you for your detailed instructions!

What exactly do you mean by a foundation, and what is the point of one? Do you just mean what will be the floor, or something different?

I have heard of megaprims and think I have a free set of them but I have not worked with them before. Are there any details I should know to work with them?

I like the idea of making the edges of walls transparent, because I tried making a house today and the fact that I could see the "seams" between pieces bothered me.

[Irene Muni]

Calliope Brentley wrote:

 

What exactly do you mean by a foundation, and what is the point of one? Do you just mean what will be the floor, or something different?

Different. A foundation, a base of the building. With this foundation is easier to put the building level (flat) in rough terrain (see the foundation of this building in a slope land: http://www.sweden.se/upload/Sweden_se/english/other/second%20life/second_house_of_sweden_daylight_.jpg).

Calliope Brentley wrote:

 

I have heard of megaprims and think I have a free set of them but I have not worked with them before. Are there any details I should know to work with them?

 

Read http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Megaprim