How to have 70 prims for 4 LI

[LepreKhaun]

If you don't know the trick, rez two cubes and change the physics type of one of them to Convex Hull. Link them together and instead of the expected LI of 2, you'll find that it's 1, one of the cubes is not counting against your prim allotment anymore.

 

It works that way because when a primitive is linked to a Convex Hull, a physical type None or a mesh item , the object as a whole is tallied under the new mesh rules. Accounting under mesh works differently, three factors come into play and the highest of the 3 determines your Land Impact (LI) or Prim Equivalency (PE).

 

The factors that are considered are Down Load, Physics and Server cost. Download costs have mainly to do with size, physics with how complicated it's physical interaction with SL and server cost reflects the load placed on the server in delivering the asset (NOTE: that statement is purposely over broad and simplifies some complex calculations- I don't want to get too technical here. OK?)

 

These costs can be seen within your edit menu by clicking "More info", which will bring up a panel with the details of the asset you're examining. As in: 

 

One can see that a simple Cube has a Download and a Physics weight of 0.1 and it's Server weight is 0.5 (Display weight is disregarded in figuring Land Impact). But, as long as it stays out of mesh accounting, it will count as 1 LI. Link it with a torus, you'll have 2 LI. Link it with a sculptie, the same. A prim is a prim is a prim until it it gets involved with mesh. And that is how I got 70 prims to equal 4 LI. Watch!

 

Now the rule is, the highest of the three factors will determine the Land Impact for an object and numbers get rounded up (so 0.5 comes out to 1). So. here I'm building a largish (40x50x10)  mesh room:I made the LOD very high, since I wanted it to be seen for a good distance. Here is it from the next region:So, the build consists of a floor and roof (same top and bottom, just textured differently), each of those assets weighed in at a mere 1 LI each (DL 0.4 - Phys 0.2 - Server 0.5). The wrap-around glass came in at  6 LI (DL 6.1 - Phys 0.5 - Server 0.5) due to it's size. And the two brick runs (around the edge, top and bottom) are 14 LI each ( DL 13.6  - Phys 0.5 -. Server  0.5 ) due to size and material faces. All selected, they were 5 prims at 36 LI (34.2 - 2.0 - 2.5) and linking them gave me an immediate 2 LI savings:

 

Now, here's where the magic comes in...

 

Recall that a cube has only (DL 0.1 - Phys 0.1 - 0.5 Server) when it's being counted within the mesh framework. Right? And my large mesh object has a LOT of room between it's Down Load cost and it's Server cost. So, let's see what happens when I link 70 cubes to it:

See, my Land Impact went from 34 to 38.  And I can tell from looking at those numbers that one more cube will put me up to 39 LI. But that's OK too, past that point, every two cubes I add will only up my LI by one, each contributing another 0.5 to the Server cost, which will dominate from there on..

 

So, if you have a mesh house and are low on your prim allotment- start nailing your furniture down. Bookcases, pictures, your tables that you never move- link them into your house and watch their LI get soaked up. Just be wary of any torus and tortured prim, they have a (sometimes very!) high Physics penalty that can bite you big time. I've seen a few tortured torus that carried a LI penalty hidden within of well over 1000!

 

But, with that warning in mind, look at any large mesh you own as a possible "prim sponge" and let it soak up what it can. No use letting that Down Load cost go to waste and you too can have

 

70 prims for 4 LI !

[Vegro Solari]

Brilliantly pulled off! Thank you for this post.

[Trinity Yazimoto]

shame there is not kudo in this section... you deserve one for a so great post... im going to try this asap. Thanks a lot 

[Boyd Doghouse]

cool!

[Sidnella Riler]

very interesting and detailed

[Nova Convair]

Yes, that works Make copies.

If you link something by accident that will increase your LI by 1000 your build will probably become returned due to land overuse.
If that happens and you have no copy, go to a sandbox, rez it from your Lost&Found folder and unlink the last object, or set all toruses and spheres to physics shape "none". If the LI is ok take it and rez again at home.

[Emma Krokus]

Where can i get a large enough mesh? :matte-motes-big-grin:

[Alicia Sautereau]

You guys didn`t knew about this? :matte-motes-agape:

Been using this trick since mesh was implemented to reduce the prim cost

[LepreKhaun]

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Emma Krokus wrote:

Where can i get a large enough mesh? :matte-motes-big-grin:

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There are a number of mesh houses in many sizes and styles on the marketplace which fit the bill perfectly. In fact, housing is the perfect use for this since many players are on a small lot with little more than their house and furnishings.

 

When linking to houses, there are a few considerations to keep in mind though: First of all, you must have Modify permissions for the structure, without that you'll be unable to link into it.

Most houses consist of a set of linked objects, especially if they're scripted. In other words, all the doors may be linked together, the windows in a separate link set and the rest of the house (floors, walls and roof) in a third link set. This can be determined in edit mode by clicking around. So, it's the mesh floors, walls and roof that you always want to use as your "prim sponge". Otherwise you might mess up the scripted doors for your house.

When linking an object into your "prim sponge", select it first with the Edit menu and examine it using "More info" and pay attention to the Physics cost. Some tortured prims can have extraordinarily high Physics which remains hidden until it falls under the mesh accounting system, best to leave them out! Only when all looks well, right click on your sponge which will select it as well and then Link them together. Reexamine the numbers in "More info" to ensure you're progressing in the right direction.

 

Objects you shouldn't consider putting into your "prim sponge" would be anything scripted or that uses pose balls (clocks, chairs, couches, beds etc). Many of these work only because they are NOT linked to anything else. All is not lost though if you do lose the functions of something as long as it's not No Copy (be very careful if you have an item with No Copy perms!). Simply unlink it, rez another, working copy and leave it out.

 

How to unlink or edit items within your "prim sponge": So you've added the wrong item or you simply decide you want to change out the picture over the fireplace, here are the steps to follow- In your Edit menu, check the "Edit linked" option at the top and left click the item you wish to deal with. Now you can move, recolor or retexture, rotate, etc this one item independently of everything else. And if you click "Unlink" , that item will separate itself from the rest and you'll be left holding just that. At that point, you could delete it or whatever you wish.

Oh, and many things you decide to add may, in fact, be composed of more than one prim. When link sets are combined, they melt together into a new set and the definition of each is lost. So to delete (what was) a three prim object from the whole, you'll have to repeat that above step 3 times, one for each prim. OK?

 

Anyway, I hope I didn't get too technical. If something isn't clear enough, feel free to speak up.

[LepreKhaun]

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Alicia Sautereau wrote:

You guys didn`t knew about this? :matte-motes-agape:

Been using this trick since mesh was implemented to reduce the prim cost

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Exactly why I made this posting as I did. Most of the information articles for the new mesh accounting is technical and not aimed for a non-builder. I hoped simply to show the average user how they can benefit from it.

[Emma Krokus]

Hi LepreKhaun

Sorry I am horribly late replying to your very detailed reply. 

It was very kind of you and you made the process crystal clear - thank you very much!

Emma

[Aeriabella]

:matte-motes-sunglasses-3:

Great info! Thanks!