So, I've rented a parcel - quite nicely neighboring my current home - which will be my workspace for this blog. What to do with it? Well, the first thing I usually do, is measure it. I do this because whether I choose to do a ground house or a skybox, I need to make sure that what I choose is going to fit.
As shown below, for a ground house I'll rez a box, and stretch it to fit the AVAILABLE space that I have to work with. Just note, that this space might not be the full size of your parcel. It will be the open space you have to put a house and some landscaping down on. Usually this size will work for a skybox as well, as they generally tend to be a bit on the smaller size. I label it with the measurements in the name and take it into my inventory, so I have it handy as I go shopping. Why? Because sometimes you run into creators that for some reason fail to put the basic footprint size of their houses anywhere on their advertisements.
So what do you do if you're not sure it will fit, and you can't rez your parcel footprint? This is going to sound silly, but go into the demo, and stand as close to the middle of the house as you can. Turn off your AO, get into a simple stationary pose, then attach the panel that you made to your spine, or your groin, or something central on your body. It should attach to that center point, and if you cam up, you should then be able to get a pretty good idea of whether the house will work.
It looks stupid, but I guarantee you'll be happier doing that, then spending L$ on a house that's too big. Because keep in mind that putting a house that's too large on a parcel looks disproportionate. If you really need the room, it's easier to go up and get a multi-story house, then have it all spread out in a one level ranch that takes up too much space.
Unless, of course, you decide to go with a skybox. Then you'd probably have a bit more wiggle room. You just need to figure out what is going to work for you. I would suggest that if you're on a private sim, and decide to go with a skybox, do try to leave some LI balance to at least put a few trees and some grass at ground level. It keeps the sim looking nice. If you're on the Mainland, and doing a skybox more out of necessity? I generally wouldn't worry about it.
I have decided for this project, that I'm going to concentrate on doing a skybox. In the next installment, we'll go through what I currently have, and possibly go shopping for a new one. Because one can never have too many, you see. 😉
There is an attachment point now named "Avatar Center" (it's fairly high up in the Attach To list in Firestorm, I haven't checked official lately to see if the list is in the same order- some of the mesh bodies use it by default). That bypasses your avatar animation and is always flat, you just need to worry about what direction you are facing.
ReplyDeletep.s. I appreciate your tips!