Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Why is This a Sulpted Prim?


Written 5 September, 2011

Why is This a Sculpted Prim?

I bought this very nice three-prim electric fan the other day. Last night I finally unpacked it and studied it.

I found myself wondering-- why is this end cap a sculpted prim?



I mean, a regular prim would have looked better.

I didn't have the same texture, but here's a photo of a regular prim in the same place:


Then I really looked at the fan and realized the base, arm, and the cover I disliked were all a single prim:


Oopsie!

Had the same fan been made of regular prims, it would have required, by my count, 13 (11 if the blades were texture on a flat prim). It's wondrous for Whimsy's prim count that the fan could be made in three.

Still, I wish the fan were modifiable so I could add a fourth prim to hide that misshapen cover.

4 comments:

Melissa Yeuxdoux said...

That's pretty darned amazing. I didn't know you could do that, because I thought that topologically, sculpted prims are equivalent to spheres.

Cheyenne Palisades said...

Sculpts can be pretty complex. Mesh will be more so. Mesh, for instance, can have holes in it.

Melissa Yeuxdoux said...

Yes... that's going to make life a lot easier for people who want caves.

Anonymous said...

So do sculpts )holes( its nothing new really.

Prims are more detailed but this STRONGLY depends on the sculptor.
Sculpting/Mesh it all requires skills not even to sculpt something. But to texture it properly ...


That is were most LACK, your fan is proof of that.

Based on: Owner of Twisted creations, scripter/sculptor since 2007..

Greeting Muziekfreak1980 miles