Texture Repeats
Now that you’ve begun texturing, you might be wondering how to make those textures look just right. How do you make each side (or face) of an object look proportional. That’s what this section is all about.
Instruction
When you apply a texture to a prim, it will completely fill each face exactly one time. If all the faces of your prim are the same size, it’s no problem – the texture looks proportional (the same size and “stretch”) on all sides.
[image – intro2build.17.a]
But what if you make something like a rectangle with different sized faces?
In this example, the cube from above was halved at the Y axis, making it half as wide as the other. See how the textures on the top and side now look “squished”? The texture is no longer proportional.
[image – intro2build.17.b]
You can fix that problem by adjusting the number of times a texture repeats on each side of your prim. It’s easy – and it will make your creations look so much better!
Practice
Step 1: Creating a prim with different sized faces
When you create a prim with different sized faces, you will notice that the texture on each face “looks” different.
Rez a plywood cube, and in the Object tab of the Edit window, change the size parameters to X=2, Y=.5, Z=1.
[image – intro2build.17.c]
Step 2: Applying a texture to all faces
Depending on the texture you choose, you may notice a big difference in how a texture looks on each face.
Let’s apply a texture to our prim. Right click to edit the prim, and in the Edit window, go to the Object tab > Texture box > click on the box to open the Texture Picker Window. Then, in your inventory, go to the OpenSim Library folder > Texture Library and choose the “brick1_256” texture.
[image – intro2build.17.d]
Look at each face. Do you see how the bricks on the ends of the wall look squished? On the shortest side, the bricks look like they have been squished in, making them look short and stubby. On the top, the bricks look like they have been stretched out, making them look long and narrow.
[image – intro2build.17.e]
Step 3: Adjusting the texture repeat
To make a texture look right (or proportional) on each face of your wall, you can change the repeat. In the Texture tab of the Edit window, the repeat is usually set to 1.000, which means the texture will repeat exactly one time. You may use the arrows to make the texture repeat fewer or more times.
With your wall in Edit mode, make sure the Select Texture radio button is selected so we can work with just one texture on one face of the prim at a time. Click on the top of the wall where the texture looks stretched to make the bricks look narrow – you should see a faint white target symbol appear ONLY on the top of the wall.
[image – intro2build.17.f]
Now find the Horizontal and Vertical repeat (or scale, depending upon your viewer) settings in the Texture tab, and change the Horizontal scale to 2.0 and the Vertical scale to .5. Do the bricks look more proportional now?
[image – intro2build.17.g]
In order to fix every side of the prim, you would need to change the repeat or scale for each face of the prim. If the default scale of a texture is 1.0, but the prim is only .5 meters wide, then what scale should you use for the sides of the wall to make the texture proportional?
See if you can figure out the right answer, but if you need a hint, scroll to the bottom of the page!
Step 4: Flipping a texture
Sometimes, you may get a better look by completely flipping a texture. You can do this by checking the Flip box next to the Repeats Per Face settings.
Select just one face of your wall. Check and uncheck the Flip box for the horizontal and vertical repeat settings.
Rez a few different shaped prims and apply different textures to them. Practice changing the horizontal and vertical repeats. Do you find you like oversize, fantasy-like textures or more realistic ones?
Answer Hint:
The correct answer is .5! You want the texture scale to match the size of your object if the proportion is 1:1. But let’s say you wanted the bricks to appear SMALLER than the default size of the texture. In that case, you would want to shrink the texture scale proportionally to the prim’s size across all the faces of the prim.
If you are using the PRIMLAND Tutorial game, stop here and continue on the path!