How to Use Second Life (SL)  
     
 
How to build in Second Life - a basic introduction (by Jass Easterman)
Rez an object
  • On the bottom of your screen you will see a button that says build (this is your build window or edit window). Click on the build button 
  • If it is grey - that means the land doesn't allow you to build there
  • Firstly, you need to rez an object - like a cylinder or a box
  • Just click on an object in the edit window such as the box and then with the wand click on the ground
  • You can move the object to the correct position by clicking on it
  • Blue arrows -  moves the object up and down
  • Green and Red arrows - moves the objects left and right, back and forward
  • Click on the radio button rotate and turn your object around
  • The next is to stretch your object - this can make your object larger or smaller
General tab in the building window 
  • On the General tab
  • Give your object a name
  • To name the "object" type something in there so that you will be able to identify your object when you next want to use it
  • The description is describing what the object is for
  • You can then see who is the creator - this cannot be changed
  • You can see who the owner is (this cannot be changed) 
  • The name of the group  that the object belongs to is displayed here (this can be changed by clicking on Set)
    • The Group section is used when building - you can't build at most places unless you are wearing the appropriate tag (group name) and therefore a member of that group
    • If you build something and are not a member of the group or don't have the group trag on, the object is returned to your inventory after a set period because "the owner does not allow it"
  • There are several tick boxes to enable others to move, copy, search or sell
  • You can share your object with the group or deed the object to the group (sometimes this is necessary with some objects when it is group owned land)
Object tab in the building window 
  • On the Object tab
  • On the right you can see that the building block type is drop box. This is an easy way to change the shape
  • The locked button is for making sure whatever you have just created stays in place - ie doesn't move
  • The physical button means that you can't walk through it - like a wall of a building
  • The tempoary button is for something that you want to create temporarily, ie it disappears after a short while
  • The phantom button is so that you can walk through objects - such as water
  • The position is where the object will be placed. This is so you can be accurate about where you put the object, divided into horizontal, vertical, height, and you can also adjust the size and rotation
  • On the right - you can make your object into a variety of different shapes by twisting, taper, top shear, slicing and hollow
  • You can also choose the material that you use here (such as wood, glass, etc)
Features tab in the building window
  • Flexible is how you create things that move - such as skirts or hair
  • Light is how you create different amounts of light on your object
Texture tab in the building window
  • You can adjust the look of your object by choosing different textures
  • There are a variety of textures in your inventory and you will find there are many more free ones
  • Click on the texture box and choose your texture from your inventory. If you are after a particular type of texture, type the name in to search for it
  • You can change the colour of the texture by clicking on the box and choosing the colour
  • The button to the right is for making your object Transparent or Glow
  • You also have the ablity to flip the texture (such as run stripes the opposite way)
  • When you build something you might want to rotate the texture or make multiples of them (repeat
  • You can put glass textures on too and they will be see through but you can't walk through them
Content tab in the building window
  • This is where you put scripts so that your object does something (such as sitting positions)
  • You can create scripts from within this tab by clicking on New Script
  • You can write the scripts and then you put them in the content tab by dragging them from your inventory
Other important information
  • Crtl Z are the undo buttons
  • If you are building in a Sandbox, you need to put your objects back into your inventory
  • Close the building window by clicking on the close button (x) or clicking on the "Esc" key
  • Right mouse click on the object and choose take
  • If you don't take your objects they will get returned, but it is common coutesouy to clean up after yourself
  • To edit an object that you have created or have the building rights to, right mouse click on the object and choose edit
  • To find out who owns an object, right mouse click on the object, choose edit and whoever created the object, their name is on the general tab
© Sue Gregory
 
 
 

 
 

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