LandSculptor Help

Overview

LandSculptor scans a Second Life Sim Region, measuring the height of every point of the landscape, and uploads this data to our central server, where it is used to create a set of files for a sculpted prim as well as generating a standard Second Life Raw Terrain File. The process of using LandSculptor is extremely fast and easy.

LandSculptor can be controlled by either menu or chat commands. Thes are detailed below. It's recommended that you use the menu commands to control the LandSculptor.

How To Use

  1. Rez LandSculptor by dragging it from Inventory onto the ground.
  2. Click on the LandSculptor box and click on the Scan button in the Main Menu. This will start the scanning process. The current scanning progress as a percentage will be displayed above the LandSculptor.
  3. Once the scanning process is complete, uploading will start. Once again, the current uploading progress as a percentage will be displayed above the LandSculptor. You will be informed when it completes.
  4. Bring up the Main Menu again and click on the Download button. You will be taken to the Download page on the nowherevirtual.com website.
  5. You should see a picture of the current region as well as the files associated with it for downloading. Right-click (control-click on the Mac) and choose "Save as..." for each of the links. Your Sculpt Map Texture will be saved as a TGA image and the Map Image Texture will be saved as a JPG texture.
  6. Internet Explorer Users - Please Note: IE7 saves the TGA Sculpt Map Texture with the extension .targa, you will need to rename this file to end with .tga or Second Life will not recognize the file.
  7. You are going to be following the basic process detailed here: Sculpted Prims: Creator's Guide
  8. Upload your images into Second Life, and rez a cube on the ground.
  9. Size the cube to be 4m in the X and Y direction and 2m in the Z direction and then set the Building Block Type to Sculpted. You can adjust these later on, this is just a good starting point to get the right size set up.
  10. Apply the Sculpt Map Texture in the Edit Window Object Tab and the Map Image Texture in the Texture tab.
  11. You should now have a sculpt model of the current region.

Main Menu Commands

Touch the LandSculptor to bring up the Main Menu. The following menu commands are available:

Scan Starts the scanning and uploading process.
Download Takes you to the Download page on the nowherevirtual.com website where you can download your files.
Help Takes you to this web page.

Chat Commands

The default channel is 1. If you change this, substitute the new channel # for the following commands:

/1 sculptor menu Show the main menu
/1 sculptor download Takes you to the Download page on the nowherevirtual.com website where you can download your files.
/1 sculptor help Takes you to this web page.
/1 painter scale <scale factor> Allows you to override the default scale factor to deal with sim regions that have extremely high mountains. The default is 54, can be set between 16 and 72.

Troubleshooting & Common Issues

Blue Map Squares

Due to problems with the LL Slurl map system, which LandSculptor uses, some regions are not provided with the correct images and instead get blue squares. An alternative method is not available for setting these images if the download page doesn't show the correct map image. Click on the button "Map Image" in the LandSculptor Main Menu and you will be provided with a notecard that contains instructions for fixing this.

Flat Sculpties

When you create a new sculptie using the editing tools, you're only able to make sculpties that are based on a spherical shape, which means that for flat sculpties like land sculptures, there is often some distortion around the edges. However, Second Life does support sculpties based on other shapes, including a flat surface, which are much better suited for land sculptures. These types of sculpties can only be produced via scripts, so to make this easier for users of LandSculptor, I've included a button in the main menu, 'Blank Prim", that produces a new flat sculptie for you to apply your sculptie and land textures to.

Advanced Topics

Dealing with sim regions with extremely tall landscapes

If you try to scan sims with very high mountains, you may notice that your sculpties seem to "shear off" the tops of the mountains. If this happens, adjust the scale factor using the chat command detailed above with a higher value, usually in the range of 60 to 64. This should fix the problem.

Terrain Raw Files

LandSculptor will generate a Terrain Raw file for you that you can either view in a Terrain Editor such as Backhoe or even upload back into Second Life to use in a different region. Please note that if you are the Estate Owner of the region in question, it is still preferable to use the Estate Manager Tools to dowload Raw files rather than using the one LandSculptor produces. Also, terraformers in Second Life spend considerable time creating landscapes, you should seek permission from the Sim Region Owner before using a Terrain Raw file of someone else's sim on your own sim.

Support

IM Emma Nowhere in-world or email emma.nowhere@gmail.com with support requests and I'll attempt to assist you as best as I can.