Obtaining Textures
The library contains many useful textures, however, for many building projects, these textures will be insufficient. When the built-in textures are insufficient, additional textures may be uploaded to Second Life. This chapter discusses how to create these textures. Creation of a texture follows one of the following procedures:
- Create an illustrated texture from scratch
- Take a photograph with a digital camera
- Download an image from the Internet
While most textures begin with a source image, textures can also be created from scratch, by someone who is good at illustrating objects. Programs such as Adobe Illustrator are useful for this procedure.
The most common source for images is the Internet. Whenever images are downloaded from the Internet, it is important to remember to obtain all necessary copyright clearances. Many images available on the Internet are free, however, some require payment. Other images are not available for use at all. Whenever in doubt about the legal status of an image, always consult an attorney. Obtaining image permissions is beyond the scope of this book.
Using Google Image Search is a great way to find images for textures. The Google Image Search can be found at the following URL:
To begin using the image search, enter the name of the type of image sought. For this example, a search was done on “stone texture.” Adding the word “texture” to the search is often helpful, as it causes the search to find images that were specifically created as textures. The Google image search will return a list of images, as shown in Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2: Google Search Results for Stone Textures
Once a stone texture has been found that looks interesting, click on that texture. This will reveal a screen similar to Figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3: Library Textures
If this image satisfies your requirements, then click the “See full-size image” link, as shown near the top of Figure 2.3. This will display only the image in the browser. Next, select “Save” from the “File” menu to save the image to disk.
Whether the image has been obtained from the Internet or by using a digital camera, it will likely require some editing before it can be uploaded to Second Life.
