Down lights in a A-frame Linden Home
This is an easy beginner level project for building a ceiling-light to add more light to your property in Second Life®. The uses for this simple light fixture are almost limitless. It is easy to make, and only requires 1 prim/land unit. One issue to keep in mind if you are looking for a true spot light, the light created by this light fixture shines outward from it in ALL directions. So it isn’t technically a spot light, as it does not shine light in a single direction. In most SL situations it doesn’t really matter if the light goes in all directions so there is no need for a fancier true spot-light that requires multiple prims to build. Before we get on to instructions for building the down light, here are some applications for this light:
Down light over front door of an Tahoe A-frame
Down light attached to a pole to make a yard light.
The light is a simple gray cylinder with the bottom set to a full bright white color with a slight glow. Plus it emits light to the surrounding area!
Complete instructions for building the lights shown above follow…
Instructions for Making the Down Light:
Create and name a prim
Start by creating a prim in the cylinder shape.
From the top Second Life Viewer menu select build and open the build editor. (Or press Ctrl+B to open the build editor.) Select the cylinder shape then click on the floor to create a new cylinder.
Click on the General tab in the edit dialog (shown at left) and give your light a name. Any name you want. I named mine “Down Light” as you can see. The rest of the settings for this tab may be left on the default settings.
Set the size of the cylinder
Click on the tab labeled “Object”.
Set the “Size”. It can be any size you desire, I think X, Y, & Z all set to 0.4 m look good.
That’s it for this tab.
Set the prim to emit light and how much light to emit.
Click on the “Features” tab.
Place a check mark in the box labeled “Light”. This makes the center of the prim emit light onto the surfaces of surrounding objects. As with real life you can’t see the light, but you can see that if brightens the nearby surfaces, such as walls floors, clothes, avatar bodies, etc. and thus brightens the surrounding area.
Below the Light checkbox are settings for controlling the light.
Intensity is how bright the light is. 1.0 is brightest.
Radius is how far it shines from the center of the prim. 20m is the maximum distance the light will shine.
Fall-Off is how quickly the light fades as it moves further from the center of the prim. 0.00 is the least fade.
To create the most light set all these for their maximum levels as shown in the image on the left.
Set the color of the light fixture exterior.
Click on the “Texture” tab.
Now we are going to create the appearance of the outside case of the light fixture. This is what people will see when they look at the light. There are an almost unlimited number of options you could use here. I went with no texture and a very simple flat dark gray color. Using a texture will slow down the speed the light rezes very slightly, as it takes time for your viewer to download the texture file.
Click on the big box labeled Texture and set it to be “Blank”. (You can place any texture you want here. So if you desire you could select a wood texture to make your light look like it has a wood case. Or a metal texture for a metal case. I choose to not use a texture for my light.) If you use a texture you will need to play with the various Repeats, Rotation, & Offset settings at the bottom of the edit window so as to get the texture looking good.
Click on the big box labeled Color and select a color. If you used a texture in the previous step you will probably want to use white as the color. Since I am not using a texture I decided to use a dark gray color for the lights case.
Select the bottom face and set color to white, check Full Bright, and set Glow = 0.10 glow.
Now click on the “Select Face” radio button in the top section of the edit window.
Click on the bottom round face of the light to select it for editing. Now click on the “Color” square and set the color to white. To the right of the color Square set the Glow to 0.10 and check the Full Bright box. These settings make the bottom of the cylinder glow so it looks like a light.
That’s all! Your down light is now complete. All you need to do is move it into place. You can slide it part way into a ceiling, I stuck one in the ceiling of a covered patio on my Meadowbrook Linden Home. They work great in the peak of the Tahoe A-frame Linden Homes.
Pole Light:
To make the light mounted on a pole shown in the image at the top of this page, just create another cylinder, follow the instructions above. Make it narrower and longer and add a color. Now you have a pole for your light. Move the pole into place, then just move the light up to the top of it. Place it up against the side of the pole like the one in the image. Or you can stick it on top of the pole. Whatever looks good to you. You can also make a square pole and square light if you like. Just use a box rather than a cylinder when you build them. Your options for shapes and appearance are nearly limitless.
That’s all there is to it! Check out my other “how-to” articles for Tahoe Linden Home improvements. Add a loft or sidewalls to your Tahoe A-frame. All low-prim and free!
