The ultimate guide to prim twisting [UPDATE]

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 / by

[UPDATE: July 30, 2009] The guide was featured at Massively and the official Second Life blog! Thank you!

[UPDATE: September 12, 2009] I corrected a few mistakes over time (thanks for the head-ups everyone), so if something didn't work for you, try again now :)

Aah, prims. Plywood shapes that magically turn into the most beautiful SL builds. Yes, those prims know how to twist and shout! ... Wait, wh... what?! ... I'm talking about prim twisting - shaping prims into unusual shapes. Prim magic!


We've got sculpties in SL now, which means almost any prim shape is possible without big prim cost. But back then, before sculpties rocked SL, you needed different methods - you needed methods that worked with regular prims. These methods were discovered by early SL residents and sometimes kept secret (the famous one prim double knot for example). I think even the most advanced builder/sculpter should know the basics. You should never underestimate the power of regular prims. That's why I'm giving you this ultimate guide to prim twisting. Every item shown here is only one prim!

00 Tutorial overview

Enjoy, comment and share with friends :)


Leaf

01 Leaf
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.250 and Z=0.370
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.000 and E=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Twist to: B=180 and E=-180

Two leaves

02 Two leaves
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.300 and Z=0.300
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.700 and E=1.000
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Twist to: B=360 and E=47
  • Set Dimple to B=0.100 and E=0.950 (use these two options to differentiate leaves sizes)

Flat leaf / raindrop

03 Flat leaf/raindrop
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.500 and Z=0.010
  • Set Twist to: B=360 and E=-360
  • Set Dimple to B=0.000 and E=0.050
  • If you want to have a flat leaf contour, set Hollow to: 85.0

Claw

04 Claw
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=0.430, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.500 and E=1.000
  • Set Taper to: X=1.00 and Y=1.00

Flower I

05 Flower I
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.070, Y=0.350 and Z=0.350
  • Set Twist to: B=-360 and E=360
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50

Flower II

06 Flower II
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Twist to: B=360 and E=-360
  • Set Dimple to: B=0.000 and E=0.050

Ribbon I

07 Ribbon I
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Twist to: B=-360 and E=360
  • Set Dimple to: B=0.700 and E=1.000

Ribbon II

08 Ribbon II
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.035, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.130 and E=0.870
  • Set Hollow to: 50.0
  • Set Twist to: B=-360 and E=360
  • Set Dimple to: B=0.450 and E=0.550

Infinity symbol

09 Infinity symbol
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.500 and Z=0.010
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Twist to: B=0 and E=-360
  • Set Dimple to: B=0.000 and E=0.050

Spring I

10 Spring I
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=0.100, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Skew to: 0.80
  • Set Twist to: B=-18 and E=0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.70 and Y=0.05
  • Set Taper to: X=1.00 and Y=0.00
  • Set Radius to: 1 (but it will change to 0.947, so you can also just put this number in)
  • Set Revolutions to: 2.50

Spring II

11 Spring II
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.300 and Z=0.300
  • Set Skew to: 0.80
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.10 and Y=0.05
  • Set Revolutions to: 4.00

Spring III

12 Spring III
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=1.000, Y=0.150 and Z=0.150
  • Set Skew to: 0.45
  • Set Twist to: B=360 and E=-360
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.15 and Y=0.05
  • Set Revolutions to: 4.00

String

13 String
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=2.300, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 80.0
  • Set Skew to: 0.80
  • Set Twist to: B=360 and E=360
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.05 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.180 and E=0.200
  • Set Taper to: X=0.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Revolutions to: 4.00

Knot

14 Knot
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=2.500, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Skew to: 0.95
  • Set Twist to: B=-90 and E=360
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.05 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.180 and E=0.200
  • Set Revolutions to: 4.00

Double knot

15 Double knot
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=2.500, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Skew to: 0.95
  • Set Twist to: B=-360 and E=360
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.05 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.180 and E=0.200
  • Set Taper to: X=0.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Revolutions to: 4.00

Light bulb wire

16 Light bulb wire
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Skew to: 0.95
  • Set Twist to: B=-180 and E=360
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.05 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.000 and E=0.250
  • Set Revolutions to: 3.00

Wave

17 Wave
  • Rez a ring
  • Set Size to: X=0.700, Y=0.350 and Z=0.010
  • Set Skew to: 0.95
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.05
  • Set Revolutions to: 2.00

Column I

18 Column I
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.230 and Z=0.230
  • Set Hollow to: 95
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.000 and E=0.500

Column II

19 Column II
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.230 and Z=0.230
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.250 and E=1.000

Column III

20 Column III
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.750, Y=0.300 and Z=0.300
  • Set Hollow to: 80.0
  • Set Hollow Shape to: Circle
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.70 and Y=0.40
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.450 and E=0.800

Nail

21 Nail
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.300, Y=0.300 and Z=0.300
  • Set Hollow to: 75.0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.400 and E=0.750

Stake

22 Stake
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 75.0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.500 and E=0.750

Pencil

23 Pencil
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=1.000, Y=0.350 and Z=0.350
  • Set Hollow to: 85.0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.650 and E=0.750

Torch holder

24 Torch holder
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.100 and Z=0.100
  • Set Hollow to: 60.0
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.500 and E=1.000

Bar table

25 Bar table
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.500 and Z=0.500
  • Set Hollow to: 85.0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.250 and E=0.850

Table lamp

26 Table lamp
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.400 and Z=0.400
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.200 and E=0.850

Desk lamp top

27 Desk lamp top
  • Rez a ring
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.250 and Z=0.250
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Twist to: B=-36 and E=-36
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.45
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.000 and E=0.600

Trumpet

28 Trumpet
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=0.700, Y=0.250 and Z=0.250
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.45
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.00 and E=0.300

Thin flat paper

29 Thin flat paper
  • Rez a cube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.400 and Z=0.010
  • Set Slice to: B=0.490 and E=0.510

Curled paper

30 Curled paper
  • Rez a cylinder
  • Set Size to: X=0.450, Y=0.170 and Z=0.500
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.550 and E=0.900
  • Set Hollow to: 95.0
  • Set Twist to: B=27 and E=0
  • Set Top Shear to: X=0.15 and Y=-0.10

Tiny cube

31 Tiny cube
  • Rez a cube
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.010 and Z=0.010
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.625 and E=0.875
  • Set Slice to: X=0.500 and Y=1.000

Tiny cylinder

32 Tiny cylinder
  • Rez a cylinder
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.010 and Z=0.100
  • Set Taper to: X=1.00 and Y=1.00
  • Set Slice to: X=0.490 and Y=0.510

Tiny prism

33 Tiny prism
  • Rez a cube
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.010 and Z=0.010
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.565 and E=0.695
  • Set Slice to: X=0.250 and Y=0.750

Tiny ring I

34 Tiny ring I
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.010 and Z=0.010
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.05
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.730 and E=0.750

Tiny ring II

35 Tiny ring II
  • Rez a ring
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.010 and Z=0.010
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.05
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.180 and E=0.200

Tiny zircon

36 Tiny zircon
  • Rez a sphere
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=0.010 and Z=0.010
  • Set Hollow to: 70.0
  • Set Dimple to: B=0.850 and E=1.000

20m disc

37 20m disc
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=10.000 and Z=10.000
  • Set Twist to: B=90 and E=90
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.05

Framed picture

38 Framed picture
  • Rez a cube
  • Set Size to: X=0.500, Y=0.500 and Z=0.025
  • Set Taper to: X=0.25 and Y=0.25

3 faces display panel

39 3 faces display panel
  • Rez a cube
  • Set Size to: X=0.900, Y=0.500 and Z=0.010
  • Set Taper to: X=0.65 and Y=0.00

5 faces display panel

40 5 faces display panel
  • Rez a tetrahedron
  • Set Size to: X=0.010, Y=1.750 and Z=0.500
  • Set Path Cut to: B=0.200 and E=0.800
  • Set Hollow to: 67.0
  • Set Taper to: X=0.00 and Y=0.00

    If you can't figure out how to set textures on the panels, check Shifter Gynoid's comment below. He explains nicely what you need to do to display these textures correctly.

5 rings target with a hole

41 5 rings target with a hole
  • Rez a ring
  • Set Size to: X=0.015, Y=0.700 and Z=0.700
  • Set Hollow to: 70.0
  • Set Hollow Shape to: Triangle
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.200 and E=0.800

5 rings target (no hole)

42 5 rings target (no hole)
  • Rez a torus
  • Set Size to: X=0.015, Y=0.700 and Z=0.700
  • Set Hollow to: 30.0
  • Set Hole Size to: X=0.15 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.125 and E=0.900

4 rings target

43 4 rings target
  • Rez a tube
  • Set Size to: X=0.015, Y=0.700 and Z=0.700
  • Set Hollow to: 50.0
  • Set Hollow Shape to: Triangle
  • Set Hole Size to: X=1.00 and Y=0.50
  • Set Profile Cut to: B=0.000 and E=0.800

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106 comments

  1. Joshooah LovenkraftJuly 28, 2009 at 6:59 AM

    Thank you for such a great resource! Although sculpties are wonderful addition to SL building tools, I have always admired old school builders that can create magic from simple prims. Sometimes I think we overuse sculpts when a little prim torture will do the trick and often look better and make it easier to texture. Great work and thank you for sharing this :)

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  2. ha... and this is how http://ayumicassini.blogspot.com/ has become my home page... ;)
    I was just on my way to Ivory Tower but you are perfectly on time (this time ;P) to save me.
    Thank you Ayumi for helping me improve my laziness! :)

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  3. Wonderful post! Amazing resiurce and the sheer amount of hard work that you have put into it staggers me - thank you mate! xx

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  4. Thanks for sharing such an useful post Ayumi. This blog is becoming quite a must have resource!

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  5. The single most useful builder's article I have ever found. :) ty ty ty ty ty!

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  6. Absolutely amazing! You have just raised my building skills a couple of notches. I am eternally grateful. Thank you.

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  7. pretty cooooooooooooooooool :)

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  8. Thank you so much, everyone, for wonderful comments. I never expected this tutorial would get so popular but I am very happy you find it useful :) It's been a bit of work, but it was fun ^^ And reading all these comments is sooo motivating.

    I think I owe Massively.com a big thanks for publishing information about this tutorial. I have no idea why it doesn't show up in my 'Links to this post' section. So I'm adding the link here: Second Life torture guide. Thank you!

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  9. Awesome!! I prefer prims, sculpties takes time to rezz for a lot of people. Not all has the last graphic card on market......

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  10. This is a remarkably elegant and useful guide to coaxing beauty from prims. Truly inspired.

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  11. I need to blog this soon @ http://tr.im/sltnt , it's beautiful.

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  12. LAZERS ON, https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/tnt/blog/2009/07/30/ultimate-guide-to-prim-twisting-by-ayumi-cassini

    I also did a shortlink here: http://tr.im/primtwist

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  13. Oh, wow! Thank you so much, Torley! I never even dreamed of my name mentioned on official Second Life blog :) This is awesome! I'm so happy :) It's great to know so many people find this tutorial inspiring :)

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  14. Very nice post, Ayumi. I see a couple of shapes I was not familiar with yet. Thank you.

    I wonder if any of your readers have a favorite shape not covered in the post? Perhaps they could describe the settings, just as you have.

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  15. Congrats on making it to the official blog :D
    The 5 faces panel looks awesome, I've only seen 3 faces for text display, if I'm correct, this should save on prims.

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  16. Sublimissime! Great job and a real artistic taste!
    Thank you for this nice collection,

    Garmin

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  17. what a great compendium of prim shapes, Ayumi! Thanks so much for this.

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  18. Coolness! Thanks for sharing all this!!!

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  19. Fantastic article, many thanks for posting this! :-)

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  20. Dziękują !

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  21. What a wonderful response! Thanks again, everyone. I love all your comments. I just keep smiling whenever I look here :)

    @Corcosman:
    That's a great idea. I'd love to see some suggestions coming from readers, so if anyone got any interesting shape ideas, feel free to post them ^^

    @Thibaud:
    Yay, that's Polish :)

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  22. I am permanently keeping this blog bookmarked. I was able to shave 30 prims off one of my old prefab creations using this tutorial, and it actually made it look better! To a prim-stingy person like myself, this resource is a godsend! Thank you Ayumi.

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  23. Nice! I use a few of these ideas in the low-prim class I teach. Here's another fun one... The 1-prim table lamp: Start with a Tube...

    Rotation Y: 270.00
    Hollow: 95.0
    Twist B:144 | E:144
    Hole Size X:0.70 | Y:0.50
    Profile Cute B:0.00 | E:0.750

    Then pop a clear texture in the cone shaped dent on top to separate the lamp shade. It's one of my favorite shapes in the class. (^_^)y

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  24. Thank you so much Ayumi for the excellent tips. Sculpts are wonderful but tweaking basic prim shapes work just as well and IMO, textures look better. This definitely enhances my building skills. Again, many thanks!

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  25. Wowwwww exactly cool!!!
    I've never known that there's the result as sclupty prim.
    Thanks for your kindness to show the way to us.

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  26. Hi Ayumi.

    Thank you for a wonderful resource.
    I want to teach to the Japanese.
    May I use the photograph?

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  27. Well done, nice tutorial. Well laid out and explained.

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  28. Wow, the comments are still coming, it's fantastic! ^^ Thanks once again everyone! I love those creations some of you are sending my way, they're awesome. And it's sooo great you guys are inspired by this guide!

    @Antonius:
    Yay, it's great - 30 prims is a lot! I really like it when builders try to reduce the number of prims in their creations. I'm glad I had a little part in it :)

    @Imnotgoing:
    That's a cool shape! Thanks for sharing - it's a new one to me :)

    @sage:
    Sure, feel free to use these pictures in teaching fellow residents! It's always great to share knowledge, and Japanese residents in SL are sooo awesomely creative, I just can't wait to see what they'll create with these shapes!

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  29. How wonderful!!
    I came from sage's blog here.
    Your blog was immediately added to my favorite blog list.
    I will be able to challenge again by your favor though I felt the logjam of the object making in SL a little.
    Thank you Ayumi!!

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  30. hi Ayumi.
    Thank you for acknowledging offer.

    I wrote to the Blog.
    http://sage.slmame.com/e700482.html

    message from Bark Aabye in Japan:
    'I love the person who shares such wisdom.'

    Thank you~~^^

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  31. Hi~~Ayumi-san~
    I knew here from Sage Proto's blog!
    Thank you very much for wonderful
    knowledge^^
    I took a pic!!
    Yay^^
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/barkaabye/3797659057/

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you very much! Your post have helped us saving so much time and prims building the new Icehotel SL.

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  33. @Syunyou:
    Yay, I'm happy you feel inspired again :) Good luck with your new creations!

    @sage:
    Thank you for writing about my guide and linking to my blog. Hopefully this will reach a lot of Japanese residents. And big thanks for sharing the comment! :)

    bark:
    Thank you! Lovely picture! :) I saw on your blog that you have some photo galleries in SL. I'm going to visit somehow soon ^^

    Jesper:
    Icehotel SL sounds awesome. I'm going to look for it when I log in to SL. I'm glad I could help a bit in the prim-saving part! ;)

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  34. My wife was one of the very first to achieve the knot, table, double knot and a handful of other wacky tortured prims very soon after she joined in early 2006. She explained to an astonished Linden how she did it: "No one told me it couldn't be done!"

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  35. Hehe, these shapes were amazing to me as well when I first saw them. I joined SL in 2006 but it took me a lot of time to find out how to make the double knot ;)

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  36. Thanks for sharing these beautiful tutorials!
    Kikas Babenco

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  37. Thank u for sharing this :))

    Great post Ayumi !

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  38. Great site! learned a lot. YOU ROCK!

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  39. Hi, it's a great post for builder thx ;-)

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  40. Thank you so much, Xenovya and christesre! I'm happy you like the guide ^^

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  41. Ayumi this is perfectly wonderful. <3

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  42. What an excellent guide! There's a few things in there that I never knew were possible.

    I'd like to add some texturing info for the "5 faces display panel".

    Let's call the left-most face 1, and the right most face 5. These parameters will need to be set in order to display images evenly and correctly.

    Face 1:
    Repeats per Face, Horizontal = 2.500
    Offset, Horizontal = 0.750

    Face 2: no changes required.

    Face 3:
    Repeats per Face, Horizontal = 16.700, also place a tick in the Horizontal "flip" box.
    Offset, Horizontal = -0.100

    Face 4: no changes required.

    Face 5:
    Repeats per Face, Horizontal = 2.500
    Offset, Horizontal = 0.250

    Hope this helps!

    regards, Shifter.

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  43. Thank you, Circle and Anonymous :)

    @Shifter:
    Thank you for these instructions, Shifter :) I assumed people would figure it out, but I guess it might not be that obvious, so I added information and a link to your comment under the '5 faces display panel' :) I'm sure people will find it helpful!

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  44. This is awesome! Since being pointed to this blog about a month ago, I've used these shapes in over a dozen builds. Just used another one tonight in fact. Thankyou for taking the time and effort to share this information with the world. I have since passed on the link to many others and they're just as amazed as I am. Keep it up!

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  45. A friend of mine (Wrath Constantine)used one of your creations for a Rocket Nozzle in a build and when I wondered how he did it, he pointed me to your Blog. I've since bookmarked it and have used it in at least 2 other builds of mine. Thank you for this resource.

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  46. Thank you, Wrath and Deson! I'm so glad you use these shapes in your builds! And thank you a lot for letting other people know about this tutorial! :)

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  47. Somehow it seems that for face 3 it fits with 15.3 not 16.7 for me, am i doing something wrong?

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  48. This taught me so much, and so quickly. Thank you for this guide. It's brilliant.

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  49. Ahh, yes...this prim has slightly different proportions to the one I have. Tweak the texture settings to suit.

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  50. Thank you Ayumi !!
    Normally i don't build, beacuse i hate it ^^ , but thanks to you i love :)

    Helpful work !

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  51. Aww, thank you so much! <3 Yay, it's so cool to know my little guide is helpful! Happy building!

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  52. Oh, nuuuuuu... I was deleting some spam comments from here, and for some reason a few other comments were deleted with them... I'm so sorry - it happened automatically and I have no way to restore them... I'll try to contact Blogger about this, but I don't think they will be able to bring them back, meh...

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  53. Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this information!

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  54. This is utterly fantastic. As a self-taught prim torturer (my specialty is toruses), I would never have thought of most of the techniques here. Thanks so much!

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  55. "The Long Tail" in action... I just found your post a year after you made it... STILL a great post!

    Thank you for sharing! :)

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  56. Excellent article. These are shapes I and other builders have long used... but I've seldom seen such excellent shapes gathered in one place (like you said... builders long tended to keep such "trade secrets"). Good for you publishing these where they can be of value to everyone!

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  57. ty ty ty ty ty ty ty and THANK YOU :)

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  58. Thank you for this! :D I just used two of your shapes to put together a lovely box for my customers to rez when they buy my new tee shirt line! Yay! :D

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  59. Yay, PepperAnne, I'm happy the guide was helpful for you! ^^

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  60. Now, how do you get tortured prims in photoshop (3d) so you can paint directly on them? Instead of screwing around with a ridiculous grid texture and getting now where.

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  61. Did you expect to still see interest more than two years after you posted this? :D

    I made a shop light for someones dirty old garage. When I was done, it totaled TWENTY prims >.< My friend has a room at another friend's estate and has a limit of 50 prims >.< ANOTHER friend linked me here and I am very, very glad that she did, even though I haven't found anything useful for that build, yet, I am sure I will find things for plenty of other builds.

    Thank you, Ayumi.

    KhaliTahnita, Resident.

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  62. @Anonymous (August 4)
    I've never done that, but if you figure it out, please by all means share it in the comments, I'm sure many people would appreciate that!

    @KhaliTahnita
    Aww Khali, I never expected such great interest in this guide ^^ I wrote it mostly as a reference for myself and the readers of my blog, but so far it is the most popular blog entry here and brings new people every day. I am very happy it is popular and useful to SL residents!

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  63. These tortured prims are just amazing, & there so usefull, but the best part is that I dont have issues with rendering the shape as I do with sculpts, these will save my prims & my graphic card from TORTURED overworking in sl ty :)

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  64. After four years of near daily building, this has been the biggest leap of skills I have ever had.

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  65. @Anonymous (November 15)
    Thank you! It's the best part of publishing guides like this when people actually find use for the knowledge! ^^

    @Anonymous (November 17)
    I only saw Marketplace listings that actually link here to this blog entry, so I guess it's OK. I wish items like these were free, but on the other hand that person took time to create all the prims I describe here. As long as the credit is there, it's really people's choice whether they want to use their time to create the prims, or use their lindens to purchase the prims.

    @Ancient1 Aeon
    Yay, your comment is very kind! I'm happy I shared what I learned ^^ Thank you!

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  66. I thank you soooo much for this posting, Ayumi! It is so wonderful to work with the prims. Sculpties are good too, but I really like prim items. :-)
    You are very generous to share this excellent resource, and I know I shall consult it many times.
    Enjoy the holidays - and have a fantastic 2012!
    Mireille

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  67. Only just got the link for this from a friend... a fantastic resource! I too prefer prim items.. much less lag. Thank you so much!

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  68. Thank you, Mireille and Dracona - I hope you can make many wonderful creations using prims from this guide :)

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  69. "We have mesh and sculpties now! Who needs tortured prims?"

    I answer: every good old-school builder that builds for the love of art and for the sake of simple beauty will need tortured prims and a guide such as this one.

    In the Mesh era, this old school builder would not exchange these for any "super high-tech mesh".

    Thank you for making it. it is bookmarked and, since I have a memory of a mosquito, used daily.

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  70. I agree - every creator should know the basics! I'm going to learn how to make mesh stuff in SL though :) But I can't imagine SL without 'traditional' prims, I think they'll always be useful and used in builds.

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  71. It's nice to see this kind of contribution to the virtual community. Being able to massage a prim into something whimsical or beautiful is a talent that should never be supplanted by sculpt or mesh. I am inspired to reduce prim count by replacing some of my mesh and sculpted objects with twisted prims, saving land impact and vastly improving rez time.

    Best regards,
    Mister

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  72. I am happy the guide was inspiring to you! ^^

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  73. im happy this guide exists! but i am wondering, does you know how to make 4 holes/6 holes in a cube ? like a hole on each side. Normally you can only make 2 (1 that has 2 ways) with the hollow option in the object tab?

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  74. Do not know if I really had to post this to your blog, Ayumi, but as gratitude for the fact that I have improved my building knowledge by reading it, decided to do it. An important building information is took out in your blog, and maybe this will give us more courrage in playing with the settings of those SL cubes. We can see here what interesting shapes we can get. I am using these settings now, combined with others, to create my objects, and the result is really nice. Will keep improving... Wish you a "Happy building", everyone!

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  75. Very helpfull page was posted on Builders Brewery in chat. The Flower 1 size on E shows E=360 but i had to use E=-360 to make work. Really cool when it happens and appears :)

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  76. Imagine my surprise when I sent a simple question about a prim to designer Kamherra Albatros (who as it turned out subscribes to the PayItForward philosophy here in SL) only to have her reply promptly, give me a full perm copy of one of her tortured prims to study AND a link to this awesome guide.
    Thank you Ayumi for posting this. Going to have so much fun now that I'm armed with a key to arcane knowledge. This guide is akin to getting a cheat sheet on how to make flame fractals using Apophysis!
    ~ Gwynnaerie F.

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  77. This is fabulous and I use it with my primary students also at school. Thank you so much for sharing as it is appreciated so much by so many students in Australia =D

    Kate B

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  78. OK, here is a challenge for you! I have a path on my sim that goes up a hill, then turns left 90 degrees and levels out at the same time. Needless to say, it is not a pretty sight, using multiple prims. Is this even possible with a single prim?

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  79. Was pointed to this guide nearly a year ago by one of my SL clan members, and in turn have pointed others interested in learning how to build toward this resource. It's a fantastic one -- If you have use of other shapes - try making a ramp from a twisted cylinder. I don't have exact numbers, but do a 5 hollow for a center post, twist from -180 to 180 (or the reverse to go the other way) and pathcut to as small as it will go. gives you a neat little spiral ramp. of course adjusting the twist can make a difference in slope. to complete the "tower" for it just copy the cylinder, untwist, hollow and reverse pathcut until you have the right size opening.

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  80. Anonymous, I'm been pondering your ramp for some time, and I haven't found a way to torture a prim to do what you need with just one prim. I would use a cylinder on its side to level the ramp (pathcut and hollow to hide the unused bits as needed), then another cylinder upright with Z equal to your path prim height, path cut to a quarter circle, to turn the path.

    But I'm far from the expert here.

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  81. Wow....How amazing! :) How generous of you to share!

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  82. Thank you sooo very much ... I have been looking forever to find these!! You totally rock... thank you again!

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  83. Don't forget the trick of twisting a cube 45 degrees in the same direction on both ends. You get a cube that can be stretched from the corners instead of the sides. Learned that trick at the Ivory Tower Library of Primatives!

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  84. thank you for posting this, i've been having fun learning how to make these shapes and see ones i'll be able to use in my jewelry designs. I did notice however that on the tiny cylinder that the Z size needed to be 1.000 and not .010 otherwise it looks like a flat circle. Still a great reference and starting point for any builder. :)

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  85. Well spotted, Tatiana, thanks! :) For the shape in the picture I actually used Z size of 0.100. I corrected the mistake.

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  86. I have a shape that should appear on this page: Sword Blade.
    Rez a Cube
    Set Size to x=0.15, y=0.05, z=1.0
    Set Twist to B=45, E=45

    For a Sword tip, set taper to x=1.0, y=1.0, and adjust the z to fit. You can even set the taper to anything in between on the blade as long as x and y match to get all sorts of tapered blades.

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  87. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, it means so much & now a noob builder like me can also twist prims. Can someone tell me how to texture the mirror please.
    Star Draegonne

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  88. Just today was given this link, and a very glad to have it. I know I shall be using this link a lot in the future!

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  89. Here's two different heart shapes. They're both flat, so they'd make good pendants.

    Tortured Heart (from TUI class)
    rez a sphere,
    size it to 0.300 on XYZ, texture it blank, colour it, check full bright, and call it Heart.

    Change the dimple to 0.850, 1. Change it to a torus, change the twist to -360, 360, and the revolution to 4.0. Using the CTRL and Shift keys with your mouse, bring your blue stretch boxes together and turn it into a sphere, then back to a torus. Rotate it to 270, 0, 90.

    Heart 2 (from Prim Finder)
    Rez a Torus
    size: x=0.50000, y=0.01000, z=0.50000
    rotation: x=0, y=90, z=0
    twist: b=360, e=-360
    hole size: x=1.0, y=0.25
    profile cut: b=0.48, e=0.50

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  90. wow ppl are still using this tutorial in 2019 ... IT is great and accessible to all.

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  91. Yes, 2020 now and still a wonderful tool for content creation!

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  92. I would love to post you information and tribute it to you on my page.. Would that be disposable?

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    Replies
    1. I hate auto Correct.. AGGGG
      I would love to post your information and tribute it to you on my page.. Would that be possible?
      Reply

      Delete
    2. Oh, I missed this comment somehow, I'm sorry! This answer is very late but as long as you credit / link back to my website, feel free to share the content (if you're still up to it)! :)

      Delete
  93. It's 2021 when I first learned about twisting prims! ...and I'm delighted!

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