HOW TO BUILD A BASIC SHOP SHELL

• Make a big square box, hollow out to 95%, expand it to max size (10m X 10m), apply texture for walls, copy it in CREATE menu:
  • turn your big cube it on its side so that open end faces you
  • click on CREATE in menu
  • right-click on facing edge of outer cube

  A new, IDENTICAL cube will appear, perfectly aligned with your original cube.

• Link the two big cubes without moving them out of alignment.

  That's your basic shell -- two open-ended, linked cubes.

• Make a very thin flat prims for the floor and ceilings (sized to fit inside your build without sticking outside the shell prims), copy it (right-click on the outer EDGE to make a new section, correctly aligned), link them, then copy the entire thing in the CREATE window again...

  This time, right-click on the TOP of the floor section you've just made, and the new 2-prim section will appear ON TOP OF the first one.
  
  This gives you two 2-prim units for your floor and ceilings; this will enable you to later UNLINK the floor or ceiling prims and re-texture them individually without messing up the textures for the ENTIRE BUILD. Apply one texture for the floor, and place in bottom of base cubes -- link to base cubes; then apply ceiling texture to the other 2-prim unit, move to TOP of base cubes, and link to the base cubes and floor prims.
  
  DO NOT attempt to change the textures of any prims unless you have UNLINKED them from the build, unless you want that NEW texture to apply to the ENTIRE BUILD.
  
  You could, of course, simply texture the upper and lower faces of your shell cubes, but that means that any changes made later to the textures may mess up ALL the textures of your build.
  
  You've now got a long rectangular box (10m X 20m footprint), with 3 textures: the outside walls, the floor, and the ceiling, using only 6 prims.

• Make one more floor prim, for the upper level, and add 2 textures -- one on the top face, one on the bottom face: the upper texture being the same floor texture you used on the lower floors, and the bottom texture being the same ceiling texture you used on the upper ceiling -- position in rear of shell, midway between floor and upper ceiling, and link to the outer shell you've already built.

  At this point, you can either add a 1-prim ramp or opt for a TP system, which will use at least 2 prims or more, depending on the type of trigger unit you use -- a one-prim "button" or something more elaborate. I used a ramp, since I haven't figured out how to set up a TP system as yet (only had 2 months during which I could actually log in, so I'm pretty much still a newbie, no matter how long I've had my account).

• Make a (10m X 10m) 1-prim back wall, texture it with a window glass texture, position and link it to your build.

  We're now up to 8 prims, including ramp to 2nd floor.

• Make an upper front wall section for your signage, texture it to match or coordinate with your outside wall texture, and link to build; add a smaller 1-prim window wall to match the back one (leaving enough room for an entrance on one side). Link both prims to your build.

  Now we're up to 10 prims. Since using only one texture in the outside build structure would be boring, I used a white marble texture for the upper front wall.

• I added an outside front sill, and a front step, both textured with the white marble I used on the upper front wall section, where I wanted my shop sign to go.

  The sill was 1 prim, the front step 1 prim, so that brings us up to 12 prims.
  
  You could stop here, and use the shop shell as-is -- it's a very basic shell, and using only 12 prims, is a great starter shop for a newbie. I didn't really like the empty space in front of my front window wall, so I added something else: a planter/pool section.

• The planter/pool unit is your basic 1-prim box again, with a "filler" prim that can be textured as either soil or water -- if you're going to use this unit as a fish pool, you MUST add a "floor" prim that's light enough in color that you can see the fish. If you're only using this box as a planter, you don't need the bottom prim -- so a planter only uses 2 prims, a fishpool uses 3 prims. To see what the build looks like with the pool unit, see my AVALON GALLERIA page.
  
  
• Make a nice sign image for your shop in the graphics program of your choice, and upload the image as a texture for a 1-prim sign -- don't forget to link the sign prim to the build after adding it. Otherwise, when you place your build on-site, the sign won't be there, and when you move it, the sign placement will have to be fixed.

  So far, we've got 15-16 prims in use, including the pool/planter. Your shop shell has a 10m X 20m footprint, and fits nicely on a 512sm FIRST LAND lot.

• Add basic lights, and link to the build.

HOW TO BUILD A BASIC INTERIOR SHOP LIGHT

• In your base inventory, or in a freebie box, locate the 1-prim circular flourescent tube light, and rez 3 of them.
• Create a long rectangular box (so it looks like it's about 6' x 3', relatively speaking, in-world), and apply a clear GLASS texture to it.
• INSERT THE 3 TUBE LIGHTS IN THE GLASS BOX -- what was 4 prims is now only 1 prim, and it's a BIG florescent light. LINK THE ENTIRE THING TOGETHER -- if you don't, it won't move as a linked unit, and it will come apart when you try to move it later.
• Make a nice outer box frame for your shop light -- no top or bottom prim needed, only one cube, hollowed-out and resized, textured in something like steel or mahogany or whatever -- sized to fit OUTSIDE your glass light prim.
• Make two long very thin circular prims and lengthen them (into a rod or chain) -- texture as a chain or as steel/copper/bronze, add to the upper level of your light unit and LINK ALL THE PARTS TOGETHER.
• Raise light unit to ceiling and LINK TO YOUR ENTIRE SHOP BUILD. Total prims used: 3.