How to create a book in Second Life

HOW TO CREATE A BOOK USING A FREE FULL-PERM TEMPLATE

Camie Rembrandt 2016

IMPORTANT NOTICE Singularity, a Third Party Viewer, was used to create the illustrations for this manual.

Singularity viewer usually works faster than other (more complex) viewers and is especially adequate for users with less powerful computers, or using a slower Internet connection.

Singularity is free and can be downloaded at: http://www.singularityviewer.org/home

HOW TO CREATE A BOOK USING A FREE FULL-PERM TEMPLATE

Camie Rembrandt 2016

Table of Contents Introduction 1. Finding a free full-perm book template

2. Rezzing the book template in-world 3. Choosing the right layout/size for your book 4. Adding the pages (textures)

5. Adding a cover image (texture) 6. Changing book colors (cover) 7. Changing book colors (pages)

8. Adding a title to the book 9. Reading/Reviewing the book 10. Changing a book page

11. Changing book permissions 12. Saving the book in your inventory Final notes

Introduction The main purpose of this book is to help users learn how easy is it to create a ‘real book’ in the virtual world Second Life® (SL), working with a free full-permissions template.

I’m using the expression ‘real book’ because (unlike the ones made out of simple notecards in a folder) these are books with pages that readers can actually turn – just like they would do with a physical book.

As this manual is meant to be a simple initiation to book making in SL, a few of its more complex / less relevant features are not explored here. Advanced users can read about these and other elaborate aspects of book making on the instruction notecards of most templates.

1.

Finding a free full-perm book template

1.1. Go to the Second Life Marketplace website and buy a free full-perm book template.

On this manual, we will be using a template called Bjorn’s Scrapbook [Low-prim Version].

2.

Rezzing the book template in-world

2.1. Open Second Life.

2.2. Locate your book template in your inventory (it should be in the ‘Received Items’ folder).

2.3. Drag the book from your inventory and place it on the ground, or on a working surface – like a table, for example.

Important: make sure the book is placed completely above the ground, or table top, so that all the pages are visible when you finally open it.

3.

Choosing the right layout/size for your book

3.1. Touch the book (1); the ‘Main Menu’ (2) will appear.

3.2. Touch 'Options' – a new menu will appear.

3.3. On the 'Options' menu (3), choose 'Layout'.

3.4. On the 'Layout' menu you can select a format for your book.

Tip: try the different layout options available, before deciding what’s the best format for your book project.

3.5. After selecting a layout, you will be asked to choose a size for your book.

Tip: try the different sizes available, before deciding what’s the best size for your book project.

4.

Adding the pages (textures)

4.1. Open your inventory and select the textures you want to use as pages for your book.

Tip: for testing purposes, you can use the images available on your inventory’s Library 'Photo Album' folder.

4.2. Without closing your inventory window, right click on your book template and select ‘Edit’.

4.3. Go to the 'Content' tab and drag the selected textures (or pictures) into that tab.

4.4. On the book content tab, select the default texture called 'Bjorn Logo-Text' and delete it.

Notice that all the textures are sorted alphabetically – this detail is particularly important when giving names to the textures you’ll later use as pages for your book.

5.

Adding a cover image (texture)

5.1. Right click on your book and choose Edit.

5.2. Tick 'Select Texture' (1), go to the Texture tab (2) and touch the cover of the book (3).

5.3. Click on the cover image (4), choose a new image on the dialog box (5) and then press 'Select' (6).

6.

Changing book colors (cover)

6.1. Touch the book to open its Main Menu and select ‘Options’ 6.2. On the Options Menu, choose ‘Cover’.

6.3. On the ‘Cover Options’ menu, select ‘Cover color.’ (1).

6.4. On the ‘Color Groups’ menu (2), choose a group of colors.

6.5. Finally, select a color within that group menu (3).

Tip: the cover image can have a different color from the rest of the cover (back cover, spine, etc.). In order to do that, right click on the book, select the cover image texture and change its color.

7.

Changing book colors (pages)

7.1. Touch the book and choose ‘Options’ on the Main Menu.

7.2. On the Options Menu, choose ‘Page’ (1), followed by ‘Page color’ (2), then select a color group (3) and, finally, pick a color for the pages of your book (4).

8.

Adding a title to the book

8.1. To add a title to your book, right click on it, select ‘Edit’ and change its name on the ‘General’ Tab.

9.

Reading/Reviewing the book

9.1. To read the book, touch it and select ‘Open’ (1).

9.2. To move to the next page, touch the page on the right side, and to go back one page, touch the one on the left.

9.3. To close the book, touch the book outside the pages to open the Main Menu - and choose ‘Close’ (2).

9.4. To go to a specific page, choose ‘Contents’ (1) on the Main Menu: a Table of Contents (2) will appear.

9.5. Use the numbered buttons to move to a specific page in your book.

9.6. Use the arrows (1 and 2) to access all the pages on the Table of Contents.

9.7. When you have finished reading the book and want to close it, click ‘Done’ (3).

10.

Changing a book page

10.1. Right click on your book and select ‘Edit’.

10.2. On the ‘Content’ tab delete the texture of the page you want to change.

10.3. Add the new texture for that page – please notice that the names of both textures should be the same.

10.4. Close the ‘Edit’ dialog box.

11.

Changing book permissions

11.1. Before giving away your book, right click on it and select ‘Edit’.

11.2. On the ‘General’ tab, untick ‘Modify’, ‘Copy’, and/or ‘Resell/Give away’, according to the way you want other people to be able to use your book.

12.

Saving the book in your inventory

12.1. Option A: right click on your book and select ‘Take’ – this will remove your book and place it in your inventory.

12.2. Option B: right click on your book, select ‘More’ and, then, choose ‘Take Copy’ – this will create a copy of the book in your inventory without removing the original from where it is placed in-world.

Final notes Working with a free full-perm book template like Bjorn’s Scrapbook can be a great way to start creating ‘real books’ in SL. Reading the product’s instructions notecard is advisable. Also, Bjorn’s Scrapbook has one particular difficulty: the book script controls any other book with the same script that happens to be rezzed nearby. One solution to this problem is having only one copy of Bjorn’s Scrapbook on display in-world whenever possible.