Day 314: Creating Prim Shoes Part 5 (Boots)

In the previous parts of this tutorial series, we created a pair of sandals in Part 1, and a pair heeled pumps in Parts 2, 3, and 4. Since then, Ive received a lot of requests to write a tutorial on creating a pair of prim boots. So Ill do my best here :)



I created my infamous Dino boots last year. They look nice from the outside, but they have several problems. First, they have a lot of prims...too many to fit in a tutorial. Second, the insides dont look right (and thats why I dont sell them :P).



For this tutorial, I stripped down the Dino boots and made a simplified version. This will give you the basic shape for a pair of prim boots. You can then jazz it up by adding prims, decorations, and other effects :) Oh...and if you feel up to it, you can always try making a pair of sculptie boots!

A pair of prim boots is similar to the heeled pumps we created earlier in this tutorial series. There are just a couple of differences. First, the boots typically cover your feet completely. Second, each boot has 2 parts: the Foot attachment, and the Lower Leg attachment.



The Foot attachment is almost like a pair of heeled clogs. If you put more work into styling this portion, you can even wear this part by itself.



The Lower Leg attachment is the actual boot. Like the ankle straps we created in Part 4, we use a separate attachment so they will stay in place as you walk around.

Since you made it this far into the tutorial series, Im assuming you are comfortable with the SL camera controls and working with smaller prims. We are going to build these boots at actual size. So try the earlier parts first if you have not already done so.

You will need a Full Transparent texture (with a black Alpha Channel) and the Invisi-Prim Script (Invisibility Prim Public v1.1b) to make these boots. You can pick up both of these items for free at the Sirena Hair store (in the Tutorial Supplies area under the giant mermaid sign).

So lets get started!


Creating the SL Shoe

We will need a pair of SL shoes to prepare your avatar's feet for the prim boots. This is done via the "Appearance..." window.

First, Detach and take off any SL or prim shoes you are wearing.



Right-click on yourself, and select "Appearance..." from the menu. Select the "Shoes" tab. Press the "Create New Shoes" button (if you dont see this button, press the "Take Off" button first). Enter the following settings:

Shoe Height: 0
Heel Height: 100
Heel Shape: 0
Toe Shape: 0
Toe Thickness: 0
Platform Height: 0
Platform Width: 0

Next, click in the square box above "Fabric". This will bring up the "Pick:Texture" window. Select the "Full Transparent" texture you picked up from Sirena.

When you are all done, press the "Save As" button. Enter "Boot Base" as the Name.


Creating the Foot Attachment (Boot Bottom)

The Foot Attachment part has 10 prims. Since we are going to build at actual size, we will not be using a sizing board.

Rez a prim on the ground. Press Shift-X. This moves the prim to the nearest 0.25M point. This helps us line stuff up later.



Go to the General tab, and change the Name to "1". Go to the Object tab. Change the Building Block Type to "Sphere". Change the Size X, Y, and Z to "0.100".



Go to the Texture tab. Click on the square above "Texture". This will open the Pick:Texture window. Click on the Blank button and the Select button.

Click on the square above "Color". This will open the Color Picker. Select a color for the boots. You can choose a different color for each prim. This makes it much easier to line things up. We will change the colors later just before linking.

Prim "1" will be the front bottom of the Foot Attachment. We are going to clone it to make all the other prims.



So make sure Prim "1" is selected in Edit more, and you can see the Red/Green/Blue movement arrows. Press and hold the Shift key, then click on the Blue arrow and pull it up. This will make a copy of Prim "1" perfectly lined up above.



Do this 8 more times until you have a total of 10 prims.



Starting from the bottom, Edit each prim and change the Name to a number from 1 to 10. The one on the bottom should be "1". The one on the top should be "10". This will helps us reference the prims below. Optionally, you might want to change the colors for each prim to make it easier to line things up.


Prim 1 - Front Bottom
Edit Prim "1". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Sphere

   Size X: 0.095 Y: 0.186 Z: 0.030
   Rotation Z: 270.00

   Path Cut B: 0.730 E: 1.000



Prim 2 - Toe Cover
Edit Prim "2". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Sphere

   Size X: 0.155 Y: 0.090 Z: 0.080

   Path Cut B: 0.000 E: 0.500
   Hollow: 95.0

   Dimple B: 0.000 E: 0.570



Prim 3 - Arch
Edit Prim "3". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Cylinder

   Size X: 0.025 Y: 0.090 Z: 0.114

   Rotation X: 0.00 Y: 336.50

   Path Cut B: 0.250 E: 0.750

   Taper X: 0.00 Y: 0.30



Prim 4 - Arch Cover
Edit Prim "4". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Cylinder

   Size X: 0.085 Y: 0.110 Z: 0.159

   Rotation X: 180.00 Y: 23.50 Z: 270.00

   Path Cut B: 0.000 E: 0.500
   Hollow: 95.0

   Taper X: -0.45 Y: 0.10 (Note the negative value!)



Prim 5 - Heel Insole
Edit Prim "5". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Sphere

   Size X: 0.120 Y: 0.033 Z: 0.073

   Rotation X: 270.00

   Dimple B: 0.370 E: 1.000



Prim 6 - Back Upper
Edit Prim "6". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Torus

   Size X: 0.060 Y: 0.120 Z: 0.083

   Rotation X: 90.00 Y: 0.00 Z: 262.00

   Path Cut B: 0.050 E: 0.950
   Hollow: 80.0

   Hole Size X: 1.00 Y: 0.30

   Profile Cut B: 0.500 Y: 1.000



Prim 7 - Lip
Edit Prim "7". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Sphere

   Size X: 0.066 Y: 0.059 Z: 0.077

   Rotation X: 0.00 Y: 8.00 Z: 90.00

   Path Cut B: 0.000 E: 0.120
   Hollow: 90.0



Prim 8 - Heel Stem
Edit Prim "8". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Cylinder

   Size X: 0.040 Y: 0.050 Z: 0.102

   Taper X: -0.20 Y: -0.15 (Note the negative values!)



Prim 9 - Heel Outsole
Edit Prim "9". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Cylinder

   Size X: 0.040 Y: 0.060 Z: 0.030

   Taper X: 0.25 Y: 0.30



Prim 10 - Invisiprim
Edit Prim "10". Enter the following settings:

   Building Block Type: Box

   Size X: 0.175 Y: 0.095 Z: 0.154

   Taper X: 0.40 Y: 0.15
   Top Shear X: -0.18 Y: 0.00




And heres the scary-looking stack of prims :)













Assembling the Foot Attachment (Prim Shoe)

OK, lets put all these prims together!

All of these prims are perfectly lined up right now. During the assembly process, you should only have to use the Blue and Red arrows to position the prims. Avoid using the Green arrow!



Move "Prim 2 - Toe Cover" down to "Prim 1 - Front Bottom". Push it as far forward as you can. Note that Prim 2 will stick out a bit in the back.



Move "Prim 3 - Arch" down to "Prim 1 - Front Bottom". Join them at about the middle of the lip in the back of Prim 1. Note that they dont look like they fit together, but once we change colors, they will blend together.



Move "Prim 4 - Arch Cover" down to cover "Prim 3 - Arch". It should fill any gaps between Prim 1, Prim 2, and Prim 3.



Move "Prim 5 - Heel Insole" into place behind "Prim 3 - Arch".



Move "Prim 6 - Back Upper" into place above "Prim 5 - Heel Insole". Note that Prim 6 is slightly slanted, so make sure there are no gaps at the back of Prim 6.



Move "Prim 7 - Lip" into place above "Prim 6 - Back Upper".



Move "Prim 8 - Heel Spike" below "Prim 5 - Heel Insole". Try to bring it as low as you can without having the top part stick out.



Move "Prim 9 - Heel Outsole" down, just behind "Prim 1 - Front Bottom". Check to make sure that their bottoms are at about the same level.



Then slide "Prim 9 - Heel Outsole" back into position below "Prim 8 - Heel Spike".



Now, lets change the color of the shoe.

Click and hold outside the shoe, and drag the yellow window around the entire shoe. The entire shoe should be outlined in yellow.



Now go to the Texture tab. Click on the square above the "Color" to open the Color Picker. Choose a color for the boot.



Click on "Prim 1 - Front Bottom". Go to the Texture tab. Click on the square above the "Color" to open the Color Picker. Click on the black square and press the Select button.

Repeat the above steps for all the prims at the bottom of the show: "Prim 3 - Arch", "Prim 5 - Heel Insole", "Prim 8 - Heel Spike", and "Prim 9 - Heel Outsole".



Move "Prim 10 - Invisiprim" down. Prim 10 will be used to hide parts of the avatar's feet. The bottom needs to be at about the same level as the shoe itself. Prim 10 looks a bit funny right now, but dont worry, we will make it invisible in a minute :)



The back of Prim 10 should be just behind the shoe.

Now, let's put the Invisi-Prim Script from your Inventory into Prim "8" (the one from the Sirena Hair store).



Right-click on Prim 10 and select Edit. Select the Contents tab. Drag and drop the "Invisibility Prim Public v1.1b" file from your Inventory into the Contents tab of Prim 10.

Close the Edit window to exit edit mode. Wait a few seconds (could take up to a minute depending on lag). You will notice Prim 10 will disappear. Dont worry, its still there. :) Just transparent. But you should now be able to see the heel clearly.

Next, we need to link the Foot Attachment/Prim Shoe together. For this Foot Attachment, we want the Root Prim to be "Prim 1 - Front Bottom" (its the Black prim at the front bottom of the shoe).

Make sure you can see the whole shoe. Right-click on any prim and select Edit.



Click and hold outside the shoe, and drag the yellow window around the entire shoe (including the Invisiprim). The entire shoe (and the Invisiprim) should be outlined in yellow.

Now press and hold the Shift key. Left-click on "Prim 1 - Front Bottom" to de-select it. Left-click on "Prim 1 - Front Bottom" again to select it. This makes Prim 1 the last prim to be selected, and will make it the Root Prim when we link.

To link the prims, click on Tools at the top of your screen, and select Link. You will notice that all the prims are now outlined in blue, except Prim 1 is outlined in yellow.

One last thing: we need to name the shoe.

Go to the General tab. And change the Name to "Boot Bottom (L)".

Right-click on the "Boot Bottom (L)" and select "Take" to take it into your Inventory.


Creating the Lower Leg Attachment (Boot Top)



Now, lets create the top part of the boot. This is relatively easy: just 2 prims!

Rez a prim on the ground. Press Shift-X. This moves the prim to the nearest 0.25M point. This helps us line stuff up later.



Go to the Object tab. Change the Building Block Type to "Cylinder".

Enter the following settings:

   Size X: 0.111 Y: 0.090 Z: 0.200
   Rotation X: 0.00 Y: 1.00 Z: 0.00

   Hollow: 95

   Taper X: -0.05 Y: -0.10



Go to the Texture tab. Click on the square above "Texture". This will open the Pick:Texture window. Click on the Blank button and the Select button.

Click on the square above "Color". This will open the Color Picker. Pick the same color you chose before for the Boot Bottom.



So make sure this prim is selected in Edit more, and you can see the Red/Green/Blue movement arrows. Press and hold the Shift key, then click on the Blue arrow and pull it up. This will make a copy of of the prim.



Edit the prim on top and enter these settings:

   Size X: 0.135 Y: 0.100 Z: 0.200
   Rotation X: 0.00 Y: 343.00 Z: 0.00

   Hollow: 95

   Taper X: -0.25 Y: -0.15
   Top Shear X: 0.50 Y: 0.00



Now bring the top prim down into the bottom prim. The top prim should go about 2/3 of the way into the bottom prim. I changed the color of the top prim to make it easier to see. Be sure to change it back before you link them!



Now lets link these 2 prims. We want the bottom prim to be the Root Prim.

Right-click on the top prim and select "Edit". Press and hold [Shift] and click on the bottom prim to select it.

To link the prims, click on Tools at the top of your screen, and select Link.

Go to the General tab. And change the Name to "Boot Top (L)".

Right-click on the "Boot Top (L)" and select "Take" to take it into your Inventory.


Fitting the Boot

Our boot is all ready for wearing :)

Look for the "Boot Bottom (L)" in your Inventory. This should be in your Object folder.

Right-click on the "Boot Bottom (L)" in your Inventory, select "Attach To >" and "Left Foot".



The "Boot Bottom (L)" will initially attach with the wrong orientation. You need to rotation the shoe until the toe portion is in front.

Go ahead and Edit the "Boot Bottom (L)" while it is on your foot. Change the Rotation Z to 270.00.



Next, drag the Red/Green/Blue arrows until the "Boot Bottom (L)" fits well on your feet. If you use the numbers at the top as a reference, this is a good position: "X: -0.033 Y:0.000 Z:0.011".

Look for the "Boot Top (L)" in your Inventory.

Right-click on the "Boot Top (L)" in your Inventory, select "Attach To >" and "L Lower Leg".



The "Boot Top (L)" will need to be re-positioned. Edit the "Boot Top (L)" while it is on your leg.



Drag the Red/Green/Blue arrows until the "Boot Top (L)" fits well on your leg and runs into the "Boot Bottom(L)". If you use the numbers at the top as a reference, this is a good position: "X: 0.014 Y:0.009 Z: -0.127".

When you are done positioning, Right-click on the "Boot Bottom (L)" and select "Detach". Right-click on the "Boot Top (L)" and select "Detach".

In your Inventory screen, Right-click on the "Boot Bottom (L)" and select Copy. Then Right-click again on the "Boot Bottom (L)" and select Paste. There should now be 2 copies of "Boot Bottom (L)".

Right-click on one copy, select Rename, and change the name to "Boot Bottom (R)". Now Right-click on "Boot Bottom (R)", select "Attach To >", and click on "Right Foot".



Go ahead and Edit the "Boot Bottom (R)" while it is on your foot. Change the Rotation Z to 270.00. You should not have to re-position it.











Right-click on the "Boot Top (L)" and select Copy. Then Right-click again on the "Boot Top (L)" and select Paste. There should now be 2 copies of "Boot Top (L)".

Right-click on one copy, select Rename, and change the name to "Boot Top (R)". Now Right-click on "Boot Top (R)", select "Attach To >", and click on "R Lower Leg".



The "Boot Top (R)" will need to be re-positioned slightly. Edit the "Boot Top (R)" while it is on your leg.

Drag the Green arrow until the "Boot Top (3)" fits well on your leg. If you use the numbers at the top as a reference, this is a good position: "X: 0.014 Y:0.003 Z: -0.127".

Once you are done position, go ahead and Right-click on "Boot Bottom (R)" and select Detach. Right-click on "Boot Top (R)" and select Detach.



Congratulations! You now have a pair of custom made boots ready for Wearing :)

You can go back to previous parts of this tutorial series and add textures, bling, Sexy walk, and prim decorations. Or do what I did: turn them into Dino boots by adding some dinosaur textures :)

Have fun with your new boots!

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