What is Land Impact?
Once upon a time, there was in Second Life only so called "Primitive objects", also known as "Prims". Today, with Mesh creators can import content that has been made with tools outside of second life, with more options and as result, for you as resident in Second Life, with more beautiful objects.But everything comes with a cost. A full region in Second Life is set to handle up to 15.000 Prims. With mesh one takes now the complexity of the object and estimates the load it would cause on the server. This is then called "Land Impact" - which, as term, has replaced prims.
The Land Impact of a Mesh Object is calculated each time when the object is changed, for example resized. The details about it you can read up here: Calculating land impact (Linden Lab Website)
What is it with this Physics Shape?
Quoting from Mesh/Upload Model UI reference (Linden Lab Link): "A model's physics shape defines how it collides with other objects, and is typically simpler than its visual appearance to reduce computational cost"That means, the way how you for example walk over a rock, might not be 100% exact as the rock shape appears. Simplified shapes are made to help you save resources and to enjoy more of your land.
What is a baked Texture?
When light falls on an object, shadows are created which highlight the form. It is possible to use rendering algorithms on a computer to simulate shading, shadows and bumps on the surface (or texture) of a 3D object. This process is commonly referred to as ‘baking’ the texture. Baked textures are then tailored to that very object.What is the "Normal Map"?
A normal map is used to give more "depth" to a texture. In Second LIfe, "Advanced Lighting "is mandatory to see "Normal Map". Also, applying a normal map can affect the Land Impact of your object. Read more about it here: Materials: Normal and Specular Mapping (Linden Lab Link)
