Seeking Skin Templates..

Thankies.

In fact you will need more than the common templates that you can download to create a skin )

You will need to have a good program (Photoshop, The Gimp) that can deal with layer and layer styles to achieve your goal, and, of course, it has to deal with TGA's as a must.

I design custom skins on demand of particulars (dont have time to rule a shop, really) and have many in stock which are not precisely "white chicks barbies" ) I've had many orders of ethnical skins, as well as drows, orcs, elven, fairies, and so on... So, I may help you, just send an IM and we can have a talk )

Best
Koyote

Malina, you may want to have a look at Eloh Eliots Blog, she offers some absolutely fantastic skin templates for free....
http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/

And as Koyote has already said, you'll need a good graphics program...eg...Photoshop or Gimp.....

Hope this helps..

I'm using the texture files from the Re skin myself. They're very very nice and a good start at customizing your own avatar. I get complimented all the time. It's one of my absolute favorite freebies. (^_^)y

Blah. I don't have money for another program.. I love my PSP. Have tried Gimp but it totally stinks and wastes more time than its worth =p Also don't have thousands to commission someone else..

Hrm. I can do layers and such fine, so maybe I'll hunt down someone to convert files from TGA to something I can use, and back again. I'm definately not new at creating stuff, especially something simple as a skin. Used to do that stuff for fun.

Shall check out the blog soon! =)

I'm using PSP myself... It has no problems with the skins from the blog. Everything is in a separate layer which makes adjusting and customizing really simple. (^_^)y

Really? Too awesome. Thought I'd give the shops another crack, but everything close is 'no mod'. No mod!? But if you buy it.. Yeesh, lol.

I'm gonna go check out that blog now and get working! =)

Edited: OMG! The one skin on her blog, Feb 2nd, is exactly me!.. Well, I'm more ruddy but oooo! Beautiful blog.

Edit #2: Ooo. Ok! I've made a skin! With help from the templates of course, lol. Looking for opinions! Please message ingame to see it! =)

Making a skin mod in the sense you're talking about would also make it easier for unscrupulous people to rip and resell as their own.

Also looking for some skins, I'll check the blog and see if I can't fiddle my own in Photoshop as well.. thanks for the link!

Still, Ann, if I'm *buying* a skin. I want it to be mine. Totally modifyable. Or any item for that matter. If people dont want their stuff 'stolen', place a tiny copyright in some strange place that can't be easily removed/masked.

I'm fully aware that the skin I'm using now isn't 'mine' but borrowed and modified with permission of Eliot.

When I do make my own skin, I will be placing a tiny copyright in a very strange spot. It'll look natural, but I'll know it's mine. Seen too many claiming things as their own, even though I've seen the actual owners shop elsewhere.

It's the seller's work and they should be able to protect it as they see fit. And, unless they've handed over the .tga files, the skin still belongs to the creator...what you've purchased is basically a license to use the skin within certain guidelines.

Modifyable, in SL terms has very little to do with what you can or can't do with a skin texture (unless the texture is transparent and tintable). 99% of the time opaque skins gain no added benefit from being modifiable. Modifiable, in Photoshop terms, is entirely another matter.

That's a nice measure for identifying the texture as your own, but does nothing as far as making it any less copyable or any more copyrighted.

Many probably underestimate/underappreciate Eloh's generosity in releasing fully layered PSD files. Often layered PSD files are the only "TRUE ORIGINAL" textures an artist can hold onto in this digital age.
Those that can fully appreciate the window Eloh has given us into his/her technique and drawing skills by offering these files, I offer my kudos! Those that piggyback off of Eloh's work by making slight alterations to existing layers and reselling the skins as thier own will learn very little.

This IS a good reason for including a watermark.

Yes, thank you, Namssor. Whereas I do plan on learning from Eliot's skins, perhaps modifying them until I get the knack of it, I wouldn't dream of re-selling someone elses work.

Well, other than those 'Resell me' resell box type of deals.

Considering there's only so many possibilities of 'unique' skins, many skins will end up looking the same. Whether you add highlights, darkspots, 'oil' and so forth is really rather basic. Anyone who uses a program can do those tricks. But to get the shading looking really good.. Well, that's where I'll have my main source of issue!

(Especially with the skin I'm attempting)

As a side note - Why do people buy/sell shapes? We're able to make our shape to look like whatever's in that box, so why buy it?

In any case - This thread's question has been initially answered - Thank you all! =)

Mainly (for me), it's meant as a time saver for my skin customers. Some people just don't like tweaking a shape from scratch.

Secondarily, I create shapes to match certain skins I sell. The idea is to give a good reference point for enhancing the skin's intended features. All of my skins are extensively photo sourced (usually from multiple sources), so I build the shape up as I design the skin for maximum realism. I realize shapes are highly personal (probably even more so than skins), so all my shapes are sold separately with modify and copy permissions. I encourage people to heavily modify and personalize them.

I could just give them away for free with full permissions (No resale rights), but I hate giving lazy people more excuses to infringe without learning anything. Also, if they are just copied and wantonly distributed we end up with "Attack of the Clones"! and a barrage of misinformed IM's back to the creator (Me). For a buck, they can buy the shape and copy down all the slider settings to create their own if they feel they must do that. At least they learn what the settings are that way .

I couldn't have said it better myself Namssor....Eloh's 'gift' is amazingly generous .....and there is a myriad of techniques that can be learned from the PSD files...it's astounding. I just kind of 'smile to myself', when I see skins for sale that are exactly Eloh's with maybe a different tint on the lips...etc...and are passed off as being completely the sellers own work.

I love eloh's psd files

I use them with my skins, and do not hide the fact that I use them
people are amazed, they say they can not tell I used her files heh

mainly I use hers for learning how to do highlights and shades, I use bits and pieces of hers and then hand paint in my own changes and personal touches

works out well for me

(and she states on her blog that people can use them in the stuff they sell)
I do sell my skins, however if I were not doing so much customization to them I would not sell them, since that would basically be her skins for sale

It sounds like you are making great use of Eloh's files for improving your own work. I'm glad to hear that you are sensitive to not letting another person's work influence yours TOO much, and that you are interested in developing your own style. These are the kind of stories I like to hear.

I don't use Eloh's skins within my own workflow, nor Chip's templates for that matter, but this doesn't mean I don't think they are great tools/gifts. They are! I have downloaded them both as well as many other generous gifts from others because they speak to me about the process of thier creators. It's fascinating to look at the discepline and passion that went into creating them. I think the most useful part about Eloh's files are the layered highlights and shading. Chip's templates also include a single lightly shaded guide (I think), but not multilayer sets of shading and highlights separate from the skin texturing. Eloh's skins are really a great supplementary learning tool/guide for this.

What version are you using? The version I'm using (PSP Photo XI, and before that X) has *tons* of problems with those files, as many of the layers (or layer groups) are not supported by PSP.

[EDIT] I should add, however, that I think it is *insanely* cool that they were offered to the public, and I certainly have learned a lot from the layers that do work.


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yep it is the layered parts that help me a LOT, granted it doesn't cover everything I would want it to, but it totally helps me to understand how the grid on the avatar works, and how to apply the shades
I tend to redo the faces quite a bit, and little by little change things here and there

bottom line though, is we are all following the same polygons on the avatar so only just so much can be changed before it looks completely wrong hehe

Seriously people,

My question HAS BEEN ANSWERED. Meaning, stop replying! =)

Thanks.

Feeling a little pissy today? "Oh noes... They communicate with each other *beyond* what I asked for! Whatever shall I do?"


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I believe it's called conversation......I mean, just because you've left the room (so to speak) that doesn't necessarily mean that people can't carry on the conversation... But I promise that if anyone says anything about you behind your back, I'll tell you straight away..

Yeah... usually comments like that backfire. Ergo, this post.

wow,

just what is wrong with people having a discussion?
just because you start a thread doesn't mean you can direct where it goes

(I learned that one with the let it die thread LOL)