How do I stop waking like an idiot?

Total noob here. I only signed up yesterday and I've got a skin and hair pretty much sorted but I appear to be walking like a right spanner.

I've seen people walking like, uh, normal people and then I come bounding along like I've got 2 wooden legs, sooo... Where can I get a cheap walking thingy?

You're looking for what is called an "animation overrider." It replaces the default animations. There are a bunch of free walks out there... you male or female? I can drop a female one on you inworld, along with Lucrezia's newbie kit that explains a lot of SL.

Lol I'm male.

Should I just search for them? Cos I keep turning up to find model poses and the like...

No problem and welcome to Second Life! To change your walk, you need something to replace the default walk animation. You use an Animation Overide, or AO to do that. It's basically an attachment that you wear that has one or more animations dropped into it that override the stock animations. Walking is the most common complaint, but there is also the way you sit, stand, fly, fall, land, etc. You name it, and there's an animation for it.

Your choices are to either buy a premade one with all the animations in place, or buy the attachment and the animations separately and put it together yourself. AO's are available all over the place. My favorite is from Abanimations, but you should shop around. There will usually be a pose stand at the store so you can hop on and see what the animations look like before you buy (this is really important - some animations are terrible).

If you want to mix and match, find a free copy of Zhao II. It has pretty detailed instructions, but I'll tell you, it can be very frustrating for a new person who isn't as familiar with the way things work in SL. I'd suggest buying a premade AO. Most of them can be modified if you want to change a few of the animations later.

Good luck and feel free to IM me in-world if you need any extra help.

Edit: Danged Oryx. Beat me to the answer.

First welcome to SL.. I hope you enjoy your time here as much as I do..

What makes other people walk differently than you is called an AO (Animation Override). There are tons of them out there, including quite a few freebies.. Be sure to get one with a HUD so it can be controlled easier.. The ZHAO ones are great and free.

I am not in game right now to send you some LM's to places that have them. But most of the better freebie stores have a basic AO. Once you are ready to move to a more expensive on be sure to check them out carefully..

Myself I use a custom AO, I choose each animation seperately and loaded them into a ZHAO II hud..
I will be ingame later on tonight, (about 5pm SL time.) Send me an IM and I can help you get set up.

I believe you can pick up the free Zhao II from Abranimations while you're there.

http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/2007/07/day-307-animation-override-ao-tutorial.html
http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/2006/12/day-72-pre-show-check-and-putting.html

These are good for learning about AOs. I made my own from these tuts and have never used any other - she has a male version too.

Nice, one thank you everyone, I'll get on it.

Another random queston: I just checked my profile (on this forum) and it says my birthday is Nov 30, but I entered SL yesterday and my real birthday is in August... where did they get Nov 30 from? lol

I was wondering that too. My RL bday is pretty soon, and my SL rezdate is in September. I joined the forums in October, so I dont have a clue lol.

Go to User CP>Edit Profile to change it. You might want to enable forum PMs too...it defaults to not allowing them.

Er.. Adjust your fiber intake?

I just sent him Lucrezia's kit with a male walk that I found.

While we are talking about it, there are several free AO's (male and female) on Freebie Island in the skin/shape/hair/avi section.
There are a bunch of great free clothing and accessories as well. Happy hunting!

read encyclopedias before going to bed?

No no - for posture you have to put the encyclopedia on your head and walk before bed.

There's already a 'sexy walk' in the kit, and I made a 'power walk' version which Lucrezia has included in the latest update.

Right, I meant that the female sexy walk is already included in the kit.

I know it was a typo but I have to say it ... when you find out how not to wake up like an idiot please share - need all the help I can get

i would, except i don't know either.