Making shapes - Do you start from scratch?

So.. last night I was modifying a shape, trying to get just how I wanted and failed. So, I loaded up the ruth shape, and went from there, and I seemed to be able to do things better for some reason. Anywho, I ended up with a shape I absolutely love (Looks like my brother's crazy ex girlfriend actually...really does look like her..), but it took me bloody forever..SO

When you make shapes for your avs (If you even do, I know a lot of people that buy or use freebie shapes), do you start from Ruth, or from a shape that is close to what you want, or something?

Just wonderin', cause I can't see doing that more than a couple times... (Even works really well with my skin, which makes me even happier..when I get home I'll post her in the gallery..)

Personally, whenever I make a shape, I like to start from scratch with a generic Ruth shape. My own personal shape is one I made from scratch and I love it...it's one of the things about my av that I never ever change, that along with my eyes, everything else changes daily...lol

Creating shapes can be a lot of fun and it's amazing how much difference the skin makes. I always try the shape with several different skins...

My very first shape I took the default thin shape and My own personal shape and split the difference on every slider

Figured that would get me a nice place to start.

From there I came up with a petite shape that was the basis of all my Early stuff.

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Later stuff I started over from the slim female starter body.

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Nowadays it doesn't matter, I can get in the ballpark just punching numbers in from memory.

Which is handy because of that Av wont turn around completely bug I seem to get alot.

Bodies are pretty easy unless you are trying to do something the Mesh isn't as good at, like very large round breasts, larger thighs, plus sized avatars, very thin avatars.

Faces can take a long time. Especially if I am duplicating a Models Photo or someone's RL facial features.


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Men's shapes take me a lot longer because I don't work with those as often. Believe it or not Ive done dozens of custom female shapes and only a handful of men's

Men's bodies in SL can become Blocky in a hurry. I guess thats why you see so many like that.

I spent like 5 hours trying for a guys face that worked for me once.. i can't manage it.. and body is easy to me yeah.. but my face (On Keira now) took a long time... and it's so satisfying lol

Initially yeah.....

But all my shapes are modeled off of real faces I've known or seen....and often times one will inspire another. So.....lets say I want to re-create a similar look to Halle Berry (which I did for my Storm photo series).... I had a shape already (and I'm speaking more about faces because that's where the real tweeking takes place...bodies are easy) in mind that I knew I could mold into Halle Berry......
As an artist....it is like sculpture to me and I love faces especially... there are so many variables and tiny differences that can make a huge difference in the over all look of the face. Certain classic rules apply (the study of the human face shows a certain mathmatical symetry in what we find attractive....but then there are also those that break the rules who have incredible appeal. Marilyn Munroe's face is one that breaks the rules)

So when I do shapes now.....I start with an existing shape I've made, based on how closely it resembles the look I have in mind.....then I adjust it. This is true of male shapes too.....tho I haven't done as many based on real faces....yet. lol Suggestions welcome. lol

The shape I have I started with the default shape. I worked on it and tweaked it for a very long time. Probably weeks. Making fine tune little adjustments here and there. I finally wound up with a shape I love and stuck with it.

I don't understand why people buy shapes.

I made my own, and I still play with it constantly. It's never quite right. I found the easiest way was to start with a freebie shape that was in the general ballpark of what I wanted, then I fixed the obvious, glaring errors that you get with freebie shapes - Tyranosaurus arms, tiny head, etc., then worked on fine tuning it from there. The face and head was the hardest, because when you adjust one thing, it can screw up the proportions on everything else. It was a good learning experience, though. I have a lot of respect for people who can make them good enough to sell.

I guess the only time I've made shapes is when I've made a new alt which isn't that often. I usually start with the newbie female or male shape that they start with. I've never given the shape of one alt to another alt. I guess I don't want them to look the same.

I have a couple of "base shapes"; one for male and one female. I usually start with these and work from there. I do this mostly because I spend way too much time getting the proportions of the face just right if I don't. Shaping the body comes easy for me, the face is hard to recreate from scratch so I prefer to just tweek it for the skin but otherwise i don't change much.

I knew how I wanted to look when I first came to SL in 2006 and have remained consistent to that. I started by modifying the 'girl-next-door' standard av, only subtle changes, bit by bit. I've acquired nicer hair and skin, but other than that I've stayed as I am. I do use a slightly modified shape with skirts and dresses to counteract the poofiness factor, but the changes are hidden and it just brings my skirt-wearing shape into line with the sleek, athletic look I have in my jeans or birthday suit!

Second Life, the Official Guide has an excellent section on shape styling, and I used what I read there to create an "average" shape template based on my aesthetic sensibilities. Now, when I'm starting a new shape project for my business, I can start with a generic shape that is closer to what I want than Ruth, but not too far down any one road.

I have one shape, the same one I started on the Island with. It's been fiddled with and tweaked, but it's been unchanged for almost a year now. It suits my needs quite well.

from basic ruth/scratch