What to build or create???

Relatively new to SL, and loving it so far (except for the TP crashing grr)

In my six weeks I have managed to make a few great friends, do lots of exploring, purchase land and a home and become engaged to a great lady. Needless to say it has been quite the ride!

Now to my question. I am extremely interested in building or creating "SOMETHING" I have started to attend some of the classes that are available and have been trying to soak up as much information as I can. What I'm wondering from some of you vets out there is if there is anything in particular that is a good place to start? I know there is probably more than one answer to this question, but I'm curious to see what people think. I'm looking at a long term goal of owning my own business at some point, once i find my niche (it all looks interesting to me!!!) For now i just want to gain experience, and i'm not afraid to invest some lindens if that's what it takes.

Also are there those of you out there who would be willing to teach me in a one on one basis? classes don't always fit my schedule well. I would be willing to pay you for your time at a reasonable rate of course.

Any thoughts? Where should I start?

You haven't said what level you are at... If you are truly just starting, maybe you can start with a gift box;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=876wwYv6Tf0&feature=user

Then maybe some fruit;

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims

The more you actually make things, the easiest it will be for you to find out what it is you enjoy making. I know this may sound a bit too simple, but whether you are able to make a business out of it is irrelevant if you are not enjoying yourself. You can only be good at it if you practice, practice, practice.

Go to the Ivory Tower of Primitives and run through the tutorials. Take some classes at NCI.

You have to find what your affinity is first before you ask these questions, and even then, there are always classes at NCI

on the "what" part,

i`ve been in sl for almost a year and only just now have i figured out what to make, sit on a bench and think about what is allready ingame, what sells or not, what sucks or not, it is like real life now, gotta find that wanna have item

If you're just beginning then I would follow the tips from Isabeau and Cristalle.
Also (this is how I started) ... rez a prim and mess with it. Then rez another and another and ....... try all the shapes and setting. Torture each type of prim in every possible way. It's a whole lot of fun
Also, for tips on who to make things, check out the Texturing tips and Building tips forums a bit further down the forum list.
What you make will probably mostly depend on what you find you enjoy the most.

Have fun

.

Great advise, thanks everyone!

Wissler,

This is similar to what Alicia said, but I would add: Shop a lot! Pay attention to what there is too much of, what you can't find any of, and what you could maybe do better. Think of what you want in SL, and go look for it.

That's if you want to start a business. If you just need a creative outlet, then the answer is: it doesn't matter: build what you like best! That is the stuff that will come out the best quality.

Yes, the what to create questions is a complicated one, and has questions you have to answer for yourself.

Do you want to sell your creation(s)? If you don't then do not worry so much about the what, just create anything you fancy at the time. If you do, move on down.

Do you want your creation(s) to be popular? If you don't all you have to worry about is if your creation has a niche market or is just something that is plain cool and unique but will not be on anyones Must Have list. If you do, look at the markets, see what ones are flooded and avoid them, focus on the markets that are lacking what your creations will bring. If you try to enter a flooded market you will just be another face in the crowd.

Do you want to make a sizable L$ profit? If you are selling your creations, be sure to be informed what the going rate for them are in the market, and scale your priced to your skill level and their quality. I don't assume anyones first creations sold for as much as their later higher quality, more skilled creations.

Just create whatever YOU want, and don't put a single thought into the selling process until it's finished, if ever for the first few things.

If you build things that you enjoy for yourself, it will make a much better impression on potential customers than someone who builds things "just to sell".

Hello, and welcome to SL...modeling and texturing can be a lot of fun...and a bit of money can be made from it too.

I will suggest a few things, but first, I'd like to ask you what YOU'RE interested in? This may be a good place to start. You may find it much more appealing and entertaining for yourself to pick a category which is close to home, and at the same time is a feasible choice that doesn’t take a Pixar CGartist to model and texture. If you plan on basing your business on these creations, it is also a good idea to consider your competition, and the level at which the market is saturated in that area already.

A good arena to practice with is furniture and appliance—things used to decorate and/or detail either a place of living or a business. These items tend to be easier to model, because they tend to fall comfortably into the primitive shapes given to you in the SL building tools. Go check out furniture stores, and see what other people are doing. If you like a particular piece, right-click it, and select ‘edit.’ This will highlight the primitives within the object, and will show you how the original artist constructed the piece.

Once you’re comfortable with your basic building skills…then you can ask yourself what you want to delve into concerning your own business. Are you confident in creating a product that is already saturating the market already? Popular items are searched a lot, but in these searches you will be competing with a myriad of other artists…many of which have had time to master their own talent and marketing. So be aware that unless you can best the competition, or your product is unique to the others on the market, you may find your business lost in the shadows.

This is why it may be a good idea to create a business which encompasses a smaller niche. Items that are not as popular, but are appealing to a metaverse like Second Life. Pretty much anything can be sold in SL…any sort of ‘prop’ that might be purchased in real life, can be created and sold in SL. Keep that in mind before you try being the next big stiletto designer. Personally, I’m into film and photography, so I chose to create film and studio equipment. Because there are only a few of us that model these things in SL…I have found my products to sell pretty well. I’m not getting rich off of my business, because not everyone is looking to pick up a digital camera prop…but there are enough people out there, that I have a positive USD flow. This is something you have to consider…either compete with the bigdogs, or work in a smaller market. Just remember though…high quality work gets around…if you’re serious about garnering a positive review stream, make sure you have the highest of standards. Also, make sure your customer service is top-notch…

The biggest businesses out there…are probably clothing and accessory design, home building and architechture, sex ‘appliances’, transportation, and avatars. Some more easy to break into than others…but just know that many talented modelers and artists are out there, and you either have what it takes to compete with the bigwigs, or you create your own little niche market with style and panache.

BTW…I will tutor you if you’d like. I can meet with you for an hour at a time, once a week. We can discuss compensation inworld…IM me. We can have a mini-interview, see my sample work, and get an idea if we have chemistry or not.

Cheers. And goodluck.

if you are still looking for one on one lessons give me a shout in world, so we can meet up and see if we think we could get along enough to work one on one

compensations can be discussed if we feel it will work out

I find the best way to decide what you want to make is to look around and figure out what you want. Necessity is the mother of invention!

I think that very few are making significant RL income in SL. Many don't even cover tier?
Setting out to compete with established people in the high-priced sectors is not impossible but would take a lot of time and talent.

It might be as well to make stuff for the joy of it.
That way
- you'll have fun and will not tire of putting loads of time into the fine detail
- your fun might be infectious, and people might buy into it

ZOMG - you might even come up with "the Next Big Thing".
I'm not being sarcastic here. It really is possible.

1 - like advised above - play about with prims to see what shapes you can make

2 - learn linking, duplicating, unlinking

3 - learn applying textures, colours and shininess (including the thing a lot of people miss - the ability to apply textures and colours separately to each face of a prim)

4 - learn to make your own textures in programmes like Paint! (simple ones) or Photoshop (more complex ones) - finishing up with the slightly tricky targas used for textures that need transparent areas.

5 - learn about permissions, boxing objects for sale etc.


But bear in mind an awful lot of people are making and selling stuff already so it's a big pond!

A house is a good starting point - especially 10m x 20m base as it fits on a 512m plot.