Questions about creating items

Okay, let me just put this out there that way everyone can gasp, I come from IMVU. (Sorry, people tend to have negative comments towards me when they find out I've been on there and frankly I think that's silly. And I'm not going to attempt to hide what sites I've hung out on before just because someone doesn't like that particular place, plus I'm sure it will come up in all the questions I have.)

Good, now that that's out of the way, here's what I'm wondering(And can't seem to find in tutorials anywhere.)

I'm used to using Gimp to create new things and someone told me that we ARE about to use Gimp to create here, but how is it that I get my new creation from my computer onto SL?

When I create an item, is the shape of the item(or the opacity of the item) determined on my file? For example, if I want a short sleeved shirt would I just take the template I saved from the tutorial I found, create the shirt and leave the areas I don't want to have cloth transparent?

Does it cost to create items? Where do I find the settings on my item?(Like if I want to make it transferable.)

Please, if these questions are answered anywhere else, point me in the right direction. I swear I've looked before posting but I can't seem to find my nose in this place and began to get a little overwhelmed in my hunt.

I can answer a few, though I do not really know the details of creating system clothing.

In SL, under the File menu, select Upload, then Image -- 10L per texture upload. Then go into Edit Appearance, select New Shirt (or whatever type of clothing), drag your texture there and set any other sliders, save as xxxx. In your inventory, right click the item and select Properties -- near the bottom are the Next Owner permissions. I cannot be both 'no copy' and 'no transfer', but otherwise set them as you wish.


BTW: /me displays her "online denseness" --- what is IMVU and why is that maybe bad?

Bless you for answering. I was starting to get a weird Twilight Zone sort of feel by all the "tutorials" supposedly about how to create that had the template images..And nothing else.

IMVU is another avatar-based chat, I'm honestly not sure what the beef is but I nearly had someone rip my little digi-head off when it came up in conversation the day I joined SL. It's honestly a lot like SL, except the inventory is a lot more organized, there are no free items, you don't walk around and there is nothing like renting land, you just pay to become VIP or AP and make rooms. Both have their advantages and little things that make me want to rip my hair out, so I don't know why everyone is so touchy about it.

Hi, welcome to SL and the forums. If you haven't looked already, try Natalia Zelmanov's tutorials over at http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/2006/11/build.html -- she is usually very easy to follow. And if you look for the Builders Exchange group in world (search for it in groups) and join that, there's usually plenty of people around who are happy to advise on most aspects of content creation.

These may also be useful for the OP...

http://secondlife.com/community/templates.php

http://www.robinwood.com/Catalog/Technical/SL-Tuts/SLTutSet.html

http://www.annotoole.com/CMFF/

http://pixelboxcreative.com/clothingtemplate.html

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Clothing_Tutorials

This made me smile. Thanks.

I don't know anything about IMVU - one look at the avatars had me running the other direction fast if I'm thinking of the same platform.

I'm not sure but I think you will find SL to be more open ended. It is almost ENTIRELY created by the residents - every object, shape texture, building, vehicle.

And yes GIMP or any other graphic software can be used to create textures to SL. I use GIMP, but I'm not real handy with transparent textures. I do muddle through. I think they have to be saved in a certain format in order to upload correctly. I use .TGA format. You should probably upload in powers of 2 - that is 256, 512, or 1024. Try to avoid the 1024 sizes as they can create lag. Reserve them for when detail is really important.


Yes. It is my understanding this works a little better than using the sliders in world to make sleeves shorter etc. You get a better edge that way, and can create semi transparent shadows, etc.

All good links in the preceding posts. Textures for clothing do have some extra constraints compared to textures for other uses such as building (e.g. you have to use specific sizes I think) but these should be covered in any of the referenced tutorials.

There's also a forum specifically for discussion on this topic, called Texturing Tips. The sticky threads at the top of that forum contain a wealth of information to help you get started, and many of the people who hang out there are experts at creating clothing for SL, and happy to help. The other content creation forums are great too, if you're interested in doing other things too.

try the texturing tips forums, check the stickies. Everything you want to know is there, if you can't find it ask (but look first), about transparency, file size, alpha channels, targa vs png, etc ad infinitum

One point that hasn't been made yet and that may not be obvious is that creating clothing layers such as a shirt is different from creating objects, including so-called prim attachments. For example, hair, belts, shoes, and increasingly cuffs and shirt collars are done as prim attachments rather than being drawn on the clothing layer. These things have to be built in-world, although they'll still involve textures that you could make with Gimp.

You can do quite a bit on the clothing layer, but if you stick with it, sooner or later you'll want to learn to build objects as well. (Aside: an object is a single thing composed of one or more prims. All prim attachments are objects, but don't ask me why they're not called object attachments.)

Everyone else is giving you good leads and advice about clothing creation. Since I make houses, not clothes (I prefer shopping!) I'll just commiserate with you about your getting dissed for being an IMVU citizen.

Don't worry about it. Some people will always find something to put you down or belittle you about. It only plays up their own insecurity and bad manners.

Welcome to SL! Personally, I think SL has a LOT more to offer than IMVU, and I hope that you will also find it so.

We are a lot more like a "real world" here, in several ways. You've already noticed that land is a big thing here. You may not have noticed, though, that it's really the very basis of the SL economy. Land costs money, sometimes to buy, and always to pay monthly fees on. Land has the important property of allowing you to rez (create) objects, made out of prims (geometric primitives, basic shapes). The more land you have, the more prims you can put on it.

If you create enough good looking clothes, you'll probably want to try selling them...and you'll need to rent or buy land to set up your store and your clothing vendors. And then you will truly be a part of the SL economy. We've been described as "a nation of shopkeepers".

That's the other thing about SL...the economy. Unlike other virtual worlds, SL has a true microcurrency (although LL won't say so, for fear of attracting the attention of the Treasury Department). Linden dollars, or $L, can be bought with real money, and they can also be SOLD for real money. Canny (and lucky) businesspeople can actually make a profit in SL! A very, very few actually make a full time Real Life living from this "game".

So: We have land. We have an economy. We also have...entertainment. Many sorts of entertainment. Games, sports, places to explore. Roleplaying. Dancing and clubs and music, some of it with live performers. And, you may have heard...we have sex.

The learning curve is steeper than IMVU. But, once you learn your way around the interface, and the customs of the place, SL offers a much deeper, richer, more varied experience than any other virtual world.

You've found a good resource here, in the bunch of people who hang out in these (unfortunately, probably soon-to-be-retired) forums. There's an in-world group of us, The Forum Cartel. Let me extend a cordial invitation to you to join it.

Welcome, O Immigrant, to the Land of Opportunity!

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the information, I really do appreciate it and hopefully soon I will have the cash to buy money(hehe. That just sounds funny) on here and be able to make my own items before too long.

As for all the comments about IMVU, honestly, I do like the avatars there better than what I have so far here. BUT, I have been on IMVU since '04 so it's probably more about what I'm used to that what's better, really.

Right now I don't plan on owning land because my IRL resources are VERY limited, but I have had some friends on SL encouraging me to do so, but I don't see it happening any time in the future. So, sadly, I won't be making furniture until I'm able to use it.



El oh el. That made me giggle. I truly have no interest in the sex portion of SL. I've actually found it a little off putting so far, having all these people attempt to speak to me, which gets me all happy because I've made a friend, just to have them ask if I want to fool around two minutes into the conversation. Reeeeally not flattering for me. But still, your wording was fab.

Hmmm, it's a bit like swimming around asking where the water is Search for the NCI group (New Citizens Inc) for good tutorials on creating and almost all other aspects of SL if the links already provided don't give you want you want.

Creating in SL has many aspects, any or all of which you may wish to explore:

1. Textures/pictures - Since you are used to GIMP. As has been said File > Upload costs L$10 per file. Textures can be applied system clothes, objects (prims) or even directly on/as skin (tattoos and skin-creation). If you're good enough at graphic work that you can make realistic skins you'll be rich very soon!

2. System clothes. Made in 'appearance' by right-clicking on yourself. Plain-coloured clothes are only a few clicks away and adjusted with the sliders. For a better look apply specific clothing-textures that you make or buy. Shape and look are a bit of either/both regarding transparency within the texture and adjustment of the appearance sliders; it's up to how you want to do it. There are three parts to the clothing templates - that is, three textures for a whole outfit/skin - face, upper and lower body. Note that back and front are significant, as are left and right legs, but there is only one 'arm', right reveresed for the left. Also note that there are several layers of system clothes that can be worn at the same time (eg; undershirt, shirt, jacket).

3. Objects. Made in-world using 'prims' (primitives: cubes, spheres, etc.). For anything other than system clothes this is what the 'everything' in-world consists of. Can be made to look a lot more realistic and detailed by applying a texture. When applying textures to objects you have much more control than when applying them to system clothes.

4. Attachments. Just objects that are, er, attached to an avatar. EG; collars & cuffs added to improve the look of system clothes.

5. Sculpties/Sculpted prims. A special type of prim that has a 'sculpture map' applied as well as any appearance texture. While you can create sculpture maps in GIMP - they are just another type of graphic file - you will really, really, want to get a 3D modelling package, such as Blender, Wings, etc. On the other hand, you probably won't want to go near sculpties until you're comfortable with ordinary prims.

6. Sounds. WAV files, max 10s. No special software required unless you're really into it. Record them on your local machine and upload in the same way (and same L$10 cost) as textures.

7. Animations. How avatars are posed and, obviously, animated. BVH file format, max 30s (I think?) for which you will need something other than GIMP - the free Qavimator is most popular unless you're doing professional mocap (Motion Capture) animation.

8. Gestures. Just an in-world way of bundling sounds, chat and animations so they can all be triggered at once.

9. Scripts. 'Scripting' is LL's friendly term for programming. Scripts make objects 'do' something, including having dynamic textures, prims (count/colour/position/shape), playing sounds, animating avatars, etc. etc. The in-world script-editor is fine although there are some free ones available for use offline if you wish; I use LSL Editor

What makes SL special is that all these (and probably some I've forgotten) are available to everyone and with GIMP experience you're in a good position since textures are so important to almost all objects. Prim-building should almost certainly be the next thing to learn since it's what makes things other than system clothes possible (and it's easy!). For different types of content you may need different creation software but GIMP, Blender, Qavimator and LSL Editor are all free downloads.

Lol - before you ask; no, I don't know anyone who is good at all those types of content creation and I don't think I'd believe anyone who said they were

Have fun.