Who makes the most realistic shapes?

Yay! Special dispensation to be Neko Barbie!

(Not that I needed it...you know how cats are. )

One of the things I often did for my shape was to achieve the kind of effect on my bust that such an RL garment would have: if more uplift then more buoyancy, if nipplage were visible then less buoyancy, etc. Remember the Cadillac of Bullet Bras from the 50s? For Tudor style corsetry, I raised buoyancy and decreased size & separation (and because I make my own skins, added more top-of-bosom shading and highlights). It was (and is) all fun, when I let my wish fulfillment reflect itself in a larger-than-I-own bosom.

QFT

I think a lot of people think bodyfat == bad in the same way as saddlebags == bad. In reality (virtuality?) the curves they add can improve a shape no end. The avatar mesh needs a bit of padding to stop it looking so jaggy.

I tried making a male shape for a RL friend, something that would match his skinny frame (his words, not mine). I found it almost impossible to make a realistic looking shape that was thin enough without razor-edged shoulder blades and other problems.

I prefer adding bodyfat over body thickness for women's shapes.

It adds roundness in the places that should be round, while thickness can cause blockiness if you aren't careful.

I like my bicycle legs. (^_^)y

Here is a tip from me about making shapes.
Colette is quite right about bouyancy but Ann also has a point too - some outfits just look better with a push up effect.
So what I have is 2 copies of my shape which are identical except one has pushed up breasts and the others have more natural bouyancy.

I call one my "Normal" shape and the other is my "WonderBra" version. Then you have all your outfits covered.

I think that the best shapes are the ones you make yourself! I know it takes time and practice but why spend money on a shape when you can can make your own for free? Nearly all of the shapes I see for sale have unrealistic looking breasts with no gravity and other weird features such as being 7 feet tall etc. Go hide behind a tree, take all of your clothes off and mess around with your sliders. You will always be happier with your own created shape than you will be with a store bought one.

*sigh*

RL conventions don't apply in SL...being 7' tall isn't any weirder than being 5'6"

I buy shapes for one thing...........the face for my skin. Since the only shapes I will buy are modifiable I can adjust all the parts I don't like...........like huge boobs and such. Butk, getting all those slider for the face right is a nightmare for me.

There is no reason to sigh, Ann. You are not telling me something I haven't heard before and I disagree.

A 7 foot tall female avatar looks very weird to a 5'5" tall avatar like myself.

But that really wasn't the point of my post. My point was why spend money on something that you can do yourself? When I say it takes time I don't mean a few hours. I remember it took me 3 months to get my avatar just the way I wanted it but it was something I made all by myself and it was free!

Stop skerring away all mai customers!!

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LOL no seriously - everyone should first try to make their shape themself.

Buying a shape is for when you aren't happy with how its turned out / or you need help down a certain direction.

Or if you need a shape for some specific purpose. A lot of female designers buy male shapes for example for clothing vendor pictures.

I would also definitely strongly suggest no one buy a No-Mod shape for everyday use.

I just get frustrated with how often I read judgmental posts about height...if someone has an avatar under 6', well then, they're child avs and probably sexual ageplayers as well. If, on the other hand, their av is more than about 6'3" or 6'4", they're sideshow freaks and not all that bright.

For me, SL is about being whatever you want to be, whether that's a tiny fairy, a realistic human, a massive dragon, or anything in between, and I just really don't understand the need to snark about other people's choices.

I think some of it is backlash Ann.

Remember some of those 6'6 ladies and 7 foot guys are ARing 5'5" adult avs. claiming they are sexual ageplayers.

Sassy is 6'2 with shoes on, hardly a titch

As for there being a problem with tall shapes, no personal issue with them but my friend bought a no mod shape and was something like 7'6 and couldn't get up her stairs because her head hit the ceiling.

good to hear Blake is still in Business.

Five feet 11 inches (wearing sneaks) and I look like a dwarf next to most of the guys I know. Being half Japanese in RL, I am used to this.

"Who makes the most realistic shapes?"

The built-in editor makes pretty realistic cubes. The spheres are also ok, if you don't look at them real closely.

Many good tips here. I've been in SL a year, and was the usual thin blonde the first months. It's just recently I've added on more body fat. It is really a nice improvement, soften out the curves. Not even as a completely newbie I wore boobs over 60 and waist 0. I just couldn't see the beauty in it. But it's different tastes, and I'm sure there's a market for it in both SL and RL.

I am average height in RL (5'5) and I want to be average height in SL. So I am a bit over 6' here. I think that looks good, when I compare myself with the other avatars, furniture and buildings. I don't see a point in beeing RL height, but I would really hate to not be able to modify my height and shape. But again, there's a lot of ppl who buy and use those no modify shapes, and if they feel good about it, it's not my business.

Over to the OP; I am sorry that your polite question to the avatar with the beautiful shape was taken in a bad meaning. I know I would have been flattered and happy to help. Maybe she wasn't understanding, or having a really bad day. I'm sure your lady will find a more realistic shape. The best would be to buy a shape that was closest to her ideal, AND that's modify, so she can adjust it to be perfect for her.

Like many, I created my own shape, evolving over 21 months. At one point a few months ago, I was happy with most of it, but thought my breasts needed a little improvement. I was shopping in Dark Eden one day and picked up their free modifiable shape and transferred the numbers from the breast sliders to my own shape. I'm quite happy with the way they look now.

As also has been mentioned, shading on clothing can also play a big part on how breasts look.

I've made a number of my own shapes, but I have modified even more that I'd purchased beyond recognition. For a jump start I recomend getting a shape (try to look past the skin at first) that looks close to what you want. see what it looks like with your skin, and then mess with those sliders from there, instead of starting with the default shape (which looks pretty odd). Some others went over this earlier, but put some body fat on, not a lot, but if the slider is at 0, then the av will just look skeletal. Basically, just remember two rules
1 if it's a copy/mod shape, you can always try again
2 the sliders are ment to go from insane teeny to insane huge, they aren't ment to just be for human shapes, but for any shape imaginable.

As for who makes great realistic shapes, I would have to say Ayasha Bisiani is my preference hands down so far. So far every skin I've put on them has looked perfect. Even my Redgrave skin looks better on my Skin Within shape than it did on the Redgrave shape, and her shapes are fantastic as well.

I agree 100% with this post. It continues to amaze me the stupid things people get judgmental and discriminatory over. Its stupid enough in the real world but in a virtual world its even more stupid.

I have little perky bewbies and I'll never change that.

It's not a prim enhancment, it is a shading that is meant to go with Sin Skins and is worn on the undershirt layer. There are 3 different effects, a push up, corset and i can't remember the third. I used to use it and it looked pretty good. SL ate it a while ago and I never bothered to replace it.

I'll add to the kudos for Colette's work. She helped me with my shape. I've sent several friends to her as well and they have all benn very happy.

Is it time for a signature change already?

Hey both statements work together actually.