Mannequins??

I am looking for an "In World" resident who can provide me a generic mannequin..."model", if you will...I don't think I'm real clear on how skins work, but, I'm not looking for something like a skin for my own avatar, I'm looking for a 3d base model humanoid form that I can stand in a shop with outfits, skins, which I can put all of the accesories on to display and sell (You know...You've seen them in any "trying to be high end" clothing boutique in any OutWorld mall, chrome, or, generic, bland features, fixed pose, but, I want them editable so I can pose them too...Is that possible? Direct me to someone who can hook me up with an In World "Dummy"...LOL...or...tell em how far off the mark I am and why it can't be done that simply...I have $$$ if that's the issue...A firend says 3d "Meshes" can't be imported...Whatever that is, it's already over my head!!!

Thanks,

Quik Taurog...See ya In World!

The only way to create a mannequin that can display skins or clothing is to create an alt. Your friend is correct that meshes cannot be imported.

What you want is a bot. In other words, an avatar with no one at the keyboard. Just setup an alt and run both clients at once.

Thank you...I think I understand that...Can I add scripting to one to change the pose?

Quik

How about hiring a camper to stand in your shop?. You would obviously have to give them a copy of your outfits to model.

Just an idea!

Sorry...I was fibbing a bit...I really wanted to start an In World business creating companion bots, like housekeepers, body guards, traveling companions, shopping bots, even the "Risque" for the obvious residents who go to those lengths, bots that run In World errands, all of that and I would provide the bot, fully loaded with scripts that respond to owner commands and include maintenance contracts to update scripts and mod them in the shop as the customers desire (All loaded up with the scripts that maybe they dont want to take the time or effort to have for their own personas...Great idea....Killed in one sweep, no meshes...I apologize, but, I didn't want to give away an opportunity if it was possible...Based on the answers here, it would be a mistake to even try...I was going to "Hire" professional scripters to write animation and command response routines, but, I have also been going through the scripting tutorials in the developer's area to learn as much myself as I can fathom to make it happen...Oh well...Drawing board awaits...Thanks for the input, people!

Quik

You can use a modeling stand... There are several of them out there. I created one for a friend so she can display her shapes and skins. The stand cycles through various animations and poses and does not require a special client. She just uses the normal SL client to do this.

If you want only one, then get an alt and run two instances of the client on your machine at once (need -multiple on the command line invocation of the client, probably just add to your shortcut). However, with that approach you need to have your machine on all the time, and outfit a 2nd avatar.

Another way, as suggested above, is to hire a set of campers. Depending on what you sell, they may work just for merchandise. Or you may need to pay them as well. (People who do this are called "store models", not campers, since they are there to show merchandise, not generate traffic. But the activity is the same - they stay there for hours, afk). There are a couple of advantages to doing this: you can choose someone whose AV is already respectably tricked out with hair, skin, shape etc.. And you can have a small set of them, therefore getting 24 hour coverage without depending on any one AV. There are a lot of "poses" available, so that your model will stay stationary like a manniquin.

Some models will also help out with customer service when they are at their PC with client minimized; if the customer sends their AV an IM, they will see a notification and may respond.

My firend said to do blank avatars...Sell them with a hud for user control as a package...He bought a probe droid from a Star Wars site that worked that way In World...Wouldn't that be the same concept only expanded?

Yes, that would do the trick. You could also get Copybot, which you use from your main account and run an alt by sending it instruction commands in IMs