a Nice Sensible question about child avs

ok, actually a couple of questions ...

Having had such a good time playing around at Kids5b, I have been messing around putting together a child av. I am quite pleased with her so far, although she is still a work in progress.



The problem I am having is that she has these horrible spiky shoulder blades. It's a problem I also saw with some of the freebie shapes I picked up. Is there a way round this, or should I just put a backpack on her?

Also, is spinster Voom such a ridiculous name for a child that I should use an alt? I have an alt with a much less ... um ... spinsterish name, who currently doesn't get to do any fun stuff.

Interestingly, she looks a lot more like rl me than any other av I wear - when I was that age, obviously (I think she's about 3 or 4).

shoulderblades?
http://abc.eznettools.net/D302487/X329363/sh2.JPG
i see no shoulderblades in that image (the one you posted)..

shoulderblades are.... emm.. on the back...

Though, there is a shoulderblade problem i've seen in boy-child avatars before.. never girls...

Yes, sorry I was too vain to take a pic of the back, and can't get inworld just now to grab one.

I can't remember, but it's possible I used a male shape to get rid of the waist.

The backs of the shoulders are a problem for small shapes... The mesh just doesn't know what to do there so it spikes out instead of overlapping the polygons flatly like on the front. My solution has always been to put up with it or wear some sort of hair or hoodie to cover it up. Also, clothing with more elaborate patterns can mask the spikes in certain angles. (^_^)

really? you've seen that problem with female child avatars too? strange..
maybe i'm just a better shape maker than most.. i've made three (female) child avatars none have ever had "non-realistic" human shoulderblades.. maybe RL people just don't realise what their RL shoulderblades really look like because they are behind them?

female shoulderblades even as a child avatar have never looked peculiar to me.. some poses can make an avatar of any size look odd though..

I have the same issue, and it seems to be an AV issue with the way it crunches up those joints in small avvies. Have i mentioned how much I don't like the mesh sometimes?

That said, you've done a *great* job on that avvie! Super look, and yes, definitely 3-ish or so.

As the risk of semi-self-promotion (it isn't, but I am talking about a close friend of mines), I'd suggest a skin upgrade by stopping in at Robin Sojourner's Kick The Can store. She does some great kid skins, with details like baby teeth and stuff.



It is an unusual name f'r a kid, ya, so I could see the fun in having a different handle. Up to you, though.

Mari
(who likes this thread lots betterer)

Heh... I didn't even notice the name part... I can already see people calling you Spin or something as a nickname, so it would be fine. I mean... look at me... I don't even have a name, I have a sentence. (^_^)y

Ya, I was figuring, based on some of the other kids I know, dat she'd prob'ly jes end up bein called "Spinny" or something.

Good suggestions! I'll experiment tomorrow.

aw thanks!

Yes, skin is the next step. What I am after is something that's a bit grubby, but not totally urchin/hobo. Like I've been playing in the woods all day and now it's time for tea, or perhaps an "ice-cream face" with a wasp follower. A bit of sculpty snot would be good too lol.

Lily it is then!

ETA: yes, most of my friends call me spin or spinny already, but I have come across a few people who think spinster means an old woman. It doesn't, and I could write an essay about what it does mean, to me and in general, but thankfully I won't.

Sometimes you can tweak the slider settings by a point to two to get rid of or at least minimize spiky issues. But in general, as Mari said, the mesh doesn't handle extremes well.

Cute avatar!

YOUR name may not mean that, but "spinster" actually IS a term for an old woman who has never married.

That's a really cute av, though. Is there any way to flatten her chest a little more?

It's funny that this comes up to... I was just working with a new-kid yesterday and I was a bit iffy about handing out my own shape so I gave her the original freebie pack that I got my starter shape from. I completely forgot how horrendous that shape was. It was the first time I put it back on in a long time. (>_<

I guess time and touch ups really make the difference. Just keep an eye on how you look day-by-day and work out any flaws as you see them. (^_^)y

To me, that looks like the result of the Body Fat slider... Maybe she can try working with Breast Buoyancy to elevate the shading back out. It could also be baked in the shirt she's wearing. (^_^)y

That's another issue I have with the mesh :-/

Mari

cute kid!

this is the most irritating issue i have with the mesh... !

/me tears out hair (okay, okay, it was only a mop on her head)

hmmm....right now ya kid av looks good...im me in game and i can give ya some kids lms and stuff.....tho as ive found with shapes....with the small small avs...the body can get alittle weird

Thanks for all the tips, folks.

Yes, the chest still doesn't look flat enough - lots of tweaking still to do.



Thanks! will do!


Well, not necessarily old, although I agree that is how it is commonly used, just any woman of marriageable age who has never married. Hence, when I got married in RL it said next to my name on the certificate "spinster", at the grand old age of 20!

Ya... the problem spots I've found are:

Chest flatness
Posterior flatness
shoulder blades
Ankles and wrists
fold at front of shoulder

Some of those apply to girls and boys, In addition, buys have the shoulders too wide and "package" too large (even at coin purse setting).

Mari
(Who will now blush f'r a while after talking about coin purses)

spinster Voom sounds like spinning and vooming around. Must be an energetic, playful kid.

Ooh.. wheel or spindle? And what sort? Closet spinster wanna-be

sadly, neither, although I'd love to learn too.

I saw later after I posted the why..

But here is something to get u started- I spun off my fuzzy dog- she has died since- but dog hair is VERY warm -uhm bathe them first! hehe: http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/make-dropspin.shtml

The shoulder blade discussion is interesting - I seem to remember it being more pronounced on Male Avs.

Of course looking at that picture - it seems to me it might be a "male" shape, really.

This shot shows the issue with the shoulderblade:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marianne-mccann/2673379305/


This one shows some of the issues with the chest -- breasts minimized as far as possible still shows some curve as well as the infamous clevage indentation -- and the pushed in shoulders:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marianne-mccann/2701782842/