The best value AO to buy?

Grrrr....after struggling with free ZHAO II and a HJAO i just give up.

I'm not built to fix things on my own. Just loose everything no matter how much I read and try to follow it step by step. Ok. Fine, I can get free ZHAO and try again....add on a higher lewel of headache as I struggle.

So then i will buy one with preinstalled animations, and customer support if I need help. I got an HJAO at 10 L§ in the place called "Winged squirrels" and that one worked fine.
The problem was that it didn't have standing animations preinstalled, and i messed up and lost the whole HJAO while trying to install some. So my skills are just poor. I admit it.

I will get rid of the default standing where my hands float into my hips. And I will not have the cheapest static poses where my AV stand completly still on toes in unnatural poses.

So ok, I'm in the market to buy something and get rid of my headache. Just so I can click on "wear" and "load" and then it's fixed.
What's the best buy for natural movement and poses, is it possible to find some good stuff for about 500 L§? I want casual, natural female movements and expressions. Sexy, not too sleezy.
Or must I go up in prize? Of course there is shops....but can you recommend a spesific one?

TY for your help...

If you lose an AO on the floor, highlight transparent objects (ctrl/shift/t) and if you still can't see it, press ctrl+3 and drag a square in the area where you dropped it. Hopefully you'll find it and be able to take it back.

Try only to edit your AO on your own land where possible.
At least you can return it with the land controls if you lose it.

I haven't been to Abranimations for a while, but I'm pretty sure they do an AO for L$500. I could be wrong though. ^^

I don't own land, i'm just in SL to be a party girl....and i don't know what happend. I have learned about the ctrl/shift/t before, and it's good to know....

But my headache got so bad, I can't remember where I was when I was struggling with it! And i have looked in the folder for returned objects. Nothing there.

I will try out Abraminations. My problem is that there's so many packs in so many shops. Is it just variations over the same theme? (Yes, possibly) Or is there an ready-to-use AO that has some xtra devices, poses and tricks?

I found a really good one in animation warehouse for around the 600l mark.. if you are willing to go that little bit higher.. its may be just what you are looking for.

If you like.. send me an IM in world and i can come over to you, or you to me and i can walk you through step by step how to install anims and poses into a hud and how to make the notecards. It really is very simple when you know how Then you get the exact poses you want.. and possibly cheaper than what are out there premade...

either way send me an im if you like and i can show you the ao, because for the life of me cant think of its name

In that case, always click World > About Land before dropping an AO on the floor. If auto return is zero, don't drop it there. Find somewhere else instead .. preferably where auto return is no more than a few minutes. =)
Most AOs use the same script or a variation of it. A good animator will sell at least one or two complete AOs with a few stand poses, a sit pose, and flying, falling, walking, running, jumping (etc.) animations.

Places like Abranimations supply complete set's of animations in their AO's. So a number of stands, sits, a walk, a fly etc.

I personally use Abranimations and you don't HAVE to do anything with them. I tend to fiddle with mine but just to fine tune it.

Nicest thing with the newer Abranimations (from model 2 I think) is that they use a HUD attachment. That means you don't hide it (unlike those worn on the body which are usually hidden and very small ) so if you do need to drop it to edit it it's easier done.

You are so kind !!!
I have an RL friend who's in SL too. Maybe we can figure out how to install our own HUD's.
Well, it's possibly more easy than it looks.........possibly. LOL I am blond....RL and SL. I can edit and fix all kind of clothes and outfits, but a notecard with instructions multiple pages..........i just get lost!

I will definitly IM you Isabella, if I can't get over to my RL friend!

But just in case, the 500 L§ vas a suggestion. I'm open to more xpensive stuff too. After all, my time in SL is limited. Maybe I just buy myself more time to play and party instead of putting together a special HUD.

So if you have more suggestions to ready-to-wear HUD's please come with them.

I have tried to read some of my own..about HUDDLES and that was interesting too. But what should i put my money in? I hate to buy something and then find out about better things later!

Don't despair, read The Tao of AO:

http://drickenbacker.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/the-tao-of-ao/

Among other things, you'll find a SLURL for The Shelter there, a place where auto-return is set to 5 minutes. Chances are there'll be someone there who can walk you through configuring your AO.

I feel your pain. I'm *exactly* the same way with trying to figure out scripts and adding notecards, etc. to items that are "easy" for everyone else.

Two things:

The AO I use is the Reverie. It was recommended to me my first week in SL and I LOVE it. It is just what you describe asking for: feminine, lovely stands and walks without being sleezy. It is 1000L I think but worth every L. There is a video to watch as a demo as well that shows EXACTLY how to use it. But you really just wear it and it does the rest.

It *does* require typing AO off and AO on but that was a small price (for me personally) for an easy "ready to wear and go" AO.

Second: My partner convinced me using the ZHAO-II would be more convenient and I would not have to type the AO on/off. I was skeptical as I did not want another HUD taking up real estate on my screen. I finally broke down and am SO glad I did. I LOVE the ZHAO-II!! And it has a very small footprint HUD.

When I first got it, I just handed everything over to my partner and let him install the scripts. I have since learned how to do it and it really is easy - once you kind of get it down once. The thing is...people who create items are technical types who are notoriously bad at writing documentation...lol.

Feel free to IM me inworld if you would like to see my Reverie "in action" and I would also be most happy to show you how to work with the notecards using non-technical jargon.

Guilty as charged

I've tried to incorporate peoples' feedback into the documentation. If you have any suggestions on how to improve the documentation, please send them to me, and I'll make the requested changes.

I'm right there with you. I just never figured out the whole notecard / AO thing. I have bought an AO with pre-programmed animations, but I don't like them very much. I stand around looking sullen, head pointed toward the ground and scowling over the rim of my glasses most of the time like a surly teenager. It becomes self-fulfilling -- I AM sullen. I wish you could just pick out a few poses you like and drop them in a HUD or something and be done with it.

Have you tried using a ZHAO-II, and following Dylan's illustrated setup guide that he linked to in his post?

http://drickenbacker.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/the-tao-of-ao/



Keiki (creator of HUDDLES) and I talked about something like that. It could be done for a simple stand override, but once you get into walks and sits and flys... the AO has no way of knowing which animation is a walk and which is a stand, so you need some way of telling it, and that's where the notecards come in.

Yes I highly recommend ZhaoII. It's not hard to set up, just a bit tedious. If I can figure it out, anyone can.

Semotion is based on the Zhao II and is already set up. Lot's of different models to choose from. Easy to edit also.

Made by Marie Sims

yes. My Zhao is a mixture of her anims and Outrider's

/me giggles, I couldn't resist replying since "Natural ladies standing poses)" is how mine is listed!

They also breathe! No frozen like a statue stuff for me... They also let you look at who is talking, and move your head as you wish too...

(And no HUD to clutter up the screen, doesn't conflict with poseballs ever, have never turned it off in a year now, no setting it up, just wear it...even on your hud if you want... )

People kept asking me where I got it, then buying it "off my back" when they learned I'd made it! (But now you can find it from the links in my signature, if you round down it's at your price too...LOL)

Thanks for the link. Like everything else, I could not find ZHAO II quickly in world .

The truth is I'm sure it really is easy to use. There are just so many other things to figure out in SL. My AO used ZHAO with preloaded animations. The instructions were rather terse and undecipherable. I then found the free ZHAO, the first one, and what seemed like pages and pages of instructions. I kept thinking I'll get to that someday. . .

I'm looking forward to trying ZHAO II with this web based tutorial in hand.

LOL my RL friend and i sat down, and I may have done it right............so i'm not that blond after all. But why the HJAO got lost was a mystery...

But I see others too have inventory problems. Maybe not just me....maybe....

And Ziggy, it's not that bad then, i undestood at least 99 % of it? Maybe the 1 % made me loose it, or just that I was unlucky? Because free stuff takes a bit of time and effort, that's why it's free. So i go over to Winged Squirrels and get me another one

Check my in-world profile.



Heh... that's really not an excuse for poor documentation. Seriously, if you (or anyone else) have any suggestions, let me know.

Hi there, I saw that my product came up in the discussion. I know some people end up looking at my HUDDLES EZ Animator Deluxe when they are looking for an AO. I always think it's a good thing to point out, that the AO part of it is basically the older ZHAO script with a different interface. The EZ Animator has lots of different features, of which the AO is only 1. I always looked at the AO portion as an added bonus, not the core of the product.

The only reason I say this is, if you want an AO, I recommend the ZHAO (or ZHAO II or the wet ikon/franimation script), not the least of which those are free. If you want a more full featured dance and animation HUD that also has a built in AO, then take a look at the HUDDLES EZ Animator Deluxe.

Ack! Didn't mean you, Ziggy, though I can see where it seemed like I was from my post. *Red face* I was making an "in general" statement based on my past of teaching adult ed. computer classes at a Junior College back in the Dark Ages of DOS. People often took our classes because the documentation that came with software then was horrendous.

Actually, as I said earlier, I didn't read the ZHAO-II docs because I just had my partner put my AO in it. And then he taught me how to make changes, etc.

Apologies to you...but I will read your help docs now and if I see anything will send a note to you *smiles*

Heh, no worries. I think the current form of the user docs are less techy than what I'd first written, and that's mostly due to user feedback. So any comments you might have are most welcome.

For a Very long time i Used a freebie called the Wet AO, I found it to be Extremely Stable, and Easy to Modify (As a Freebie, it didn't come with a package of Animations so i could Completely Customize my Animations). I used if for almost Three years Until i Replaced it with an Abranimations AO.

Don't Overlook the freebies, there are some Very good things out there, and you'll save a lot of money.

Angel.

For the record I finally got my ZHAO II working. I spent most of the afternoon finding non-sullen standing poses and a very reasonable male walk and was able to load them in ZHAO II with only a little brow furrowing. I am very happy with my new animations - they are far more personal than any of the ones I found pre-loaded.

Hey - maybe I'll act a little nicer to people now that my body language is nicer.

Will someone please tell me where to buy an animation try-out stand that is easily filled with animations to cycle through for testing? I have looked in animation shops that list stands in their classifieds, but have found only vending stands, never anything loadable.