Child Shapes -- No, it's not one of THOSE threads!

*pulls hair out*

Okay, sorry to put this in Resident Answers. It seems like it should be in Content Creation, but it really isn't Building, Texturing, or any of the other choices.

So, I had a child avatar shape that I was happy with. It was proportional. It looked like an actual human child. It had hands and feet and a head that were actually in an appropriate child-like ratio to its torso. The chest was still a little funky, but I was satisfied that I had done the best possible given that the Appearance sliders weren't designed to handle boob-less females, and when she was dressed it didn't appear too odd.

But it was too tall for her age.

So I set about to shorten it, and then to make the other adjustments to keep it proportional. But of course, the hands and feet were already at 0 before shortening, and everything else just... *gaaah* So now I have the sort of avatar there's way too many of wandering around already: the right height, but with everything else way out of proportion to the body as a whole and looking like a disjointed Frankenstein dolly.

So is there anyway to solve this, given the built-in limitations of the sliders? Is there a custom shape-maker somewhere who can affordably do something that doesn't look a disjointed doll based on the original shape I could provide? Should I just resign myself to the idea that SL avatars aren't human anyway, and a shape that would indicate a serious medical problem for a human child is normal for SL kids? (The freebie shapes I've seen around are all equally ghastly or worse.) Or since most SL adults are way taller than they ought to be, should I just use the shape that makes me happy and ignore the fact that she's way taller than her agemates, on the grounds that she's probably the right proportion to most SL adults (just not me, since I'm staying at 5'10 in shoes). I'd lean toward the latter, except that fitting in's hard enough already, and I really don't want her to be head and shoulders above everyone else.

you could go to "romeno" and contact some kid shape builder there.
They could certainly help you.

Sacha

Just think of the size thing the other way round - it's not that avatars in SL are big, it's that the SL inches or metres are smaller than the RL ones!!

There is a freebie pack called "Super Kawaii Loli" that I use. I met the creater and she updates it almost monthly with new clothing and small adjustments to the shape. If nothing else, the 'low age loli' shape in that pack is a great starting point since it is as small as you can get without some sort of mini AV. (^_^)

That pack has a pretty nice skin in it as well. Do you know where the current version is?

And yes, it's very very hard to get everything looking proportional.

Ill send you one i made a couple of years ago. Im pretty sure its minimum height. It was originally based on my "petite" shape Which Ive sold forever.

I never did sell Child Shapes - these days would probably hurt my business with so many people who are ignorant about Child Roleplaying in SL.

It's one of the challenges of the SL mesh: Much like the issue with getting a good chest with a child on the female mesh, or a boy avatar without giant shoulders and a over-endowed "package size," The height only goes so far. I believe most in-world height detectors (flawed as they may be) give a minimum of 3' 9"-3' 10". To get smaller, there are some options using the same tools as tinies, but with the same limitations.

Mari
(Who really wishes there was a better mesh, though she's pretty happy with her own shape)

I agree, I'm still using it. (^_^) *points at profile picture <^_^)*

NCI keeps a copy of the latest pack in their freebie wall. (^_^)

Thanks so much, Colette! And for the rest of your suggestions, guys. I won't be able to get in-world to check anything out until tomorrow, but I definitely will then.