How are avatars build?

Hello,

I would like to know how can I model avatars for Second Life.

Are they done with Poser?
Exporting to what format (3ds, or what)?
Can I use Poser models for SL?
How do I upload them?

Thanks.

http://static.secondlife.com/downloads/avatar/avatar_mesh.zip

That zip file includes custom Poser characters of the Second Life avatar (basic male and female), as well as OBJ and BVH files to aid in the creation of similar models in other 3D applications.

These models can be used to generate more accurate character animations for upload into Second Life. Additionally, they can be used as mannequins to test clothing and other avatar related textures without requiring logging in to Second Life.

Be aware that the actual human Avatar used in SL is a limited version of a VERY old Poser figure mesh, and there's a lot that you can do in Poser, such as morph targets, that does not come across into SL. For example, you can't specify either hand's finger positions when trying to create an animation to import.

You can not create new Human avatars, like "Jessie" for Poser, or "Victoria 4" for DAZ}Studio, and import them into SL. SL really only has one avatar - a female figure nicknamed "Ruth". Even the male avatars are just an in-world morph off that basic Female avatar. There is no way to import a new figure mesh and UV map. We can only morph the existing avatar and apply new skins, which are limited by the existing UV map and avatar mesh.

The avatars that you see that don't look Human (4-legged dogs, people with fox heads and tails and fur, Dragons, etc.) are prim add-ons, work over the Human figure, which is sometimes extremely contorted with an animation overrider, to keep the actual Human form from being visible.

Thank you, you have answered all my questions, even those that I had not asked yet.
Thanks again!

Uh... no. No you can't.

Avatar customization and attachment building is done completely within SL, with a few exceptions like textures. Poser isn't even a modeling program, you can use it to make animations but that's about it.

I mean, not to sound rude, but this is considered basic! knowledge.
You should probably learn a bit more about how everything in Secondlife works before attempting to make an avatar. There are several institutions devoted to helping new residents, but I'm not up to date on that matter. Someone else might have more specific places to point you at.

yeah definitely to someone born in 2005 and most probably someone born before 2007, he's enquiring about the basic information, if I had asked questions earlier than I did I could be a genius builder by now

I know a lot of avatars who have only rezzed a prim box just because they wanted to get the shoes/clothes out of it, if they had come any other way they would probably never rezzed a cube prim to this day.

The question begs to be asked: Is there any way around this that does not involve poser, and preferably uses open tools? Poser is ungodly expensive (L$66,000 as of the time of this writing, somewhat more than I generally pay for an entire desktop system).

To do what?

To make animations? Sure, plenty, check the sticky threads in the animation forum.

To make sculpties of avatars? I would imagine so. I can't see any reason you couldn't do it in Blender - but then, I haven't made a serious attempt to yet, there might be a reason.

Both the obj and the bvh are standard file formats, and anything which can open, save, and work with objs or bvhs should be able to work with SL files.

So the question is: to do what? Because the appropriate programs for the job will depend on which job you want to do.

I'll take a look; thanks.



I can confirm that Blender can do sculpted primitives, that's how my avatar was built. I'd hate to think of what kind of ARC my head and paws would be if created with basic prims, but with sculpted prims, it comes in at a cool 248.

L$66,000 comes out to about $250 US. You normally pay less than $250 for an entire desktop system? I'd really love to see where you can get a computer that cheap that has any prayer of running SL.

But regardless, just so you're aware, MySmithMicro currently has Poser 7 on sale for $99.99, for the holiday season. http://my.smithmicro.com/dr/poser-99special.html

Poser 6 now costs just $29.99 at http://www.contentparadise.com/us/user/poser_6_special_offer_product_45324

There's also a free alternative to Poser, called DAZ|Studio, which you can download from http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/studio/download?_m=d , and there are several SL-resident-made applications for animating the avatar, which you can read about in the Animation forum.

So if animation is what you're looking to do, there are lots of options, most of them very inexpensive or free.


If you want to use the models for previewing textures, then OBJ versions of them can be opened in almost any 3D modeling program, including freebies like Blender. That's precisely what OBJ is for. It's kind of like the 3D equivalent of TXT, a generic format that can be read by almost any program in the genre.




All that said, just so you understand, Poser (and/or DAZ|Studio) has little to do with your original question. It's not a modeling program. It's strictly for animation. Some people do also use it for previewing clothing and skin textures, but that's really as far as it goes.

The direct answer to your question is you cannot model avatars for SL. As others have stated, SL only has one avatar base model, the built-in one that you already have. All customized avatars in SL are created by editing the base model's shape via the in-world Appearance dialog, applying textures to it (usually made in programs like Photoshop), attaching objects to it (prims and/or sculpties), and SOMETIMES by using special animations to twist it into poses and behaviors that make it appear to move in ways it otherwise couldn't. That's really it.

There is no way to create a brand new character model and port it to SL for use as an avatar. That's just not how SL works.

There's a Blender file with an import of the SL avatar mesh, complete with shape keys available at http://dominodesigns.info

This is created directly from the SL avatar mesh, and is much more complete than the obj versions.

For animation, there's http://tentacolor.com/sl-animation-for-blender-newbs/

Daz|Studio is free, and does virtually everything that Poser does. http://www.daz3d.com

Where's the source? If the source isn't public, it's not free. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software

Buy it piecewise from your local hardware wholesaler. Don't screw around with prefab systems, especially name brands. Usually the GPU accounts for half the price of the system.



The licensing is rather outrageous, however, for people who have moral obligations. http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines



Yeah, I know that the underlying mesh can't be changed. This really sucks, especially since the logical workaround would be to add attachment points to work around it. It would be nice if there was enough attachment points in the right places without having to sacrifice the ability to hold something or wear something because a body part is already in that spot. L/R Paw (seperate from hand but in the same location) L/R Hind Paw (seperate from foot but in the same location), Noggin (same location but separate from Head so you can be a furry and wear a hat easily) Tail and Groin seem bloody obvious to me.

Perfect! Just what the doctor ordered!

Even so, $250? You must be joking.

A decent CPU alone costs more than that. But even if you opt for all crappy components, by the time you add up a CPU, motherboard, memory, hard drive, graphics card, power supply, CPU fan, and case, there's just no way you can get it all for just $250. If you're so sure can, I'd love to see the price list from wherever it is you're shopping.



I'm don't understand why you wrote about Debian's licensing in response to information on the cost of animation software. How is it relevant?

Were you perhaps trying to say you find Poser's licensing to be "outrageous", and you were citing Debian's as one you feel is better? If so, what exactly about Poser's license do you find to be so objectionable? It's a pretty standard EULA for commercial software. There's nothing really unusual about it. Not everything can or should be open source, you know.


Welcome to the club. We've all been asking for numerous avatar improvements, including more attachment points, for years. Don't hold your breath waiting for any changes. Learn to work within the confines of the system in creative ways. Success in SL is all about discovering how to do more with less.

If it does not cost anything then it is free. Twiddling over semantics, no one said anything about poser's license terms. And yes, as someone who builds systems for both myself and workplace, who knows every square inch of my local parts store and constantly compares prices, I would love to see the specs and suppliers for a complete $250 system.

Thank you all for your informations.

I already know that Poser is not a modeling tool. I used the wrong words.
As I realized that SL avatars are poser models, I wondered if I could upload one of my own.
I model in 3D and have built worlds for other platforms, mainly in X3D and VRML. In those languages you can use anything as avatar, as long as you follow an interface for gestures.

I suppose something similar is done for SL avatars that are not the standard. As you suggested, make the default av disappear, and then use an object as prop, and scripts to start gestures on movement or on the mention of some word in the chat.
Is there a prototype freely available for this somewhere?

There's a bunch of information here on making avatars for SL.
http://avatartoolbox.googlepages.com/AvatarToolbox.html

Thank you. Great link.