Editting Faces Help

Hi, I was wondering if there are ways to change your avatar's face aside from the 'edit appearance' menu. I just often see faces on skins that don't look like anything I've ever been able to accomplish and I'm curious if something I'm unaware of is involved. I tried searching on Youtube and Google, but couldn't find an answer.

Skins are important. You can have the same shape and try on different skins, and look very different. It has to do with shading, make-up, shape of lips etc.


Edit:
Heh, I now see you're not a newbie, so I guess my take on it might be a "duh"-moment.

Thanks, I was just wondering if I was missing out on something. The main thing I notice is the nose, mine always seems kinda block-y while ones I see in shops seem really smooth.. but I guess that also could be them carefully taking the screenshot.. at certain angles the noses look better.

It's probably a combination of all of the above. I know the nose, eyes, eyebrows, and mouth can be pushed way too far on some of the slider settings with a compound effect based on multiple slider settings. Often the nose will get folded into the face at the outer edge of the nostrils and septum if one is not careful.

From certain angles the avatar just looks...bad. A Windlight setting that neutralizes the effects of cast shadows will soften the harsh transitions between polygon faces. Adjusting the field of view on the camera (F8, F9, & F0) can help a little with extreme closeups on the face. And, a well detailed skin will hide the crude structure of the polygons on the head by fooling the eye into seeing higher cheek bones, fuller lips, more recessed eyes, a rounder nose, etc..

Skins probably influence the look of the avatar face more than any other factor. Ive done my share of photo sourced skins from head shots of real people, and one thing I keep consistent in all cases is the fit to the avatar mesh. It doesn't matter who I work with. I always distort the facial features to match the topography of the avatar mesh for later work on the shape sliders. The first time I preview a composited skin (it doesn't matter what shape or gender I view it on) the essence of the person's look is there, captured in all of the highlights, shadows, wrinkles and blemishes found in the original images. Shape plays it's part, but it is more about letting the texture convey the look.

Thanks for all the good information. :]

of course there is Photoshop too.

When you mention skin... you mean it's the texture of the face?

Yes. Skin is a texture applied to the avatar body. SL supplies several free skins in the library folder of your inventory. Many (most?) people eventually find better free skins in SL or buy superior ones or, if they are talented and patient, come to this forum to learn to design their own.

Thanks for answering my question. Sorry everyone i'm very new to this and it's a job I have to do (building models and painting textures/skin in Second Life for my company). I'm actually afraid that I may not be performing to my company's standards and in turn get fired, maybe I'm over worrying but I don't want that to happen. =(

So I will really like to apologize to everyone in the forum if I posted some very noobish questions. I will try to read up on the forums on building and painting skins. If I happen to run into any problems, I hope all of you won't mind me posting again.. really need you talented and knowledgeable people to help me. Thanks =)

In that case, I very strongly recommend that you read each of the sticky threads at the top of this forum very carefully .... especially the ones on files sizes/formats, transparency/alpha channels, and Photoshop tricks& tips. The tutorial thread is also a goldmine, as are the forum archives themselves, but you can save yourself a lot of trial and error by reading those three basic stickies first.

Holy cow, does your company have any idea of how hard it is to make skin textures? Experienced skin creators spend mega hours on just one - I can't imagine the frustration level there must be for someone new at it. Hopefully you have uber mad Photoshop skills. Good luck, seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. I just remember a boss I had once who made it one of my job requirements to teach Photoshop to a computer illiterate person and scheduled me ONE HOUR per WEEK to do that - obviously my boss knew nothing about what he was asking me to do...

While a lot of skin designers spend hours on end perfecting their creations and most likely to a specific avatar shape they've chosen, DO NOT go by what you see on a vendor box. Box art is doctored beyond belief in Photoshop with filters, the smooth tool and liquify tool. There's at least half a dozen video tutorials on Youtube explaining how to do this to your SL snapshots/screencaps. Your best best for comparison is other avatars inworld who provide a genuine reference.

p.s. heya Merlynn

Funny, I use all those tools while working on the actual skin texture, and none of those for snapshots. Instead, I use custom Windlight presets, flattering poses and camera angles, and a neutral background so I can Alpha it out for a consistent look between all products on displays and a web site. I even offer the Windlight presets to anyone interested in duplicating the lighting. Everyone knows that graphics settings, video cards, monitors, ambient lighting, etc., will all skew the intended look of a skin no matter what one does to it. It seems a little backwards to spend extra time doctoring up a box image when DEMO SKINS tell the complete story. Those tutorials make much more sense for photographic artworks, not product displays. If an artist is not satisfied with the look of their product, one would think they would fix the product, not an image of it. I think you may be painting a skewed version of who skin artists are. The majority are not intentionally shady and deceptive in their advertising, especially if they provide demo skins.

Etd026, I hope you're getting paid by the hour! It would be a far better deal than what most independent skin artists have. Many of us have to wait several months before we feel we are compensated for our work.

Namssor, I quite agree with you, I didn't mean to generalize that most if not all skin artists would use that practise. And yes, common sense dictates that a demo skin would quickly show up any difference between the box art and actual product. My reply was in reference to the OP's statement about seeing skins in a store and my inference that the best form of comparison was seeing skins on actual avatars. I still stand by what I say, don't use box art as your basis for comparison

Agreed, too. A demo skin is the best comparison. After all, it IS the product (with some text splashed on it)!