Second Life Colorspace?

I'm a graphic designer by trade, and I understand the RGB, CMYK colorspace, but what are the rules for Second Life?

see.. I have been trying to make a good skin for some time now, and I am noticing my main problem is that when I upload the skin to use in SL, it turns a different color than what it looked like in Photoshop. Like, I might have a warm beige, but get it into second life and it looks Pale and Jaundiced. If I go more Red to correct it, then it seems to look TOO red!

Is there maybe a chart somewhere?

Thanks again. You all have always been so helpful and patient with my questions!!

I suspect the problem is the cartoon and over-saturated nature of SL. Plays tricks on the eyeballs. I've only glanced into this, and that is my observation so far.

When I first got to SL, I did a test skin. I used the fleshtones that I have been used to using for other 3d texturing work. I even added a hint of photo-sourcing. Imagine my surprise at how wash-out it looked once I got it in-world. It was very drab and under-saturated compared to the Fisher Price backdrop that is SL. Not to mention perceived uber colour shifts when I started cranking up the saturation.

I now have a bunch of random snapshots that I use as backgrounds when testing certain textures. So far this seems to help reduce in-world surprises.

Two very general rules:
- more saturation
- less hue variation

Right now those are the rules that I follow. But, like I said, I've only glanced into this and those two general rules are subject to refinement.

SL's color profile rarely matches that of PS. First, you've got ever changing lighting conditions to contend with in a dynamic 3D environment. That's something you never even have to think about in the 2D graphic design world.

Second, LL has never seen fit to give us specs on SL's RGB gamut, assuming they even know it themselves, so we don't really have anything to go on for trying to create a matching profile. All we can really do is guesstimate. After a while, you sort of develop an intuition for what will work and what won't. It's hard to put into words.

Also, be aware that your specific graphics card and monitor make a HUGE difference. You can spend countless hours producing a gorgeous texture with lots of subtle variations in light and shadow, only to have it look like nothing but a monotone splotch on someone else's screen if they have a low end video card or an older monitor. I've learned that the hard way a few times.

I think the biggest probelm you probably face is the sunrise/set time of "day" in SL. I usually create a local white light and also when you are in appearance mode you also have a "light" on the cameral so when you pan around your AV there's always a white light shining on you. What I usually do is get this lighting to look as good as possible because all local and "daytime" settings are beyond your control.

Personally, I've not had to great a problem with the colors myself, but as someone pointed out with different video cards and monitors....

So the moral of the story is do the best you can with what you have. Its all you can really do. I'd recommend the "white light" method though.