I've had requests for some of my skin design tools. Rather than privately distribute them upon request, I'm adding a link for everyone to access them here:
http://www.secondskinlabs.com/Downloads/downloads4.html
Currently the archived file there contains a high resolution (1024x1024) alpha-channel-ready head layer for blending avatar seams with a blur filter (Gaussian Blur). Designers can use these with skin templates in Photoshop to reduce the resolution issues with textures spanning seams. These layers are desinged to work as an alpha channel on textures that have been solidified or manually expanded outside the UV wire frame. Best practices for using these files are:
1. Copy the textures into your skin template as an alpha channel.
2. Create a selection mask on a copied layer of the skin texture.
3. Lock down the texture layer.
4. Run a Gaussian Blur at around a 3-4 pixel radius for 1024x1024 textures.
5. Preview the results.
I plan to add more. This is just for starters. So far, the most critical head section is complete. This will blend problem areas within the head and neck seams connecting the upper body section. The upper and lower body sections will follow.