Appearance Editor Suggestions (for more realism)

First of all, there are seven different configuration buttons for what is above the neck in Shape, but only 2 for everything that is below the neck.

This makes it exceedingly difficult to make a shape that is pleasing to the eye and realistic in proportions.

Second of all, the human body is delicately proportioned. Even Leonardo Da Vinci knew that the proportions of the various structural elements of the body were in relative sized compared to nearby structural elements according to ratios of numbers in the Fibonacci sequence.

Thus making a shape building system that adheres to this will result in a more realistic body.

Further more, you cannot with the tools provided make an av look voluptuously and attractively plump, you can only make them look grotesquely fat.

And the controls providing for the shape of hips of the female avatars is exceedingly inadequate, for you can't get a woman's hips to look like a woman's hips unless you make her VERY thin and unrealistic in proportion.

When it comes to the nitty gritty of providing such improvements to appearance editing, I have a few suggestions...

The ratio of size in length from ankle bone to knee and from knee to hip socket is usually (but not always) 1:1. When it is not 1:1, the ratio is always a ratio of fibonacci numbers, such as 5:3, 8:5, 13:8, 8:13, etc.

The length from knee to hip socket and the length from hip sacral joint to shoulder blade joint (measuring length of torso excluding added length of shoulders and neck) is usually 1:1, except when it's another fibonacci ratio. Length of the Hips down to feet compared to head down to hips is usually 5:3, but also the ratio can be different.

Pretty much, any arbitrary comparison of lengths in the structure of the body will result in a fibonacci ratio if you start and end at a natural starting and end point suggested by the skeletal structure of the body.

Furthermore, the 'more muscular' and 'less muscular' do not have a lot of realism in terms of how the muscles lay out...

Both the thigh and the lower leg should be thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, usually the bottom of the thigh still being thicker than the top of the lower leg. Same should be true of the arms as the legs.

There should be tools in the shape for customizing muscle shape on the body, as muscle and bone have more to do with shape than anything. Fat lays on top of muscle, so having controls for fat padding don't do much good in realism if you can't sculpt say, more muscular lower legs, more muscular thighs, more muscular stomach, more muscular chest, more muscular arms, more muscular shoulders, more muscular neck, all independent of the overall muscular controls. Some people have certain muscle groups stronger and more developed than others. There aren't just toothpicks and morbidly obese people and nothing in between.

If you are willing to discuss ideas of how these suggestions might be implemented, please email me at the email associated with this account.

BronwynPendraig Timeless

o.

The structure and form of everything in nature is governed by the Fibonacci sequence, why would the human body be any different?

I can only say OMG. Never thought about all that in regards to SL. I thought things looked pretty good. lol. Guess i was wrong

I made my shape about two years ago and haven't touched it since. I AM male.

Those suggestions seem good enough if the system could handle it but I'm afraid you may have to wait in line with thousands of others till the Avatar2 system comes into view. Then there will be many similar suggestions, I presume.
Better shape tools with a better mesh including importing, more layer options, 200+ attachment points, rag-doll physics and many more.

LOL ... It won't be long now.

That's only good for making realistic human avatars, although there's a lot of truth in what you say.

Working with the existing avatar system, which I don't think is too bad considering the scope of SL as a whole, how could the existing system be improved?

Mesh improvements, especially to allow joints to flex more realistically
More flexible spine and neck
Arm hanging angle adjustable outwards for more realistic fat avatars
Adjustable stance, like stoop for geriatric avatars
One extra texture layer for head, upper and lower bodies
Improvements to skirt layer
New 'overcoat' layer that has waist adjustable independent of avatar's body settings

Avatars - extra options:
Proper quadruped avatar with appropriate adjustment sliders
Basic inanimate avatar base of a small ball for attaching your own hoverball, insect or whatever

Except when they're not!!

Having made over 300 pinup poses in my career, I have a few things I would love to see improved in the future:

Knee caps - when I fold the legs underneath the body at or near 180 degrees, I usually throw the pose out the window, it looks so bad at the knee.

Forearms that twist rather than spin. I spend a lot of time trying to make elbows look right when the arms are raised over the head. I can often get either the elbow or the shoulder to look right, bot not both. I sometimes can't do either, and you guessed it, out the window it goes.

And of course, the all-important crotch. Spreading the legs of an avi causes all sorts of distortions in that area. I usually just avoid it although many modern pinup poses feature it.


If they are truly going to do avatar2, I hope they look for comments from some of us who have expertise in certain aspects of the avatar form.

everyones been waiting for a skirt mesh that doesn't make your ass look like your shoplifting duvets since before I joined over 3 yrs ago, same goes for extra layers ...wouldn't hold your breath

the Mesh sucks.... for many reasons... it not only needs major updates, but when it is, it needs more controls of it. Even the current Mesh could be improved if there was more of a tool to edit it. Besides skirts there are many annoying things, like no matter how skinny and tiny you are and no matter how big your pants are, you always have a butt crack showing... and the back of pants cant be longer than the front (unless you want it skin tight only...) good support for baggy shaped clothes and skirts are majorly needed. Prim attachment clothes sucks, especially prim skirts... yuck... just make the avatar something that isn't using 10 year old tech.