Difference betwen skin and shape

I know this is a pretty basic question, but it is one that is causing me some problems. If I am in a store, and they are selling shapes, but the ad says the skin is not included, then how do I know what that shape, especially its face, really looks like, or will look like on me? The face is what really draws your eye, and much of that is the skin makeup. So how can you access the face, or the rest of the body adequately?

Ditto for the opposite. I see a great look I like, but how much of that pretty face is the skin they are selling, and how much of it is the shape beneath it, that I am considering buying?

I have been afraid to purchase skins or shapes, because I am just not sure what they will really look like on me. And it is even worse when they say the hair is not included either, and then I'm off trying to find the perfect hairdo as well.

Thanks,
Princess Ivory

If you see a skin/shape/hair combo that you really like, IM the maker and ask them what skin is on the shape or what shape is under the skin. If they bought it somewhere, so can you. Same goes for the hair.

A lot of shape sellers will show what skin and hair they are using. Otherwise get the skin demos and try out combos until you find what you like. That's part of the fun.

Right - I had thought of that. But if I am just browsing, and looking at shapes, how much of what I see is actually the skin, not the shape, and that shape won't look like that at all on me?

Princess Ivory

Trying on a few demo skins can give you a "feel" for the relationship between skin and shape. I've found that (1) demo skins look very different from no skin, and (2) because of my shape, all the demo skins look rather alike. This is with male stuff--different makeups on a female skin might cause more significant variation.

But if your skin is a fairly popular one, the shape will probably look decently close to the advertisement. Keep in mind that prim hair can have a huge effect on how a shape looks--especially eye spacing and face proportions.

Personally, I'd never buy a shape without seeing it in person on a live avatar, because of the uncertainty you've described. Some really dedicated sellers might pop in and model it for you/advise on skin issues. Even better would be a demo shape with huge hands or something; that's been mentioned here several times but I've not seen in in world.

I wish clothes makers would do that with shoes, too. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a great outfit that didn't include the perfectly-matched shoes shown in the ad. On occasion I'll find the same seller offers the shoes separately, but more often they are nowhere to be found. It's so frustrating because the outfit just doesn't look the same without them.

Good shape sellers will include a notecard that explains how to get the exact look in their ad - names and makers of skins, hair and even clothes. I've been in one store called Shapes by Zada (no affiliation, except being impressed with the customer service) where the owner will happily model her different shapes for you with a range of the most popular brands of skins, so you can get a good idea of how the shape will look with the skins you have. She also recommends which brands work best with each of her shapes. I would think others do it too, but the only place I've seen demo shapes at is Lemon.

In my experience the skin is what really matters. The skin will do the work of making you look attractive or interesting, or whatever look you are going for. It takes the most work and skill and will be the more expensive item.

It is a bit tedious, but really not that difficult to make your own shape. You can get some demo skins and try experimenting with the sliders for the head and facial features. The idea is to make the shape of the face so that it shows the skin to its best advantage.

I do encourage you to take the plunge. A quality skin makes sooooo much difference. Have fun.

Yep, the skin makes more of a difference, especially in the face area. Personally, I offer the shape, hair and eyes shown on my skin displays bundled with the skin, to avoid this problem. Modifiable of course.

Skin is texture (picture/image),

Shape is Shape , whats under the texture.

Obviously they work together. Shapes are easier for the average SL user to make themselves - becuase, obviously, you dont need Paintshop and a artistic hand with it to do the shapes.

Skin has a bigger imact on what most people notice about Av appearance, but shapes have a noticible impact as well. I have had a couple of skin designers say my face works better with their skin than the one they used for their vendor.

Absolutely. When I bought a new skin for my av, I had to adjust both the mouth and the eyebrow shape to get back to a similar-looking face and expression. It's amazing how much face shape affects the persona you project.

Although I select one particular skin for each of my shapes and use that choice for the marketing, all my shapes are sold with a set of photo references (usually 4-5) showing what that shape will look like with a variety of other skins that I believe would also work relatively well. The designer and skin title is included on the reference, as is an LM to each of those stores.

I would advise against buying a shape if you're not willing to buy the featured skin as well. You may not need it -- the shape might work well with something you already have in your inventory -- but you can't count on that congruity.

"Shape" is the structure, the framework.

"Skin" is the Veneer, The paint Job.

Angel.

If you are wanting to know what to look for in analyzing the effect of the shape, there are some areas to look for.

In general terms, a body tends to be either long waisted and short legged or short waisted and long legged. (Determined by how close the bottom rib is to the top of the hip bone in humans) So when looking at a shape, decide which category it is first. Clothes will look very different if you are short waisted or long waisted. How broad the shoulders are will also affect how the skin looks (and how convincing large breasts look). So choose your shape depending on the clothes you want to wear. Most clothes in SL look best on long waisted Avatars because the breasts tend to be on the big side. If you want to have long legs, don't make your chest too big or you will get that weird bulgy look on stilts look some AVs have.

If someone has made the shape long waisted and long legged, don't buy it, it will never look quite right. Human bodies don't come like that.

In the face imagine the profile..is it sharp? is the arc from forehead to chin a shallow curve?
Is the frontal view of the face triangular? round? These things will affect how the skin stretches. Other things that strongly affect the look of a face are how open the eyes are, how far apart and whether the inner/outer corners are up or down. The height of the cheek bones and slant of the jaw too..this is not determined by the skin. So if a skin has rosy cheeks and the colour is low on the face, the cheeks need to be rounded in the shape to make the colour make sense to the viewer.

I have no idea if this is what you wanted to know lol..I just think its more fun to make your own custom Av by mixing shape and skin rather than just copying a look.

Shape is when you're at a laggy place and all ppl are grey, all you see is their shape. The skin is the layer that goes over the shape. Look at it as painted on the shape.
For women the skin includes makeup, nipples and kitty, for men a shape includes body & facial hair.

For me the combination of the two is what makes it work.
I do makeovers in SL and I always finetune a shape on a skin I have in mind for someone.

There are stores that sell skin and shapes like Naughty, but since Naughty is very popular and a shape is easy to duplicate they sell their shapes mostly non mod. And I would never buy a non mod shape. What should a girl do without a system skirt-small butt shape. Or and ears not peaking out from under hair shape. Or a modded for other skin shape.
I've heard Lemon does good shapes copy/mod but I don't know if they have skin advice. And there's a shop I can't remember the name, who gives a notecard with each shape for skin, hair and eyes. But you'll pay L$ 1000 for shape & notecard.

I do makeovers for L$ 3000 wich include custom exclusive shape and advice on skin, hair and eyes. Tweaking of shape included and shopping with you as well.