Second Life Forums Archive - Avatar creation

Souzorin Lefavre

Registered User

Join date: 3 Oct 2008

Posts: 2

09-18-2009 07:59

So I wanted to start to create home made avatars; but the only problem is where to begin?
So far I've read a lot of tutorials. many well done but confusing to me. which brings me to the question What do I need to start making my own avatars?

Sorry if i wasn't looking hard enough to find the right threads >.< any help would be great though!

Chosen Few

Alpha Channel Slave

Join date: 16 Jan 2004

Posts: 7,496

09-18-2009 08:55

How are you defining "making your own"?

So you know, you cannot create new avatars from scratch. SL has no skeleton tools. All you can do is edit the existing avatar model via the appearance sliders, and attach other objects to the provided attachment points. That's it.

The best way to learn what all the sliders do is just to play with them. There are well over a hundred of them, and they're quite clearly labeled, so listing them here with explanations would just be a big waste of time. Right-click on your avatar, hit Appearance, and start playing. (Don't forget to save a copy first, if you don't want to lose the shape you've got now.)

As for attachments, the first thing you'll need to do is get very good at building. Head over to the Ivory Tower of Prims, if you haven't been there already, for a very good introduction to how SL's building system works. It's all parametric solids, rather than mesh surface modeling, so if you've got previous 3D experience, it's going to feel clunky to you at first. But it's actually far more powerful than it seems. I just takes some getting used to.

And then there are sculpties, which you can read more about at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims . Sculpties will also seem a little weird to you if you've got prior 3D experience. They're sort of a stopgap between the existing prim system, and full mesh support which has yet to be implemented. They allow you to create non-primitive shapes from a fixed number of vertices per object (third party modeling software such as Maya, Max, Blender, etc. required). It's a bit like origami, folding and bending an existing surface in 3D space, rather than lofting or extruding a new surface from scratch.

SL's really all about doing more with less. Again, if you've got prior 3D experience, it's going to be a bit of a strange transition for you, for a little while. There's no way around that. But it's well worth the initial frustration. Once it clicks, you can make some remarkable things. Just try not to get discouraged as you discover just how many of your pre-existing habits won't be applicable. Ironically, the more experience you've got, the harder it can be at first. Keep an open mind, and you'll be fine. And if you need help as you go, ask away.

Also, be aware that modeling is only 10% of the process in making a great looking avatar, or a great looking anything. About 75% is texturing. If you're not (yet) a good texture artist, either learn to become one, or team up with somebody who already is. The remaining 15% consists of animation and scripting. Some of the best avatars in SL compensate for the system's limits with incredible animations. The lions and tigers and bears you see running around, for example, are really just that same human skeleton, bent over and twisted to move like an animal. Again, it's all about doing more with less. Get creative.

_____________________

.

Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.

Seven Okelli

last days of pompeii

Join date: 4 Dec 2008

Posts: 2,300

09-18-2009 09:07

An avatar is mainly made up of four parts: shape, skin, hair, eyes.

You can make a new shape by right-clicking in your inventory window and choosing

Create > Body Part > Shape

(or something like that; I'm not inworld at the moment)

If you wear that shape, you can alter it in any way you wish through the Appearance window. It helps to know about proportions, and there is a guide reproduced in this thread:

/327/e8/321251/1.html

The thread is controversial for some, but I found it EXTREMELY helpful.

.

Probably the shortest way into skin creation is to not start from scratch but to download Eloh Oh's files:

http://sites.google.com/site/another/resources

and modify them. She is working on male skins; at the moment only female skins are available. Even so, you will see what a skin file looks like. You can use Photoshop or GIMP to alter it.

.

The tricky thing about shape and skin is that you need the right pairing of skin and shape to look good. A beautiful skin can look horrible on the wrong shape.

.

Eyes... I don't know what to tell you.

.

Hair is made of prims with hair textures applied. If you right click your hair and choose Edit, you'll be able to see all the prims. These are the same building blocks as the buildings around you; they're just flexible or bent and have textures applied so they (hopefully) look like real hair. If you want to make hair, you need to learn how to build, and the Ivory Tower of Primitives is a good place to start.

.

_____________________

:
: I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums.
: I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums.
: When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing.
: And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing.
:

Souzorin Lefavre

Registered User

Join date: 3 Oct 2008

Posts: 2

09-18-2009 11:05

Hey that really helped for a way to get my feet on the ground, Thank you!

Avatar creation
Souzorin Lefavre Registered User Join date: 3 Oct 2008 Posts: 2	09-18-2009 07:59 So I wanted to start to create home made avatars; but the only problem is where to begin? So far I've read a lot of tutorials. many well done but confusing to me. which brings me to the question What do I need to start making my own avatars? Sorry if i wasn't looking hard enough to find the right threads >.< any help would be great though!
Chosen Few Alpha Channel Slave Join date: 16 Jan 2004 Posts: 7,496	09-18-2009 08:55 How are you defining "making your own"? So you know, you cannot create new avatars from scratch. SL has no skeleton tools. All you can do is edit the existing avatar model via the appearance sliders, and attach other objects to the provided attachment points. That's it. The best way to learn what all the sliders do is just to play with them. There are well over a hundred of them, and they're quite clearly labeled, so listing them here with explanations would just be a big waste of time. Right-click on your avatar, hit Appearance, and start playing. (Don't forget to save a copy first, if you don't want to lose the shape you've got now.) As for attachments, the first thing you'll need to do is get very good at building. Head over to the Ivory Tower of Prims, if you haven't been there already, for a very good introduction to how SL's building system works. It's all parametric solids, rather than mesh surface modeling, so if you've got previous 3D experience, it's going to feel clunky to you at first. But it's actually far more powerful than it seems. I just takes some getting used to. And then there are sculpties, which you can read more about at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Sculpted_Prims . Sculpties will also seem a little weird to you if you've got prior 3D experience. They're sort of a stopgap between the existing prim system, and full mesh support which has yet to be implemented. They allow you to create non-primitive shapes from a fixed number of vertices per object (third party modeling software such as Maya, Max, Blender, etc. required). It's a bit like origami, folding and bending an existing surface in 3D space, rather than lofting or extruding a new surface from scratch. SL's really all about doing more with less. Again, if you've got prior 3D experience, it's going to be a bit of a strange transition for you, for a little while. There's no way around that. But it's well worth the initial frustration. Once it clicks, you can make some remarkable things. Just try not to get discouraged as you discover just how many of your pre-existing habits won't be applicable. Ironically, the more experience you've got, the harder it can be at first. Keep an open mind, and you'll be fine. And if you need help as you go, ask away. Also, be aware that modeling is only 10% of the process in making a great looking avatar, or a great looking anything. About 75% is texturing. If you're not (yet) a good texture artist, either learn to become one, or team up with somebody who already is. The remaining 15% consists of animation and scripting. Some of the best avatars in SL compensate for the system's limits with incredible animations. The lions and tigers and bears you see running around, for example, are really just that same human skeleton, bent over and twisted to move like an animal. Again, it's all about doing more with less. Get creative. _____________________ . Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.
Seven Okelli last days of pompeii Join date: 4 Dec 2008 Posts: 2,300	09-18-2009 09:07 An avatar is mainly made up of four parts: shape, skin, hair, eyes. You can make a new shape by right-clicking in your inventory window and choosing Create > Body Part > Shape (or something like that; I'm not inworld at the moment) If you wear that shape, you can alter it in any way you wish through the Appearance window. It helps to know about proportions, and there is a guide reproduced in this thread: /327/e8/321251/1.html The thread is controversial for some, but I found it EXTREMELY helpful. . Probably the shortest way into skin creation is to not start from scratch but to download Eloh Oh's files: http://sites.google.com/site/another/resources and modify them. She is working on male skins; at the moment only female skins are available. Even so, you will see what a skin file looks like. You can use Photoshop or GIMP to alter it. . The tricky thing about shape and skin is that you need the right pairing of skin and shape to look good. A beautiful skin can look horrible on the wrong shape. . Eyes... I don't know what to tell you. . Hair is made of prims with hair textures applied. If you right click your hair and choose Edit, you'll be able to see all the prims. These are the same building blocks as the buildings around you; they're just flexible or bent and have textures applied so they (hopefully) look like real hair. If you want to make hair, you need to learn how to build, and the Ivory Tower of Primitives is a good place to start. . _____________________ : : I met most of the people I know in Second Life through these forums. : I learned most of what I know of Second Life through these forums. : When I couldn't get inworld, these forums were the next best thing. : And sometimes these forums WERE the best thing. :
Souzorin Lefavre Registered User Join date: 3 Oct 2008 Posts: 2	09-18-2009 11:05 Hey that really helped for a way to get my feet on the ground, Thank you!

Welcome to the Second Life Forums Archive

Avatar creation