{"id":380,"date":"2023-04-22T08:37:09","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T08:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zenmetal.club\/?post_type=newbie&p=380"},"modified":"2024-10-01T02:48:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T02:48:44","slug":"where-do-you-get-those-cool-avatars","status":"publish","type":"newbie","link":"https:\/\/zenmetal.club\/newbie\/where-do-you-get-those-cool-avatars\/","title":{"rendered":"Where do you get those cool avatars?"},"content":{"rendered":"

First of all, the starter avatars are a bit rubbish for a reason. \ud83d\ude09 They are there to get started but also to push you to innovate. They’re not terrible, but they do scream “newbie.” And of course, it’s important to be an oldie. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Each ‘cool’ avatar is a one-of-a-kind creation of its wearer. Even the most rubbish unique avatar is better than the best “ready-to-wear” avatar. That said, any non-standard avatar, even a ready-to-wear one, is better than sticking to the ones you get when signing up. (Everybody’s seen them.) That is to say, go crazy experimenting, swap parts, and find new components; uniqueness is more important than perfection.<\/p>\n

Many ways to find avatar parts<\/h2>\n

Each avatar is put together using components available on the Marketplace and around the grid. It maybe something the user found on a 3D downloads site and rigged for Second Life or created from scratch using 3D creation software… If you know your way around 3D creation tools and rig it yourself, you can use any 3D object created outside of Second Life as an avatar or an avatar part. To be cool on SL means to be unique and creative, and also stylish – well put together, quite literally – but for most of us, buying parts will have to do in terms of originality.<\/p>\n

You can start part by part. You could buy\/find a decent complete avatar and then gradually swap parts to make it better. Many find it important to get the hair right. Another important thing to fix is your animation override – the way your avatar moves. I’ll get to all of that a little later in this post.<\/p>\n

Here’s my video on how to take a System avatar (non-mesh) and add Bakes-on-mesh avatar body parts under it.<\/a> (Male avi example about halfway through it.)<\/p>\n

In Second Life, money kinda does buy happiness. \ud83d\ude09<\/h2>\n

If cost is no issue, there’s really no limit to what you can do, but if you want a free avi or close to free avi, then there will be SOME difficulties. In essence, the more money you spend, the EASIER it is to get things going fast. Free Avis can look awesome, but it takes a lot more effort. And, as always on Second Life, you can create your own mesh outside of SL (like in Blender) and rig that onto the avatar skeleton… But that takes near<\/em> 3D design professional skills.<\/p>\n

Effectively, there are NO limitations as to what you can look like, NONE whatsoever; the limitation is ONLY your skills and imagination… And maturity rating. There are places where you can’t go in a highly sexualized avatar, but there are areas where you can.<\/p>\n

However, you gotta start somewhere. \ud83d\ude42 Second Life is a learning curve, and the less money you want to spend, the more time you’ll spend learning Blender<\/a>… And the more money you’ll wind up MAKING (if you want to) as a result. The more you know, the more others want to buy your knowledge, just like in real life. But… Creating an avatar from existing parts is quite enough to challenge most of us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The hardest thing to do is to look real.<\/h2>\n

It is easy to look like a Vogue model on Second Life, but many people wind up looking like cartoon characters or plastic dolls. Unless<\/em> that’s exactly what you’re going for<\/em>, that is not really what I’d call “cool.” The look has its fans, and certainly, you’ll avoid too many comments, but the trick is to build an avatar that represents YOU in real life – either literally, you at your best, the self you wish you were, or a stylized and anonymized self, that still captures your essence<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of people who seem to hide behind a look that in no way represents who they are in real life. That doesn’t really win you fans. To make it cool, you’d have to mention in your RL profile that your avatar is NOTHING LIKE you in real life, even if you didn’t say anything more about it. Otherwise, it’s just hiding in someone else’s skin and very much the opposite of cool.<\/p>\n

But the truth is, to look casual, even at times, is a bit of a trick in this world of high heels (that I’m totally not changing to flats for anybody), skimpy skirts, and perfect hairstyles.<\/p>\n

What are cool avatars made of?<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>TYPICALLY, avatars are made of a body and a head separately; sometimes, also hands and feet are sold separately. You’ll likely also want to buy\/wear genitals. You’ll probably need them sooner or later. \ud83d\ude09 A naked avatar, thus, has these parts in the order of importance:<\/p>\n

– Hair
\n– Animation overrides (To me, the MOST IMPORTANT part of a good avatar is directly after hair, which is more an obvious thing. AO will make or break your avatar, they give it its character and spirit more than any other part of your avatar. Even a cheap or free one is better than none at all. A system avatar with a cool AO is already a great start. I personally found my favorite AO at some freebie joint, and I have NO IDEA who created it. To say: you can get lucky.)
\n– Head (both bento and bakes on mesh -enabled.)
\n– Face light (although optional, it makes a huge difference to your looks. Like wearing camera lights everywhere you go. Sweet.)
\n– Body (both bento and bakes on mesh -enabled.)
\n– (Alpha layers (worn with mesh avatar parts but not with BOM or classic))
\n– Shape (always wear the one that came with the HEAD as a starting point, especially if you don’t have the time to tinker just now.)
\n– Brow shaper (it looks like a hair in the inventory, as it uses the eyebrow section of a very old hair -type).
\n– (Possibly separate: hands, feet, nails, teeth, tongue, eyelashes…)
\n– Genitals
\n– Eyes (and optionally specific style of your choice eye applies or BOM-layers)
\n– Skin (Plus makeup for face)
\n– Tattoos
\n– Eyebrows
\n– Hair base
\n– Body hair
\n– (Speed hud – I personally recommend getting a speed hud to slow your walking down<\/em>, making your avatar appear more realistic and giving people time to see your hard work walk by. This is highly optional tho.)<\/p>\n

I hope I didn’t forget anything, but that is a long scary-looking list. You don’t need to buy most of these things separately, but you certainly can.<\/p>\n

All parts are separate to maximize customization and control over your look.<\/p>\n

What do you need to start with?<\/h2>\n

I would find a complete system avatar you like to start with<\/a>. With the modern BOM layers, you can EASILY update it to mesh later<\/a>. Just pick one you like.<\/p>\n

What would I actually PAY FOR first?<\/h2>\n

I first wasted a lot of Lindens trying to find a cheaper solution than the expensive-sounding heads and bodies available. Up to you, but now, I’d go straight to where the track is the widest.<\/p>\n

I would first invest some Lindens on a good bento mesh head, as the head is, obviously, the most individualistic part of your body (apart form hairstyle I guess). LeLutka<\/a> seems to be the one to go with currently and my own personal favorite for both men and women, but also check out Catwa<\/a>, Genus<\/a>, GA.EG<\/a>, and Logo<\/a>. You’ll want a bento mesh head with BOM (bakes on mesh) layers, whichever head you go for.<\/p>\n

As a body, the best FREE option by far is to get the The Mesh Project (TMP) Classic body “the gift body”; the same as the head brands above, they too have male and female bodies. The TMP is so good you’ll go with it for a long time without problems if you want to, but the clothing selection is much better for the paid bodies. The TMP is a free gift body for Legacy Shops group members, which is a free-to-join group. I don’t know if they’re smart to give this body away for free, but they do. \ud83d\ude09 You can join the group (at the shop) and grab the body here<\/a>. (Don’t lose the landmark, they don’t exactly advertise this place.)<\/p>\n

I’d also get demos of the most commonly liked mesh bodies and heads and see what I like. Demos are, as you’d expect, partly functional products meant for assessing it before buying. In the case of bodies and heads, they come with brand stamps hovering over your head, around your body, or printed on your skin. Otherwise, they should work fine with the shape accompanied.<\/p>\n

ALWAYS wear a shape from the bundle first, as wearing the wrong shape will make you look wrong. Also note that you can only ever wear ONE shape at a time, so for real use, the best shape to start working with is the one that came with the head, not the body. Still, to see what your body should look like, wear the shape that came with it (then copy the slider values over to your head shape or adjust by the eye, whichever you find easiest to do.)<\/p>\n

The wrong shape values will potentially make you look monstrous. If the head\/body you’re trying doesn’t look anything like the promo photo, the reason is in the shape you’re wearing. (Or in the case of LeLutka, if you see your face texture all weird on your face, the reason is you’re in the wrong mode, either Evo\/Evox. Switch in the first HUD tab. I think all Lelutka Evox heads also support Lelutka Evo, which is a mode you can use any regular skin with. Evo would be quite beginner-friendly, but now most skins and makeup layers available are made for the Evox heads.)<\/p>\n

MOST PEOPLE go with Maitreya bodies (if female) or Signature bodies if male. Signature also sells heads and genitals, but Maitreya does not.<\/p>\n

Most popular heads come from Catwa and LeLutka, and a number of other great sellers.<\/p>\n

BOM makes things easier.<\/h2>\n

Bakes on Mesh (BOM) is a relatively new system that has enabled mesh bodies to wear regular classic skins from way back when and also use the “system layer” clothing as if the avatar was “a system avatar.” So if you’re returning from a few years back, BOM works the same way as the old system layers did and combines the best of both worlds. They no longer use “appliers,” but the layers of skin, tattoos, makeup, etc, are worn directly over the avatar, the same as before.<\/p>\n

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