NOOB RESOURCES: Noobie & Born Again Noob Notes
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| Philip Linden's First Prim SecondLife Primitive Museum |
All SLURLs and Links in this post are current as of December 2023
Some Tips
Windlight Setting for Optimal Lighting
I've found a great Windlight setting for trying on clothing and editing one's avatar. It is a bright but soft light and helped me a lot when I was first messing with bodies and heads. You can find it in the World menu:
World / Environment / My Environments / Library / Environments / Skies / Annan / Annan Adored / Optimal Skin (no shadows)
If You're Messing with Your Avatar and It Goes Wonky
If you avi goes wonky, you have settings in Avatar / Avatar Health - rebake, refresh attachments, stop animations, undeform, etc.
Don't Be a T-Rex
Personal pet peeve: Your arms should probably be longer than you think. Your fingertips should end at about mid-thigh, not evenly with your butt or your waist. Trust me. A LOT of avatars walk around SL looking like they wouldn't be able to wipe their own asses...
Easy check: Stand up beside your desk. Right now. Drop your hands to your sides and note where your fingertips touch your legs.
There is a sim here where you can check your proportions:
Ask for Advice
If you see something someone's wearing that you like, DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK THEM WHERE THEY GOT IT! Most people are happy to tell you where they got an item. If you'd rather not ask, there is a free HUD on the SL Marketplace (link here).
Learning Curve
If you're a longtime SL user who's just coming back to SL after a long break and you don't have a mesh body/head, there is a BIG learning curve. You'll feel like a noob all over again (trust me). At first, you'll probably ignore the bodies/heads and say you'll stick with your system avi, which is fine, but if you're like me, eventually you'll probably change your mind.
Suggestions for First-Time Head/Body (women)
LucyBody is free and wears clothing that fits the Maitreya 5.3 body. Go to the LUCYBODY shop and tap the board in front of you. You WILL be added to the next batch of people to receive the free body. I'd also suggest you scrounge/save up 250L and purchase the Bakes on Mesh HUD that's available at the same place.
For heads, GENUS offers a free one called Strong W003 head for women. While you're there, pick up their other freebies.
I'd also suggest checking the FabFree blog, which is always up-to-date on inexpensive or free mesh heads and bodies.
In December, LeLutka offers a free head for Christmas. I'd highly suggest you get that! LeLutka is currently the most popular head creator in SL, which means there is plenty of content available for them. The free head is a FULL FEATURED head, and after Christmas, it's sold in their store for full price. It is not a demo or a less functional version of their regular heads.
LOGO and AKERUKA also offered free heads in December 2023, so they may do the same each December.
If you're interested in spending some L$ and getting your first head/body, there are various options, depending on your preferences. I'd recommend visiting the in-world stores and picking up demos of each body/head you're interested in. Try the demos for a few days to get used to how they work and look. Note too that some creators often have promos or sales throughout the year, and some have free versions of their heads/bodies that may have a HUD that doesn't have all the features of their full products but are just as usable. LAQ typically reduces prices on all of their products around Christmas time (in November 2023, everything was priced at 10L-15L; in December 2022, everything was 300L; their HUD and heads are usually 3000L+!).
Some popular ones are:
Heads
- Lelutka EvoX (the most popular as of April 2024)
- Genus
- Catwa
- Akeruka
- LAQ
Bodies
- Women: Maitreya Lara 5.3* (the most popular as of April 2024); LaraX (a newer version of Lara 5.3; you get both bodies on purchase); Legacy, Kupra, eBody Reborn, Waifu, Belleza
- Men: Belleza Jake, Signature Gianni - These are the only two I can recommend, but definitely ask around. I'm not a guy, so other than knowing that these two are popular and have a lot of products created for them, I'm clueless. Biggest word of adivce: go window shopping at some big stores to make sure the body you're interested in has clothing available for it. I made the mistake of getting a Signature Geralt body for my male alt...only to find that virtually NOBODY made any clothing for it.
NOTE: If you're a returning resident and you had a SLink body, you probably want to reinvest in something else. SLink has unfortunately gone out of business and the body is no longer supported.
Appliers vs. Bakes on Mesh (BOM)
In a nutshell, appliers apply a texture to your mesh avatar or to an add-on layer that you've attached to your mesh avatar; bakes on mesh (BOM) applies a texture as a layer on your system avi (the same way we used to wear clothing in the earlier days of SL before mesh).
Once you find a mesh body and head, don't worry about Bakes on Mesh (BOM) yet. Basically, your system avatar is under there somewhere, and you're wearing it, but it's been made invisible by the alpha that comes with your mesh body. On top of your invisible system avi, you have three additional layers (tattoo, underwear, and clothing), and on top of those you wear your mesh clothing.
When you do decide to dive into BOM, which I suggest you do eventually, there will be a learning curve. Basically, you're now going to "activate" BOM (either by a button on your head or body HUD or by a BOM relay that the head or body creator makes available for free). Once BOM is activated, you'll remove your alpha that's hiding your system avi, then you can apply layers upon layers upon layers (up to 64 total, I believe) - of skin, makeup, brows, tattoos, scars, blood, etc.
ADD vs. WEAR
For the most part, when you put on clothing and other items, you will want to ADD them rather than WEAR them. There are a few exceptions - shapes and base skins, for example. Generally, if the only option is to WEAR (and ADD is greyed out), it's safe to WEAR it. If both WEAR and ADD are available, you should almost always choose ADD. One of the quirks of mesh in SL is that you can have multiple items attached to the same point on your avatar (e.g., your skirt, bracelet, earrings, top, etc., might all attach to your Right Hand). This means that if you WEAR an item, the other things on that attachment point will be removed. I can't tell you how many times I wore a bracelet and my pants disappeared until I got into the habit of always ADDING things...nothing more embarrassing than being on a dance floor and suddenly your pants are gone lol!
BENTO
Bento is what gives the head and hands animation. I think it's also what makes motion capture dances possible. If you look at your head (once you have one), you'll notice it doesn't just blink...the brows move a bit, you've got teeth in your mouth, and your mouth actually opens, there's a tongue in there. With your hands on your mesh body, you will be able to pose your fingers, and animations and poses will make your hands move instead of just having jazz hands. Your feet have toes too, as well as toenails, arches, and ankles.
DEMOS
ALWAYS try demos for everything...at least until you're comfortable enough with a shop/creator that you know the item will look right on your body. If you see parts of your skin poking through, go into your body HUD and mess with your alpha bits. You can usually hide chunks of it so it doesn't show through your clothing.
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