Neck Length

[LoriLexa]

If you have a female avatar I was curious to know:

1.Your neck length

and

2. Do you notice an issue with your neck/head moving in a contorted way with certain AOs or dance animations?

 

thank you in advance for the info

 

[Kelli May]

1. As long as is necessary. Mine is 35, but taller avs probably need a longer neck. 

 

2. I haven't noticed any worse than any other area on the avatar body. Some extreme poses do distort it, but I see worse on shoulders and waist.

[LoriLexa]

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Kelli May wrote:

1. As long as is necessary. Mine is 35, but taller avs probably need a longer neck. 

 

2. I haven't noticed any worse than any other area on the avatar body. Some extreme poses do distort it, but I see worse on shoulders and waist.

---

Hi Kelli, thank you for your answer. My neck was set at 55, I searched for a way to measure my height and found that my avatar measures 6'6 (1.98 meters) in height.

I did'nt seem that tall and my neck did not seem unusually long just by looking at my avatar. But I guess my neck was too long based on the fact that yours is 35. I shorten it and I'm going to try the animations again to see if it makes a difference. I also notice contortion in my shoulders and waist.

Thanks

[Syo Emerald]

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LoriLexa wrote:

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Kelli May wrote:

1. As long as is necessary. Mine is 35, but taller avs probably need a longer neck. 

 

2. I haven't noticed any worse than any other area on the avatar body. Some extreme poses do distort it, but I see worse on shoulders and waist.

---

Hi Kelli, thank you for your answer. My neck was set at 55, I searched for a way to measure my height and found that my avatar measures 6'6 (1.98 meters) in height.

I did'nt seem that tall and my neck did not seem unusually long just by looking at my avatar. But I guess my neck was too long based on the fact that yours is 35. I shorten it and I'm going to try the animations again to see if it makes a difference. I also notice contortion in my shoulders and waist.

Thanks

---

Have you messured yourself with a prim and without shoes?

[Kelli May]

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LoriLexa wrote:

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Kelli May wrote:

1. As long as is necessary. Mine is 35, but taller avs probably need a longer neck. 

 

2. I haven't noticed any worse than any other area on the avatar body. Some extreme poses do distort it, but I see worse on shoulders and waist.

---

Hi Kelli, thank you for your answer. My neck was set at 55, I searched for a way to measure my height and found that my avatar measures 6'6 (1.98 meters) in height.

I did'nt seem that tall and my neck did not seem unusually long just by looking at my avatar. But I guess my neck was too long based on the fact that yours is 35. I shorten it and I'm going to try the animations again to see if it makes a difference. I also notice contortion in my shoulders and waist.

Thanks

---

You might have misinterpreted my answer. My length 35 neck is fine for my height (5' 9") but I'm considerably shorter than you. For all I know, 55 might look great on a 6' 6" avatar. Not to mention that neck length can vary considerably in real people. 

There's no single value that is correct for every avatar. Even for a given height, there's probably a range that looks good. If you're really not happy to judge it by eye alone, you could use a human proportion calculator or a similar guide. For an eight head-high body, that one calculates a neck length (chin to shoulder line) of 3.3" - whatever that translates to in SL terms. 

Two SL blogs with useful information:

Penny Patton's guide to avatar proportions

Pussycat Catnap's thoughts on the subject

 

Note that changing neck length will also change your av's height.

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

I don't have a better reference on hand at the moment, but you can look at this and get an idea of where you should be:

And work the dials to fit.

If you're getting breakage in dance animations - IF those dance animations are motion capture its a sign that your avatar needs to be adjusted. If they are not motion capture, its a sign that your avatar is good and the dance is made for a mishapen avatar.

- The same applies to AO animations, but AO animations are a lot LESS likely to be motion capture, and some AO makers will take the motion capture animation and "adjust it" to fit an mishapen avatar 'after the fact'.

- The obvious problem with hand made animations, or adjusted motion capture is that while most avatars in SL have horrible anatomy / proportions, they are also not consistent. So if I make my t-rex/spider legs beastly shape and you make yours - we will have different settings.

Unedited motion capture on the other hand - is obviously made for avatars that have human anatomy (unless they're hooking chimps to those things and having them do ballet or a 'sexy walk') - so you end up with a consistent exchange between the avatar's shape and what the animation is trying to do.