AO's...

[Fidelity Quintessa]

What is an AO - what is it short for and where is it??

[Charolotte Caxton]

An AO is an animation overrider.

Some viewers have AOs that you can add animations to.

Animations are what make you stand and walk the way you do.

You can buy many different types of AOs and you can customize your own.

[Lindal Kidd]

As Charlotte says, an animation overrider (AO) can take several forms.

Some viewers (Firestorm, for example) have a built in one...but you must provide it with animations, and set it up.

Most AOs come in the form of a HUD...a "head up display" that appears as some controls on your screen.

A few AOs are worn as an avatar attachment.  And some very simple AOs just for a walk come built into some shoes.

No matter what form it takes, an AO consists of at least three parts.  1) One or more animations for sitting, walking, standing, etc; 2) a configuration notecard, which you can edit to tell the AO about the animations you want it to use; and 3) a script to handle the commands and run the animations.  Most AOs have a fourth part...a prim (that is, an object) to contain the animations, the configuration settings notecard, and the script.

By far the easiest thing to do is buy a complete AO...one that is pre-configured with a set of animations.  You can buy these from many vendors such as Vista and SEMotion.  You can even find some, generally with a somewhat limited set of animations, for free.

You can also get a free "empty" AO such as the popular ZHAO II by Ziggy Puff, and add animations that you buy elsewhere, or even ones you create yourself.

If all this is confusing, see my blog post, "AO, AO, It Makes Your Movements Flow"

[Fidelity Quintessa]

Could I just ask one more question. I have the new Second Life viewer. I have come across instructions on some objects for sale (such as poseballs) asking you to turn off or disable your AO before you can use this or that object etc.
I have looked through the standard menu but it isn't obvious where it is or whether it goes under a different name. Could you tell me where this Animation Override is on the SL viewer and how I can disable it if I have to???

Thanks for your help both Lindal and Charlotte.

PS I;ll go back to the S L viewer and see what it says under the HUD.  Thank you again. 

[Charolotte Caxton]

There is no AO in the official viewer.