First time modder needing help

[StrangeBehaviors]

Okay. I'm trying to get into SL, mostly because of how unique and creative you can be with the avatars. But I'm having trouble .

I'm not in a position to buy Lindens right now, simply do not have any money to spend on it. I know, from a friend of mine that's a modder, that you can find a lot of good avis for free as a good beginners avatar. I'm having trouble finding these free avis, though. 

Basic idea is that I want to be some variation of a cat, not too complicated right now until I get more used to the controls. I would prefer the skin to be black, somewhat curvy. Not asking for anyone to mod it for me, or even show me how, but just point me towards something I can use for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I'm getting frustrated with searching and all that.

[Ariel Vuissent]

"I would prefer the skin to be black, somewhat curvy."

What you're actually looking for is both a skin and a shape. The "black" part is the skin. The shading may enhance any curves, but the actual "curvy" part is the shape.

A shape, you can actually make yourself with relative ease. Getting it catlike might be tricky, since you can't really do a muzzle or anything with the default avatar mesh; you need special attachments and such for that. That kind of depends what kind of cat you want, though, really. But just modifying the shape - getting a curvy form, a nice face, etc. - is done through the Edit Appearance menu. Right-click your avatar and choose "Edit Appearance," then "Edit Shape." A box with a bunch of tabs and sliders should appear, and you adjust each of the sliders until you're happy with the form you've created. You can do this with any modifiable shape, including the basic starter shapes. Or, right-click your inventory tolder, choose "Create New Shape," wear that shape, and edit it.

Skin is harder because actually creating your own is MUCH harder than creating a shape, and finding a good specialty skin free is difficult. Not impossible, though. Try the marketplace - search for $0-10L skins, but look for the word "Demo" - we still don't have a way to exclude demos from search results.

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

a cat, cat? an anthro cat? a neko? a little more info would help.. but  you can search the marketplace for cat and the set the 'sort by' to 'low to high price'.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

There is a Cat furry in inventory that is modifiable.  Might be good starter to modify.  I also know that there are free furry avatars out there too from some of the earlier threads on this forum.  Hopefully some of the furies on this forum can point you in the right direction.

[Kelli May]

A popular cat-anthro for modding is the Curious 'Felis'. It's available free from the creator here. Look for the little spinning box by the vendors, to the West of the landing point.

It's white rather than black, but it's a good place to start experimenting with your own av.

[MuffinUnsane1488303563]

I second the suggestion of the felis. I'm sure there are mods that feature a black re-texture. If not, its very easy to do so yourself! If you need any help, you can contact me in-world. I'm not the best modder around, but I like to think I'm not too shabby.