How do I ?

[Satyyriasis]

Is there a way I can create my own cloths,shoes,etc.  I have hair past my waist. So I'd like, if possible to have longer hair on my avatar. Thanks.

[Rolig Loon]

Sure!  Depending on how skilled you are, you can create many kinds of clothing. In the simplest case, you are tlking about creating clothes that are actually textures "painted" on the avatar body.  You'll find the basic process for doing that here.  Making even that type of clothing requires some skill with Photoshop or GIMP, but it's well within the grasp of most SL residents.  Fun too.  Other clothing is made as attachments that are hung on the av body at various attachment points.  They can be as simple as a button or as complex as a suit of armor.  Prim clothing -- in items like skirts -- can be made flexible so that it flows when you move.  Much of that type of clothing can be made, piece by piece, with your in-world build/edit tools, described in general terms here.  For more complicated attachments that are "rigged" to your av's skelton and therefore follow your body's shape as you bend, you'll need to learn mesh 3D modeling techniques.  That can be a major project --- AND fun.

You can begin by looking for free classes at Caledon Oxbridge University, NCI, or Builder's Brewery in world, or by Googling for the thousands of video and text tutorials on line.  As you have questions, start lurking in the Building & Texturing forum and then asking specific questions there.

[Lindal Kidd]

Besides the classes Rolig mentions, there are wonderful self-paced building tutorials at The Ivory Tower Library of Primitives.

There are also a lot of blogs and tutorials on the web for making Second Life clothes.  One good place to start is the tutorials at The Mermaid Diaries

If it's hair that interests you, there is a tutorial on how to do that in Photoshop: http://www.zeroterminal.com/free-second-life-tutorials/351-second-life-hair-texture-tutorial-in-photoshop.html   That's for the hair texture.  For the actual hair object, edit some modifiable hair objects to see the various parts and how they are put together.

[PeterCanessa Oh]

Amongst the things you can make yourself in SL are:

• Animations (how avatars move)
• Body Parts! (Eyes, etc.)
• Buildings
• Clothes
• Hair
• Scripts (small programs that make objects 'do something')
• Shapes
• Skins
• Sounds
• Textures (pictures)
• Vehicles

I usually forget some.  More than 99% of everything you see (or hear) is made by residents just like us.  That's most of the fun of SL.

 

[Satyyriasis]

Thank you -PeterCanessa Oh-, I really appreciate all the forthcoming help and suggestions you people have made me aware of to achieve me desired end. All told it's quite a bit of material, and thanks. I have a definite picture of the avatar I wish to create. But for right now-the next few hours-I'm going to familiarise myself with SL.

[Madelaine McMasters]

You might need more than a few hours to familiarize yourself with SL. I've been here well over five years and I still have only a tenuous grasp on the thing. That said, if you're the curious type, you'll be happy to know that you won't outgrow SL anytime soon.

 

Have fun, Satyyriasis!