[New and in need of some tips and guidance.]

[deadthing23]

Hello everyone :) 

I'm new to SL and have done an alright job of figuring things out thus far, however there are a few questions that remain unanswered to me and I was hoping to get some tips to make my time here easier and more fun. I watched a documentary about SL called "Life 2.0" a couple of nights ago on Netflix and I knew right away that I wanted to join. I wasn't prepared for how confusing certain things could prove to be however. Thanks in advance for any help :robotwink:

 

• I feel as though my inventory and wardrobe are incredibly disorganized and confusing. Any tips on ways to organize the items here? (ex: I chose a random avatar as my base to sign up but all of the clothes that she was wearing are still there, do I have to keep them and if so can I not categorize all items I own under titles such as "tops,bottoms,makeup,shoes etc." ?)
• I purchased some different clothing items and accessories but didn't know how to "try them on" before buying them... is there a way to do so?
• Can you change your avatar's physical features (ex: the shape and look of the face and skin, size of breasts/body etc.) and if so how?
• My SL viewer seems to be lagging and going quite slow in comparison to the regular websites I visit (obviously, I realize it is quite content heavy). I was wondering if anyone has tips on ways to make it run faster, or what kind of specs I would be looking for when buying a computer that has better graphics capability? (that may be way out of anyone's realm of advice but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask)
• My avatar has a white "corset" style item that she came with and it is not listed in the items she's wearing, however I cannot remove it from her and it remains visible under the dress I purchased and applied to her. Any tips on how to remove it or if that's even possible? 
• Once I've finished customizing my avatar what are some good places to start going for newbies and how do I locate them?

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this,

Dahlia

[Ren Toxx]

I feel as though my inventory and wardrobe are incredibly disorganized and confusing. Any tips on ways to organize the items here? (ex: I chose a random avatar as my base to sign up but all of the clothes that she was wearing are still there, do I have to keep them and if so can I not categorize all items I own under titles such as "tops,bottoms,makeup,shoes etc." ?)

You can, and in fact you should start doing so as soon as possible. Many people neglect keeping their inventories organized as they grow, just letting everything “where it lands”. By the time they start realizing how messy and cumbersome their inventories have become, it's too late: there's far too many items in them to be properly sorted and managed in a matter of hours, days or even weeks.

I purchased some different clothing items and accessories but didn't know how to "try them on" before buying them... is there a way to do so?

Not an automatic one. What many merchants do is create a special, “demo” version which, though often good enough to evaluate the quality of the full version, cannot reasonably be used “as is” (skins, for example, will have the “demo” word tattooed all over them, while mesh clothing may, besides that, have ugly “demo” notices attached. Demos are usually fully free (0 L$), but some merchants decide, for various reasons, charge a small fee (usually 1 L$); other products may have their demos limited in other ways.

Can you change your avatar's physical features (ex: the shape and look of the face and skin, size of breasts/body etc.) and if so how?

Yes. Go to the viewer's menu “Me” > “Appearance”, go to “Body parts”, right-click on the shape, and choose “Edit”.

My SL viewer seems to be lagging and going quite slow in comparison to the regular websites I visit (obviously, I realize it is quite content heavy). I was wondering if anyone has tips on ways to make it run faster, or what kind of specs I would be looking for when buying a computer that has better graphics capability? (that may be way out of anyone's realm of advice but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask)

Most often viewers are set by default to use a maximum bandwidth of 500 kbps., but this is too low a value under most normal conditions, so use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + P to open the viewer preferences, locate the Maximum Bandwidth setting, and raise it to 1500 kbps., a far more recommended setting (caution: do NOT increase it more than that, thinking that “the more, the better”... it doesn't quite work that way).

My avatar has a white "corset" style item that she came with and it is not listed in the items she's wearing, however I cannot remove it from her and it remains visible under the dress I purchased and applied to her. Any tips on how to remove it or if that's even possible? 

A possibility is that the skin you're wearing has the corset actually “baked” into its texture, meaning they're one and the same, not overlayed and therefore detachable. Wear another skin to see if that gets rid of the corset.

[deadthing23]

You're amazing, thank you so very much for all of your help!! Can I ask (although it may sound dumb...) what does "mesh" mean? I hear a lot of people using the term to describe items they've purchased. 

[Lexy Darkstone]

Mesh is a pretty riecent type of clothing and object material. Mesh clothing is attached to your avatar in such a way that it "moves" with your avatar and does not break through your avatar when you sit down. Mesh will be sized in typicaly 5 options ( xs, s, m , l , xl ) and while you may get the option to try a DEMO *check the sign you are purchasing from for a "DEMO" option before purchase* This is not always the case.

 

SYSTEM clothing is much like the white corset you are experiencing. They are layers of clothing that are painted onto your skin. You can right click all items in your inventory and choose the *ADD* option to add a layer or object ( I am unsure as to the cap of how many layers/objects you can attach to any one point on your avatar anymore they have changed a few times now if anyone can answer this futher) if you do not wish to simply *double click * wear items. This helps you add a bit more customization to your outfits by layering shirts, undershirts, underwear, jackets, pants, etc.

 

Skins : you can find them free as gifts or paid in world or on the SL Marketplace. There is a plethora of creators for skins as well as styles you will be able to find anything from realism to fantasy.

 

Shapes : you can customize your shape as above *Right click , Edit, Shape* and adjust your body sliders. Or purchase a shape *or find a free one on market place or in world* for further customization.

 

Hair: Same...tons of designers and styles. Mesh is the trend lately but you will also find flexi styles and prim.

 

Feel free to add me in world if you have any questions d^_^ always happy to help new members out.

[Darkness Anubis]

Lots of good advice but let me add one small detail that makes organizing a tad easier.

You can right click on a folder and pick make new folder to put a subfolder inside the original one. Then just label it what you want. So in the main clothing folder you can make as many folders as you need for your own catogory system.

ok one more

In your inventory window at the bottom for firestorm (I THINK its top on the SL viewer) there is a gear icon. If you click that you can open a 2nd inventory window which makes it easier to click and drag stuff from on to the right folder on the other one.

Sorry if you already knew these but it is often the small stuff that trips up new folks in my experience.

[deadthing23]

Thank you all so much for your help. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it slowly but surely Are there any things that you would recommend I do first and for most? My first goal was to customize my avatar the way I want her to look, once I've mastered that what would you should be my next goal? I've got a couple questions surrounding some terminology I've heard people using. I see the word "prim" being used a lot, can anyone tell me what that means? Sorry if any of these questions seem dumb or redundant, I really do appreciate all the help though :robothappy:

[Drongle McMahon]

"Prim" is short for primitive object. Originally these were simple shapes, cube, sphere, cylinder etc., which could be modified by all sorts of cutting, hollowing, twisting, tapering and so on (often called "torturing"). Everything was made from combinations of these shapes. They work by using a set of numbers (parameters) that control the various distortions, to generate a "mesh" of points (vertices) which defone the shape.

Later, a special type of Prim, sculpted prim  or sculpty, was introduced where the positions of the vertices were defined by the coulours of the pixles in an image called the dculpt map. These were much more versatile, but had severe limitations. So, finally, "mesh" was introduced, which use much more versatile industry-standard ways to define the vertices. They also provide ways of defining the collision properties of the object (physics shape), and they can be "rigged" so that when they are worn as clothes they move along with movements of the avatar's bones. That is the attraction of mesh clothing, compared to traditional clothing made of prims or just textures. "Fitted mesh" even moves with some of the adjustments that you use to customize the avatar's shape.

Technically, sculpties and mesh are implemented as, and are still often referred to as, special types of prim, although cleraly the word "primitive" isn't really appropriate any more.

The apperance of all kinds of prims is finally determined by application of textures. These used to be just simple images, but can now be supplemented by two additional kinds of image, normal and specular maps, that control the bumpiness and shininess of the textured surfaces. The combined images are called "materials", but seeing their effects depends on turning on the advanced lighting model in graphics preferences. That is quite demanding on the capabilities of your graphics card.