Avatar basics, what to know

[Cattasage]

Hello, 

This is my first time on SL and my first time wanting to create something for it. I joined basically so i could do this as i think it's the coolest thing in the world right now. 

As I tend to learn by asking and figuring out the basics. I have a few questions before I get into making my mesh. 

Is there a specific poly limit?
What about size?
how does one rig the mesh, is there a default skeleton?
I want to make a humanoid with a tail, can the tail be included in the mesh? 

I know i should use "Collada" (using blender) and export as .DAE but is there anything else format wise to be wary of? what about making weight maps and texture maps? Same as regular or are there constraints I should be wary of? 

let me know, and if you have any links to useful tutorials and information send them my way

Thanks guys!

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

There is a creation Forum with Building and Texturing and Mesh subforums.  I bet that is a great spot for your more technical questions.  The people there are a great resources.

Welcome to Second Life.

 

[Cattasage]

Thanks! I will surely check there

[Penny Patton]

On 4/22/2017 at 10:57 PM, Cattasage said:

Is there a specific poly limit?
What about size?
 

I'm sure you'll find useful answers in the Building forum, but wanted to offer some advice here.

If there is a poly limit for avatar attachments, it's absurdly high. If you've come from any sort of game modding or design background I don't need to point out why this should not be license to go super high-poly with attachments. There is always a performance cost, whether or not the average SL user is aware of the cause.

SL does have a feature which allows users to set a "draw weight cap" for avatars, which basically means avatars with a higher performance cost may not be rendered for a large number of SL users, instead being replaced by a brightly coloured pixel mess.

Optimize your mesh and textures, just as you would for a videogame and you shouldn't need to worry about this.