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Natural AO


Bingo Ditko
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Bingo, the subject "Natural AO" is in my opinion as old as SL itself, and a pet peeve of mine. :S I even wrote a blogpost about it back then in May 2011, because I was so pissed off.

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RANT

This is about AOs - animation overriders… one of my pet peeves in SL…

I have maybe 25 or 30 AOs in my inventory, all collected and tried within the last >3 years. Vista, Oracul, whatever brand it was that I stumbled across in forums, or on XStreet/Marketplace or in Malls and looked good in the first moment, I did buy. I'd rather not want to know how many L$ I wasted for them.
"Wasted?", you ask.
Yes - because I just stick with the (free) OpenCollar Sub AO until I find one with natural looking moves that matches my persona, so that I can say "That one is so me!"...
With the other, rather expensive ones, my avatar behaves like an overly nervous or overly sex-driven insecure kid, or like someone on speed, or like someone who has to go pee but can't, et cetera pp. My avatar simply does not move appropriate with them.

AO-maker of all brands: I don't want my avatars to move like a sex-driven insecure kid on speed on top of caffeine with a week bladder: I want them to move like an adult woman who knows what she's doing - and with an AO matching my persona (which is usually rather calm despite me being a caffeine-junkie)!
If I wanted to double-up or pace around or throw my hair around or bend my knees or present my ***** or dance around or kick the air, I would do that even if I had to select those damn anims from a folder.
But I don't usually pace around walking holes in the floor, I don't usually dance while talking to others, I don't usually do knee-bends or martial art kicks while building, and especially I don't usually shift from one leg to the other like I had to pee (unless I really have to) or mess around with my hair every few seconds - so I don't want to see any of these animations in an AO I want to buy!

Here's a challenge, you AO makers:
Go out into RL for a while, and watch the real people out there, how they walk, stand, sit, lay etc. -- and not those in cartoons and animes or on the catwalk where they move exaggeratingly anyways.
Rather go and watch the people in the streets, in the parks, in the cafes and Malls. The REAL people. See how they move while standing around talking, while walking, while presenting and building things, while sitting on park benches and cafe chairs, while laying or sitting on meadows, beaches - even on the hard asphalt.
Do they move as if they were wearing one of your AOs? I bet they don't. I even bet none of the real people out there move as if they were wearing one of your AOs.
So how the heck did you get the idea of putting THESE anims in there?
Do you think they're cute? I tell you: you have no idea what cute even means.
Do you think they're sexy? Watch real people moving, you'll see what sexy moves really are, and when they become simply stupid and annoying.
Do you think they represent dominance or submission, or strength or meekness? Maybe they do in your cartoons and animes, but not in RL.
So go out into RL for a while. Go watch the real people, watch them closely how they move. Study them. Study them all - no matter if it's the rich diva shopping with her chihuahua, or the soccer mom, or that teenie over there with the skateboard, or the cashier during her break, or the broker on the way home, or the waiter/waitress, or the high school students at McD, or that old-ish ragged person with the shopping cart full of bags, or the university student there in the park tanning her face while sitting on that bench, or the officer in the recruitment office, or that obvious loser who scuffle their feet along the street. Watch your family and your friends, your colleagues and customers/clients and bosses. WATCH THEM ALL, AND STUDY THEIR MOVES. Study even their subconscious moves, all their gestures, the way they walk or stand or sit or lay, or shift their body or tilt their head, watch their entire body language in everything they do.
And THEN build your animations and AOs from what you learned from studying them.


Yes, maybe I do have some too high expectations, but all I want is AOs with NATURALLY LOOKING moves and animations in them.

 

Edited by eighthdwarf Checchinato
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The best thing to do is make your own AO. Most of the bundles have good animations in them. Then there’s always a couple WTH?! ones. The last one I bought had normal animations, then it had one where my avi would literally grab her ankle and stand on one foot. So I took that one out because it was silly.

I’m a fan of more natural movements myself. Just have to make your own. I always suggest to new players to buy a nice cheap one until they figure out how they work. Then make a couple.

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One of the best things about Firestorm is the built-in AO.  You can load it with a pose you got.  On the one occasion when I bought an AO (Voir, Almost Still), I stripped all the poses out of it and put the ones I liked into the Firestorm.

Just in case peeps don't know, you can often get the poses out of an AO by rezzing it in the ground and opening it.  There are some that use a different method, but I won't buy those.

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4 hours ago, janetosilio said:

The best thing to do is make your own AO. Most of the bundles have good animations in them. Then there’s always a couple WTH?! ones. The last one I bought had normal animations, then it had one where my avi would literally grab her ankle and stand on one foot. So I took that one out because it was silly.

I’m a fan of more natural movements myself. Just have to make your own. I always suggest to new players to buy a nice cheap one until they figure out how they work. Then make a couple.

 

1 hour ago, anna2358 said:

One of the best things about Firestorm is the built-in AO.  You can load it with a pose you got.  On the one occasion when I bought an AO (Voir, Almost Still), I stripped all the poses out of it and put the ones I liked into the Firestorm.

Just in case peeps don't know, you can often get the poses out of an AO by rezzing it in the ground and opening it.  There are some that use a different method, but I won't buy those.

Totally agree with both of you. I did end up using the built-in Firestorm AO. It is very easy to use!  And I found some great L$10 stands at Kuso. Thanks for all the advice guys! :)

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I've spent thousands on 'stand' AO's over the years and am still not truly satisfied with what's on offer. The same goes for dances too; I wish there were more dances where you don't look like a pro-dancer performing on stage, more like stood at the side feeling the vibe without moving your feet is the style I always seek.

Back to stands. I like what Body Language offer, it is a breath of fresh air. LM: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bon Voyage/95/131/1253

During Black Friday everything at Body Language was offered at 50% off. I filled my little boots B|

Here's one of my favourites, although it doesn't complete it's cycle in the GIF time allowed, this is pretty much it. .. 

 

6a28de3be9257ae74f33b08439ab0bc2.gif

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9 hours ago, Candice LittleBoots said:

Back to stands. I like what Body Language offer, it is a breath of fresh air. LM: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bon Voyage/95/131/1253

During Black Friday everything at Body Language was offered at 50% off. I filled my little boots B|

I picked up the Bento Breeze AO from Body Language on Black Friday. I do like that she bounces around less, I just wish there was more fluidity between animations! 

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What drives me nuts are the stand animations that are so active you think there's someone driving the avatar while the user is out to lunch. You talk to them, there's no answer, you wait, and finally leave, frustrated.

My own avatar is set to time out after 30 seconds of inactivity. The head tilts to one side, as if sleepy, and "Away" appears. That's a standard Firestorm feature, but you have to turn it on.

One woman had something I liked. When she uses IM, her avatar brings out a cell phone. I've only seen that once. Great idea.

 

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Candice, that looks amazing. i love the look of the character and the way the AO looks is great.  a friend was looking for something similar so i'll pass her the info you posted. 

i'm hoping the frosty breath is an add on that is not part of the ao.  i live in the cold as it is so never want to see frosty breath LOL.

 

On 12/24/2017 at 10:55 PM, Candice LittleBoots said:

I've spent thousands on 'stand' AO's over the years and am still not truly satisfied with what's on offer. The same goes for dances too; I wish there were more dances where you don't look like a pro-dancer performing on stage, more like stood at the side feeling the vibe without moving your feet is the style I always seek.

Back to stands. I like what Body Language offer, it is a breath of fresh air. LM: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bon Voyage/95/131/1253

During Black Friday everything at Body Language was offered at 50% off. I filled my little boots B|

Here's one of my favourites, although it doesn't complete it's cycle in the GIF time allowed, this is pretty much it. .. 

 

6a28de3be9257ae74f33b08439ab0bc2.gif

 

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