Returning back to SL - 5 yr break

[Zandrah Sorrowman]

Hi all! Title explains pretty much the circumstances I am in. I am returning back to SL after taking a little over 5 years off. I need help! I used to be a teen avi, but I'm looking to become an adult sized. All this talk of Legacy bodies, mesh heads... its like where do I begin. I figured I would like to work on my Avi first and then venture in to doing fun things in SL and meeting friends (however if you have tips on where I should go to do that I am all ears).

I've been reading through the blogs and I'm still not sure where to start. Should I get a shape? skin ? head ? haha!

Advice and tips truly needed thank you!

 

[Orwar]

   It's not an easy question to answer, as in the end, your choice of body, shape, head, skin, and everything else, is up to your personal preferences. The one thing I would say is .. Don't get Legacy. It's made by TMP, it's a complete disaster of a body, it's overpriced, it's made by TMP, it's many times laggier than just about any other given body, it's made by TMP, and it will downright break apart if you're too high up from the sea level. Did I mention it's a TMP product?

   Maitreya Lara is the most popular body, it has support from most creators, and it's a good 'standard' - whether the body is to your taste is up to you to decide, alternatives worth mentioning are Belleza and Slink .. And then there are a whole lot more options. 

   As far as heads go, I love my Genus head for my alt, but they're currently unavailable due to some legal shenanigans (as far as I heard, someone filed a DMCA - but coming from me it's worth no more than gossip, because I haven't looked into it). Lelutka's Evolution range seem very nice as well, and then there's of course Catwa - aaand a whole lot more options.

   Skins and shapes, well, that's entirely up to what you're looking for.

   Grab demos, try them out and see what you like! 

[Alwin Alcott]

24 minutes ago, Zandrah Sorrowman said:

Hi all! Title explains pretty much the circumstances I am in. I am returning back to SL after taking a little over 5 years off. I need help! I used to be a teen avi, but I'm looking to become an adult sized. All this talk of Legacy bodies, mesh heads... its like where do I begin. I figured I would like to work on my Avi first and then venture in to doing fun things in SL and meeting friends (however if you have tips on where I should go to do that I am all ears).

I've been reading through the blogs and I'm still not sure where to start. Should I get a shape? skin ? head ? haha!

Advice and tips truly needed thank you!

 

i'd advice to turn your plan around, step into the fun things, and discover slowly what changed. The body/skin/shapes/clothes world go very confusing. Take your time for it, or you'll pay more than needed ( for example you buy head and body now, but find out in a week you really want something else..)

[Fritigern Gothly]

My advise:

DO NOT:

• Jump into the circus of "which body/head should I get", you will get other people's opinions on what to buy and you may be out 10,000-20,000 L$ for a head / body combination which you don't even really like.
• Pay for a shape. Make your own instead, based on the shape which you already have. Unless you like the way the shape makes your face look, then just leave it.
• Allow people to tell you "this body or head is the BEST!" because it's not true. The one which is best is the one which is best for YOU and you alone.

DO:

• Not all mesh bodies are created equal so get demos, demos, demos, up the wazoo. No demo, no deal! The more demos you get, the better. Only this way can you compare and find out which body or head will work for you. Make sure to not only use the included demo shape (which is invariably designed to make that particular body or head look good), but use a default shape as well to play around with proportions to see if the body/head offers the level of flexibility you like.
• Use different skins to test the demos with. Different skins give different results, just like with the old, pre-mesh bodies.
• Get some of the free bodies and heads out there, some are rubbish, some are awesome. Some are just free, others are group gifts.
• Find out which head and body works for you and make your choice based on that, not on what others tell you to get.

Some things to consider whilst trying to decide which body to get:

• How good is the availability of clothing, accessories, skins, for the body that you want? Especially think about the clothing style you like for the gender that you choose your avatar to be. If non-binary, or non-human, this still applies!
• Do the creators keep up with current SL technology? Some keywords to look for are Bento and BoM (Bakes on Mesh)
• As I mentioned before, if there is no demo, then do not do business with them. Pictures and even rezzed heads/bodies can look good in-world, but you will only know if it looks and works well on you if you actually get to try out the head/body.

I'm sure I have forgotten to mention a few things but I think this should be enough to get you started 🙂

[Zandrah Sorrowman]

43 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   It's not an easy question to answer, as in the end, your choice of body, shape, head, skin, and everything else, is up to your personal preferences. The one thing I would say is .. Don't get Legacy. It's made by TMP, it's a complete disaster of a body, it's overpriced, it's made by TMP, it's many times laggier than just about any other given body, it's made by TMP, and it will downright break apart if you're too high up from the sea level. Did I mention it's a TMP product?

   Maitreya Lara is the most popular body, it has support from most creators, and it's a good 'standard' - whether the body is to your taste is up to you to decide, alternatives worth mentioning are Belleza and Slink .. And then there are a whole lot more options. 

   As far as heads go, I love my Genus head for my alt, but they're currently unavailable due to some legal shenanigans (as far as I heard, someone filed a DMCA - but coming from me it's worth no more than gossip, because I haven't looked into it). Lelutka's Evolution range seem very nice as well, and then there's of course Catwa - aaand a whole lot more options.

   Skins and shapes, well, that's entirely up to what you're looking for.

   Grab demos, try them out and see what you like! 

Thanks Orwar, I've seeing a lot from LeLutka especially from the blogs. 

 

[Marianne Little]

10 hours ago, Zandrah Sorrowman said:

Thanks Orwar, I've seeing a lot from LeLutka especially from the blogs. 

 

The bloggers are jumping on every new thing. And now, the Eveolution heads from LeLutka is the new thing. I love LeLutka, but i will still advise you to get the free Catwa head. It is a fully functional head and is normally sold for 5010 L.The offer ends May 24th. It is lots of inspiration on Flickr, how people has edited and used other skins on it to make unique looks. So it is worth taking it, while it is free. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/CATWA-HEAD-Freya-GIFT/19516951

Even if you don't like how it looks in the ad, I have seen it look totally different on others.

 

[Zandrah Sorrowman]

On 5/21/2020 at 4:00 PM, Fritigern Gothly said:

My advise:

DO NOT:

• Jump into the circus of "which body/head should I get", you will get other people's opinions on what to buy and you may be out 10,000-20,000 L$ for a head / body combination which you don't even really like.
• Pay for a shape. Make your own instead, based on the shape which you already have. Unless you like the way the shape makes your face look, then just leave it.
• Allow people to tell you "this body or head is the BEST!" because it's not true. The one which is best is the one which is best for YOU and you alone.

DO:

• Not all mesh bodies are created equal so get demos, demos, demos, up the wazoo. No demo, no deal! The more demos you get, the better. Only this way can you compare and find out which body or head will work for you. Make sure to not only use the included demo shape (which is invariably designed to make that particular body or head look good), but use a default shape as well to play around with proportions to see if the body/head offers the level of flexibility you like.
• Use different skins to test the demos with. Different skins give different results, just like with the old, pre-mesh bodies.
• Get some of the free bodies and heads out there, some are rubbish, some are awesome. Some are just free, others are group gifts.
• Find out which head and body works for you and make your choice based on that, not on what others tell you to get.

Some things to consider whilst trying to decide which body to get:

• How good is the availability of clothing, accessories, skins, for the body that you want? Especially think about the clothing style you like for the gender that you choose your avatar to be. If non-binary, or non-human, this still applies!
• Do the creators keep up with current SL technology? Some keywords to look for are Bento and BoM (Bakes on Mesh)
• As I mentioned before, if there is no demo, then do not do business with them. Pictures and even rezzed heads/bodies can look good in-world, but you will only know if it looks and works well on you if you actually get to try out the head/body.

I'm sure I have forgotten to mention a few things but I think this should be enough to get you started 🙂

Thanks Frit. One of my old SL friends took me around last night to grab a ton of demos. I think I am leaning towards Maitreya but I plan on getting a few more demos before deciding 🙂 

 

[Nalates Urriah]

32 minutes ago, Zandrah Sorrowman said:

Thanks Frit. One of my old SL friends took me around last night to grab a ton of demos. I think I am leaning towards Maitreya but I plan on getting a few more demos before deciding 🙂 

Demos... good.

With Maitreya check the shoulders and inner thighs. If those work for you then it may be the best choice as Maitreya is very popular.

[PinkChai]

 

On 5/21/2020 at 2:51 PM, Zandrah Sorrowman said:

Hi all! Title explains pretty much the circumstances I am in. I am returning back to SL after taking a little over 5 years off. I need help! I used to be a teen avi, but I'm looking to become an adult sized. All this talk of Legacy bodies, mesh heads... its like where do I begin. I figured I would like to work on my Avi first and then venture in to doing fun things in SL and meeting friends (however if you have tips on where I should go to do that I am all ears).

I've been reading through the blogs and I'm still not sure where to start. Should I get a shape? skin ? head ? haha!

Advice and tips truly needed thank you!

 

How did your makeover come out?! You should totally post some pictures when you get a moment!! 🙂

[Talligurl]

On May 21, 2020 at 2:51 PM, Zandrah Sorrowman said:

 I figured I would like to work on my Avi first and then venture in to doing fun things in SL and meeting friends (however if you have tips on where I should go to do that I am all ears).

 

To me this is backwards, I was in SL a year before going mesh, I talked to people about what they had and slowly figured out what I wanted. It was another year after that before I got a mesh head. 

[Zandrah Sorrowman]

1 hour ago, PinkChai said:

 

How did your makeover come out?! You should totally post some pictures when you get a moment!! 🙂

So far so good. I should have taken a before picture... Actually I think I can remember what I was wearing... but right now I am rocking Legacys Classic body.. It was only $1L and I am happy. Gives me a small bit of mesh and a chance to figure everything out without a major investment. I am trying to now decide if I want to get a new skin .. I also still a bit confused aas to how to get the freebie Catwa head to work on my current skin . Pictures to come shortly 

[Zandrah Sorrowman]

To each their own 🙂 I'm enjoying the process revamping my avi