Need Help with making Skins for BOM

[suprehmo]

hello!

I am planning to open up my skin BOM shop for males although im very inexperienced and clueless right now. Can someone guide me on what I (materials, programs) need to start creating skins? Want to create skins for Lelutka and Catwa heads

Edited August 25, 2020 by suprehmo

[KjartanEno]

Skins for Bakes On Mesh require textures for the head, torso, and lower body, all using the SL UV layout for system avatars. You create a skin right in your inventory. Your customer simply wears it, no scripted appliers or relays required.

If you can find high quality templates to purchase in the marketplace or in world, it can substantially reduce the work involved. Beware cheap templates since they offer few options, may be blurry or low resolution, and worst of all could be stolen content. You will pay for quality, but then your end product will sell based on the quality you offer and word of mouth recommendations from your customers.

Templates often come in PSD format for use in Photoshop. If you do not own Photoshop, there is a free to use browser based image editor that can open PSD files called Photopea. I've used it from time to time for those files that have adjustment layers which GIMP cannot handle. GIMP is my preferred image editing application. It is free and does almost everything I need it to (aside from the adjustment layers I mentioned).

High quality templates will have options for heads including many eyes, lips, noses, and other ways to shape the face. The idea isn't to simply show and hide layers, however. Hopefully you'll experiment and create something unique that goes beyond the source templates you use.

When it comes to differences between heads, the most noticeable thing is how the lips look. Catwa in particular has fuller lips than any other mesh heads. If you sell skins that are intended to fit many heads, you need to test your skins on those heads and put the options as different skins in your product. Including shapes would be a good idea as well. Being Bakes On Mesh skins, you could also include extras such as tintable lip tattoo layers, eyebrows, and a basic hairbase.

I can't stress this enough: Know the market you intend to sell in. Buy skins from creators that you like and examine the product critically. See if you can do better!

Edit: Even more important!! If you see a template for sale in the marketplace, the PSD files that you get would come in a separate download link. Contact the seller in world to make sure they are ACTIVE before making such a purchase. If the download links no longer work, you need to be able to get help, and an inactive seller can't do that for you!

Edited August 28, 2020 by KjartanEno
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