Brand new to SL. Curious about best way to make Avatar look like me.

[Maelas]

Hello everyone,

i have been googling for days now and cannot really find a definitive answer, assuming there is one. Has anyone made an Avatar that actually resembles them physically and can describe how? Maybe this is a lot to ask but I am just curious before I jump in to this.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Theresa Tennyson]

31 minutes ago, Maelas said:

Hello everyone,

i have been googling for days now and cannot really find a definitive answer, assuming there is one. Has anyone made an Avatar that actually resembles them physically and can describe how? Maybe this is a lot to ask but I am just curious before I jump in to this.

 

Thanks!

 

 

That entirely depends on what you look like and how much of a resemblance you want. Are you looking for "slender, red hair and freckles" (quite simple) or "CGI movie - deep fake" (not practically possible)?

[Ariel Vuissent]

Honestly, the best way is to demo, demo, demo what's available on the market. There's a lot; unless you have very non-standard features you should be able to get close with the right combination of mesh head, skin, and shape. The shape you can customize yourself; the head, skin, and mesh body you can buy. Note that a mesh head and body aren't required, but are recommended, both because they look nicer and because there's more available for them these days.

Depending on your gender and what you look like, you'll have a variety of options. Catwa is a great place to start looking for heads for either gender, but they are pricey and they're far from the only ones out there. It's a process, so DEMO as much as you possible can.

[Maelas]

So what I am hearing is that I just need to buy avatars and play with the features (sliders or whatnot) until im comfortable with it?

[Rowan Amore]

Just now, Maelas said:

So what I am hearing is that I just need to buy avatars and play with the features (sliders or whatnot) until im comfortable with it?

You don't want to BUY yet.  Get demos for free and try them.  There are complete avatars but I'd stay away from those.  You get components.  A mesh body demo, A mesh head demo, skin demos, hair demos.  

 

[Claireschen Hesten]

This thread might be of interest to you

 

[Maelas]

9 minutes ago, RowanMinx said:

You don't want to BUY yet.  Get demos for free and try them.  There are complete avatars but I'd stay away from those.  You get components.  A mesh body demo, A mesh head demo, skin demos, hair demos.  

 

Ahh ok, i wasnt aware you could try them. Good to know..I tried for a long time to learn about this mesh body stuff but its a bit confusing.

[Maelas]

9 minutes ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

This thread might be of interest to you

 

Oh thanks! Ill give this a go!

[Rowan Amore]

27 minutes ago, Maelas said:

Oh thanks! Ill give this a go!

The only thing about the custom avatar in that other post is you'll have trouble finding anything that fits.  Most clothing in SL is fit to certain bodies or has a way to alpha/hide certain body parts.  

This website gives you an overview

http://www.virtualbloke.com/

 

[Ariel Vuissent]

DEMO is just trying it. Demos are free (or sometimes cost $1L, but honestly I'd avoid those as there's no reason to charge for a demo) and usually have some indicator that they are a demo. (CATWA heads are missing pixels in the forehead and chin; skins may be marked with the word DEMO in an obvious place; some items have a box marked DEMO that will float above or next to your head; etc. Those features will go away with the full version.) 

All mesh should have demos. If there is no demo, don't buy it. Once you get the demo, specifically a demo mesh head, there should be a shape included that you can wear (a bento mesh head will look really weird on your default shape!) Wear that, then edit it normally with shape sliders and see how close you can get it to what you want. Be aware that skin can dramatically affect the finished product, but the "bones" of the head will stay the same. If it has huge eyes by default, it will always have huge eyes. If the default lips are really pouty, they always will be. Test the minimum and maximum sizes of different features, and make sure to check the profile. (I didn't realize how "duck-lipped" one of my heads was until after I bought it, because I only looked from the front!)

[Kitteh Whiskers]

Demo EVERYTHING and see what you like best that resembles you most 

[BelindaN]

And don't expect easy or quick results, it takes time, and practice to create what is essentially 3d art. 

But well worth the effort.

[Katherine Heartsong]

Newbie as well (except for failed attempts years back) and I will repeat what's been said above ... make DEMO your mantra. Even with stores you are comfortable with (for me, a store like TRUTH Hair or COCO), always get demos and give them a try.

[Jennifer Boyle]

I am not as knowledgeable as others who have answered. Nevertheless, I may be able to offer helpful advice.

It is VERY difficult and time-consuming to get a mesh head to look like a specific person. Many of us had system heads with faces that we had had for many years. We wanted the improved features and appearance of a mesh head but not to look like a different person. We had to invest a LOT of time and effort to achieve a good approximation.

I advise that you, as a new user, set the bar lower for yourself. Just try for an avatar that resembles you, not one that reproduces your appearance faithfully. You can easily achieve that without inordinate effort.

In your place, I would cruise the head shops, look at the displays, and find one that I thought looked more like I wanted to look than most. I would get the demo and play with the shape sliders to see if I could get it a look that was good enough to satisfy me. I think I'd be able to do that in a short time.