Avatar still looks around too much

[Pombokom]

I disabled Mouselook functionality. Also set the mouse-following angles to 0 (though now I can't find that setting -- where is it?). 

Even so, my avi keeps looking around. Looks off to the side all the time, and that doesn't entirely correlate with mouse movement. So far as I know I have only the default AO on, though I'm not sure how to check that or disable it.

Please, any more ideas? This is an annoyingly unrealistic and unfriendly behavior.

[Rowan Amore]

2 minutes ago, Pombokom said:

I disabled Mouselook functionality. Also set the mouse-following angles to 0 (though now I can't find that setting -- where is it?). 

Even so, my avi keeps looking around. Looks off to the side all the time, and that doesn't entirely correlate with mouse movement. So far as I know I have only the default AO on, though I'm not sure how to check that or disable it.

Please, any more ideas? This is an annoyingly unrealistic and unfriendly behavior.

What default AO are you talking about?

[Pombokom]

I don't know. If there isn't one, that's fine. Got that there is one by looking around in these forums but that is an imprecise way to learn anything.

[Solar Legion]

There is no "Default AO" - only a default set of Animations which are overridden by AO devices and such - hence the "O" in "AO" - Animation Override.

Now as for the looking around - which honestly is not "unrealistic" or "unfriendly" at all - with all other sources shut off, you should be looking for the LookAt settings. Firestorm has those easily enough accessible under Privacy -> LookAt.

Beyond those, you may still see occasional eye movement. Which is normal.

[Rolig Loon]

I suspect that you are using the very elementary starter AO that is packaged with basic system avatars.  The low-priority internal head_rot animation is designed to "move head and torso to follow the avatar's look at position (cursor, camera)".  If your AO defaults to that system animation, your head will move as you make even small cursor movements.  You can of course beat that by substituting a higher priority anim.  Almost any commercial stand or sit anims should do the trick. You could make the substitution in your AO or in the free AO that is part of the Firestorm viewer, or you could buy a commercial AO package from a merchant.

[Nalates Urriah]

If you take off all the AOs, the avatar still animates. The system uses the default set of animations built into the system.... viewer?  ...not sure which. Early on we called system walks the duck waddle.

The SL wiki has a list of those default animations. I am pretty sure none of them control the head movement you describe. I believe that is because the viewer and system were built to have the avatar look at whatever the mouse and camera were focused on.

So, with the controls for eye and head movement turned off and no AO, I have no idea where the head movement is coming from.

[Rowan Amore]

I mean I've seen this happen with people not using an AO.  You can tell they're probably looking in inventory or somewhere.  Using a mesh head, I'd have to try it without to see if I can replicate.

Best advise, get a commercial AO.  Vista has a few male AOs cheap.  One for 200L down to 10L.  On the right side wall near the front at their secondary location.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//70/206/83

[Pombokom]

2 hours ago, Solar Legion said:

There is no "Default AO" - only a default set of Animations which are overridden by AO devices and such - hence the "O" in "AO" - Animation Override.

Now as for the looking around - which honestly is not "unrealistic" or "unfriendly" at all - with all other sources shut off, you should be looking for the LookAt settings. Firestorm has those easily enough accessible under Privacy -> LookAt.

Beyond those, you may still see occasional eye movement. Which is normal.

Dunno why I never entirely grasped the meaning of Override but I do now, thanks.

It seems both unrealistic and impolite for my avatar to be looking over his shoulder so much of the time. The LookAt settings have nothing to do with that, just with what you and others have a camera focused on.

Eye movement is fine, though with mine it's a little creepy and is often why I often wear shades. 🙂

[Pombokom]

2 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

I suspect that you are using the very elementary starter AO that is packaged with basic system avatars.  The low-priority internal head_rot animation is designed to "move head and torso to follow the avatar's look at position (cursor, camera)".  If your AO defaults to that system animation, your head will move as you make even small cursor movements.  You can of course beat that by substituting a higher priority anim.  Almost any commercial stand or sit anims should do the trick. You could make the substitution in your AO or in the free AO that is part of the Firestorm viewer, or you could buy a commercial AO package from a merchant.

I'll have to look around Firestorm some more to find these free AOs, I didn't know they existed. Not in menus, not in inventory, hmm.

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Pombokom said:

I'll have to look around Firestorm some more to find these free AOs, I didn't know they existed. Not in menus, not in inventory, hmm.

In your Library folder way at the bottom.  They are included with some of the starter avatars.

[Pombokom]

1 hour ago, Rowan Amore said:

I mean I've seen this happen with people not using an AO.  You can tell they're probably looking in inventory or somewhere.  Using a mesh head, I'd have to try it without to see if I can replicate.

Best advise, get a commercial AO.  Vista has a few male AOs cheap.  One for 200L down to 10L.  On the right side wall near the front at their secondary location.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//70/206/83

Vista Animations, I guess you mean. Will look around, thanks. 

[Pombokom]

4 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

In your Library folder way at the bottom.  They are included with some of the starter avatars.

What's normally in the Library? All I see are vampire and werewolf AOs.

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Pombokom said:

What's normally in the Library? All I see are vampire and werewolf AOs.

There are dozens of full avatars in the Library  I'm not logged in at the moment so not sure under which category.

[Rolig Loon]

9 minutes ago, Pombokom said:

I'll have to look around Firestorm some more to find these free AOs, I didn't know they existed. Not in menus, not in inventory, hmm.

The AO is a built-in feature.   Read https://wiki.firestormviewer.org/animation_overrider

[Rolig Loon]

5 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

There are dozens of full avatars in the Library

You can choose an avatar easily from your viewer.  In the standard SL viewer, use Avatar >>> Complete Avatars ...   In the Firestorm viewer, it's Avatar >>> Choose An Avatar.  Then pick one from the menu:

[Pombokom]

23 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

You can choose an avatar easily from your viewer.  In the standard SL viewer, use Avatar >>> Complete Avatars ...   In the Firestorm viewer, it's Avatar >>> Choose An Avatar.  Then pick one from the menu:

But do avatars each come with their own unique AOs? And if so, can the AOs be kept and the avatars discarded? Sounds like research or a self-taught course, doesn't it. 🙂 It is. I should just do that rather than ask too many questions.

[Rolig Loon]

As others have said, most avatars that you buy do not come with an AO.  The ones in the SL Library ( and in the menu that you can access from your viewer, as I explained above ^^ ) do come with a very basic AO that is loaded with default anims that you will probably want to replace with ones of your own.  Its anims are an improvement over the old set, but they are really very basic.

Historically, animation overriders (AOs) were created by SL residents in the early days of SL as a way to improve on the duck walk and other really crude anims that are still in the internal animation set to this day.  The basic design of an AO has improved over the years, so ones made within the past five years or so are much more versatile than they were 15 years back.  I'd guess that almost everyone in SL today buys an AO as one of the first steps in customizing their avatar (or uses something like the one that's built in to Firestorm and adds selected animations to make a personal set). 

[Pombokom]

23 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

... (or uses something like the one that's built in to Firestorm and adds selected animations to make a personal set). 

I searched Firestorm for AO and came up with nothing. Seems I'll have to invest some time for this issue, and hope to find AOs that don't allow the same head-snapping behavior. Thank you for all the info.

[Rolig Loon]

That's why I gave you the direct link to the article in the Firestorm wiki that explains how to use it.

[Bree Giffen]

The solution is to buy a new AO. 

Try looking for a "free AO" at the SL marketplace. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/

[JeromFranzic]

On 9/22/2021 at 4:06 PM, Pombokom said:

But do avatars each come with their own unique AOs? And if so, can the AOs be kept and the avatars discarded? Sounds like research or a self-taught course, doesn't it. 🙂 It is. I should just do that rather than ask too many questions.

When you're building a new outfit for your avatar, you can pick parts up from other outfits. For instance, I have several takes of my main avi that use the standard female AO. I grabbed it from the Gretchen avatar (the avatar I first used in SL a few months ago ). She's the older lady with the pearl necklace and green gown. There's no need to keep the avatar the AO comes from if you don't want it.

[Rabid Cheetah]

Dude, if you only knew how many times I've turned my AO off just so I can quickly wiggle the mouse and watch my avi shake her head back and forth, hee hee! 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Rabid Cheetah