Help needed with current trends (returning veteran)

[Forgottenx]

Hello, I joined SL 10 years ago and it used to be a very different game back then. I am aware mesh bodies and heads are all the rage and I heard something about bento skeletons? 

I would like to hear which creators you guys buy from these days so I can upgrade my avatar accordingly  

Links would be much appreciated.

[Katherine Heartsong]

Welcome back!

The basics to upgrading generally include: a mesh body, head, hair, BoM skin for both in matching tones, and then an animation override so give your avatar a more natural walk, resting state, etc. You can usually buy head shapes and/or body shapes and then you tweak to your liking. Then add to that, as you already know, outfits for the particular body you bought.

You're going to get a lot of opinions, and "best" is always subjective and tied to what you want to look like. In terms of human and female the main four looks these days are: 1) realistic body shapes (though the ratio of supermodels to realistic proportions is unbalanced towards the model look); 2) exaggerated booty/curvy shapes; 3) young looking avatars (lets for safety sake say very late teen here); and 4) kawaii baby girl shapes.

There are lots to choose from these days but purely from a popularity/% worn you're often seeing Maitreya bodies with Lelutka GenX heads. You can find a wide range of skins for these at places like TheSkinnery, 7DeadlySkins etc as well as other amazing skin stores that focus on ethnic looks besides caucasian. Your basic head HUD will have enough makeup and eye options to get you started, btw.

That's just the basics of BoM though, you can then find stores that sell extra touches that add uniqueness to your look. Freckles, wrinkles, stretch marks, veins, tattoos, tan lines, eyeliner, blush, lipstick, eyes, etc. Each of these are now just BoM layers you add to your avatar.

Shapes? A personal thing for Wrens and AOs I like Body language (expensive but often more subtle than other brands). Hair? Lots to pick from but two of my faves are DOUX and Magika because they have all the colours in one buy, amazing styles, and none of this buy a fatpack to get all the colours.

Clothings? Almost too many to list because a lot of them really stress one look. For example, Candy Kitten and Lunar and Rebel Pill all aim more at the baby girl aesthetic. Seniha, Blueberry etc modern young female. Mimikri and Ecru more eclectic modern. Bauhaus for edgy. Hilly Haalan for the best value in SL (every colour included, no fatpacks, wide range of styles). Other clothing includes Neve, Meva, ValetinaE (retro), Just Because, etc. Shoes maybe Essenz but there are lots.

Have fun, DEMO EVERYTHING, welcome back and don't get frustrated when you mess up getting your avi in order.

Say hi in world if you like as well, I'm always happy to go shopping!

Edited January 28, 2023 by Katherine Heartsong

[Forgottenx]

2 minutes ago, Katherine Heartsong said:

Welcome back!

The basics to upgrading generally include: a mesh body, head, hair, BoM skin for both in matching tones, and then an animation override so give your avatar a more natural walk, resting state, etc. You can usually buy head shapes and/or body shapes and then you tweak to your liking. Then add to that, as you already know, outfits for the particular body you bought.

You're going to get a lot of opinions, and "best" is always subjective and tied to what you want to look like. In terms of human and female the main four looks these days are: 1) realistic body shapes (though the ratio of supermodels to realistic proportions is unbalanced towards the model look); 2) exaggerated booty/curvy shapes; 3) young looking avatars (lets for safety sake say very late teen here); and 4) kawaii baby girl shapes.

There are lots to choose from these days but purely from a popularity/% worn you're often seeing Maitreya bodies with Lelutka GenX heads. You can find a wide range of skins for these at places like TheSkinnery, 7DeadlySkins etc as well as other amazing skin stores that focus on ethnic looks besides caucasian. Shapes? A personal thing for Wrens and AOs I like Body language (expensive but often more subtle than other brands). Hair? Lots to pick from but two of my faves are DOUX and Magika because they have all the colours in one buy, amazing styles, and none of this buy a fatpack to get all the colours.

Clothings? Almost too many to list because a lot of them really stress one look. For example, Candy Kitten and Lunar and Rebel Pill all aim more at the baby girl aesthetic. Seniha, Blueberry etc modern young female. Mimikri and Ecru more eclectic modern. Bauhaus for edgy. Hilly Haalan for the best value in SL (every colour included, no fatpacks, wide range of styles). Other clothing includes Neve, Meva, ValetinaE (retro), Just Because, etc. Shoes maybe Essenz but there are lots.

Have fun, DEMO EVERYTHIGN, welcome back and don't get frustrated when you mess up getting your avi in order.

Say hi in world if you like as well.

Thank you so much, that is very helpful

[Rowan Amore]

All the tutorials from the SL Blogs

[Katherine Heartsong]

Thanks for adding that @Rowan Amore I could not find the link to that.

Also, @Forgottenx, Rowan's amazing (among a large groups of super helpful folks here) who is just a treasure of info on cool clothing, ethnic skins, great hair stores, etc.

[Rowan Amore]

That was supposed to be a link to their channel...still can't figure out how to edit out the wrong link.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

2 hours ago, Forgottenx said:

I would like to hear which creators you guys buy from these days so I can upgrade my avatar accordingly  

Links would be much appreciated.

Hi hi! A lot of this is going to depend on what kind of style you're into and what your fashion interests are. 

You can be pretty much anything you want in SL, so first determine what kind of avatar you're most interested in. Human, furry, fantasy, monster, toaster? 

Once you figure out what type of avatar you want to make, try and figure out how it's done. Humans need mesh human bodies, mesh human heads, and human skins (plus hair and clothes and accessories, etc.). Furries are commonly made with human bodies, furry-specific heads, additional mods for tails/wings/paws/etc., furry skins, and wear human-sized clothing (and sometimes hair). Fantasy avatars are usually made with mesh human bodies, mesh human heads OR specific fantasy heads, fantasy skins, and the occasional mod if needed (demon legs, etc.). Toasters would fall under complete avatars - something where you'd alpha your system body completely and wear an entire kit to replace it. Tinies are also in this category.

I'm mostly involved in the fantasy, monster, and furry side, so my biggest resources are https://www.seraphimsl.com/ for events and sales, and Flickr for inspiration and to find new mods and products.

A good place to start is figuring out which body you're going to want. Since almost all avatars can be made with human mesh bodies (except complete avatars, typically), start there and try to pin down the shape you're looking for. Male/female? Slender/thin? Slight curves? More curves? Lots of curves? From there, try and narrow down your body by browsing developer pools on Flickr to see what it looks like and what clothes are available. Quick disclaimer - lots of product images are shot on different bodies than the one the pool is actually for. That's common as many designers make for multiple bodies. These will still show you what's available for your body of choice.

Second disclaimer - some pools may be NSFW! Just in case that matters to ya. 😄

 

For the more common bodies on the grid:

Maitreya's dev pool:

 

Legacy's dev pool - includes Legacy Female, Legacy Perky, and Legacy Male:

 

Reborn's dev pool:

 

Inithium's dev pools:

 

 

Belleza's dev pool (includes Freya, Isis, Venus, Gen X Classic & Curvy, and Belleza Jake):

Belleza Gen X-specific (Belleza's newest line of female bodies):

 

CZ Slim's dev pool (new slender male body, slowly gaining more support):

 

There's also Signature Gianni for men, but I actually have no idea if a dev pool for that one exists! Not seen one.

 

Heads are a whole separate discussion, but the most popular human head options are Lelutka and Genus (Genus currently has a free gift head, but they're still awaiting updates - very, very, very long past due updates, so keep that in mind).

Also important to keep in mind that Lelutka and Genus use different UV maps, so that will affect your skin, hairbase, makeup, and tattoo options (Evo X is more popular, but Genus still uses the older SLUV for now. Evo X heads can also revert back to SLUV if needed).

Lelutka Pools:

 

 

Genus Pools (4 male heads are coming soon(tm), but for now, the choices are all female):

 

 

And finally (whew), for fantasy and monster heads, there's BeSpoke - also currently in the process of some major updates to shift from custom and SLUV to Evo X and enhance their animations with mocap (yay!):

 

 

 

Furry heads are a whole thing with a zillion different designers (BeSpoke, SugarCult, Cerberus, August, etc.). I'll just toss in some general furry groups in case you want to browse and see what's possible:

 

 

And complete avatars are all over the dang place. You can browse the Marketplace to find some leads on those. For tinies, Dinkies are a pretty popular choice.

That should help a bit. If you can figure out which way you want to go, I'm sure you'll get more targeted links coming your way. ❤️

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by Ayashe Ninetails
Fixing spacing issues grrrr

[Nalates Urriah]

@Forgottenx

There are several hundred different body brands. The costs range from free to thousands of L$. Ayashe lists just a few of the more popular bodies above.

Searching for mesh bodies in the SL Marketplace is tedious and frustrating. Search on 'mesh body' then try selecting in the left column Avatar Components->Avatar Skin & Shape Combinations->[Male/Female] Avatar Base. But unfortunately not all body designers use this category. But it is as close as I've gotten.

Prima is one of newer bodies, released Oct 2022. It is lighter then Belleza or Legacy and primarily uses BOM. They also explain how to use appliers with their BOM body.

So... how to make a decision on which body to buy? I suggest you go places with lots of avatars. The Destination Guide (web and in-viewer) has a What's Hot Now category where you can see lots of people.

There is a What is she wearing? app in the marketplace. I thought there was a free one. But I see what looks like a copy botting effort and the HUDs now cost L$10 to L$200

PS: What is she wearing free version

You can use the HUD to see which body a person is wearing. So when you see a good looking avatar you can find out which body and head they used to make it.

Take your time. Find out what people like and don't about the various bodies. Play with the demos. Ask questions.

And the newer tutorials for SL are here: Tutorial Play List

Edited January 28, 2023 by Nalates Urriah
Added link

[Forgottenx]

Thank you all, this has been very helpful

[Marianne Little]

The versatility of the body and head is important.

Some bodies have almost no support, others have tons. You can see the skins, makeups, hairbases and other things like cuts and head tattoos, are almost only offered for Lelutka heads. Due to great marketing. This makes it really hard for others to compete.

Same with clothes, and some bodies is supported in "all" stores, others in "some" and a lot of bodies will you have to search high and low, if you are lucky you find a thing or two you want to buy.

I admit I have not read from your posts if you want male or female. It does not matter much for heads, Lelutka dominates the head market. They also has one or more unisex heads.

Here is an example for a big weekend sale: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.556446529858775&type=3

If you see something you like, open it and read what body/head it is made for.

Maybe you had experience with mesh before you left? It was "standard sizes" back then. Now, we must buy sizes made for that particular body.

Here are a source that post almost all events, weekend sales, monthly sales, hunts and gifts. It is a lot to browse through, but it will help you if you find something you are attracted to, check if it is for body x, z or y, repeat it and you will get an idea of what body you should demo. https://www.seraphimsl.com/

And you must demo!! The demos have all the functions, if you can't make the demo do what you want, you will not have more luck with the full priced version.

Get demo of the body, and some clothes demos.

I think that you can start with the body, work your way through demos and when you find out how it works, you can try a head.

Important detail: Why does the head look so ugly compared to the ad? You must wear the included shape to see the head as it is meant to look. Even if your body from the neck down looks terrible with that shape. It is much easier to write down the numbers for a shape you like from the neck and down, than the other way around.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Marianne Little
added a link