NEED HELP!! -Avatar Appearance

[theborderliner]

Hey Hey, 
I'm new to SL and was wondering if someone was will to help to get my avatar looking like its almost real life. I've seen so many look amazing and I just cant seem to get anything right. I get that this is something that will take a bit of getting used too but I am getting to the stage I feel like a dumb and stupid person that has no brain. Like how hard could it be. 

Please someone help me. I'm losing my mind trying to get my Avatar to look real. 

[Bdobson]

Well first off, what does it look like now? Is it male or female? Do you have money to invest in it? Your post is pretty vague. We all started out learning how to make our avy. I doubt anyone here thought their first avy looked remotely close to realistic. Be prepared to dump at LEAST 10k Linden into a decent avatar.

Edited April 8 by Bdobson

[Bdobson]

For those wondering, theborderliner is female, I did get her started with her shape, but she will need help with her body and head.

[Persephone Emerald]

People on this forum will probably love to give you advice, but you have to give us an idea of what you want. You can get a pretty decent look for $L 1000 to $L 10,000, but it helps to understand realistic proportions.

For a female avatar, do you want a slender, curvy, hourglass or pear-shaped body?

Do you want a Caucasian skin or another ethnicity? A good ethnic skin or African hair is generally easier to find from a creator who specializes in those types of skin or hair.

Edited April 8 by Persephone Emerald
to add

[Persephone Emerald]

This post I made on another thread explains how to create a decent mesh avatar for under $L 1000.

Note: when you get a mesh head, start with the shape that comes with it or one made for that brand of head. Make a copy. Then modify the copy little by little until you're happy with the shape.

11 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Not at all, especially if it's a female and you're willing to wait for a mesh head.

1. Get the LucyBody Atenea from their MM board, then pay $L 25O for the BOM applier. For a male alt, I'd suggest the DNA mesh bodies and skins for about $L 5 total. (If you're willing to pay more, get the Maitreya body when it's on sale on the Black Friday weekend. This gives you Velour body skins included.)

2. Join the Lelutka, Akeruka, LOGO, and Genus groups. Get the group gift Genus head and face skin now. Get free or $ L 1 group gift heads from the other groups later. I forget what it costs to join Akeruka, but I'll guess $L 150. I'll assume paying $L 155 for maybe 3 mesh heads then.

3. Join at least one skin store group with body skins you like that also has a bunch of group gifts. For a female alt, I'd suggest Nuve for $L 300. If you can wait until December, you can join several for free. 

4. I assume you can modify your own shape, but if not there are cheap ones on Marketplace.

5. For a female alt, get the free to newbies AO at the Body Language shop at the Welcome Hub. There are also other free male and female AOs inworld or on MP.

6. Join all the clothing and hair stores you like with free groups and group gifts. COCO and Hilly Halaan are good ones to start with for a female alt. Go to Paloma Plaza for freebies too. For a male alt, go to the free section of Gabriel.

7. Join some clothing and hair stores with low group join fees, and a bunch of group gifts, including occational store credit gifts. My suggestions for a female avatar are Blueberry, Addams, ViSion, Tachinni, and No.Match.

Following these steps, one can fully outfit an alt for under $L 1000. Join the Fabulously Free and SL Frees and Offers groups for more free stuff.

 

[Nalates Urriah]

There is also the matter of SL images in the forum and other places looking totally realistic. Often this is a matter of how the images was captured and processed. Keep your expectations real.

[theborderliner]

Thank you for responding to this post. I really appreciate it. 
I am just going to have a play around and see what i can come up with.