help!? What’s happening to my avatar?

[21stcenturyfaq]

I bought the left shape avalon head in the marketplace and when I put it on, my avatar looks nothing like it. It looks really ugly and I don’t know what to do about it. It won’t let me add a picture to show you 

[Bree Giffen]

To match something you see in an ad you will need to have the right shape, skin, mesh head, and proper lighting. 

[Rowan Amore]

58 minutes ago, 21stcenturyfaq said:

I bought the left shape avalon head in the marketplace and when I put it on, my avatar looks nothing like it. It looks really ugly and I don’t know what to do about it. It won’t let me add a picture to show you 

Have you purchased the Avalon mesh head from Lelutka?  When a shape ad specifies a certain Head, you will only get that look with that head.  Some will also add For Reborn or Maitreya which are both mesh bodies.

[Katherine Heartsong]

As both @Rowan Amore and @Bree Giffen have pointed out, to achieve the same look as the image you will need—basically—the shape you have, plus the same head, body, and skin that the avatar was wearing for the photo of the shape in the ad.

This is one of those stumbling blocks that sometimes makes onboarding in SL frustrating for new users. My first advice is to breathe, don't get too mad or frustrated (especially at yourself) and don't get too upset, it will all work out.

The shapes are merely a specific set of saved slider settings that you access when you choose to Edit your avatar. These cover numeric measurements for a bunch of different settings for your head, ears, mouth, eyes, nose, torso, legs, arms etc. What you bought was those all set to shape your avatar head and body to look like that. But to look like that you would also need to buy the right head (a Lelutka head perhaps) and also the right body (Maitreya, Legacy, Kupra, etc). Then to further complicate maters, you'll need a matching head and skin for your body from a place like TheSkinnery, Sessions, Detailez, etc if you want to look exactly like the ad.

Most shapes are sold come with a notecard that has the details of all these things including hair (look for places like DOUX, Magika, Truth, etc), custom eyes, jewellery, clothing etc. and landmarks to the stores to get them. Sometimes with the caveat that the items may no longer be available (usually happens only for clothing) or stores may have closed.

So ... shape, head, mesh body, and skins at a minimum to look like close to what the ad looks like, excluding any custom lighting and Photoshopping the ad maker may have used. The nice thing is that most good brands let you demo things. You can definitely demo the various major heads.

If you see me in world (same name) say hi and I'd be happy to help for an hour or so if you like. Just don't panic, it'll work out, we've all been there.

PS. To complicate things even more, some head skins you buy have their own custom shapes as well made for specific heads. Pop into TheSkinnery for example and look on the wall with the Leltuka heads. They sell heads that include shapes and the skin, and you will notice the ads often specify a head ("Shown on Avalon" for example) but then you have to stay in the store and buy their body skin that matches whatever tone you went with for the head. Some shops sell head skins that match other body skin brands. You might get a head skin that says it matches Velour (body skins) so you get your head shape and skin one place then head over the another to get the matching body. Having a matching head and body skin is often a prerequisite to eliminate the dreaded visible neck seam.

Edited April 8 by Katherine Heartsong

[Nalates Urriah]

A complication in how we use shapes comes from how we use bodies and heads made by different people. In the image below you can see the problem explained. My hope was the Lab would organize the shape file so we could easily edit the files. Doesn't appear that will happen any time soon.

As has been pointed out, a mesh head must have a shape made specifically for that head. Skin makes a significant difference to the look. But it is the shape file that makes or breaks the face.

If you have a shape you like and then buy a new head and try to use the shape that comes with the head, it messes up the shape of the body.

Using the Firestorm Viewer you can export and import shape files. So it is possible to export a shape that is your good body shape and the shape of the new head and combine the body part of the shape with the head part of the new shape then import the new edited shape.

One can do the same thing via the shape editor in all viewers. Copy all the numbers for the body, wear the new head shape, then enter all the numbers for the body, and save the shape.

Maybe some day a third-party viewer developer will add a feature to wear just the body or head part of a shape. That would make life much easier.

[Persephone Emerald]

I think the last 2 posts might be more information than the OP can handle. 

Most of us on this forum have been using SL for years and have a pretty good grasp of it's complexities, history and bugs. A newbie probably isn't going to want to know all these details. They just want their avatar to look ok, to be able to move around, to be able to change clothes, and to be able to talk to other people. 

I'm not suggesting dumbing down SL, but that we should try to simplify our explanations for newbies, just as we would simplify our answers when a child asks us a question.

In this case, I might say something like, "The shape you bought was probably made for a specific mesh body. You're only going to get the look pictured in the ad when you wear the specific body, shape and skin listed. If you buy a mesh head or body, it will come with a shape made for it. Either use that or one made for your specific mesh head brand. Wearing the wrong shape for your head will make it look really weird."

Edited April 9 by Persephone Emerald