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skin/shape designers - can you answer a question


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My avatar is kinda ancient so you'd think I'd have figured this out, but its something I've wanted to ask many times over the years.  Anyway, why is that even if I wear your demo shape AND skin, or follow your styling notecard even, I still don't look like the poster ad.  I know about the demo huge hands and feet but are faces distorted as well ?  Its not just one designer either, its every one I've ever tried.   Do I need to do something else ?   

Thats the primary reason I never buy shapes though I've bought many many skins.  Then I mess with my own shape. I can make myself not look like that model for much cheaper ;)

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The number one reason is Photoshop. Many designers use photoshop to retouch their ads and make them look better. NOT ALL do this, but it's also not unusual.

However, even if you buy a skin/shape combo from an honest designer, who does not retouch their ads, you may not look like the ad. There are a lot of reasons for this. One, lighting. Many photographers use windlight settings, some customized, to make their photos look the best they possibly can. This is not necessarily dishonest, but it can alter the look. For this I recommend experimenting with your own environment settings and seeing if you can find something you like. Also, graphics settings can make a big difference. They may have certain things set that you don't; or things NOT turned on that you do have enabled. Even just having different computers and monitors can make a difference.

ETA: If you're having major issues with the FACE of the shape/skin, this is primarily due to a lighting issue. Those weird, deep lines that appear are because of shadows and lighting, so go into world > environment editor and see if you can find a preset that works for you to remove those lines. I use Firestorm, and my preferred windlight setting is "Nam's Optimal Skin 2."

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Aahh great question,so glad you asked this Arianne-I have the same problem but as a newbie just thought it was my misfortune and lack of experience! I just bought a skin after trying the demo and was shocked at the results..the face and neck made me cringe (although the body is gorgeous) and absolutely nothing like the advertised model...this seems hugely misleading.  Love to see if something can be done.:smileyhappy:

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Oh, I just recalled something. A customer IMed me after purchasing a skin telling he found a skin tone mismatch between upper body and lower one and sent me a snapshot. In the picture the difference is so apparent that I checked the skin in question in my inventory just to make sure. Of course it had no problem and It turned out that that was his sky setting.

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I can answer this as a consumer who learned as you did. Many photographs are carefully chosen and posed so that the shape is shown from its 'good side' or the photo is even airbrushed. 

Try the demo, or see if there are more photos available. If it is a photo from the front (where the skin does all the work), or there is no demo, you might want to skip it unless it's very cheap and worth a risk.

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Orisca wrote:

 Love to see if something can be done.:smileyhappy:

Go to your transaction history. Look at the last 30 days. (If it's been longer than that, it won't be there; don't bother.) Copy and paste the info for  your purchase into a note.

Send the skin maker that note. Ask them why the face and neck are so different than in the demo. Explain to them what the problem is. See what they say. If you are lucky you will get a refund or exchange.

What was the problem with it? "Face and neck were horrible" doesn't really say why.  

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Most of the issues between what you see wandering around SL and what you see on Display boards are enviromental lighting and the performance of your own graphic cards (low to high settings). You can't compare it to Shape +Skin combo being photographed in a Studio under perfect lighting conditions ...and then possibly being retouched or emphasised in Photoshop.

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I get the feeling Orisca is referring to the deep lines and shadows created in the contours of the face and sometimes down the neck by the default lighting. (It's true, the default lighting is pretty miserable when it comes to the face...) In which case, fiddling with the environment settings in the viewer should help significantly.

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For years, I tried to get my nose to look like as great as all the ones in the skin pictures. I tried so many skin demos, shape demos, and tweaked my nose shape. No matter what, I never could get perfect little round nostrils, but instead always had, and still have, weirdie triangular creases at each side of the nostrils. I'm sure some of those noses in the shops were photoshopped, so I was really wasting my time anyway.

For a while, I tried to fix it by wearing a facelight, like all us misguided people a few years ago.

It's really a problem caused by shadows. Our faces and chests can look awful at default midday. I hate those two canyons we get on our chests, just under the throat. They cannot be changed by shape tweaking, but not once have I seen one appear in a skin/shape ad.

It's all fixed by using windlight settings that are kind to our faces. I know people who take gorgeous portraits that need little retouching, but they will spend time tweaking settings.  There are some presets that are great for avatars, so have a play with them.  

:)

 

 

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