Skell Dagger

OK, so I need to find better hair for this look (love this Damselfly mesh style, but it has alpha issues and there's no materials version to get around that) and I'm still not enamoured of the fact that I can't adjust gloss/shine separately on eyes and lips, but it looks as though - with a couple more edits to tone down the ducklips-pout - I may have my androgyny back with this new Lelutka male head

Oh, it's undoubtedly a business decision. I'm under no illusions that women shop more in SL, because they do. So that's where the money is, meaning that it's perfectly sensible for any business owner to focus on female fashion. And yes, the majority of guys probably are content with the standard jeans-n-tee look. But you'll find more and more male avatars now taking a lot more detailed care and pride in their appearance, switching to Bento mesh heads, etc., and many of them don't want "just jeans-n-tees". I just checked out the gallery for the current Shoetopia round, and was pleasantly surprised that (for a shoe event!) it slightly bucks the trend. 62 stores and seven of them have male footwear. Only two of those are sneakers, so that's a bit more promising Anyway, I've kvetched enough. I'm still in Daft Punk mode, so here's another shot from yesterday's session: And I wasn't kidding about the dancing thing, because... well, here ya go. I need to invest in Gyazo Pro so I can make longer animation files.

Text-only post incoming. I posted this in the 'Just Ignore' thread, but it also kinda belongs here, since it's about creating avatar looks, so... It's often stated that SL is a woman's world when it comes to shopping, and - as a man who loves fashion - I've always agreed with that. It's also sometimes (well, actually, often) said that most men can't be bothered to do much with their avatar once they've got a couple of decent looks together. More often than not, though, that's because it's so bloody difficult to find a wide variety of stuff that isn't just jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, sneakers, etc. Women who take the time to tour current events with a male perspective in mind may already have noticed this, but I've just been looking through the Seraphim gallery for the Black Fair, which has just started. It might open some eyes to see the stats: 140 stores Male-only items - 3 (one beard, one skin, one set of m/m poses) Unisex tattoos that show at least one man on the ad (and are therefore compatible with male mesh bodies) - 4 Other unisex items - 2 (mesh ears, glasses) Unisex nail appliers (eg: not Maitreya-only) - 3 Unisex poses (eg: one male, one female in a couples pose) - 2 That's it. The guys get precisely the following: 1 skin 1 beard 1 set of gay poses, plus 2 m/f couple poses 4 tattoos 1 pair of ears 1 pair of glasses (there are two other pairs, but both are very femme 'cat-eye' styles) 3 sets of nail appliers (if that's their thing) Oh, and of course, all of the home decor options. It's bloody hard work putting together a stylish male avatar when that's the typical offering (and it IS the typical offering) at events. ETA: Yes, we do now have male-only events (four of them, plus one yearly event) but if you've been going to those for as many years as I have, you'll see that the items on offer tend toward an average of 75% jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, sneakers, etc, 5% home decor, 10% accessories, and 10% 'fashion' clothing. Even some of the more 'fashion' designers that frequent these events have started moving toward hoodies and sneakers lately.

It's often stated that SL is a woman's world when it comes to shopping, and - as a man who loves fashion - I've always agreed with that. It's also sometimes (well, actually, often) said that most men can't be bothered to do much with their avatar once they've got a couple of decent looks together. More often than not, though, that's because it's so bloody difficult to find a wide variety of stuff that isn't just jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, sneakers, etc. Women who take the time to tour current events with a male perspective in mind may already have noticed this, but I've just been looking through the Seraphim gallery for the Black Fair, which has just started. It might open some eyes to see the stats: 140 stores Male-only items - 3 (one beard, one skin, one set of m/m poses) Unisex tattoos that show at least one man on the ad (and are therefore compatible with male mesh bodies) - 4 Other unisex items - 2 (mesh ears, glasses) Unisex nail appliers (eg: not Maitreya-only) - 3 Unisex poses (eg: one male, one female in a couples pose) - 2 That's it. The guys get precisely the following: 1 skin 1 beard 1 set of gay poses, plus 2 m/f couple poses 4 tattoos 1 pair of ears 1 pair of glasses (there are two other pairs, but both are very femme 'cat-eye' styles) 3 sets of nail appliers (if that's their thing) Oh, and of course, all of the home decor options. It's bloody hard work putting together a stylish male avatar when that's the typical offering (and it IS the typical offering) at events. ETA: Yes, we do now have male-only events (four of them, plus one yearly event) but if you've been going to those for as many years as I have, you'll see that the items on offer tend toward an average of 75% jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, sneakers, etc, 5% home decor, 10% accessories, and 10% 'fashion' clothing. Even some of the more 'fashion' designers that frequent these events have started moving toward hoodies and sneakers lately.

That's one of my favourites of his recent builds. (Hell, I love all the shiny, rainbow-y stuff anyway). I played around a lot with the projected lighting colours to get them to match my outfit. These things are so versatile. (Also, great shot!)

Heh! I've written a whole blog post dedicated to helping guys with Catwa Bento heads, and I regularly help out whenever I can in the Catwa support group. I have screenshots for all of this stuff!

Assuming that this is an applier hairbase, this is the tab of the Master HUD that you need to be in: In the top section ('hair') see where the tick/check is - in the 'upper' box? Next to it there's also a 'lower' box. Catwa's Bento heads have two layers - an upper and a lower - which allows you a lot of customisation options. Any appliers that you add will automatically default to the lower layer, so tick/check that 'lower' box, then click the 'clear' button next to it. Then, just to be sure (because I don't know what else you've been clicking on the HUD) tick/check the 'upper' box and click 'clear' again. That will get rid of any hairbase applier that you've added. Again, I explain all of this in my blog post, linked earlier in this thread This is the relevant section, just after I discussed how to add a new hairbase:

Location of that phone number = Canyon, TX, and it comes up in searches of several scam number listing sites.

In a Daft Punk mood. This animated helmet is incredible. Credits Helmet: Vale Koer - Daft Punk Guy Helmet Jacket: Lapointe & Bastchild - S'Wear Hero X Jacket Pants: Lapointe & Bastchild - Swear Tactical Leather Pants Boots: Lapointe & Bastchild - Swear Ranger Leather Boots Gloves: Razor - Alloy Gloves (blk/chrome - tinted) Poses: Ana Poses Pose prop: Weekend Ruiner - No Disco (projected lighting edited)

Geared up a little more, dug through recent Weekend Ruiner boxes, edited the projected lighting, et voila. I freakin' LOVE these shots, so you get two of 'em (Plus two more on my Flickr if you fancy nosing over there.)

It's Friday, therefore Daft Punk's Lose Yourself To Dance is playing, and Skell's dancin' on his photoshoot platform while wearing appropriate attire:

Since the body itself is Maitreya, you need to look for Maitreya-compatible clothing. The clothing fits to the body, not to the underlying shape.

In what way does it "not work"? If you're more specific about that, we can tailor our answers accordingly. Does the neck not fit properly? Is there a visible difference between the skin on the head and the skin on the body? I notice from your screenshot that you have the default shine set on the head. Here's what you need to click on the Master HUD to remove that: (There may be minor visual differences between your Master HUD and mine, because mine is for the male head.)

All Catwa heads will work with the Maitreya body. In fact, since Maitreya Lara is pretty much the top-selling brand of female mesh body, you'll find that most female mesh heads will fit it almost perfectly.

Better safe than sorry, regarding that picture

I strongly suggest that you crop that image so the boobs don't show, or your post will be removed by the moderators. This is a PG forum. Fixes for your Catwa head issue First: Make sure your graphics preferences are set to at least HIGH. Second: Because of they way they're rigged to the facial bones, Catwa's Bento mesh heads cannot be worn over the top of a shape that isn't designed specifically for Catwa heads. You must wear the included 'starter shape' from your Catwa head folder, and then edit it accordingly. (If you want an example of how odd your face shape needs to be in order for a Catwa bento head to look 'normal', wear that starter shape, then take off your mesh head and the alpha that hides your system head. See how distorted and strange your system head looks with that shape? That's why the Catwa head will look 'wrong' and distorted if you try to put it on over a shape that looks 'normal' when it's only wearing a system skin.) Third: If you like the shape that comes with your Maitreya body, then wear that shape, right-click it in your inventory and select 'Edit', then write down all of the slider numbers for the body sections (body, torso, legs, etc). Then, wear the Catwa starter shape, edit it, and change the body slider numbers to the ones that you wrote down from your Maitreya body. Save that as a new shape. You now have the Maitreya body settings set to the Catwa head starter shape. From there, you can start tweaking your face settings to personalise them and give you a more individual look. I've written a beginner's guide to Catwa Bento heads here on my blog. It's geared toward men, so it focuses a lot on things such as tinting beards, etc, but it may help you to get to grips with the other basics of your head.

New male Bento mesh head from Catwa. I can't help but feel I've turned back the clock, uh... a number of years () with this one... Head: Catwa - Dino (Bento) Hair: Dura - B76 (dark) Skin applier: Tableau Vivant - Nyx (tone 04) Jacket: Aphorism - Easy Rider Jacket (black) Brow appliers: Odeco - Catwa/Omega Mens Eyebrow (shaved) Eye appliers: Avi-Glam - Vivid Eyes* (pearl) Piercings: RealEvil - Savage Face Piercings (not Bento-rigged) Hairbase applier: Stealthic - Hairbase *review copy

Thanks for taking the pics down. I appreciate it, and no hard feelings. Now, go out there and put together a look of your own that'll knock 'em dead

Re-enter your credit card information on the SL website, as per the link above and the text below:

@Virtualnsanity I appreciate that you like my rocker look and are interested in creating a similiar look for yourself, but kindly use your own images for your forum profile picture and signature banner, and STOP using my own images of my SL avatar. All of my Flickr images are © All Rights Reserved - including the one you have appropriated for your own use here - and I do not want my face associated with someone else's posts and viewpoints on a forum that we both share. With that signature text above that banner, you are claiming my image, look, and avatar as your own, and I am disappointed that this is how I'm repaid for the help I've given you. Thank you.

Glad you've got it sorted

You only signed up for Second Life today. I'm fairly certain there used to be (not sure if it still exists) a waiting period of a couple of days before a new account can purchase L$.

I would say that if what you're seeing here and on my blog post about mesh heads and bodies is all a bit overwhelming at first - even with all the research you've done thus far - then stick to a system avi for a month or two, just while you find your feet in SL. You can pick up great system skins in the discount section of many big skin stores (for example: 7 Deadly S{K}ins have them starting from just L$10 to L$50 upstairs in the discount section of their male store) and any mesh clothing that states it contains either 'fitmesh' or 'standard sizing' will work on a system avatar. After all, if I can put together several hundred - possibly thousand, since I've lost count by now! - different looks on a male system avatar for a rough total of eight years, so can you for a couple of months While many of us do focus on putting together stylish avatars, there's a lot more to SL than just looking good. People here go exploring, build and make things, go car racing/sailing/flying, attend live gigs, go dancing at clubs where DJs stream into SL etc. You can pick up a cheap motorbike and drive the continents of SL (and have fun trying to keep your seat at region crossings!) or learn to create things at Builder's Brewery. You can check out digital art installations or wander through a re-creation of Paris. There's so much to do in SL that has little to do with the avatar and far more to do with your experiences here. So just get yourself a decent basic look together, and find out exactly what's kept so many of us coming back here for so many years.

Long reply coming up... I'm confused by the following in your original post: If you wear a system skin it should not distort on your face. Yes, it will look different from the picture on the skin advert, because you're not wearing the same shape as the person who took the ad pic, but it should not look distorted. 'Distorted' means that it looks out of place, like the eyebrows are halfway to your hairline or the lips are sliding across your cheek, etc. So, to clarify: do you actually mean to say "When I wear this skin I don't look like the person in the advert image unless I also wear the included shape?" Here's an old example from my system head days. On the left is a skin on my usual shape back then, and on the right is the same skin on the shape that was included with it. I look completely different on the right - to the point of not feeling like I was myself - and so, while I wouldn't say it was distorted, it was 'distorted' from my original look: So, if you do mean to say "When I wear this skin I don't look like the person in the advert image unless I also wear the included shape?", then that is correct, and it's one reason why some skin designers also include a shape: for the people who want to look exactly like their ad image. However, most people are very fond of their own personal shape, and so it can take them some time to find a skin that they really like and that looks great on their shape. Example: when I still used a system head I used to love Tableau Vivant's skins and wore them a lot, but I couldn't wear Clef de Peau skins because the mouth shape on those never really looked good with the slider settings I had for Skell's mouth. Then, within about a month of each other, Tableau Vivant changed the way they did their mouths, and they looked awful on Skell, but Clef de Peau also changed their mouths and their new skins looked great on Skell. Just a small thing like that can make all the difference. But in neither case would I say the mouths were distorted; they just didn't look as good to me on Skell's face. The first two of your questions can really only be answered with "it depends", because there are a lot of variables. Since the move to mesh heads, you will find multiple types of skin in SL, and this has made things very confusing, especially for newbies. These skin types include: System skins designed to cover the system avatar from head to toe. System skins designed to be used with a mesh head only. These will cover the avatar's body properly, but the head will have no texture and be completely white. Since you'll be using a mesh head, you also need a matching applier skin for the head. System skins designed to be used with a mesh body only. These are the opposite of the ones for mesh heads: the body is white and only the head is textured. (These are incredibly rare, but they do exist). Since you'll be using a mesh body, you also need a matching applier skin for the body. Applier body skins designed to work with a specific mesh body. Applier head skins designed to work with a specific mesh head. Omega applier body skins designed to work with any mesh body (so long as you have the Omega relay for that mesh body). Omega applier head skins designed to work with any head head (so long as you have the Omega relay for that mesh head). The first three (the system skins) will all have the classic skin icon when viewed in your inventory. These are the four basic icons, as they appear in the official Linden Lab viewer: And this is what they look like in the Firestorm viewer: Applier skins (including Omega ones) will have a 'box' icon, like any other object. So, to answer your first question, you need to find a system skin like No. 1 on that list, and the skin designer also needs to have a body applier in the same skintone for the Maitreya body OR an Omega applier (for which you'll need to purchase the Maitreya Omega relay). Note: Do be aware that many designers have stopped making full system skins, and that - since they moved to creating applier-only skins - they might have made subtle changes in how their skins look. Therefore a new body applier skin might not match fully with a very old system skin. You should always try demos anyway, but pay especial attention to the join at the neck when you're demoing body appliers against a system skin on the head. To answer your second question properly, you need to understand that there are also differences between shapes. While there is only one actual type of shape, you will find shapes that are designed to be worn by anyone not using a Bento mesh head, and then there are shapes designed to be worn specifically with certain Bento mesh heads. Bento (if you've not heard of it) is the name of a relatively recent addition of many more bones to the avatar skeleton. This has allowed (among other things) creators of mesh heads to rig their heads so that they can be fully modified by using the standard shape sliders. This has allowed for much greater customisation, as - prior to this - anyone wearing a non-Bento mesh head could only use a couple of sliders to stretch and resize their head, and their only form of customisation was that of applying different skins and/or makeup; the underlying head itself remained the same shape. Now, they can also customise almost every part of their mesh head (assuming it's a Bento one), and that's why Bento mesh heads have taken off in such a big way. HOWEVER. Most (not all) Bento mesh heads require a specific 'base shape' underneath them. Because of the way they're rigged to these extra bones, if you put a bento mesh head on over the top of a shape that looks 'normal' when wearing a system skin, something like this might happen: Yeah. Not pretty! So you need to wear the 'base shape' that is included with the Bento mesh head, in order for it to look 'normal' - (Images taken from my Catwa beginner's guide for male avatars, so yes, I know the head and body skins don't match!) You then make your shape customisations from that point. If you were to take off your Bento mesh head and the alpha that masks off your system head, you'd see that your system head while wearing the Bento-specific shape does indeed look rather distorted. In short: if you're trying on a shape that states somewhere on the ad (or in the description on Marketplace) that it's made for a specific Bento head (eg: "for Catwa Catya") then it will not look good with a system head. If you want to look exactly like the person in the skin advert, wear the shape that comes with the skin (if it has one). If you want to make your own individual look, use your own shape with the skin. Yes, they will all look a little different on your own shape, especially if your shape deviates more than a certain percentage from the conventional standards of beauty (from which SL suffers from as much as RL does). For example, if you have a very tiny mouth or very wide-set eyes then you may struggle to find a skin that sits well on your face: the lip textures might go outside your mouth and the skin textures may stretch between your eyes in that example. This may cause the 'distortion' that you mention in your original post. For the second part of your question - - others have provided answers, but I'll go into a bit more detail: If you like your current body shape, but want to have a face that looks like the advert, then that's easy to do, assuming the skin comes with a shape that is modifiable. While wearing your old shape, edit your appearance and write down all of the body slider settings. Wear the new shape that came with your skin, and copy all of your original body slider settings across to the new shape, then save it. You now have the new face shape on top of your old body shape. You can only wear one shape, but - as shown in my previous answer - as long as that shape is modifiable, you can edit it to look like however you want it to.

Credits Hair: [BAD HAIR DAY] - Demure* (b&W HUD plus Reds tint HUD) Jacket: Egoisme - Urban Scout Jacket (black leather) Pants appliers: Sn@tch - Debbie Ripped Rocker Pants Boots: Razor - Omen Boots Piercings: Artificial Hallucination - Casual Goth Bento Piercings Skin applier: Swallow - Martin (ivory) Facial hair applier: CDC Creations - Beard 46 Tintable Eye appliers: Avi-Glam - Charm Eyes* (daylight) Head: Catwa - Daniel Body: Slink - Physique Male *review copy