Laurel Aurelia

Curious. I could have sworn I was able to check for houses on a non premium alt in the past, I went and logged into her and I could indeed see home types that currently had vacancies. The first time it only showed me the older Linden Homes, and then I hit refresh and it looked like a Traditional home was available. When you click through to pick a house without premium, it then prompts you to sign up for it. I think? I could be wrong, unless what they are showing is not accurate portrayal of what is actually available.

There are some things you can do to effect the way your BOM make up looks. The first being that if the tattoo layer is mod, you can try tinting it. This will have no effect of making something lighter of course, but gives other options. Another thing I do sometimes if say I want my brows to look fuller and tinting is just not cutting it, I will straight up wear two of the same tattoo brow. I suppose a good rule of thumb when buying BOM make up would be, if you foresee yourself wanting something more subtle, go as light as you can because usually you can make it darker by tinting or wearing multiple. I love all the new HD products, and they look AMAZING in photography. However they unfortunately suffer from the alpha glitch issues that have plagued hair, lashes , lips, and eye makeup for as long as I can remember so I don't wear them really unless I am taking pictures.

Some of it I think is done in post, but most of the new bodies and faces come with materials that give them a lot more texture and depth. I am not sure what body and head you have Alexis, but if you have the newest version of Maitreya, under the advanced setting on the hud you will see 3 different materials you can add to your body. Other bodies have similiar things too. And there are even some appliers that will add different ones that you can buy. Just keep in mind that in order to see them in world you will need to have advanced lighting on.

@Bagnu Taking consistently good pictures takes a lot of practice, and I am still kinda hit or miss. However there are a few things that help the quality of a picture. First thing I try to do is take it in highest resolution possible. For me my computer can handle around 6000x3178. But that can make some people crash so start lower and see how it looks. Creating depth of field by blurring your background makes an image more realistic looking in a lot of cases, just keep in mind that the higer rez your picture is the higher you will need to make the blur for it show up. Sometimes I cheese it by adding it in post. With windlights, I try to pick ones that minimize a lot of shadows on my avatar unless that is a big feature of the picture. Camera angle matters too. Alt+ Left clicking your avatar and then pushing in with CTRL+0 keeps the image from getting a weird fish eye look. I don't know if any of this helpful , but just my two sense.

@JadoreChanel For that specific type of brow, I'd recommend checking out Just Magnetized .

What is happening is that the alpha on your hair interacting with alpha transparency on your clothing. Unfortunately this is a known Second Life bug and while sometimes selecting the shirt or hair in edit mode will fix the the problem temporarily, there isn't a permanent fix. I don't know of any hairs off hand that don't employee the use alphas, so your best bet is to be selective about your hair when wearing shirts with a transparency to them such as a bun or just shorter hair . It's really not ideal, but its a limitation of system.

@carolion1989 Bellisseria Citizens is for the entire continent where the new Linden homes are located. It seems pretty active so worth a look. Also have a look at the events listed on the main page too. A lot of it might not interest you, but sometimes there are fun gems.

@carolion1989 You mentioned that you have been decorating your home. Do you happen to have one of the new Linden homes? If so, I know there are a couple of groups that residents have started to share events going on in the community, everyone has always seemed very warm and lovely. To be honest I don't know if I have ever gone to search for groups out right. I know there is a functionality in the viewer to do it , but I don't think its very easy to use which is a shame.

Thank you for the pictures. Some of the differences I see: The width on the bridge of her nose is much wider. Her nose is turned up, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's using a BOM face detail accentuates the roundness at the tip. Inner eye is turned down, and her outer eye is slightly turned up as well.Eye spacing is very close together. Her cheekbones appear to be lower than yours. If you are looking to get that head shape adjust the egg head slider and then add/subtract length from the bottom of the face with chin depth. See how her human ears are fairly low down on the side of her head? I caution people from going too ham with egg head because it can often lead to glitches where rigged hair does not fit properly. It's fun to experiment though. As for how to keep still. Generally speaking, I prefer using bento static poses with little or very subtle movement in the hands and breathing. It definitely makes it easier to look at your avatar, but also keeps your clothing from breaking from crazy poses.

I think my biggest piece of advice is to join groups! Think about your specific interests in SL, and I am sure there are groups that cater specifically to that. As a person who deals with a fair bit of anxiety, I appreciate that I don't always have to participate in conversations, but there is always opportunity to do so if I choose. It does require a bit of effort to forge friendships just like in the real world, but stick with it.

Everyone has an opinion about what makes an avatar “realistic” so here is another one to add to the pile. When I see a striking avatar as others have told you it comes down to a good skin, eyes, hair and shape, but there are other smaller things that take you from basic to exceptional - flaws. Things like freckles, moles, better brows, cellulite , pores, skin discolorations , and even wrinkles can add depth to even the most basic skins. With the introductions of BOM (bakes on mesh) the sky is literally the limit with a lot these things. A few of my favorite stores for skin details include Izzie’s, TF, Warpaint, Adored, and I know there are a zillion others that are equally amazing that I am failing to remember at this moment. So basically my advice is to add some character to your avatar with imperfections. When everything is perfect, it becomes uncanny valley . *awkward transition* There are few things shape wise that helps with realism too. I find that a lot avatars have skimped on hip and arm length, and while I could give you values for what I consider good slider numbers for those two areas it might not look right on your particular avatar due to height/body shape differences. Just things to think about while you work on your avatar. If you are looking for specific help with avatar customization, send me a message in world and I can send you some links. I am an avid researcher, and usually can find just about anything someone is looking for provided with enough information. Cheers, and good luck!

Check out Lelutka's evolution line. To my knowledge evolution heads are the only ones that currently fit seamlessly with legacy bodies. When you try the demo make sure you put on the SL version as other head is made to fit other bodies (maitreya etc.) And just so you aren't surprised, the evolution heads are bom save for HD eyeshadow and lips which means you cannot wear applier skins on them. There will be a face skin on a tattoo layer in the folder you can add just like you would old system tattoos to see what it would look like with a skin.

In order for BOM to work, you must not wear an alpha. But if you are in the position where you have a skin that has a BOM face, but no BOM body or you like a pair of eyes that are applier only you CAN wear targeted alpha for those things. I've found that most eye appliers usually come with an independent eye alpha and in your body folder there should be an alpha there that only alphas the body. If not , hit me up in world and I can pass you folder of transferable ones I've found.

Hey Stephane, If you have the Lelutka Skyler head, it is part of their new Evolution line which supports only BOM skins. It looks like you tried to demo an applier skin on the head and when you do that the BOM head "breaks" and you see your system avatar underneath. Assuming the head works like the other female heads, you can wear HD appliers made specifically for Lelutka Evol heads on the lips and the eyes. Other skin details such as hairbases, brows and other non mesh facial hair will be on tattoo layers that you can layer simply by adding them to your avatar. There should be some starter ones in your Lelutka folder though you might have to unpack them. To fix the face so that it is bom once again, open the lelutka hud, and at the top left there should be a white face shape. Click that, and there should be a bakes on mesh button at the very top. Forgive me, if that information is not hundred percent correct as its purely memory based. Slagging off doing actual work >.> Cheers and Good Luck!

This is my first forum post so bear with me >.<. I can certainly empathize with the frustrations a person might have with finding friends in Second Life. It can seem like a barren wasteland of afk avatars, unfriendly or shy people waiting for someone else to make the first move. And having to be the aggressor, feeling like you are bothering other people, well it can leave you feeling pretty negative about Second Life in general. Now I can't speak for other people, but from my own experience, I can maybe share some personal preferences. While some people detest local chat, it is my favorite place to meet new friends. Why? Conversation is usually pretty casual, and I don't feel the pressure to answer which a boon for an anxious person. IMs sometimes feel like work for me because I am a terrible at multitasking. I simply don't have the brain power to divide my attention between conversations I may be having with others, and a new person that I may have attracted for whatever reason. I don't mind people asking me questions pertaining to SL in unsolicited IMs, I in fact love to help if I can. But, I won't go out of my way to keep those conversations going usually. Now you just have to find the best hubs for open conversation. Personally, I do not hang out in places where other avatars are spamming emotes (honestly it's the quickest way to get blocked by me). You want a place where people are chatting at leisurely pace. I found my current friends by consistently going to the same music venues, and interacting with local chat going on there. And it didn't happen over night either. Took me several months to really get to know them, but your mileage may vary. Aside from music clubs, I recommend joining groups that interest you in SL. Even my store groups are popping off with lively discussions all the time! Having a predetermined common interest is one of the easiest ways to organically interact with new people. Any genuine friendship will take some time to develop as it should. Don't lose heart though, your people are out there!