Tazzie Tuque

Basically what you have already seen here tells the story pretty much. What I can tell you is that good male clothing is not easy to find in SL so if you can join the ranks of creators for male clothing I am sure you will find a customer base fairly quickly. I also know from the male friends I have had that men can be quite picky about their clothes lol. I used to make some male clothing items but stopped as it seemed that I put a female spin on most things I made which did not always appeal to too many men, my partner included lol. So hey I wish you luck! Glad to see some interest in making male clothing.

No I am describing system layer templates. I have been in SL almost 18 years and I still have those templates and they are exactly as I described them. NOT mesh! I do not consider full perm already textured maps (PSD files) to be templates. They are already finished full perm clothing files not templates. Templates are blank.

Templates are not exactly "textures" but rather they are blank templates on which you can apply your own textures to make the item of clothing. Either directly or more commonly uploaded to your own computer and with the aid of a program like Photoshop or Gimp you can apply the texture to the appropriate area on the template and save them to upload into SL for use or sale. They are usually white with no pattern or colour; they may have things such as creases and sometimes shadows but they themselves are not textures.

Interesting! I use templates all the time and for mesh templates I have never seen this before for a very very long time. After purchase I have always gotten a box that I open and it contains all the templates for the item in all the sizes it says it contains plus the AO maps and sometimes sample textures. The only time I have seen something like that was back 15 years or more when there was no mesh. Templates for system clothing (what we now call BOM), were sometimes sold that way. You purchased the item and they sent a note card with a link to down load the PSD files for the templates. So clearly these are very old items. I assume you got them from MP. And loads of former creators never took down their listings when they left SL. So you may have run into a situation like that. As for down loading; check the link and see if it still works, it may or may not. If it does chances are you will get the files you need. If not, I am afraid you just may be out of luck. But as the previous post suggested do try to contact the seller anyways, just in case. Good Luck!

Just for interest sake (given the way things now work in SL), would a mesh creator with a Dev Kit be able to make mesh to sell as full perm templates for others to create textures for? Or would that not be approved?

I appreciate that Patch took the time to respond here. But I am afraid he did not say that much to help us understand what exactly is going on. Hinting about bigger and better things? Reminding us that we do not have the whole picture. OK but how about waiting till we can get the whole picture rather than putting out pieces at a time. We need to see the whole puzzle so we do not start to make assumptions, or interpret things the wrong way. This happens when we only have a part of the whole thing.

In the midst of all this I thought I might point out that those of us who were around near the start of SL like 18 years ago or so, got a really horrid avatar. The original Ruth was a nightmare, but for me anyhow was fun to play around with all the features to see if I could make her look half decent. Back in those days it was easy to find a "mentor" as most folks were happy to greet you and very quickly fill you in on the possibilities of improvement. To me THAT was the selling point to STAY! My main concern was getting a skin which made a whopping 200% difference in the way she looked. Then got something to fix that duck walk we all had so I could walk more like a normal being. And then the option to buy clothes and accessories, and dances.. And very soon realizing that I had the tools to actually make the clothing myself, and sell it was another good reason to stay. A way to be creative my way was awesome. My main point here is this and I do not think it has changed. It is NOT the avatar you get when you join, it is the helpful folks who take you by the hand and show you your options that makes folks decide to stay or not. I know I have helped many a new joiners get oriented and shown their options. And those folks were most appreciative to find an environment so welcoming. That makes folks stay. For me that is the bottom line. And I believe it is still true, even though bodies and clothing has advanced big time, and things are more complicated, it is still the helpful PEOPLE that make the difference as to one's impression of SL and not what LL offers as a starter.

It seems your experience and mine are very different. That's all. Doesn't mean mine is BS.

I have read everything here so far, and there have been some good comments both pro and con about this whole idea. I think I said this before and I will say it again. The only real sticking point for me is that need to send your work off to LL for approval before you can do anything with it. I am sorry but I do not agree with this at all. What if the person evaluating the product finds nothing wrong with it but just does not like the style (I am talking about clothing here) because it is not something they like, so are they going to put the stop on your item because of that? Who will keep a check on the checkers? Besides that, I would not put any item out that I would not buy and wear myself, so quality is going to be good and I resent being treated like a school girl having to get my work checked. Nope that one point is what stopped me for applying for the kit. That just is not gonna happen.

I was actually wondering the same thing Nimil. Or at the very least some templates to use for BOM makers if mesh is not their thing. I have ancient templates for BOM that I still use with a lot of messing about. It would be nice to have something current to use with these new SL avatars coming out. And I took the time to read the agreement terms and all I can say is wow! That in itself would scare the crap out of any new SL member thinking about applying. What deterred me was that bit about having to send everything I make to LL first for approval before I can sell it or use it in any way. "yes boss, is it good enough?". Nope not interested in doing that. And I have also been a cheerleader for SL for 18 years come this Sept.

Can older avatars update their SL avatars to the new ones? And if so how? There are loads of us older folks (like me 17 years in SL) who just might like a new basic avatar given the look of our original ones lol.

It is in the specular layer of the texture.(you can have the whole thing in rainbow or just the areas you want to highlight) Use a rainbow specular layer instead of the usual gray tone layer. And boost the level up to where you want it. The higher the level the more shine you get. Also play with the environment slider boosting that can make a difference as well.

This is very cute, but I hope you don't mind spending loads to get it! Only two choices the lesser one being over 600 L. The higher one almost 1K L. I love nice hair it is one of my passions but even I will pass on those prices!

That first pic is really pretty but I don't think I have seen anything quite like that in SL. However, I did see some big hair at the hair show but since it is not my thing, I am sorry I don't remember the names of the creators. I am pretty sure they were smaller brands though, not your usual big name stuff. Sorry I can't be of more help.

It looks interesting, but it does not export in .dae format which is what we need in SL. So you would still have to export to blender (or another program) in .obj and resave and then export in .dae format. It says free BUT that is only a 30 day thing, after that they can ask you to buy a license that you must pay for and I could not find any rates for the license on the web page. There is a huge legal agreement you must agree to before you download, so be sure to read that if you plan to try it out. I would for sure if I was sure it would rig but I don't see anything about that, and the export format is bothersome. Might be worth playing with as long as if is free but I am not so sure how great it would be for rigged SL clothing.

A business such as this totally depends on the situation of the "client". Most new avatars that I have met are here on the "free" account. Most do not have the means to purchase Lindens required to pay a business to set up their avatar much less to pay for what they would need to purchase. I have been in SL almost 18 years and have known very few who could afford such a service. And for many, the challenge of making an acceptable avatar appearance is something they want to do themselves, learning the ropes as they go. For them that is half the fun of SL. Making friends who help them along the way is a plus as well. I have helped many accomplish their goals and have done so willingly and without expectation of compensation, sort of a "pay it forward" situation. It is pretty amazing the number of folks who actually like to help for free. But then again there are always those who few who can pay so I guess it works out for those in the "make over" business. It is SL so anything is possible lol.

Hey, it answers the question lol

perhaps: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/1646 Or when you do a search in MP use Reborn in your search as some stores list body types in their key words.

No for some reason it would seem that that particular flat chest did not take off too well so a lot of mesh creators stopped making it. They mostly focus on the big hips, and boobs and thighs now it seems. As well as way too much exposed skin for my taste as well. You might be able to find some older stuff on MP if you type in Maitreya, flat Chest. That is about all I can suggest.

it looks like the texture map does not line up with the model at all. Like the map shown is not actually for that model at all. Did you create the texture using an AO map for that specific model? Because if you used the standard SL model to create your texture then it will not work. An AO map of the mesh must be used.

AND this is most important even if you think you know and trust a certain brand: Always do a demo first just in case. And if the seller does not provide a demo I would do a hard pass on the item. I know this is likely known by those who would read this, but it does bear repeating, lest we get stung.

When you say Fashion Houses; that sort of labels every well known popular store in SL. Of which there are a few that are considered top. But I feel I must point out that there are oh so many smaller stores, one person enterprises if you will, that never get any publicity or even mention because they are not BIG! And that is a shame as many are fabulous. Just pretty much undiscovered perhaps due to lack of marketing, and hype. I encourage you to check a few of those out.

yes but I wonder: if the demand is driving the creators to make them or if the creators are making them to create a demand?? hmmmm.

Don't blame you for yelling lol. I feel the same way, that is why I prefer NOT to sell stuff like that. I wouldn't wear it! But it does sell I guess. I have sold a few items that I was not all that happy about cause they do sell. lord knows why though? Lately I have been avoiding selling items like that cause it just feels yucky.

I don't know if it would help with inworld stores, but I do know that on MP, if you specify in your key words the bodies you have for a certain item, that helps if folks use their body type in search. That way folks can use search to cut down on time looking for something in your body type..