[Rez'd Again Noob]

Actually based on everything I have looked at from your replies and the bit of shopping I have done so far, I think I will be avoiding a mesh AV at this time.

I am going to see what I can arrange with a basic first.  If I get too turned around or frustrated I will log out and play a FPS game instead to workout my frustrations lol

[Rez'd Again Noob]

Actually there was value in all of the replies so far.

 

I am glad the community here is active and helpful.

 

I had been hearing SL was basically dead so I wanted to pop in and see if that's about right or not.

 

When I was here early on there was a thriving art community and I was a part of it.  I also saw some of the ugly side of the art community here and eventually stopped bringing my RL photography inworld to sell. 

I am not sure if I will ever be as involved as I was in the past but I can absolutely see myself coming in on occasion to see who's around.

 

If anyone here would like to send me a friend request I will gladly accept.

Just be aware that I may not be around all that much.

Thanks everyone!

(and by all  means please keep posting!)

[Rez'd Again Noob]

On ‎12‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 6:30 AM, Marianne Little said:

I am not sure if you want to use your old Animation Override. I assume that you had one and know how they work.

If you do, they can "splay" Bento hands in a very unflattering pose. For classic avatars and TMP body, they do nothing, your hands stay in the same non-moving pose.

If you want to invest in a full new AO, or if you had no one, I would actually recommend you to get an AO for Bento. Because it does nothing with your hands until you upgrade to Bento, but IF you upgrade, no extra cost. You will have the same body language, so if you like it, you will not have to hunt down animations for Bento that looks the same.

The middle price range is Tutys, who also have a free, basic Bento AO for both genders. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/TuTy-DAILY-sLIFE-FREE-BASIC-BENTO-MALE-AO-Priority-3-and-4/7179649

Voir and Oracul  is another ones in the middle range.

Vista and Body language sweet lovely cute is expensive.

For the look of Bento hands movements, you can get the hands demo from Vista or Slink and wear them while you demo Animation Overrides. Especially if you buy one that you feel is top in your budget.

I shall not talk about buying single animations and build your own AO, because it is enough info already?

All of your replies are full of valuable information.  I like the pricepoint on that A/O lol

I am copying a lot of this into a document so I can have it more concise.  The people here have been a lot of help.

[Rez'd Again Noob]

On ‎12‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 12:23 PM, Alyona Su said:

 

System avatars CAN still look awesome. Just like in the "olden days" of SL the skin and shape are key, though it's a lot more difficult finding this stuff. As for a mesh head, hands, feet, body - take your time, there is no hurry and you should not feel pressured to do so.

For shapes, skins, etc. for system bodies (and system clothes, even) your best bet is to shop Market Place, sort by oldest-first.

If you're going to go with meshing yourself up piece-meal: start with the head. Catwa is most popular and very good. Most skins these days come with appliers for it (men and women).

I recommend you *do not* go with mesh hands and feet if you intend to go with a mesh body later, because other than Slink (who makes the hands and feet) - most mesh bodies will include them. If you like the Slink body and pain to go with that, then you can do it in stages: hands today, feet tomorrow, body next week, etc.

If you want to shop mesh bodies for men, my personal opinion is that Signature Gianni is the best, Balleza Jake is next, Signature Geralt is third. The rest are as you prefer - I say this for the quality of the mesh, the general look of the bodies (Though Gianni is kind of weird to me with nipple-placement).

Budgeting: Save up at least 6 to 7k L$ for the head: that would be the head plus any skins you will want with it. Another 3 to 5K L$ for a full body.

I recommend a couple things very rigorously, along with *patience* - there is no rush:

• Do not go jumping into mesh *anything* until you're sure you'll be staying in SL for some time. Because of the cost, it really is an investment into your SL entertainment, even when remaining on the simpler side.
• Never, *ever* buy anything that costs more than 25L$ (or your chosen threshold) unless you can DEMO first. Even quality-reputation creators can be hit-or0miss on the fitting of their stuff.

 

Very solid advice there at the end.  I really appreciate your input.

[Rez'd Again Noob]

On ‎12‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 1:36 PM, Skell Dagger said:

Hi Eidolon, and welcome back to SL

I'll start at the beginning with a few questions. No need to answer them publicly if you'd rather not, but it'll give you food for thought.

1. You mentioned finding some "complete avatars" within your price range , but what IS your price range? People here are suggesting everything from feature-limited freebie bodies to the full Bento mesh works, but without an idea of what you're happy to spend we can't really recommend anything specific. Take the following as rough guidelines:

• A non-Bento mesh head (can only be stretched in four directions, but will take different skins, with basic single-layer options for hairbases and facial hair etc) will run you to about L$900. You can get heads that are static (no animations) plus 'frames animated' heads that you purchase add-on animation packs for.
• A Bento mesh head (can be customised using the classic shape sliders, will take different skins like the non-Bento head but usually has more layers for adding extra stuff such as scars, tattoos, freckles, etc) will run you to about L$5000. Bento mesh heads usually contain motion capture animations as standard and many of them have additional animation packs that can be purchased.
• The cheapest popular mesh body package that can be customised with skins, tattoos, etc and has Bento enabled hands is the Slink Physique Male full body/hands/feet set at £2,250. The next one after that is Belleza's Jake body, at just shy of L$3,000, followed by Signature's Gianni and Geralt bodies, at L$3,500 each. Signature do sometimes have sales (in fact you just missed a 30% off sale for Black Friday weekend, and earlier this year they did a half price sale) so it may be worth hanging on until the next one.

Incidentally, I would be wary of "complete avatar" listings on Marketplace. Sometimes people think they're getting a mesh body and head, when they're actually just getting system stuff. If in doubt, check with someone who's experienced with mesh bodies and heads.

2. What kind of build do you want your body to have? If you opt for a mesh body you'll need to take into consideration the starting 'build' that it has. Signature Gianni is stocky and fairly muscular (the guy who's a regular at his local gym, but not quite into the whole steroid thing), whereas Signature Geralt, Slink Physique, and Belleza Jake are a bit more 'man in the street'.

Be aware of the following regarding the Bento hands of male mesh bodies:

• Slink Physique's hands have a built-in idle AO, so you won't need a Bento AO to animate them
• Signature's bodies have Bento hands that have optional static poses (or you can cycle through all of the poses, which can look a bit odd if you're suddenly switching from clenched fists to Vulcan salutes)
• Belleza's Jake body has no Bento poses or idle AO, so if you opt for that one you'll need a Bento AO to stop the fingers from splaying out from time to time

3. You state that your style is typical "jeans and hoodie" so you'll be glad to know that about 95% of menswear in SL caters exactly to your wishes (more's the pity for the rest of us who want something else, mind you!) The vast majority of current and new male fashion these days is fitted to mesh bodies (and the bodies I've named here are the main ones that are fittted to). You can still find clothing rigged for Standard Sizing and also general Fitmesh clothing - both of which tend to work better on system avatars - but always try a demo regardless of what you like the look of. If you stick with a system body for now you'll need to make sure that your mesh clothing comes with alpha layers to hide bits of your body that might poke through, and a lot of mesh clothing these days assumes that the wearer has a mesh body instead and can use its built-in alpha HUD.

If you opt for a mesh head, don't worry about finding hair that's fitted specifically for that head. Most modifiable hairstyles will work on any mesh head, and Bento-rigged hair will usually fit well enough that a hairbase applier (same as the old hairbase tattoos) will cover any minor bits of scalp that poke through.

Lastly, for shopping, you always have Marketplace, but you can also check out the six main menswear events in SL. The links below will take you to the Seraphim website pages for each menswear event. At the Seraphim page, click the 'view gallery' link for the most recent entry and you'll see all the items on sale at the event. Links to get there are also included in the posts.

The main menswear events are as follows:

• The Mens Department (TMD)
• Men Only Monthly
• Man Cave
• Hipster Mens Event (not just limited to 'hipster' gear)
• The Men Jail

There is also the Signature Event, which (obviously) caters only to those with either of the two Signature bodies. Unfortunately, Seraphim doesn't have a gallery for that one.

This is very helpful.

 

1 - I was surprised to see I still had L$1700 left from years ago so that's my budget lol

2 - I am not trying to have some unrealistic body building stud appearance.  At best just lean and athletic but no over the top muscles.  

I am going to try to get to those links when I am inworld again.  I think all my RL distractions are what drove me out to begin with so I guess I do need to evaluate how much I want to put into this because I may not have the time to invest to get anything out of it.

 

There has definitely been an evolution with regards to the avatars.  I am just hoping the over all experience and scenery hasn't gone stagnant.

 

Thank you for your detailed reply.

[Rez'd Again Noob]

oh and you HAD to suggest coming back and posting a picture.

 

No pressure there lol

 

I have SL running right now while doing a few things but I will try to get to shopping in a bit. 

[Rez'd Again Noob]

Wow there is so much involved.

I am not sure I would have made it a month here if it was this way when I started.

I can see I will need to set some time aside and really delve into it. 

Thank you for your detailed response though.  Clearly I have some work to do lol

[Rez'd Again Noob]

7 hours ago, Callum Meriman said:

What species, gender, and style you imagine your avatar to be?

Oh yeah might have helped if I mentioned that in my post

 

I guess my imagination isn't going too far here.  Just a human male.  Style is just a guy who likes blue jeans and hoodies.  I think I can be described as "basic" lol

[Rez'd Again Noob]

Logged in recently for the first time in years.

Despite my 2008 rez date, I am basically at the level of noob right now.

I am trying to update my AV but I don't necessarily need to go top of the line.

 

I don't really do a lot of clothes shopping so a couple of basic outfits would work.

 

What I am really stuck on is how to handle my shape and skin.

 

I understand "mesh" is the way to go now but after some reading it sounds like mesh has some limitations.

 

I have looked at some shops and have a complete AVs in my price range but I hesitate to buy because I don't want to paint myself into a corner.

 

Any advice for someone coming back after a very long hiatus?  (other than  don't come back lol)