How?

[Whipembricks]

This is my 10th time downloading second life. I am about too just quit second life for good. 

Mostly because I dont understand how to customize my avatar. I have watched several youtube videos. Ive been on almost every website and page with instructtions. But I still dont get it!. It makes no sense too me what so ever on how do I make a black avatar too my liking. All I know is how to move and that is pretty much it.

[Syo Emerald]

How are we supposed to help you, if you claim you have watched and read any instructions and videos about the topic? Linking them or even writing our own instructions would be pointless then. Just as with technical questions, just writing what boils down to "doesn't work" isn't a very good starting point for help.

What do you not get? With what exactly do you struggle or which concepts don't make sense to you?

Opening boxes? Rezzing boxes? Attaching items? Changing clothes, skin, shape..? Or have you not figured even more basic things like how to open your inventory?

People here are very helpful and suprisingly patient, but they need a starting point or the answers could be rather unspecific.

[Ariel Vuissent]

Syo is right - it's very difficult to give you advice when you say you've already watched and read instructions. We don't know what you're actually have trouble with, so other than writing pages and pages of advice covering every possible issue in the hopes that some small tidbit will help, we can't give you much advice. 

To customize your avatar, in general terms, you "buy" items from inworld stores or from the marketplace - the items can be free, although you get what you pay for - unbox them if necessary, and wear or add them to your avatar. Those are the most basic steps. If you tell us which of those steps is causing you problems, we can probably be more helpful.

[Rhonda Huntress]

---

Whipembricks wrote:

It makes no sense too me what so ever on how do I make a black avatar too my liking.

---

So , starting with the basics.  Pick any avatar at all to start with.  Whatever Second Life lets you have is OK because it will all be replaced anyway.

 

Next, we need to find skin, shape and hair you like.  You can get these from the Market Place.  There are some OK freebies to be had but if you want a good skin it costs about 5 US$ more or less.  Shapes can be done on your own or may come bundled with the skin.  Ask and most people will have something close you can use.

After that we need to find an outfit to wear. Start with something simple.  Jeans and a shirt.  You can pick these up for 1 L$ each. 

Finally we get rid of all the starter stuff.  Detach everything you can.  Also take of any clothes.  Then wear the skin, shape hair and clothes we bought earlier.

 

Done.

 

There are some newbie friendly places in world that can help you in person  The Shelter is one, New Citizen's Institute is another (if it is still around; I'm not sure since I was out for a few years).  Either of those can help you get started.

 

My one bit of advise is when shopping for a black skin, look for something in the mocha to milk chocolate range.  If it's too dark you loose a lot of definition.  Colors that are too dark to shade (or too light to highlight on the other end of the scale) tend to look flat with no details.

 

 

[Marianne Little]

---

Rhonda Huntress wrote:

---

Whipembricks wrote:

It makes no sense too me what so ever on how do I make a black avatar too my liking.

---

So , starting with the basics. 

Pick any avatar at all to start with.  Whatever Second Life lets you have is OK because it will all be replaced anyway.

 

 

 

---

I beg to differ, but the starting avatar is where most new people, and even earlier residents returning, run into a brick wall.

The mesh starter avatars look good on the screen, but there is no way to apply skin on them, and no mesh clothing but the initial outfit will fit them. Hello Linden Lab, if anyone reads the forums, you have been told this from the start. REALLY bad idea.

Worse, when unhappy residents in the mesh starter avatars search for tutorials, the tutorials for the classic starter avatars outnumber the starter mesh avatars a hundred to one. They do not adress how to get rid of the starter mesh avatar, because they weren't made yet.

The fastest solution is: Go to the avatar selector, the icon or tab with two persons on. Now the clever LL has divided the mesh avatars in "Vampires" and "People". The classic avatars is found under the "Classic avatars" but how can newbies (or returning residents) guess that they should not choose an avatar under "People"??

So to stop my rant here, change to a classic avatar and try to use the tutorials about editing appearance again. Now you might find them working. If the mesh starter avatars is not your problem, please come back here with more details. 

[Perrie Juran]

Are you trying to make (create) your own skin?

Skins are one of the more dificult things tto do.  The skin tutorials presume that you are already competent with photoshop or what ever image editing software you use.  If you aren't fairly competent with image editing you have to get that learning curve down first.

Starting out you are probably better off finding a skin on the Market Place while you learn how to make your own.  

 

[Coby Foden]

---

Whipembricks wrote:

 

It makes no sense too me what so ever on how do I make a black avatar too my liking.

---

Dark skin suggestions:

https://community.secondlife.com/t5/Your-Avatar/Best-Dark-Skinned-Avatar-Suggestions/td-p/1829419

 

How to modify your avatar:

https://virtualtransmission.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/new-residents-tutorial-how-do-i-modify-my-avatar/

 

How to change from the bad uneditable starter mesh avatar to something more useful:

https://community.secondlife.com/t5/Your-Avatar/Steps-to-changing-your-avatar-from-starter-to-mesh-clothing/m-p/2953459#M61453

[ChinRey]

---

Whipembricks wrote:

This is my 10th time downloading second life. I am about too just quit second life for good. 

Mostly because I dont understand how to customize my avatar.

---

I can't really add much to what the others have said but I think we should emphasize one very important point:

The very first thing you do is go to the "Me" menu at the top right corner of the viewer window and select "Choose an avatar". Click on "Classic" and then on one of the pictures that appear under that tab. You won't find one you are perfectly happy with there but that doesn't matter. These avatars are customizable so you can change them any way you like.

Do not under any circumstance choose any of the avatars under the "People" or "Vampire" tabs!!! Those avatars can not be modified in any sensible way.

Once you've got yourself a basic classic avatar, you can start modifying it. That will take a while. There's so much to choose from and you're going to try a lot of different skins, body shapes, eyes, hair etc., etc. until you find the right one for you. But don't worry, you'll get there evntually and the Hunt for the Perfect Look is part of the fun.

 

---

Marianne Little wrote:

The mesh starter avatars look good on the screen,

---

Interesting. I've read lots of discussions and comments about the mesh starter avatars but I've never seen anybody say something like that before...