Jade's Shape Tips/Tricks!
Okay, I am writing this blog post because I've noticed all throughout my time on Second Life, that quite often I see things such as 18-inch long arms on an 8 foot tall avatar, 8 foot tall avatars.., lips that stretch seemingly ear-to-ear, butts large enough to set wine glasses on, hips wide enough to birth quintuplents in a single shot..etc..
Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way saying that every avatar should look the same, because they shouldn't. One of the things that I love about Second Life compared to other virtual communities is the amount of avatar customization that is available.
Avatars don't even always have to be realistic or "proportional," some people like to have unusual shapes for roleplaying purposes or just being goofy. But, I think that most people like their avatar to be fairly realistic in their skins, eyes, shapes, hair, clothing..etc..
But what I've also noticed is that many people overlook proper proportions, so I've written some shape tips below, and I've included some of the proportion "rules" as well, to use as guidelines when adjusting your shape.
I'm not going to give you a list of set numbers everything "should" be between like another certain post made by someone a while back about how their models "should" look. But, what I will do is make some suggestions, and mention some particular proportions and just tips and tricks to achieve the look that you want and to make your avatar look even nicer.
Common mistakes that I've always seen are that people don't really think of the sliders as sliders. Most of the time, people see 0 and 100, and that's it. Not that they don't know how to use the sliders, but just that they don't think of them that way. They think yes/no and that's it. For exmaple, the body fat slider. Most people think, oh I don't want her to be fat, so they set it to 0. Body thickness, I want her thin, so they set it to 0. Nose size? She should have a small nose, set it to 0..etc.. Don't do that. Really utilize the sliders and consider that there are 98 other points in between that 1 and 100 that you can use, and if done right can REALLY make you avatar look amazing.
One REALLY BIG tip is to look at your avatar from all different angles when modifying your shape. What might look gorgeous from a frontal view may look ugly as hell from the side. There ARE tricks to keeping your look from the front but only altering the profile view, so keep reading. It will be at the bottom after the body tips.
1. The body fat slider, don't think of as being "fat." The average woman has around 25% body fat, And that's not even overweight. The fat slider can really accentuate your curves and shape. I usually have mine between 4 and 12 depending on the height of the shape I am making. Try moving the slider slowly to the right and see how each point looks. It can REALLY fill in your avatar on places that might look too bony or "pointy." Even just if it's on 3 or 4, it can do a lot for your shape.
2. Body thickness is the same. Nobody is 8 feet tall with a body that is thin enough to fit through a medium-sized doggy door.Adjust the body thickness slider. The taller your avatar is, the thicker it would be. My avatar is fairly petite compared to most in SL(for example, typically my avatar comes up to about the shoulders on others, some only the waist) and my thickness slider is on 20. Think realistically, you shoulders should be three heads wide. You should have enough room for another of your avatars head on each shoulder. Try experimenting with it to find a nice look. I can almost guarantee that once you adjust it and get used to it you'll love it and never leave it on 0 again.
3. Body height is another big thing. Most women want long legs, and on top of that wear heels to make them appear even longer. And that is absolutely fine, however if you do that, you should probably decrease the height slider just a bit. This is what results in the amazon women of SL(7-8 foot tall avatars). If you want super long legs, decrease the avatar height a bit, and keep the long legs. Both makes them insanely tall and really awkward looking in my opinion.
3. Another thing that goes along with the long legs is the torso. Your hips and legs should be as long as your torso and head. The hips should be in the middle of the body, not 3/4 to the top. Super long legs and a super small torso result in what I call the frog syndrome(reeally long skinny legs, squished and usually chubby torso). So if you have really long legs, increase your torso length AND hip length(one without the other gives an awkward shape). Increase the two by about the same amount, to keep your proportions but to just stretch it up a bit. You'll make up for moving the height slider down with moving your torso and hip lengths back up. A lot of times I also see really squished hips. I made this mistake in the beginning too, so I know it's a lot more common than I even see myself. Don't leave that slider on 0. It is extremely unflattering to the shape. Even if you increase it just a little bit, it will help to add that wonderful hourglass figure that most women in real life would die for.
4. ARM LENGTH is a huge one. Many times I see super tall avatars with super short arms. I see avatars who when resting their arms to their side, the arms come to the waist or hips. I cannot stress how strange-looking that is for a tall avatar. Stand up and rest your arms against the sides of your body. They should come just around your crotch and slightly lower. Now imagine yourself with arms that come only down to your waist. Awkward, right? Usually between 50 and 70 is a good length for arms, again it just depends on the height. Save your shape and exit EA mode to check where the hands rest when their arms are at their side and readjust if they are too short/long. The same goes for hands. Many people have theirs set to 0 because they think small hands are more feminine, more attractive..etc.. which is fine, and is mostly true in my opinion however 0 is not the way to do that. Unless you have a very small or child avatar, 0 is waaaay too small for hands. I like to keep mine on 22, as a lot of times prim nails are sized for size 22 hands. Look at it from a side view, does it look proportional to the arms and the rest of the body? Or does it look too small?
5. Okay this is another big one. BREASTS. I see so many times where the avatar has giant waterballoon-sized breasts that honestly kind of scare me. There's nothing wrong with large breasts, and I know that the majority of women on SL have them, however you don't need to have the slider at 100 for large breasts. I'm not sure if many of you have ever actually looked at the large breasts from a profile view, but if you have, you can tell that it's ugly, blocky, and kind of bean shaped(the bean shape is from the breast gravity being low on top of them being huge). Think realistically on this one too. Women with larger breasts tend to have slightly saggier ones too. Large breasts=heavy breasts=more sag. Sag isn't always bad though, how most seem to think. If you have the gravity slider on say around 30-40 instead of around 20-25 with larger breasts, it will look MUCH more natural. Also, size 70 or so is the largest I'd do personally. Any larger and they start to get blocky and look disgusting(no offense to those who have shapes like that). You'll get a much nicer and rounder shape if you decrease the size just a tad along with the gravity depending on the size you choose. If you have DD cups or larger, your breasts should NOT be up to your neck unless you have one hell of a push up bra on. You'll also find that clothing will look much nicer with a slightly smaller size because it will rest on a smooth surface rather than blocky and have an overall smoother look to it, especially for very low-cut tops.
6. LOVE! Where is the love!? So many people want the super teeny tiny waist, which is fine, but I usually just see it more overdone than it looking nice how it should. Unless your avatar is wearing a corset, her waist does not need to be 18 inches around(if you hold up a tape measurer in a circle of 18 inches, that's roughly the size of someone's neck, maybe a tad larger). Just use your own best judgment, if it looks too small it probably is. Also keep in mind the pose that your avatar is in during Edit Appearance. Her legs are aimed outward a bit, which aims the hips inward a bit; Meaning that when she is standing back up normally, her waist might appear to be slightly larger compared to the waist. What might look awkward on the waist might just look amazing once you're off EA mode and vise versa. Save your shape often and close the EA window to check your shape to make sure it's how you really want it. If something looks off, fix it and close it out again to see if it's the same or if it needs further modification.
7. The leg muscle and length is a big one. Some people like the super tiny thin legs, and some people like really big strong legs. 30 and 100 aren't the only way to achieve those looks. I always use 50 as my medium, which is exactly what it is, right in the middle of 0 and 100. 40 is usually the lowest I'd go on thin legs only because anything smaller gets closer to that creepy anorexic bony look that I'm really not fond of. If you've ever moved the slider to 0, you know exactly what I'm talking about. My rule for this is if the knees start to get wider than the thighs and legs, you need to increase the muscle amount. For the muscular look, the highest I'd personally go is 65 for my shape. Once her legs start to look like two big ovals rather than actual legs is where I draw the line for that one. While I think muscular legs are attractive, I don't think overly large legs are. Just keep everything proportionate to the rest of the body. If her torso is thin, keep the legs a little on the thinner side. If the torso is big and muscular, keep the legs a bit muscular. Just sort of try to average it out with the rest of your shape.
8. Saddlebags again, people don't want their avatar to be fat/chubby/etc and so they leave them on 0, or keep them extremely low(like, on 10). If you create a brand new shape(so it's the default shape), and you go to the legs section and the saddlebags and increase it a bit, watch how the entire shape seems to transform from an ugly curve-less figure to a great curvy one. It doesn't have to be super high, but it can really help to add some nice flirty curves to your shape.
9. The same goes for the bum, it shouldn't be so large that you can set a wine glass on it but it shouldn't be completely flat either. It really all depends on the rest of your shape for how large it should be but just look at some models online or even at yourself in the mirror and see how much it really "sticks out" from the rest of your body, and just go from there.
10. Wide Hips can look nice, but when they're TOO wide they tend to make your avatar waddle. Proportion-wise, your hip bones should just about line up with the ends of your rib cage. Your shoulders don't need to be super broad(wide) compared to your hips, and your hips don't need to be gigantic compared to your shoulders. If that's the look you're going for, that's fine, It can be done nicely, but I haven't noticed that most people tend to exaggerate it. Also, I've seen a lot of shapes where the avatar has NO hips. The thighs overlap down to the knees and it just looks really strange. Even stranger, I've seen very big-name skin designers sell shapes with their skins that look like this. I like to have the little gap between her thighs :P but I don't like it to be absolutely huge. The width will vary depending on your leg muscle and bum size, but if you go by lining the hip bones up with the rib cage it seems to work fairly well. :)
Okay, face tips. There are a lot of the same common mistakes with the faces. Again, always look at your avatar from multiple angles when modifying your shape. ESPECIALLY on the face. The nose and lips are a big one here for the profile view. What might look super cute from the front might look scary from the side.
I'll do a few for the head shape first, just the main ones. And then I will continue on to the face.
1. Head shapes.. I see a lot of aliens out there. I know a lot of people want the cute pointy chin but making your head overly forehead heavy is NOT the way to do it. Around 60-65 is more than sufficient for a pointy chin along with another method that I will mention in the chin tips somewhere below. Brow size, never leave on 0. It gives the avatar an odd flattened shape. I have mine on 26 and it's perfect for me. Nothing looks awkward, out of place, unproportional..etc.. Also for cheek bones, since most people want high cheek bones, if you look at your avatar on a semi-profile view, enough to view the cheek shape, notice that when it's at 100 it tends to give her pointy cheek bones. If you want them high, around 70 is a good place where the cheek bones will be high but they will remain smooth on the face.
2. Nose size. Most people want a cute small petite nose, and that's fine. But I would never leave the slider at 0 for this. If you're not sure why, put it at 0 and aim your camera at the side of her face and look at the nose. It looks smashed into her face like she walked into a pole at full force. Keep it on a profile view, and adjust the slider so it's a normal length, and THEN adjust the other sliders(width, nostril width..etc..) from the front without touching the length again unless you view from the profile view. Switch back and forth between two camera angles when adjusting this. Also for upper and lower bridge height use a profile angle as well. If the upper bridge height is too low, it will get blocky. Increase it just enough to where it's nice and smooth and you'll be good to go. You may have to increase it even more depending on the rest of your avatars head shape.
3. Lips/Mouth are another main thing. First off, proportion rules that the lip width should be around the pupils of the eyes or slightly smaller. This of course depends on how far apart your eyes are. But for that, it should be one eyes width apart. If your eyes are proportional, your lips will be too if you follow those two rules. People either want reeeeally thin lips, or reeeeally big ones. So, for the best of both worlds, adjusting BOTH the lip fullness AND lip thickness are what you need to achieve it. I'll start with the larger lips since they're more common. For the larger lips, you'd start with the lip thickness. Around 60 or so is a good size for me, but it depends on how large you want them. Basically the more you increase the thickness, the more you need to DEcrease the fullness. Decreasing the fullness creates tight corners of the mouth, and when you have larger lips the corners should be tigher to maintain a nice shape. When the fullness is increased, the corners get large and blurry and that looks awkward with larger lip shapes. Now for thinner lips, apply the same concept except the exact opposite. More fullness and less thickness. I'd never personally put the thickness below 50 because anything below kind of creates an overlapping effect for the top lip and it looks really strange to me. But once the thickness is on 50 or higher, depending on your preference, I'd move the fullness to anywhere between 10 and 30 for whatever shape you're trying to achieve. Oh also, the corners of the mouth can make your lips look even nicer as well. Some people like the little smirk they have at 50, but I like to have mine around 40 or so, to give her a little bit of a pout or neutral look rather than smiling. But if you do that, also note that when you lower the corners, the lips tend to look a bit wider so you may have to adjust that as well to keep the size that you want.
4. The pointy chin! Okay, this is a good trick to get the pointy little chin. However it may not work well with considerably large lips(or cheeks) because the trick to making the big lips look less puckery from the side is to move the chin angle outward. But for the pointy chin, you'll do the exact opposite. When you move the chin inward, it gets pointier. However be careful not to overdo it because it can create a very strange side(profile) view. Also when you move the chin more inward, it tends to get "shorter" from the mouth, so you will need to increase the chin depth a bit as well. Most seem to have it on 0 but for this you might need it around 5 or 10 depending on how far inward you move the chin.
SO those are my shape tips. Along my time in SL I have learned these when making my shapes and I thought that I would share them with you to better modify your own shapes. This post was meant as an opinion piece, and in no way am I saying that everyone has to follow these, They are tips not rules, and they are for different looks, not just one. I hope they've helped in some way and if they have, feel free to send out the link to this blog post to others so they too can read them and get their perfect avatar look. If you have any questions or comments, or if you are having trouble achieving a particular look and would like some help feel free to drop me a notecard in-world and I'll be glad to help the best that I can.
Also, for anyone who may be skeptical of others shape-making tips and wonder what my own avatar looks like while going by these tips, here is a photo below. :)
