# Second Life Avatars + Blender = ??????



## Aara (Mar 9, 2010)

Alrighty... here it goes.


I've been playing Second Life for several weeks now, and I'm amazed at the level of creativity that users can put into their works; specifically their avatars.  I also love the fact that you can expose your imagination to SL's community through the act of selling your avatars in exchange for actual money.  So, after doing some searches, I discovered that a lot of SL avatar creators seem to use Blender to form, texture and animate their avatars, as it's a completely free 3D modeling program and all.




So, I've downloaded Blender and I'm eager to get started... But there's one small problem...


Just where the HELL do I start!? 




Despite being a free software, I'm well aware of the fact that Blender isn't exactly user-friendly for most newbies.... So, I've tried googling up some basic SL tutorials for Blender and whatnot, but they all sort of boil-down to the same basic thing - how to make simple objects, that, from my knowledge, AREN'T really associated with avatar creation.  Most of them are just... like, tutorials that teach you how to make human avatars... or vases... or non-wearable objects... or clothes.  :|

In other words, are there any non-human/furry/feral avatar creators out there that can recommend some good tutorials for me to follow?  There's just TOO many out there for me to follow through....  It's so overwhelming to the point that I don't know where or how to start.  

So, if any of you awesome avatar creators can recommend some good tutorials or tips for me, then I'd definitely appreciate it! Hell, I'd give you cookies through the internet if I could, lol. XD


BTW, is Blender even the best kind of program to use for this sort of thing?  Or are there better programs out there to use?  I don't mind spending some of my money for a 3D modeling program, as long as it's $200 or less.


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## Verin Asper (Mar 9, 2010)

Blender has that steep Learning Curve, I gave up on it and concentraded on Avatar retexturing to where I found my feet now.


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## Aara (Mar 9, 2010)

Crysix Corps said:


> Blender has that steep Learning Curve, I gave up on it and concentraded on Avatar retexturing to where I found my feet now.





Lol, yeah.  I don't blame you.  From what I've seen and heard so far, Blender's learning curve is a total *****. XD


And you do avatar retexturing?  I assume that means that you make the "skins" for other people's avatars through Second Life's built-in 3D modeling system?  Or do you use a different program?


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## Verin Asper (Mar 9, 2010)

Aara said:


> Lol, yeah.  I don't blame you.  From what I've seen and heard so far, Blender's learning curve is a total *****. XD
> 
> 
> And you do avatar retexturing?  I assume that means that you make the "skins" for other people's avatars through Second Life's built-in 3D modeling system?  Or do you use a different program?


I use a different program: Paint.net when I retexture folks avatars now. Second Life has a Wiki that one of the articles lists various Programs in 3d work.


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## Duality Jack (Mar 9, 2010)

If using blender start making props first such as swords or hats and such, its a nice way to get your feet wet.


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## Aara (Mar 9, 2010)

Crysix Corps said:


> I use a different program: Paint.net when I retexture folks avatars now. Second Life has a Wiki that one of the articles lists various Programs in 3d work.



Ah, thanks for the suggestion! *hugs*      I'll look into that program later.


Just two questions though... Is it free?  And does it work for Mac OSX?


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## Verin Asper (Mar 9, 2010)

Aara said:


> Ah, thanks for the suggestion! *hugs*      I'll look into that program later.
> 
> 
> Just two questions though... Is it free?  And does it work for Mac OSX?


its free and sadly its not Mac Friendly but there was talk about doing a mac version in the future


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## Kampfisken (Mar 9, 2010)

Greetings!
I've spent a few years making anthro avatars in SL, but, unfortunately, I have narrowed down my modelling tools to mostly pivot around zBrush and Maya, with a friend doing geometric sculpts for me in Wings3D should I ever have the use for those; however, I still imagine the "Baby steps" for all programs should be the same.

I have peeked at Blender's GUI (Or the lack of one, moreso) a few times, and can easily see why many find it so hopeless to figure out at first glance, giving up before they've even gotten started, expecting to be able to do too much too soon.

The Drunken Ace's tip about starting with simple, non-SL related objects is, most likely, a very good idea. I would recommend googling a few "Completely blank beginner's guide to the very basics of Blender" (Maybe not that elaborate, but you get the idea), most of these tuts following you every step on the way, showing you how to make, for instance, a dagger. These tutorials will usually show you where the most important menus, tools, and options are hidden, as well as show you the basic techniques required to apply them! And once the basics are in, you can start to spin off from that. 

If you would want any other kind of avatar-makin' advice, beyind very specific Blender aid, which I'm afraid I can't offer much of, feel free to contact me in-world, or over IM's (Or ask here, for that matter. )
Although it's not quite in compliance with my ego to confess that I'm no professional at what I do, I do still hope and believe that some of the experiences from past mistakes could result in advice worthy of being dispensed.

Best of luck with your modelling, if you keep goin' hard at it for a week or ten, you'll work out the kinks eventually, for sure!


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## TehSean (Mar 9, 2010)

Aara said:


> Alrighty... here it goes.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Lots of the good programs cost too much to spend on SL alone.

Anyway.

All of the tutorials you are looking at should be practiced so you gain experience using the program. If you don't like the tutorials, then just quit right now because even when I used a program called Zbrush, which is supposed to be more intuitive and easy to use, I had to deal with data loss, restarting entire projects, lots of crashes, and 20 hours of time sitting on the program just learning basics.


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## Aden (Mar 9, 2010)

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Manual

Read it. Learn it.

Blender is my favorite environment in which to work. This is coming from someone who is going to college for 3D graphics and has used many of the other high-end packages out there. Steep learning curve, yes, but it's like that so once you become proficient at it it's so much more intuitive and efficient than other solutions.

Memorizing hotkeys is a must if you want to get the most out of Blender!


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