The+Infinitely+Modifiable+Appearance


 * The Infinitely Modifiable Appearance - Under Construction**

"//Variety is the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor" - William Cowper (1731-1800)//

We might imagine Cowper's approval of the enviable diversity of appearances available to a Second Life (SL) resident. You can change your avatar's hair color and style, eye color, size and shape, even gender and - if you please - species. For that matter, an avatar can be a ball of light, a Tyrannosaurus, an elf, or a robot. Residents enjoy infinite choices in their avatars' looks. Please note, however, that exceptionally large or small avatars may experience difficulties enjoying various in-world features as most developers anticipate humanoid types when creating auditorium seats, carpet rides, and dancing venues.

Changing your appearance with the SL interface is simple. Right-click on your avatar and by default, the image will turn and stand facing you. You can use buttons and sliders to change diverse characteristics and features as well as to create (simple) clothing. You may take advantage of the "Save Outfit" button to save an entire outfit (including hair and shape).

But that's only the beginning of the diversity available to you. You can use Photoshop and other software to create custom hair, skins, clothing, and accessories and even create custom shapes to upload to SL. There are also special effects you can add to your avatar, such as shooting lights and various media. As you will quickly learn, such "bling" can be distracting and annoying to others. A word to the wise: Take care in your use of it.

As another note of caution, buyer beware! There is a very real distinction between **skins** and **shapes**. Shape is the form of an avatar. Skin wraps around and covers the shape. If you buy a shape or a skin in-world, you may not simultaneously acquire the other.

When you have created and dressed an avatar you like, you may want to save the entire creation to a folder as a back-up, as follows:


 * To open your Inventory, click on the suitcase icon in the right hand menu.
 * Click on the gear at the bottom of the Inventory window and select "New Inventory Window."
 * To see everything you have associated with your avatar now, enter "worn" in one of the Inventory windows search boxes.
 * In the other Inventory window, click the + icon at the bottom of the window and select "New Folder."
 * Name it something you will - likely - remember to associate with the current state of your avatar.
 * Copy the contents from the "worn" window to the new folder.

Voila! In the future, you will be able to simply drag that folder from Inventory and onto your avatar to recreate the hair, skin, clothing, even HUDs (Heads Up Displays) and other attachments that comprise your present avatar.

Your Inventory's capacity is (at present) unlimited. In short order, this can lead to the near-impossibility of finding the particular pair of shoes or magic wand you require. Naming objects thoughtfully and following UCSL conventions for project items, then sorting through everything regularly and assigning things to well-named folders and sub-folders can save a lot of searching.

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You can snap photos in-world and send them to yourself (or others) via e-mail at no charge.

You can buy all kinds of animations in Second Life. People create these using high end programs such as Poser. Animation creators can achieve a high degree of realism using Motion Capture (MoCap), in which real people are wired with electrodes and their movements captured to animation software.