HeyHey Fab Free! It’s Monday so that means it’s more of “The Big Make Over”. Today I’m focusing on Alistar and our Fabulous Guys. I do want to note that all of these pictures are totally untouched and unedited. This is goning to be a looong post so let’s not dither about and jump right in.
So, I I first said I was going to do a male make over avatar I had NO idea how much different it would be from doing the female. But dang, it’s so much more difficult and frustrating. With the girls, I had loads of choices of heads and bodies but the guys really don’t have that much in free choices. I almost threw in the towel and said I’d have to do a limited Lindens make over for the guys. And granted…. using Lindens would be much easier. But I wanted to do free.
So, let’s remember where we started. This is the Second Life starter, “Greg” in his birthday suit. Not all together awful but certainly more ‘human-like’ than human. Why the designers for LL didn’t spend more time and care and artistry for the male population is beyond me.
And Greg close up.
I added this next pic because I wanted to show that the Greg skin is not horrible. In fact it’s not bad at all. It’s just the clunky shape that makes it bad.
The first and only free body I could find was the “Robert” body from Altamura located at the London City Freebie Center. The good and frankly, bad thing about Altamura is that the head comes attached to the body. While this means you don’t have to track down a mesh head. It also means you can’t use a different head if you already have one or find one you like better. Altamura does offer headless bodies and bodiless heads but only as paid items. The other quirk for the free Altamura bodies is they are not Omega or BoM friendly. With the return of BoM I find this rather frustrating. I can only assume that this is because these are all older versions.
This is the Robert right out of the box. Not my favorite look. He looks angry… like axe murderer angry.
“But me back in the box”
So knowing I couldn’t change the head I focused on the shape. A note here, I did change the shape of the body and head using the System sliders to suit my own taste, your mileage may vary. However, I couldn’t get it just right. So I took to the MarketPlace for shapes. Where I found Sweet’s. Several free shapes for Robert and others. Loads of 1Ls skins, some free hair, and even their own Bento Bom mesh body for just one Linden. I would have likely picked this based on the quality of their other products but I was set on absolutely free. There are several other Mesh Bento and BoM ready bodies on the Marketplace and the Grid that are under 10L each. And the minimum amount of Lindens you can buy is 2.50$ USD which will net you about 600L. So it’s not like you’d break the bank.
At any rate, I picked “Sweet’s Free! Shape for ROBERT by Altamura” and ran with it. I was able to adjust with the System sliders and got it pretty close to exactly what I wanted. The Sweet’s shape even came with mesh eyes. Alistar is getting closer!
Look’it them cheek bones!
One note, none of the free or 1L male bodies I found came with genitalia. Another drawback for the guys. You can find free male genitals on the Marketplace. However I can’t review them here as we are ‘family friendly’.
So, let’s talk briefly about AOs (Animation Overrides) for both the new kids. There are some basic AOs on the Marketplace for free and one, Bright’s Spunky Girl was the one I used for Julianna for a loong time. It’s basic but really all you need starting out. The female walk cycle is a bit exaggerated in the hip sway but not horrible. And at least the idle poses aren’t like a cat in heat. It’s not on their MarketPlace, you can only grab it in world -> Here.
There are also two basic AOs (Among others) at Free Dove Listed as “AX oo2 Basically a Boy and Basically a Girl” that I tried. I found them… ok. I liked a lot of the stand animations and they worked well. I found the idles to be too restless and hyper. In fact, that was my issue with a ton of AOs free and paid. You can find all types for free and just need to try them to find one you like. Just pay attention… lots of free AOs are NOT bento rigged. Which means they work… but your hands are going to stick out stiffly and not move well.
Ultimately, I chose the AOs “Daily sLife Free Male Bento” and “Lucky Girl” from Tuty’s for both of our new kids. It’s got Bento right there in the name, the hands move well, the walks are not overly ‘cartoony’ and best the idles are smoothly animated and move from one stand to the next very realistically. This choice didn’t surprise me as I use Tuty AOs for both Juli and Gabe.
SO there we have it for the new kids. We have Mesh Bento rigged bodies and Mesh heads, good skins and they walk less like ducks and more like Egyptians. (2 internet point for you if you get the reference )
Next week… HAIR! Maybe some clothes and we’ll talk about how to set up your Inventory so it doesn’t catch fire.
Also… if you have questions or comments, please let me hear ’em! There was a great question last week about making Lindens in world and I am still checking out my research on that and hope to have something to say about it next week.
Links for products
Altamura @ London City Freebie Center – Robert Mesh head and body
Sweet’s – MarketPlace Shop for loads of freebies and dollarbies. Shapes, Hairs etc.
Free Dove – Charity shop with tons of free gifts for Male and Female Avatars. Some AOs, Hair, Clothes, Shoes, Skins, etc
Tuty’s – AOs, poses, etc. Two free AOs one for men and one for women.
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