Second Life Male Shapes
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Background
I often say that avatars come in all shapes and sizes, and it is this variety that maintains avatar diversity Second Life, which in turn is what makes Second Life such a fantastic realm to explore. However, for some, as it was for myself, creating a pleasing shape shortly after entering Second Life can be a daunting task. Nearly three years ago, whilst travelling the Grid with newbie eyes wide open, I observed that most males had extremely broad shoulders and thick limbs that would put Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame. Moreover, most men’s heads were either far too small or even too large for their bodies – usually the former.
I suspect it’s not uncommon to fashion a shape in Second Life that you have always wished for yourself in Real Life, whether it’s a serious pursuit or purely fantasy. We all have our desires and about three years ago it seemed to me that the “muscle-man” was quite in vogue and dominated the world with his Atlas physique. This, however, was not my ideal image for SL, as I had a suspicion that I would be wishing to drape Victorian and Elegant Gothic Aristocratic fashions over my body and thusly began mentally forming the image of a Gentleman with a slight and European build.
I attempted to play with the body shape sliders on my own, and the results were disastrous. While I know artists in RL, and understood the most basic concepts of body proportions, I never thought to actually research such information on the Internet to use as a basis for creating a properly proportioned body shape. Mind, I could barely rez a prim in those days either, so I’m uncertain how effective harnessing this knowledge would have been for myself.
Since then, there have been a couple blog posts about body shape proportions, one of which I will link to from here for the benefit of anyone curious about body shape proportions. I should also perhaps clarify that at this juncture I am referring to human body shapes. As a furry or non-human, pretty much anything goes but I do like to proportion my fox self after humanoid proportions as well.
What I did discover, that assisted me greatly three years ago, was that I could purchase a pre-made shape. I decided that if I could find a shape that most closely resembled my ideal, I could then tweak that shape to satisfaction. And so began my quest. There were very few shape shops for men and only one that I came across purveyed an extensive collection of shapes. This was Q-designs by quintin Kostolany (still in business today, I discovered). Three years ago he offered up his collection in a basement warehouse setting and I remember spending hours upon hours trying to determine which shape would suit me. Nearly all the shapes for purchase featured heavily muscled men. I remember searching for key words like “bishounen”, hoping to locate a Japanese creator, but three years ago, I had little luck; this has since changed and bishounen shapes are more readily found. I believe there was one shop that had slighter build shapes, but they did not satisfy my needs.
I finally settled on Q-designs’ “Slave” – no comments from the peanut gallery, please and thank you (/me laughs). Slave to fashion, yes, I will concede on that point. This allowed me to work from a creator’s shape, and from solid proportions. At least that was what I was hoping. I never thought to verify at the time, and simply began tweaking my Body Parts appearance sliders. I have since adjusted my height now and then, on a whim, as well as making a few other subtle changes along the way, and now am left wondering if I am at all still, or ever was, proportioned according to average human norms.
Self Study
Using the guides I have found on the Internet (links below), I will now perform a quick analysis of my various body shapes. In order to measure my body in heads, I simply rezzed a box prim, set the transparency to 10, and then resized to the top of my head and bottom of my chin. I shift dragged downward new copies to measure my body height in heads.
Original Slave body shape by SlaveTo Demain via Q-designs
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Rather than the standard proportion of 6-8 heads high, this shape puts me at 10 heads in height. The head seems well proportioned with eyes, ears, nose and mouth. The elbows seem to be well above the waist rather than at the waist – clearly the upper torso is too long for conventional proportions. The arms could also be a little longer although this would likely occur if the torso were shortened.
My current human body shape
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It would appear that after tweaking my shape originally over two years ago, I am still 10 heads in height. My nose is perhaps a little higher than it should be. Elbows are likewise too far above the waist. Essentially, apart from some cosmetic changes, I did not alter the proportions at all.
Another round of tweaking
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I managed to reduce myself to 9 heads in height with improved proportions, but now I feel stocky in stature, which is uncomfortable for me. I maintained my height, increased my head size, increased my arm length, and dramatically decreased my torso length and leg length. This is definitely not suitable for me.
And yet one more round of tweaking
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This is perhaps a little more to my liking. The general body proportions are improved over my current body shape, and I still maintain the torso length that I desire. While not perfect in terms of proper human proportions, it will have to do (at least for another couple years until I venture this way again).
And for amusement, my fox self
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It would appear that I managed to tweak my fox’s shape quite well. I confess that I went through a few renditions before settling on this shape, but have been using this shape for quite some time.
Attaining a Well-Proportioned Body Shape for the Slider Challenged
Yes, avatars come in all shapes and sizes, and while overall proportions are not hard and fast rules, I believe people should be encouraged to create whatever they wish in the end. But for those like myself who are terrified of body shape sliders, and who also wish to maintain a semblance of average body proportions, I offer the following suggestions:
- Review the following links regarding body proportions:
- Acquire a pre-made body shape that most closely approximates your ideal body shape.
- Bearing in mind the above regarding proportions, carefully experiment with the sliders to achieve your desired results. Try not to veer too far from 50 on most of the slider points. And most importantly: Save copies of your modified shape along the way so that you can easily revert to an earlier shape if your tweaking is not satisfactory.
* Diagram for Human Proportions
* Proportion and Second Life Models
I would also like to reiterate that a perfectly proportioned avatar is not a must as humans are not all perfectly proportioned in RL.
Sources for Men’s Body Shapes
Ensure that the body shape you purchase has modify permissions – unless you desire the designer’s exact body shape.
- XStreet listing of male body shapes
- Q-designs by quintin Kostolany
- MADesigns by Maddox Dupont
- kOwP by Skyler Melnik
- Ax by Angelx Faith
- The Body Politik by Maximillion Grant
- Noon by Noon Twine
- Sophistishapes by Sophia Rossen
- Adora Shapes by Emaleigh Guyot
Happy shaping. And if anyone knows of any other shape tutorials or resources, please let me know so that I may post links here.
Other Details:
Pajamas: (men’s)(batties) pajammies pants by hyasynth Tiramisu of Silent Sparrow
Photos taken in my home… somewhere.
Human avatar
- Hair – Elliot (LightBlond) by Six Kennedy of GuRL 6
- Skin – Scorpio Revelation (3A Smooth) by Khai Sinister of The Abyss
- Eyes – Blue Opal by Miriel Enfield of Miriel (very sadly retired)
Fox avatar
- Avatar – Male White Fox by Mephitis Jezebel of Aventity
- Hair – The Dauphin (Powdered) by Siyu Suen of Illusions
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