• • •• This thread gives you the quick rundown of how to make a good avatar. It is based on my observations of Gaia avatars. Fads change. This guide will eventually go out of style. It works for now.
★ ★ ★★
Don't want to read the whole thread? Here's all you need to know:
Have facial expression, use body mod items and have a theme.
Boom. Done. Mic drop. Please continue to read the guide for elaboration on the above point and a few extra tips.
★ ★ ★★
Disclaimer The item icons throughout the thread link to the marketplace. Click them to preview the items in the marketplace to see examples of items that could be used. The items listed are examples only. You do not have to use those exact items. This is not an item list. With that said, am I missing an item that would be a great example for others? Please let me know so that I can add it.
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:31 pm
Q&D Guide Post Two: Index
Index A short summary of what's to come.
• • ••
Post 3Expression Don't just have an expression, be expressive. Any emotion. A detailed face is a good face. Blank and simplistic faces are enhanced by using quality items.
Post 4Body Mods - Arms Use body mods to change your avatar's arms. At the least, move them, wear gloves/jewelry and/or hold an item.
Post 5Body Mods - Legs Use body mods to change your avatar's legs. At the very least, wear large slippers or tiny shoes.
Post 6Fad Colors Use a color that's trendy right now.
Post 7Themes Have an overall theme or at least match the style of the place you hang out most (forums, guilds, virtual hangouts, games).
Post 8Details Extra tidbits to keep in mind.
Post 9Examples Some examples of avatars that follow the guidelines set up in this thread.
Post 10Paws A note to [animal] avatars.
Post 11Item Search How to search for items in Dress Up. This is focused mainly on searching for items that aren't in your inventory (items you don't own). It also contains suggestions for search terms.
Post 12Saving Avatar Images Some suggestions on how to save images of avatars created in the Dress Up page with items that you do not own. In other words, dream avatars.
• • •• This is the most important tip to keep in mind. Make your face expressive. Your avatar can be angry, haughty, bored, happy, crying, whatever.
If done right, you can even have a plain face and look expressive. That will be hard to achieve when you're new to creating avatars. So, for now, go as expressive as possible.
Tip: Avoid the Salon Durem eyes. Avoid the mouth in the dress up screen. Yes, it is very possible to achieve a good-looking avatar with the basic eyes and mouths. If you're capable of it, do it. If not, make life easier on yourself and use a pre-made face item. ^ ___^ There's no shame. You know, unless your expression is shameful~~
Example poses:
Customize it: The downside of pre-made faces is that other users will share your face. There are a lot of face-mod items on Gaia. You probably won't run into a lot of people with your same face. You will if you're using a popular item. However, there's nothing wrong with that unless you have some personal goal of being totally unique.
You can also make your own face using contacts, makeup, noses, mouths, and whatever else you want. Depending on the items you choose, this option can be more expensive than the pre-made faces.
Accessorize
Extra Comments
To customize a pre-made face, add glasses, moles, makeup, freckles, scars, eye patches, band-aids, etc.
The default eyes and mouths are fine to use too. Add makeup and such to make them look more unique.
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:33 pm
Q&D GuidePost Four: Body Mods
Arms Use body modification items to alter the default arms.
• • •• Since the early years on Gaia, users have complained about the look of the bare, default arms. Body mod arms fix this problem. Body mod arms are a big fad right now. They're the items that make it look like your avatar's arms are doing all sorts of poses that the default poses just can't do.
So make your arms move!
Example poses:
Customize it: The downside of most arm mods is that they're stationary. You get one pose. You might also not be able to equip bracelets, gloves, rings, jackets, handheld items, etc. You lose uniqueness that way.
Arm mods come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they're bare arms. Sometimes they're gloved. Sometimes they're shirts. Sometimes they're jackets. Sometimes they come with held items. Sometimes hidden handheld items or other poses will appear when you lift an arm. What you use will depend on the look you want for your avatar.
Remember to preview arm mods in the dress up screen! Check out the various arm poses to see how the arms behave.
The following items are gloves that modify the hands/arms.
Arms that equip with jackets
The following items would be best previewed in the dress up page. Each arm has 4 poses for a total of 9 overall poses.
Extra Comments
The downside of body mod arms is that you usually can't hold any items. This may not always be an issue, but holding an item often helps with theme and originality. Some body mod items still allow handheld items to equip. Play around with it and find what you need.
Most of these items currently affect both arms. Keep an eye out because the next fad will be items that affect only one arm at a time.
Test every body mod arm in the dress up screen. They often change depending on which pose your avatar's arms are in. Sometimes the color of the arms change. Sometimes the poses change. Sometimes handheld items or bonus poses will appear and disappear.
• • •• Use leg mods to lengthen your legs. This is especially needed if you're using arm mods that lengthen your arms. If not using leg mods, just use shoes that make the feet tiny. This goes for both males and females. Otherwise, go to the extreme and wear big, fluffy slippers.
Example poses:
Customize it: Keep an eye out for leg mods that allow you to also equip other items like skirts and socks. Bonus if you can find leg mods that look good with shoe clips (bows on the feet) for added color. Some shoes lengthen the avatar without altering the leg shape. And there are also shoes that lengthen the avatar and alter leg shape. It all depends on the look you want, but these items will allow you to use pants/socks with your avatar. Your leg color won't be dictated by the leg mod.
Some mods alter leg length and/or shape just by shoe alone.
The following items alter the legs, but still let you equip socks.
The following item is a special case. This item alters the shape of your legs. It does not alter shoes. You cannot wear socks. (Leggings/Stockings, the sock items that layer under normal socks, can be worn.)
Extra Comments
The downside of leg mods is that you often lose customization. You can't add layers of skirts, shorts, capris, leggings, socks, anklets, shoe clips, shoes and even shoes that equip over other shoes. There's a whole lot'ta ability to add color and texture to legs that you lose by using leg mods.
For many years on Gaia, the fad was to wear shoes that were as big as possible. Thus, slippers were very popular. This usually fixed any awkwardness that arose from the avatar base. Plus, a lot of the gold shop shoes didn't look... good. Eventually, tiny heels appeared. Girl avatars slowly began to favor tiny shoes. Eventually, we got pants that altered the legs to taper in slightly. Guys began to favor those pants. ...Much later, we got extreme leg mods that usually had avatars running while nearly doing the splits. People liked this though. XD; And now we have all sorts of leg mods in all sorts of colors.
While arms have multiple poses, legs only have two poses: standing and sitting. Don't forget that you've got two poses to work with! Some leg mod poses change drastically between standing and sitting.
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:35 pm
Q&D Guide Post Six: Match
Fad Colors Stick to a popular color palette.
• • •• This one's completely optional, but it still holds true. Gaians gravitate toward certain color fads. For a while it was cream. Then it was mint. We had a navy blue and bronze phase that lasted a long time. Then, well, I can keep going.
The fact of the matter is that Gaia now recolors pretty much every item. This pretty much guarantees that items will be released in your color palette.
Stick to a color palette. It doesn't necessarily have to be the fad, but it has to match.
Like I said, this is completely optional! Your avatar doesn't always have to match. However, we're currently in a phase where matching is a good thing, especially if you're using the fad colors. Current fad as of Feb 2015: Gray!
Keywords Here are some keywords to aid your marketplace search for these colors: (know any others? Please tell me so I can add them!)
Disclaimer This is not a foolproof method. Many recolored items retain the keywords from the original item. Thus, a blue recolor of a pink item may be tagged "pink" even though it is blue. Not all items are tagged properly. An item might be "toxic" green, but lack that tag. Some tags are generic. The tag "blue" will bring up many shades of blue.
The downside of fad colors is that you will blend in with everyone else. People who love the color scheme will stop and ogle your avatar. People who hate the color scheme might skip past it. Fad colors don't always align with cosplays. However, it's often possible that themed items will all be available in your color palette.
Most of Gaia's items get recolored. It's likely that the item you like is already available in a certain color or will soon be released in that color.
If you pay attention, Gaia is controlling the popular colors. Gaia will released a few items in a new shade before mass recoloring everything in that shade. For some reason, Gaians love to wear the newest shades. As of February 2014, the new shades are Pine green and Dusk gray. May-ish -- lemon yellow and bubblegum pink (often mislabeled as amaranth) June -- Melon/Shamrock and Fuscia/Teal July -- Demure, CMYK, that pastel rainbow, that rainbow that's like CMYK... September -- Fallen Wish, ifrit, astrolabe purple, candycorn Annnddd I stopped updating this section.
Don't know the Gaia name of a color? Look up a few items of that color in the marketplace. You should notice a common tag if the items are tagged by color. Another method is checking out popular items that have been recolored into every new shade. Some good ones to check are: the Beyond items.
Edit; Found a color guide to color guides. http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-guides-and-resources/color-guide-of-color-guides-updated-10-05/t.97102937/
Another one! http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/gaia-guides-and-resources/list-of-colour-scheme-guides-updated-03-31/t.97932505/
• • •• While not necessary, themes are a major plus. Use items that work well together. Some themes include: lolita, goth, punk, pirate, cute, cat, realistic, cosplay, matching, etc. Themes can be rather broad.
Also, pay attention to the forum or virtual hangout that you frequent. Each forum has its own style. The virtual spaces (Towns, Rally, Virtual Hollywood) have their styles too. What looks popular in one area may be deemed crappy in another area.
With that said, the style tips in this thread are general. They'll generally get you an avatar that looks okay in all areas of this site. Want to impress your friends (in your main hangout)? You'll have to add that extra bit that you guys find stylish.
This is especially true in some areas where fashion is based around certain popular items.
I'd add a list of examples here, but I only have a grasp on the style of like 3 or 4 areas. I don't want to appear to show favoritism so you'll have to figure out that flair on your own. Pay attention to common items/colors/themes that the avatars have. Incorporate those types of ideas into your own avatar.
It's easy. Do most of the people wear slippers? Do most of the people wear old 03 Donation Items? Do most of the people wear the newest items? Do most of the people wear paraphernalia from specific fandoms? Do most of the people prefer a specific style of body mod? Do most of them clutter items in unique ways? Make a mental note of the types of items that people wear... and then use items like that.
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:39 pm
Q&D GuidePost Eight: Details
Details Finishing touches.
• • •• Now that you've got the basics, here are some other things to keep in mind. (The following points are listed in no specific order.)
If you've used body mods, make sure your avatar's body isn't twisted in such a way that looks broken. For example, your torso shouldn't face right while your legs face left.
Make sure the clothing, body mods and facial expression all agree with your overall theme.
Adding a background can reinforce your theme. Don't use a background if it makes everything muddy and you can't see your avatar. Why go through all the trouble of making a nice avatar if you can't see it? (...If your goal is to blend with the background, go for it.)
Use Animated Items (items tagged with the word "astra") to add finishing touches. This is best achieved in small amounts. Have ears and a tail twitch. Wink or blink every so often. Maaybe flap a few wings. Don't do all of that plus throw confetti, fart rainbows and pop a mood bubble.
Gaians like humor. Adding humor to your avatar is a plus.
Don't clutter your avatar with random objects and creatures. If you must, at least have a theme.
This guide gives you a generic base to start with. It's up to you to add your own personal flair.
Hate what I say? Don't listen to me! It's okay. Seriously. Wear whatever you want to wear.
• • •• Here's where I try to show you that all you need to look good is to have a great facial expression. Second, use body mods. And last, have a theme (color may or may not be included).
As I said before, this is a quick project. As such, I'm gonna dig through my existing avatar collection. Sorry for lack of male models. If I flesh out this thread at a later time, I'll definitely try to use better examples for you all.
Disclaimer I'm pulling these examples from my avatars that I have saved. This is out of both laziness and necessity. These avatars share a similar style because I made them and because I'm limited by my inventory. They're nowhere near perfect. I also don't own many fad colors.
Extra Comments
Can you spot the gold shop items? How many of the above avatars have at least one gold shop item equipped?
Thirteen of the above fifteen avatars use at least one gold shop item. In fact, they all have two or more gold shop items. Gold shop items can look great! It's just like how premium items can look horrible. Use an item because it works. The overall look is what matters, not the cost of the avatar.
Add the examples of all gold shop items, plus face. Plus body mods.
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:41 pm
Q&D GuidePost Ten: Paws
Paws You guys got left out again, but because you're awesome.
• • •• Hey guys. Sorry for only linking to human items. These same tips apply to you all too.
Have expression. But you guys can have pretty simple expressions and look great. Use body mods... or not. Your arms and legs are already a cute, tapered chibi style. Use body mods just for extra arm/leg/wing/fin pose options. Stick to fad colors... or not. And you guys have a whole forum. Wear what you all find stylish. :3 While pawatars started out very simple (and some still are) you guys are making avatars that are becoming more and more complex. The more complex you get, the more these tips can apply. Bonus points for using a theme that closely fits with your type of animal.
I'll add a couple examples to this post on a rainy day.
• • •• Search for items from your inventory On Gaia, you can preview items in both the Marketplace and the Dress Up page. The advantage of previewing items in Dress Up is that you can preview multiple items at the same time.
To preview items in Dress Up:
Go to Dress Up. Type your search term into the search bar above the section tabs. To the right of the search bar, click "All Gaia." This will allow you to view items that you do not own. Selecting "My Inventory" will return items that you own. This can be helpful too. Click "Search." Your current search now appears in the invsearch tab on the very right that's labeled with the image of a magnifying glass. You may click your other tabs, equip items you own, and return to the search tab to select items from your last (current) search. Rinse and repeat as many times as necessary. The items that are currently being equipped on your avatar are located in a section below the avatar. The items you own are separated from the items you preview. When you attempt to save your avatar, you will see the following message:
Your avatar is wearing items that you don't own. If you continue to save your avatar, we will unequip all the items you don't own.
You cannot save changes to the avatar with items that you don't own. Just keep that in mind.
• • •• How to search You're set If you know the name of the item for which you're searching. Most items can be located by searching the item name.
But, what do you do if you don't know an item name? Or if you're doing a general search? Many items also have generic tags.
Some examples of tags that reveal items of a certain type:
premiumcs - Items sold directly in the Cash Shop premiumci - Items that spawned from RIGs/CIs (Chance Items). premiummc - Monthly Collectibles premiumei - Evolving Items (EIs) and Rapid Evolving Items (REIs) astra - Animated Items
You can also generically search for different kinds of items.
To find eyes, try words like: eyes, contacts To find faces, try words like: eyes, face, mouth, lips To find mouths try: mouth, lips, To find noses: nose To find arms: armmod, arms, mod, gloves To find legs: legmod, legs, leg, mod To find other extras: Beard, mustache, scar, glasses, blush, makeup, eyeshadow, brow, ring
Extra Comments
Use the item search in Dress Up to create Dream Avatars. You can create avatars with items that you don't own. This is great for planning out future outfits.
I find it easier to preview items without the dressing room background behind the avatar. Deselect the "Show Background" option to make the background appear white. This option is located below the avatar (below the equipped items section).
With this method, you can only preview one item at a time in Dress Up. Want to wear 3 poses from one item? You can't.
There's an exception though: Evolving Items (EIs) and Rapid Evolving Items (REIs). These items have different generations, but contain the same poses. (In the case of EIs, they will all contain the same poses once they are done evolving.) You can equip multiple poses from the same Evolving Item as long as they all come from different generations.
The Dress Up search is limited to the first 600 items returned by the search term(s). You can't sort it by price or item type, either. Narrow your search as much as possible by using smart search terms.
Recolors of items often retain the links from the original item. If you'd like to see an item in all of its recolors, search for the original. (You can tell the original one because the recolors will have its name in common).
Basically, pay attention to the item tags. Keep a mental note of the words items are tagged with. The more tags you use, the better you can narrow your search. Be sure to have the search sorted by "Relevancy" if your search contains multiple words.
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:43 pm
Q&D GuidePost Twelve: How To Save Avatar Images
Saving Avatar Images
• • •• Here's a quick section to explain how you can save images of "dream avatars" created using the inventory search option of Dress Up.
As you know, you cannot save your avatar with items that you do not own. But what can you do if you want to share the image of an avatar made with items that you don't own? Here are two options.
Option One: Print Screen It The advantage of this is that you can control what you want to save. You can crop and save just the avatar. Or your cropped image could include the item icons.
Just use the Print Screen button to copy the image. (Don't know what that key is? Here's a link to the Wikipedia article.) Open up your Paint program on your computer. Paste. (ctrl + P) Use the Select tool to crop the image. Upload the image to your favorite image hosting site. (I happen to always use tinyurl.com)
Option Two - Directly Save to Computer The advantage of this is that it's the fastest method. The downside is that the avatar remains the same size as it is during dress up -- giant. It will also retain the background (either the dressing room image or a white background).
Right click the avatar. Save the image. Upload image to your favorite image hosting site.
Option Three - Add to Outfits Before Saving The advantage of this is that the saved image will be the same size as a regular avatar. The down side is that you'll need to have an open outfit slot.
Open the outfits (located to the bottom left of the item icons). If you have an open outfit slot, you should see the avatar in it. If you don't have an open outfit slot, get one. Right click the avatar in the outfit slot. Save the avatar. (Literally save the image of the avatar. You do not need to save the avatar to that outfit slot. It doesn't hurt though.) Upload image to your favorite image hosting site.
Need a more detailed explanation? Let me know and I'll try to help ya out.
