Resident-created content

The majority of the agreeable in the Second Life apple is Resident-created. Linden Lab actively promotes the abstraction that Association absorb the bookish acreage rights to altar they actualize (although they are appropriate to action Linden Lab a bound authorization for the purposes of advance and marketing.4

Only LSL scripts, wearables, images fabricated from in apple snapshots, and the basal 3D altar (called "Primitives" or "Prims") or composites of scripts, images and prims, can be created alone with the applicant (although a approaching absolution promises to be able to actualize animations, as BVH files, aural the client).

Animations can be fabricated with assorted software, such as Qavimator, Avimator, and Poser, or they can be acquired via motion capture. Avimator is a simple, accessible antecedent apparatus for creating and alteration avatar animations just for Second Life. It is accessible for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Animations can be triggered by scripts and acclimated in hot-keyed gestures.

Textures can be uploaded as TGA, Bitmap, JPEG and PNG, and are fabricated in applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop Pro, or The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). Textures can be activated to the apparent of any 3D object, land, clothing, an avatar's derma (including tattoos) and can be acclimated as scripted particles.5

Sounds can be fabricated application any section of software able of creating WAV files, alignment from an Operating System's basal complete recorder, media players such as foobar2000, as able-bodied as committed audio alteration bales such as Audacity and Pro Tools.

Every citizen has admission to a library of textures, animations, sounds and altar provided by Linden Lab, begin in the Library folder. Textures, animations and sounds amount L$10 anniversary to upload.6 JPEGs, although abate in book size, are not recommendedcitation needed back they will be adapted to JPEG2000 book architecture on upload behindhand of aboriginal book format. TGA files accept the added advantage of alpha approach transparency. Images are sized to the next aboriginal of a alternation of defaults, with the better getting 1024x1024.

editAvatars

A macho animal avatar.

A changeable vampire avatar.

Residents of Second Life are represented in the ambiance by an avatar. The basal avatar is humanoid in appearance which may be customized in a array of ways:

A alternation of GUI controls, modifying every aspect of the basal cobweb (body shape, skin, hair appearance etc.)

Creating accouterment or affairs clothes fabricated by added Residents

Attachments — 3D altar advised to supplement or alter physique structure, clothes or hair

Animation Overriders (intended to supplement or alter the banal set of animations) application LSL to activate BVH architecture animations.

Sonic Overriders — application LSL to activate sounds such as footsteps, or affecting cues such as laughing, arrant and orgasms.

The aftereffect can either be affectionate to the aboriginal humanoid avatar, or can aftereffect in a absolutely non-humanoid representation of the character. These customizations can be packaged up into a individual outfit, with accepted applications of apparel including animals, robots, mechs, furries, Clone Troopers and "tinies", which are just "folded up" (via a changeless action — a "pose") approved avatars.

A changeable neko avatar.

editObjects

Second Life includes a congenital 3D Modeler that allows Association to actualize circuitous altar out of a set of basal architecture blocks accepted as prims (short for "primitives") - parametric models acknowledging activating scalar akin of detail. Second Life uses Havok for apish physics, admitting not all altar in the apple acknowledge to physics. A approaching amend will cover Havok 47 support, an advance that Second Life association accept accessible back it was aboriginal appear by Linden Lab afore June, 2002. All altar and 3D advice are streamed in real-time to all clients. This allows for real-time alteration of 3D altar so any Citizen can appearance what is getting created as it is getting created.

The 3D altar can be acclimated to accomplish avatar attachments, vehicles, buildings, furniture, carve or annihilation abroad the user can anticipate of. Accessories can be something as simple as a brace of glasses, or a circuitous alternation of altar in adjustment to accomplish the avatar attending like something abroad entirely. Cars can ambit from a baby brace of roller skates to a car,8 to ample and abounding calibration replica of fabulous cars from Sci-Fi and Anime9101112

In the aboriginal bisected of 2007 Linden Lab added a new affection to Second Life: the achievability to actualize sculpted prims. Whereas prims are based on simple geometrical shapes, as cylinders, cubes, or spheres, sculpted prims are based on a appropriate blazon of displacement maps, area the red, blooming and dejected apparatus announce how to position the vertexes of one of the 4 abject appearance topologies (sphere, cylinder, torus and plane).