What is Shape?

Shape is the form and outline of an avatar: the length of the legs, the size of hands, the amount of belly, the shape of lips, etc. Shape is very much a personal preference. Some people try to model their avatar's shape on their own real life shape. Others like to model it on a celebrity, a game figure or someone in the news. And still others let their imagination run wild.

How is Shape is Created?

Shape is changed by right clicking on your avatar and selecting "Edit My Shape." A dialog box appears with presenting several categories and a series of "Appearance Sliders" to make shape changes. Here's what it looks like:

Shapes are Wearables

Like skin, underwear, pants and shirts, shapes which have been saved are wearables. Too, like any wearable in your inventory, to use it, you right click on it and select "Wear." Shapes appear in your inventory with the following icon beside it:

Shapes for System and Mesh bodies

It's important to understand that a shape created for the system body often will not look the same when worn on a mesh body. There are a couple of reasons:

• For one, the system body and the mesh body will be constructed differently. The creator of a mesh body for artistic and aesthetic reasons will sculpt areas of the body differently than the system body.
• The way the mesh body is weighted also plays a role. (Weighting is the way the mesh surrounding bone reacts as the bones are moved).

Depending on which Appearance Slider is used, the body shape can be changed by lengthening or shortening bones, or it may be changed by stretching the mesh itself (called morphing).

What this means is if you have been using a shape for a system body - or even a shape for another type of mesh body - the shape will probably not look the same with the Viva body. Because of this difference between system and mesh, I have included several starter shapes designed specifically for Viva.

Where to Find the Shapes

The shapes are found in Viva's Main Folder in the following subfolder: "Viva: Shapes for Mesh Body. The Level 2 (Lite) version includes a set of shapes for the Viva body with a system head. The Level 3 (Full Featured) version includes an additional set of shapes which are designed for the Viva body with the Bento head.

Level 3 Shapes: System Heads and Mesh Heads

For the Level 3 version, you'll find that each shape in one set has an equivalent shape in the other set, so there's a "classic" shape for the system head and a "classic" shape for the Bento head. The two are named like this:

• Body Shape (With System Head) - Classic & Proportional
• Body Shape (With Bento Head) - Classic & Proportional

While the body shapes are exactly the same, you will see a difference in facial features with system and Bento shapes of the same name. In particular, you will be able to see this when you are making changes to the face. If you try to use the same slider values from a system head and apply it to a Bento head, the facial features will look different. The reason for this has been mentioned previously, including the way the head has been constructed and the way it has been weighted. But there's also additional factor involved and that is that underlying system used by Appearance Sliders for Bento heads is than different system used by system heads.

I've made an attempt to try to match the facial characteristics of shapes of the same name, but as you'll see it's very approximate. Nevertheless, they provide you with something to work with. All of the shapes in the folder are modifiable. Feel free to use them as is. Or use them as a starting shape and re-work them as needed.

One last thing. Some of the slider adjustments in the "Chin" category can lead to a bumpiness around the jawline. When making changes here, watch carefully how the face reacts, and make sure that the jaw and lower chin remains smooth.

Links to Help Support | Viva Forum | Creator's Information | Comparison Chart of the 3 Levels