November 6, 2007 4:00 AM PST
Book excerpt: 'The Entrepreneur's Guide to Second Life'
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If there's one thing that every expert in the Second Life fashion business agrees on, it's that you need to develop some technical skills before you can do anything. This isn't surprising, given that every bit of fashion you see in-world was created using software tools that take some time to learn.
The consensus is that the one software program everyone should learn is Adobe Photoshop. Beyond that, there are many different programs, such as GIMP (the free GNU Image Manipulation Program), that can help. Be prepared to spend several hundred dollars US on software if you don't already have it.
"I use Photoshop and LightWave for texturing," says Starley Thereian. "I think it takes some natural talent or a good eye for style, as well as at least some degree of proficiency in your software."
If you don't already have that proficiency, consider taking a class--your ability to create the fine textures is what will make your fashion products stand out.
"I taught myself how to use Photoshop," says Starley, "but it took me at least a year or two to be really comfortable in it, (and) I'm still no expert by any means."
Jennyfur Peregrine, whose designs are well known and who specializes in Goth and Victorian fashion, among other types, says you need a high degree of understanding of layering and manipulating the templates inside the graphics program you choose. Further, she says you need to have basic Second Life photographic skills for framing and composition for all of your box images, store modeling, and the like.
"Packaging is a big part of the design process," Jennyfur explains. "I probably spend just as much time imaging my items as I do creating them, from photo shoots to careful editing in Photoshop to branding, logo design, and making advertisements."
Equally important is learning 3D texturing, which involves learning how to use the many different Second Life fashion templates. Linden Lab provides a whole series of them for free, and members of the community also offer some.
To start, you may want to use the Linden Lab templates, but to those with more experience, they are limiting.
Hyasynth Tiramisu recommends the free templates provided by Chip Midnight, saying they offer more flexibility than the ones from Linden Lab. Either way, you must import the templates into Photoshop or a similar program that can read Photoshop 7.1 PSD files.
It's also worth spending some time taking classes in Second Life that teach you how to make clothing or other fashion items. There is a wide variety of such classes, taught by many experts.
Classes are listed in the event calendar; click on the Category box and choose Education to see a list of the available classes for the current day or for whichever day you select on the calendar.
Also, learn how to import the textures you've created in your graphics program into the templates and how to manipulate them there. Acquire a good understanding of how prims--the basic Second Life building blocks--work.
Skins: The most profitable fashion business
When you think of fashion, you may well think first of clothing. But as in real life, in Second Life fashion has many elements: clothing, jewelry, shoes, hairstyles, lingerie, etc. One you may not think of, however, is the most profitable of them all: skins.
In Second Life, a skin is what covers your avatar underneath (or, sometimes, instead of) clothes. Residents can select from a few basic skins when they first sign in, and can change a skin's look using the Appearance tools.
For many residents, the path to good looks must include a designer skin. There are freebie skins available, but the best skins created by the most-talented designers, with realistic tone, shading, and detailing, can cost more than L$1,000.
And because so many people want different skins and want to have a collection of different skins to suit their mood and their clothing, a booming and highly profitable market has emerged.
Indeed, pricing for skins can be substantially higher than for clothing. That's because, the experts say, it is substantially harder to design them and have them look good.
Munchflower Zaius is well known for her skins, and she says it's no wonder that they are the most profitable fashion item.
"Most people charge more for skins than clothing, and they seem to be a higher priority than having cool clothes," Munchflower says. People "must look good naked first, I guess."
A male avatar may only own one or two skins, with variations in tan or facial hair, perhaps. However, female avatars will routinely purchase a new skin simply to get different eyebrows, freckles, or cosmetics options.
Skins are often sold in six-packs where the only variation is in the makeup, so that it's easy to keep the same base look while swapping the pale lips and light blush day-at-the-beach-in-her favorite-bikini-makeup for the bright lipstick and glitter eye shadow that goes with that new ball gown.
And, the market for them is nearly unlimited. That's because a skin is something that virtually every avatar buys at least once to replace their first default skin. But female avatars take skins very seriously, upgrading every time their favorite designers do.
With some female avatars owing upward of 100 skins, at L$1,000 or more, it's easy to see why this is such a strong market, and can add up to some serious money.
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Put it this way if 2ndLife was not in Silicon Valley (San Francisco) and had not received VC funding, you would NEVER be reading about it over & over here or elsewhere in Big media, after so many people have said that it is boring & useless. I mean who wants to download a 50MB software to chat as a silly looking Avatar with other
silly looking Avatars. And then have to download that 50MB software in 2 weeks as they change it.
After all, if people want to enter a 3D world to have a virtual world experience and to have fun then they will choose an game like World of War Craft which is media rich and action packed. If people want to have an online business class meeting they would use a product such as eauditorium which is instant to use and offers
application sharing & voice conferencing which are essential features for business meetings.
While I often wonder what some Second Life users see in SL to devote so much time & energy to it, I also wonder what it is about SL that engenders as much energy (& perhaps as much time) spent in the denigration of SL. It's like the PC/Mac wars. Ultimately, use the right tool for the job - or spend your entertainment time using the gadget or program or service that suits you - whatever it may be.
Some people like Second Life- where you make the goal.
On a plus side, all Second Life users legally own IP Rights to anything they create. In games like WoW, you legally own nothing, it all belongs to Blizzard.
Besides all the hype, the number of Second Life residents making a "Sustainable" Living is around 400 or so. Not as big as the media would lead people to believe. I myself only make between $400-$600 a month. And thats from stuff I did in Photoshop about 2 years ago (all designs are copyrighted too). I pay about $15/month for Premium Membership, which is what I'd pay to play Warcraft too, yet I make 26 to 40x that back.
Honestly tho, trying to compare Second Life to other MMO's is Apple's and Oranges. One's an Open-Ended Platform, the others are games.
I said I am sick of Dan Terdiman and Second Life, and that SL is a game for social outcasts and pedophiles who would rather wank it to cartoon images on a computer screen rather than go out and meet real people, and that it will run its course sooner rather than later and be forgotten about.
Seriously, why do people play this thing. Its only doing things you can do in real life. In something like World of Warcraft, you can play as a elf with swords and battle-axes fighting dragons and orcs and gaint monsters, and use spells. Thats something you cant do in real life, you use your imagination to "play" in a dream world, and its fun.
So what am I going to do in SL? LOOK AT ME, I'M SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES. WOW WEE!!!!! Cast level 10 change hair color to blond spell!!!
Also, I use to work for an internet company, and they lied about the number of people that visited the site everyday, all internet companies do, Linden is doing the same.