Avatar UV Templates
Avatar Wearing UV Suit - Get yours at Benten (17,105)

Linden has provided us with Templates and Models to help us make Skins and Clothing for our Avatars.

However, I've found that the "templates" leave several things to be desired. They aren't set up for accurate matching across the UV Seams, and it's difficult to "find your place" when working with them. So I've taken the models, subdivided them in LightWave, and used the tools there to make Vector UV Maps for all the parts.

Then I worked on them in Photoshop to get maps that are much easier for me to work with. I think you might find them easier, too. The original idea to subdivide the Avatar models came from Chip Midnight's excellent templates. However, without meaning to denigrate them, they still weren't really what I wanted, so I made my own.

These have the non-subdivided polygons in different colors for each map, so you can tell at a glance which portion of the map you are working on. They also have large Matching Outlines, in different colors, so you can easily tell which parts of the map meet the others on the Avatar. I've added colored horizontal stripes and black vertical stripes to make it simpler to tell which row of polys are which. In addition, I've put colored Match Lines on the arms and shoulders, since those are the areas that are frequently hardest to match, so you can see exactly which polygon edges meet up across the front and back of the maps.

Most importantly, I think, I've made the original Vector maps into Vector Smart Objects in Adobe Photoshop CS2. This means that they will remain sharp and clear no matter what resolution you use. So, for the very tricky seams, you can increase the map size to 2048x2048, and the match lines will be as thin, crisp, and jaggie-free as they are at 1024x1024. (Please, though, don't bring things into SL at this resolution. 512x512 is plenty for in-world use.) If you happen to own CS2, you might this as helpful as I do.

I have provided several ways to download these files, in several different formats. So help yourself! (The non-.jpg files are all zipped, and the Photoshop files include instructions for use.)

If this page has come loose from the frame it's supposed to be in, or is in someone else's frame, just click here, then choose AV UV Templates from the list on the left.

If you have a question, write to me and ask it!

Everything on this site is copyright © Robin Wood; all rights reserved. Feel free to link to these pages, print them out for yourself, and use them yourself to create content for Second Life without restrictions. However, you may not distribute them in any way, (post them on your site, put them on a CD, use printed copies as handouts in a class, make books out of them to sell in SL, etc.) without permission. To get permission, write to Robin, and explain what you intend to use it for.