Avatars represent a brand new meeting of human communications. The virtual worlds are worlds where people come to socialize, where people come to build cities, work, and try utopian experiences, to build together and learn together.
- Bruce Damer
Background[]
Avatars are a concrete representation of our abstract selves.
Users on Worlds have different relationships with their avatars, sometimes sticking to one particular avatar, a few, or always experimenting with the avatar they wear.
The default avatars available to users are categorized as either Holographic (2-D) or Articulated (3-D).
Etiquette[]
Do not steal other users' custom avatars. As is the norm for many other forms of digital art, ask the creator if it's okay to use their creation. If it is hosted for public consumption in an Avatar world, then it is usually fine.
Articulated Avatars[]
These three-dimensional avatars are available to users with VIP. They can also be manipulated in creative ways.
Below is a gallery of the 200+ avatars available on WorldsPlayer.
Pictures by Crowsmold.
Holographic Avatars[]
These two-dimensional avatars are available to all users at any time. They cannot be manipulated in creative ways in the same way that holographic avatars can.
[GALLERY COMING SOON]
Customizing Avatars[]
First, enable Shaper. Then, check out these guides for tips on creating avatars with Shaper:
- Modifying Avatar Code to Build a Custom VIP Avatar by Aujord
- Worlds VIP Avatar Codes by Thought_Knox. Text itself is hosted by Bad-Dude.
- Practical Avatar-making by Cake1234566 aka Jett.
Using Your Own 3D Model as an Avatar[]
The steps below are highly advanced and assume you already know how to make a .rwx 3D model with the proper textures and file size.
If you add an .rwx file to your Avatar URL in Shaper, you will get the following error message:
"Invalid URL: must have extension that matches: rwg;mov"
To do it successfully, there's two methods.
Method 1[]
Step 1: Have a working .rwx model with 24-bit .bmp texture associated with it.
Step 2: Upload the model online so that it has a URL like http://yourwebsite.com/avatars/test.rwx
Step 3: Open WorldsPlayer and go to your Shaper > Objects menu. Find Posable Shape and drag it in front of you. It will be invisible except for a red dot indicating its location.
Step 4: In the Posable Shape's Avatar (URL), paste in the .rwx model URL. You should now see what your model looks like when imported into Worlds. No one else can see this except yourself. Keep in mind that you cannot size or rotate the model once imported into Worlds. If you need to do either of those things, you will need to open the .rwx model in a 3D modeling program like Accutrans or Blender and re-export it to your website.
Step 5: Go to your Shaper > Actions menu. Find Select Avatar and drag it into the Actions under the Posable Shape item in the hierarchy menu on the left..
Step 6: You can now click on the model and it will allow you to select it as your avatar.
Method 2[]
Step 1: Have a working .rwx model with 24-bit .bmp texture associated with it.
Step 2: Upload the model online so that it has a URL like http://yourwebsite.com/avatars/test.rwx
Step 3: Close out of WorldsPlayer.
Step 4: Navigate to your Worlds install directory and find your worlds.ini file.
Step 5: Run Notepad as an administrator > open the worlds.ini file.
Step 6: Under VIPAvatar= , change the .rwg string to whatever your .rwx model URL is and click Save.
Step 7: Next time you log on to Worlds, your custom avatar will be displayed to both you and other users.
Keep in mind that you cannot size or rotate the model once imported into Worlds. If you need to do either of those things, you will need to open the .rwx model in a 3D modeling program like Accutrans or Blender and re-export it to your website.
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