Day 251: Prim Hair Adjustment

(Note: no laughing allowed...its not funny! :P)

Do you have a bald spot on your head when you wear certain a prim hair? Dont you wish you could move that one lock of hair that keeps poking your nose?

Because we are all unique in Second Life, each of us has slightly different sized heads. So for prim attachments, particularly prim hair, you may need to adjust them to get that perfect fit.

Since I make prim hairs now (yay!), I thought it would be a good idea to write a tutorial on adjusting prim hair :) There are quite a few things you can do to get that perfect fit. I will start with the easiest and continue to the more complex.

This tutorial should help you get the perfect fit from just about any prim hair in your Inventory, not just Sirena Hair. Of course, this tutorial works particularly well Sirena hair styles ;P


Pose-Stand and Camera Controls

Like me, you probably spend most of the time looking at the back of your avatar's head :) But when it comes to adjusting prim hair, we need to see the hair from many different angles. A couple things really help with this: a pose-stand and the SL Camera Controls.



A pose-stand is one of those bumpy things you find on the floor of most shops. Just Right-click on one and select "Stand" to use it.

Pose-stands freeze your avatar into a fixed position thats lined up with the compass points. This makes it easier for you to adjust any attachments you might be wearing.

There are pose-stands available in many places, including the floor of the Sirena Hair store. Free free to use these pose-stands to make any adjustments you might need!

Most hair designers include a free pose-stand with their hair. If you dont have one, you can pick up a free one from the Sirena Hair store. This enables you to make adjustments in private.

Be sure to go somewhere that allows you to build things. Drag-and-drop the pose-stand from your Inventory to the floor. Then just Right-click on the pose-stand and select "Stand" to use it.

Now we need to get a good look at ourselves :)

There are 2 different ways to control the SL Camera. You can use the Camera Controls. Or you can use the "Alt" key and zoom around. For simplicity sake, I will just talk about the Camera Controls here.



To open the Camera Controls window, click on View at the top menu bar, and select Camera Controls.

The Camera Controls is a little pop-up window that lets you adjust your SL Camera. This window enables you to pan, zoom, or tilt your view.

Once you are on a pose-stand, try pressing the various buttons in the Camera Controls window for different views. When you are adjusting your hair, be sure to check the hair from different angles.


Resizing Your Head

If the prim hair appears too small or too big, the easiest thing you can do is change the size of your head to fit the hair. This may sound backwards, but its something to keep in mind if youre in a hurry...

BTW, this only works if you have Mod permission to your avatar's shape. If you purchased your avatar's shape, theres a good chance you may not be able to modify the size of your head. Fortunately, you can resize most hairs :)

There are 3 settings under Appearances that really affect how well a prim hair fits: Head Size, Head Stretch, and Head Shape.

Most hair designers build their prim hairs using certain settings. The designers will usually tell you the settings in a Notecard they include. For example, Sirena Hair comes in 3 sizes: (S)mall, (M)edium, and (L)arge. They are fitted for:

     (S)mall- Head Size:35, Head Stretch:50, Head Shape:50
     (M)edium- Head Size:50, Head Stretch:50, Head Shape:50
     (L)arge- Head Size:75, Head Stretch:50, Head Shape:50

This doesnt mean you have to use Head Size:50 to wear a (M)edium hair. A (M)edium hair should fit someone with Head Size:60 quite well. But if the hair appears a bit small, try lowering your Head Size slightly until the hair looks nice (say, to around Head Size:55).



To adjust your Head Size/Head Stretch/Head Shape, first Wear the prim hair you are trying to fit. Then Right-click on your avatar, select "Appearance..." from the Pie Menu. In the Appearance window, select the "Shape" tab, and click on the "Head" button.

From here you can change the Head Size, Head Stretch, or Head Shape. They are the first 3 settings.

Once you have the perfect fit, click "Save As" and enter a Name for the new shape. Alternatively, you might want to click on "Make Outfit" to save a copy of everything you are currently wearing.


Repositioning the Hair

Some hair designers include different-sized hairs in the package. For example, Sirena Hair comes in (S)mall, (M)edium, and (L)arge. This makes it much easier to fit a wider range of head sizes without having to actually modify the hair. You can just pick a hair size that fits you best :)



Sometimes, a hair style may seem a bit out of place (perhaps too high up or too low). Fortunately, its quick and easy to reposition the hair.



First, Wear the prim hair you want to adjust. Then Right-click on the prim hair on your head and select "Edit...". Make sure the Ruler Mode at the top of the Edit window says "Attachment".



Now, click and drag the Red/Green/Blue arrows to move the hair around. Do this slowly, since you only need to make slight adjustments in most cases.

When everything looks good, close the Edit window. Right-click on the prim hair and select "Detach". This will "save" the changes youve made. When you Wear the hair again, it will be in the right place :)


Making a Backup Copy of a Hair

If you would rather modify the prim hair instead of your head (I dont blame you :P), be sure you make a backup copy of the hair first! Theres nothing worse than having SL lag ruin the only copy of your hair while you are resizing it.



Almost all SL hair designers give you Mod/Copy permissions to the prim hair. You can tell by looking at the hair in your Inventory: it should only say "(no transfer)" next to the name.

If you see "(no mod)", you would not be able to modify that hair. If you see "(no copy)", be very careful when making changes, since thats your only copy!

To make a backup copy of a hair, find the hair you want to backup in your Inventory. Right-click on the hair and select "Copy". Right-click on the hair again and select "Paste". This will create a duplicate of the hair.



(Optional) You can change one of the hair Names to make it easier to distinguish. Right-click on one of the copies and select "Rename". Now add a note to the end of the name, like "(backup)" or something.


Stretching the Hair

OK, so either you cant or dont want to resize your head (like me :D). None of the sizes provided by the hair designer seem to fit. And repositioning the hair didnt seem to fix it. Its time to make some real changes :)

In all likelihood, the hair is either too small or too big. Fortunately, we can resize the entire hair at the same time by stretching it. After you resize the hair, you may also have to reposition the hair.

Make a Backup Copy of the hair first!!! Dont modify the original copy...lag makes funny things happen in SL :P And its a good idea to use a pose-stand if you want to seriously modify your hair!

Try to go somewhere with relatively low lag (a sim with few residents). Dont do this in the middle of a Dance Club :P

First, Wear the prim hair you want to adjust. Then Right-click on the prim hair on your head and select "Edit...".



Click on the "Stretch (Ctrl-Shift)" button at the top of your Edit window. You will see some small white boxes appear around the hair. Click and drag any one of these white boxes to stretch the hair. Move the white box towards the hair to make it smaller. Move the box away from the hair to make the hair larger. Be sure you do this SLOWLY!!!

On a busy SL day, you might need to stretch your hair in several steps. Try stretching it a little. Stop. Then stretching it a little more. Lag really has a big impact on this!

Its possible that a prim hair might refuse to shrink below a certain size. This happens when one of the prims in the prim hair is at 0.01M (the minimum size for a prim in SL). Unfortunately, theres no easy way to tell which prim. Try shrinking the hair slowly in little steps. If it refuses to shrink below a certain point, then you know one of the prims is at 0.01M...

Once you stretch a hair to the right size, you might need to reposition the hair. Just close the Edit window and follow the steps for "Repositioning the Hair" above.


Repositioning Individual Prims

Lets say theres a lock of hair that pokes at your nose, or comes through the back of your ear. Or you want that bang just a little higher or lower.

As long as you have Mod permission to a hair, you can reposition any piece of hair you like. You can even stretch any single piece of hair.

Just be sure you make a backup first, particularly if you want to work with individual prims!

First, Wear the prim hair you want to adjust. Then Right-click on the prim hair on your head and select "Edit...".



Click on the "Edit linked parts" box at the top of the Edit window. Now click on any single prim in the hair. Only that prim should be selected.

You can now move that single prim around using the Red/Green/Blue arrows. You can also stretch the prim by selecting "Stretch (Ctrl-Shift)" from the top of the Edit window.

To move another prim, just click on it to select it.

When you are done adjusting a hair, be sure you Right-click on the hair and select "Detach". This will "save" the setting you made.



Thats it! :) That wasnt so bad, was it?

37779-071006-294930-80

© 2007 All Rights Reserved.