Virtual Neko in Second Life

Neko Attachment Points 101
(or… how do Nekos get all of those attachments onto their bodies at the same time?)

So you bought a cute tail, and when you chose “wear,” it attached (by default) to your stomach. No problem.

Then you bought an amazing accessory belt, but when you chose “wear,” your tail disappeared because the belt also attaches (by default) to your stomach.

Then you tried to wear your skirt prim, and there went the belt… replaced by the skirt, because the skirt also attaches (by default) to your stomach.

With 30 possible attachment points (*see note), you’d think getting dressed wouldn’t be so hard…

If you want to wear all three of these items, but they all default-attach to your stomach when worn, are you stuck? Nope. In most cases, you can modify your items to make each of them attach to alternate points, and edit them to move them into proper position. All it takes is a little time, a little thought, and some editing skills. This page will (hopefully) show you how.

*NOTE: As of Fall 2009, Using the alternate “Emerald” viewer software on a Mac computer gives you twice as many attachment points! PC users should be getting this feature soon…

Image created by Angrybeth Shortbread; with warm thanks to AnaLutetia for bringing this helpful diagram to everyone’s attention!

Definition of an Attachment Point:

Your avatar has 30 different attachment points / places to attach items (such as hair, hats, jewelry, facelights, shoes, and all of those lovely Neko accessories we’re so fond of wearing). To see them all (and discover what your avatar may already have attached to some of them), go up to your top menu in the Second Life viewer, and choose Edit -> Detach Object (don’t actually detach anything… this is just to show you what’s there).

Each of these attachment points has a slightly different behavior, depending on its location. For instance, if you attach something to your Left or Right Hand, the item you attach will move with your hand when you walk. That’s how a ring “stays put” on your hand, even when your hand is swinging back and forth as you walk.

Likewise, an item attached to your nose will move left and right when your avatar turns its head left and right. This is exactly what you want to happen, if you attached a big clown nose there. But if you tried to use the nose attachment point for a necklace, the necklace will turn left and right when your head does, which won’t look right.

Why would you wear a necklace on your nose? Well, you wouldn’t… but you *could* attach it to your spine (because the spine attachment point doesn’t turn left and right like the head does), and that will leave your chest attachment point available for a cool Neko backpack. Read on…

Wearing versus Attaching:

You can get an object onto one of your attachment points either by wearing it, or by (manually) attaching it. However “Wearing” and “Attaching” are two different things in the context of these directions.

– Choosing “wear” will attach the item to a default point chosen by the designer.
– Choosing “attach to” will attach the item to a point chosen by YOU.

When you choose to manually “attach to” a different attachment point than its default (such as attaching a Neko tail to your spine, rather than your stomach), its position will look a little strange at first, but you can edit the tail to move it into proper position. That means suddenly, your stomach attachment point is available for that cool accessory belt!

To Summarize:

If you want to wear three items, all of which are defaulted to the same “stomach” attachment point, you will have to wear one, and attach the other two items onto two different attachment points, followed by some editing to get those two items into the right place.

After you have edited an item to make it attach to a new attachment point, you never have to choose “attach to” again (on that modified item). You can simply choose “wear” the next time, and the modified item will go right back to the same attachment point you chose when you edited it. (Of course if you choose “attach to,” it will also work).

Getting Started:

1.) Choosing Which Items to Modify:

Where possible, it’s best if you can start with items that are “copy & mod okay,” as that will allow you to create a back-up copy of the original item before you start editing it. Believe me, when you’re first learning how to edit, if you screw up the only copy you have, you’ll get annoyed. Make a duplicate copy before you edit.

No-copy items can certainly be modified (assuming they are modify-okay), but if you modify your one-and-only copy, and two weeks later, you forget that you modified it, and try to simply “wear” the modified item, it will try to go back to where you manually attached it the last time, and end up hanging off your body somewhere.

Handy Tip: When you make a copy of the item, rename it just a little bit before you start to edit it. I usually keep the original name, but add these words at the end: Att Spine (this reminds me that this item was modified to be “Attached to my Spine” so I don’t get confused two weeks later), or Att L Pec, or Att Chest, etc.

2.) Choosing Your Attachment Points:

When you’re trying to attach a lot of items, you want to think carefully about where each item is normally located, and if the nearest available attachment point is going to cause the item to move around or not (like the necklace on the nose example).

Sometimes you can get away with a little bit of item movement, such as attaching a Neko tail to your Left or Right Pec (these are my secret tail attachment points, when my stomach / chest / spine attachment points are full — they accommodate a tail pretty well for walking and most movements). But don’t be surprised if you sit down and your AO’s “special sexy ground sit” makes your tail look a bit strange.

Unless one of you lovely readers has found a good chart that shows which attachment points are recommended for certain items, it’s best to just start attaching and experimenting until you begin to understand how each attachment point works. (I might get around to making a chart like this one of these days…)

Generally speaking, it’s good to choose an attachment point that’s close to where the item usually sits. For example, belts are best on stomach, chest, or spine attachment points (not hips, because hips move/turn too much). However a necklace can go on those attachment points too. In time, you’ll begin to learn which items looks best on what attachment points (and whether they are going to move around with your body, once you attach it there).

3.) Knowing Basic Editing Skills:

Once you get an item attached to its new point, you’ll have to edit it, in order to move it into proper position. To do that, you need to know the following:

Posestand: You want to stand on a posestand to keep your avatar from moving around while you edit (right click a pose stand, and choose “stand”). Search your inventory for ‘posestand,’ as chances are good you already have one that you can rez to use. If you don’t have one, many stores have posestands available (hint: look for those strange square or round flat objects on the store floor). Some stores include posestands in their boxes when you purchase one of their items, like EarthStones jewelry does.

Camera Controls: You need to know how to use basic camera controls (View -> Camera Controls). I like to keep this little window open at all times on my view screen, tucked down into a corner, especially when I visit stores that have vendor windows wayyyy up high on the walls.

Mouse View Adjustment: For finer control of your camera, you need to know how to use your mouse to get in close, by pressing and holding down your alt key (PC) or option key (Mac) as you slide your mouse forward. Watch Torley’s video Looking Around With Camera Controls to find out how.

Zoom-In View: You need to know how to zoom very close in for fine adjustments: PC users press alt + 0 / Mac users press option + 0.  These can be pressed multiple times to get closer and closer. To restore normal view, press alt + 9 [PC] or option + 9 [Mac].

Edit Toolbox: You need to have some familiarity with the “Edit” toolbox (in particular, how to rotate, and use the position arrows).

Ready? Set? Here’s How to Edit Your Attachments:

A. Copy: Open up your inventory, make a back-up copy of the item (if possible) and rename it. If you don’t know what attachment point you’re going to choose yet, just add “Attach” to the item’s name, so you can tell the difference from the original item.

B. Attach: While standing on a posestand, find the (duplicated and renamed) item in your inventory. Right click it and choose “Attach to.” Choose an attachment point that’s close to where the item should normally sit (again, the more you do this, the more you’ll become familiar with which attachment points work best with certain items).

If you’re already wearing several other items, you may want to view where those existing items are attached, before you add another, to make sure you don’t remove one you want to keep. To view what is already attached and where:  choose the ‘Edit -> Detach Object’ menu at the top of your screen.

C. Locate: Don’t expect to see the newly attached item exactly in place on the new attachment point. Often it will be in an odd position, no where near the attachment point you chose. Look carefully… it could be between your legs (no jokes please!), on the back of your neck, or even partially (or entirely, oops! try another attachment point so you can move it into view!) inside your body.

D. Edit: Adjust your mouse view to get in closer to the item, right click on it, and choose edit. In the Edit window, you’ll use two edit buttons: the rotate tool, and the position arrows. With these tools, you can move the item into proper position (choose one at a time of course). If necessary, use the “zoom-in view” keys for a closer look.

E. Verify: Think it’s all set? Do a quick check to make sure, by using your camera controls (View -> Camera Controls) to take a look at your avatar from all sides. Sometimes the item will look perfectly positioned from the front, but when you look from the side, you realize it’s too far forward. Look from all angles (even from the top down) before you jump off the pose stand.

F. Name: Oh, remember where you attached it? Go back to step A, and type in the name of the attachment point. This will help you remember how you customized it, so you can easily choose it again the next time you’re running out of attachment points. And remember, once you’ve manually attached/edited it to a new point, all you have to do is say ‘wear’ the next time, and it will go back to the point you edited.

All done? Have fun!

© Stacia Villota / Virtual Neko in Second Life – 2009
http://virtualneko.com

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