SL Definitions

Common Terms and Phrases In Second Life

A Work In Progress! Please check back for updates, or comment below to request an unfamiliar term be added. 

Important Things To Know

While Second Life (Linden Labs) provides the setting and building blocks, it's the users who are making all the content. Those clothing shops, decorations, music venues, dance halls, and museums? Almost all are created and run by other players, just like you.  

Features are rarely taken away, which means that some of the terms and elements you come across may be over twenty years old, and considered archaic. Some items on Marketplace may still be for sale, but was made fifteen years ago and the seller is no longer playing or supporting their goods.

Technically there is a search feature within the game, but you will have better luck conducting your search on a regular web browser. Most of the useful information is online, outside the game, and again, provided by other players. Check social media, you will find all kinds of help at hand.

You're going to see a lot of the same strange words and phrases pop up in-world.  I was going to make an alphabetical glossary of terms, but found that some words required multiple explanations.  They are therefore organized a little more randomly.  You can hit CTRL-F on your keyboard to search for your particular term if you're in a rush.

Avatar Related Terms

Avatar 

That's you, your digital self within Second Life. Your account gets one basic system body that you can fully customize using the features below.

The System Body 

For the purposes of this blog, I am calling the original, basic body (or Avatar) the 'system body'. This is the body you see when you take everything off. It was first released in 2003, and technology has changed a lot since then, so you will think it looks a bit blocky and primitive. There is even a hair section, but it is no longer used.

Animations

The system body is designed to move. It has a handful of hand positions, and a standard set of animations for walking, running, sitting, etc. These run in a loop.  You can't change them, but you can override them - see my post on Animation Overrides.

Fully Customizable Shape

The system body has menus that allow you to customize your size, shape, looks, and color of the body, face, and hair.  You can choose to be male or female, and switch back and forth whenever you want.

Layers

The system body has layers built in, used to add skin and clothing. There is an order to it, and it is also split up according to what part of the body it is applied to.

• Skin Layer
• Tattoo Layer (also the makeup layer)
• Undershirt Layer
• Underwear Layer
• Glove Layer
• Sock Layer
• Shirt Layer
• Pant Layer
• Jacket Layer
• Alpha Layer

BOM - Bakes-On Mesh

This is the system that gives us the ability to layer textures onto Mesh bodies, just like we did with the system bodies.  It is mostly used to customize the skin adding tattoos, makeup, natural skin features, like freckles, or damage, like scars, and so forth.  

You can also still wear the original system layer clothing, which is useful for when you still want layers of clothing.  It's great for things like stockings, underwear, and when you want to wear additional clothing layers that might otherwise show through your other clothing.

It also gives us alpha capabilities, which is even more useful. Not all mesh clothing items fit the mesh body perfectly, so you can alpha out the bits that show through.

Some vendors also make alphas customized for their clothes that you add to your body.  Some include auto-alpha scripts in the clothing itself so that when you put it on, it automatically hides the skin underneath it.  It will (usually) reset your skin when you remove the article of clothing. 

Alpha

The alpha layer is used for when you want to hide a part of your body. For example - you might 'alpha out' your lower leg and foot so you can be a pirate with a peg leg. It is mostly used these days for wearing mesh clothing that doesn't fit quite right on your body.  You would wear an alpha item to hide the bits of your body that are showing through the clothing item.

Clothing
Most clothing is added directly on the body, almost like a paint, with a few clothing objects (separate physical items) that you could add on, like skirts. You can still create simple clothing using the + button in your inventory. More complicated items like hats and belts were made using sculpties, which will be explained in a different section.

Mesh

Technology advanced enough to allow us to make more realistic looking bodies to wear over our system bodies. This technology is called Mesh. It is also used for clothing, furnishings, hair, and decor.

Bento

The arrival of Mesh bodies triggered an upgrade to the skeletal system.  The system upgrade was called Bento, and added a number of points of articulation to the original system body skeleton. Faces and hands in particular could now be posed, as well as controls for wing and tail add-ons. If you see an ad touting its Bento capabilities, it is generally referring to these areas, and also dates the item's release to about 2015-2018, when it first came out and needed to be clarified. 

SLUV/Evo/EvoX

These all refer to the same thing - the way a skin texture is applied to a 3D digital head.  While some mesh heads can use more than one style, if you try to apply the wrong skin to a head, it won't line up correctly and will look rather alarming. If you're shopping and a listing doesn't say which one of these it is, it's most likely the older SLUV.

Modifications

C-M-T - or Copy, Mod, Transfer
What you can do with an item made by another user depends on the permissions they set when they sold it or gave it to you. There are three permissions settings.

• Copy - allows you to make copies of the item
• Mod - or Modify - allows you to make changes to the item, mainly in terms of size, color, texture, and transparency. Some objects can be unlinked and separated, as well.
• Transfer - allows you to give that item to other users.

HUD - Heads Up Display

This is a visual menu that will appear on your screen when you wear it. It comes with items that you purchase from in game sellers, and will allow you to alter that particular item. HUDs can be used for a wide variety of things, from changing size and textures to customizing the position of your hands.

You usually have to 'add it' in order to use it. (right click on the HUD object in your inventory and select 'add'.)  

AO - Animation Override 

An AO is a HUD (see above) worn to customize the basic Second Life installed movements in a body.   Read More in my blog post on AOs!

Obsolete Features

Things are rarely taken out of Second Life when they become obsolete, so you may still see them around.

Appliers

The early mesh bodies didn't have the layer capabilities that the system body did, so someone came up with appliers (particularly one called Omega) to help bridge the gap and add textures onto the new body. They're still out there, but are only used for particular things like eyes and nails. You should not need an applier if you have bought a mesh body or head made after 2019. If something you want to buy says it requires an applier, do not buy it. It won't work with a BOM capable mesh body.

Hair

The original system body hair was more like a helmet, and quickly replaced by users using sculpted objects. I would say don't bother with this, but you may need to once in a while, because while most of it is obsolete, it is still used for shaping eyebrows. Please see the Eyebrows section on this blog post for more information. 

SLink

You may see an item advertised as Slink from time to time.  This was one of the early mesh body systems. It was a nice transition, as you could buy mesh parts, like hands and feet, that fit the system body without having to purchase an entire body. You can still buy clothing and accessories to fit it, but the body itself is no longer for sale. This includes the Hourglass body.

Wear vs Add

You will see both options when you right click on an object in your inventory. 

'Wear' is the older option designed for system bodies and their many layers.  
'Add' is meant to be used for objects added to your body.  Since most bodies these days are also objects, you should use Add for pretty much everything. Using 'wear' will replace the item you're wearing on the designated location, and you might knock something else off instead of what you were trying to do.

Terms People May Use in Chat

Camming

If you see someone just standing at the entrance to a shop, not moving, they may not be AFK or deep in conversation.  More likely they are camming - moving their camera around the shop rather than their Avatar. This is easily done by holding down the CTRL and ALT keys on your keyboard at the same time as left clicking your mouse button. Moving your pointer moves the camera.  

Sandbox

A sandbox is a public area where people are allowed to rez their items and build things.  Some are privately owned, so you may need to have a paid account, or join a group, in order to gain access.  

Gyazo

Gyazo is a website where people can upload their photos for free.  It's used a lot by Second Life users to share photos, as we don't really have a way to easily do so in the game.  Always be wary of links in Second Life, we have a lot of scammers trying to steal your data.  A legit gyazo link will be https://gyazo.com/ followed by a long, random string of letters and numbers.

Rigged/Rigging

A mesh object that is worn is 'rigged' to the avatar body. This means that it is designed to fit on it and fit on it one way only.  You cannot move or adjust it like you can with un-rigged/non-rigged items.  Hats, hair, and jewelry are frequently unrigged so that you can move them to fit properly over your clothes and hair.

Rezzing

This is where you drag an object out of your inventory and drop it on the ground. You may need to do this in order to open a package, as you can't do so inside the inventory.