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Creating Custom Gestures in Second Life

Record and upload your Voice

Plug in your headset with microphone, then go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories --> Entertainment -> Sound Recorder. Press the Red Record button, then clearly say "I have a question" into the microphone. Press the Stop button when done. Press Play to review your recording. If you wish to record your voice again, first select File -> New, do not save the changes, then repeat the process. Select File -> Save As and name the file question.wav. Save the result to the Desktop then close the Sound Recorder. (If you wish to add special sound effects, I'd recommend using Audacity instead of the Microsoft Sound Recorder. Just be sure to save the result as a wav file.)

Start Second Life and Login. In Second Life, select File -> Upload Sound. Select the file question.wav from the Desktop, then Open. Under name, type in "question" and under description, type in "I have a question, then click Upload. Your account will be charged 10 Lindens for each file you upload.

Verify it was uploaded correctly by going to Inventory -> My Inventory -> Sounds. Double click "question" and verify you hear your voice.

Modifying Gestures

Inside Second Life, go to Inventory -> Library -> Gestures -> Female Gestures. Right click on "Female - Hey" and select Copy. Go to My Inventory, then right click on Gestures and select Paste. Right click on "Female - Hey" and select Rename. Call the new gesture "handraise" then double click it.

In the new window, put in "Hand Raise" for description, "/hr" for Trigger, keep the Replace With field blank and set both fields next to Shortcut Key to "---". Under the Steps section, select "Sound: Hey Female" then Remove. Do NOT remove the "Start Animation: Wave" entry in the Steps window. Under Library, select Sound, then Add. From the pulldown menu on the right side, select question. Next, select Chat, then Add. Enter in "I have a question" in the lower right textbox. Lastly press Save and close the Gesture: handraise box.

Back under Inventory -> My Inventory -> Gestures, right click "handraise" and select Activate. Close you Inventory Window. Using Ctrl + Alt and your mouse, move your camera around to view your avatar from the front. Select Chat and type in "/hr". You should see your avatar wave, while your voice recording plays. Also the chat message "I have a question" should appear briefly as well.

Note that multiple gestures can be done in series by putting in the Wait option between gestures when you are on the Gesture page with the Library and Steps boxes. Simply select Wait -> Add and check "until animations are done", then add in a second animation.

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