i know someone who made my and my friends avi but her computer is down right now, but im pretty sure she could help explain. if she is active..

from what i know, mesh is the new design, smoother body more fluid motion can be 100% custom everything

sculpted is the old original style and shape of sl body, so more human, clips a little bit and can only really do textures. with those you'll still be using mesh heads hands and paws.

what i would recommend is finding a avi in the world store that matches the general look of what you want, then see if an artist will mod that for you

its really basic explanations but hope it helps.

As far as 'sculpt' vs 'mesh,' that goes back to SL's development history. Scultped items are made from re-shaped SL primitive shapes (called 'Prims' in SL-speak). These are things like cubes, spheres, etc. These shapes could have special images called 'sculpt maps' applied to them that altere their shape beyond what the in-game tools can. This was the original way to make geometry in SL, but it was clunky. Later, they added the ability to import models from 3D rendering software. These objects are often of higher-quality and use less system resources. These are called 'Mesh' in SL-Speak (and in broader 3D-speak).

Generally, you want to prefer using mesh. It usually looks better and won't balloon your avatar complexity as much. Avatar complexity is how much load your avatar is on people's computers. It's usually not a problem unless you're adding an excessive amount of items.

Most people do not get custom geometry done, most custom work in SL is textures. Since you mentioned possible making your own, you'll want the UV maps (a set of lines that tell you how the game will wrap the texture around the geometry) for the standard SL body. Just google 'sl body uv maps' and you'll have them. These will help you make your body (neck down) textures. (This is not necessary if you decide to hire someone to make your textures)

You can use those textures with the default body, though you'll want a mesh body if you want to look the best. The default body just isn't very good looking.

For your body, I would recommend either the Maitreya body or the one of the Slink bodies. They all use the same textures as the default body and they look good, many people use them. You'll also want the Omega relay for whichever body you get (allows you to use Omega universal texture appliers) and the Omega Dev Kit to make your own appliers. Just be aware that mesh bodies have a high Linden Dollar cost. The Omega Relay also has a cost, but the dev kit is free.

The "harder" thing will be finding furry parts (Heads, ears, tails, digi legs, etc.). For that, I really can't recommend much other than just browse the SL marketplace for something to your liking. You'll want to make sure that you can get UVs if possible, that will make your texturing job easier. I say this is harder because you will need to browse through the MP, but it isn't necessarily hard (though applying custom textures to some heads can be a PITA, but that depends on the head). Just be aware that if you get digi legs, they will not fit most clothes, so you may need to take them off to wear pants that go below the knee.

I'm generally willing to help people in-world, so if you'd like, you can try to IM me (search aparoidedation).

God's I miss being able to play secodlife