Gaia Clary at Machinimatrix.org is running a 50% off on Sparkles for AvaStar users. It ends February 15, until then Sparkles Pro: US$15 web* – US$7.50±/L$1,800* in-world, with 1 year of updates. (Prices are a bit unclear. I checked and the regular price is/will be $15.)

If you are not sure what Sparkles is… the video is a preview. But, read on…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfO1PKge4Q4

Sparkles is a standalone tool set for building clothes and characters for Second Life. It is integrated with AvaStar, but does not require AvaStar to be used. The list of tools is:

• Animation Scale Tool
• Timeline Copy Tool
• UV Face Copy Tool
• Weights Inspector
• IK Constraint Presets
• User Templates
• Smart Weight Mirror
• Avastar with Quads
• The Mesh Machine

I don’t have the Sparkles Addon. So, I can only say I believe most of these tools do things that can be done with plan Blender. So, this tool set is something that is time saver and something to reduce the learning curve. If it is like other tools from Machinimatrix, it will be worth the cost.

*Pricing seems confusing. The down low is: If you purchased AvaStar in-world and your avatar name is associated with the purchase, you can buy the L$3,600 Sparkles Pro in-world and it will automatically look you up and offer the L$1,800 price. You won’t see a L$1,800 price on the in-world vendors. You’ll only see that AFTER you start to make the purchase and get to the PAY dialog.

If you purchased via PayPal, there just isn’t anyway for them to have PayPal look up your SL avatar and decide on a discount. Implementing discounts at PayPal is a bit trick and tends to only be for coupons or sales to everyone. So, to get the discount, you have to buy in-world.

Also, I didn’t find Sparkles listed in the SL Marketplace.