I noticed Machinimatrix posting a video on how to integrate Manuel Bastioni with AvaStar. BElow is an image link to the video as it won’t display embedded here. Sheeesh..
So, what is Manuel Bastioni? It is an open source character generator for Blender. Seems it is competition for MakeHuman. The download is here: Manuel Bastioni.
A video review of it is here:
I haven’t been using MakeHuman. So, I am fuzzy on Treetop Media’s comment in the video that Blender 2.78 does not support MakeHuman. Googling to find out what is up, I see there is a fuss about the change from MHX to MHX2 file format. (Reference) Seems it is the ‘old’ link between MakeHuman and Blender that is the annoyance.
As best I can tell Blender used the MHX file format up to and including version 2.77. The new MakeHuman uses a newer file type MHX2. Looking in Blender 2.78c, I find no MakeHuman Import-Export features.
Blender 2.77 does have a MakeHuman with MHX import.
A third-party plugin for Blender adds the MHX2 import (no export) ability to Blender. See: thomasmakehuman.wordpress.com/mhx2-documentation. – Duane Dibbley Sep 16 ’16.
With Manuel Bastioni apparently being the new kid on the SL block, Machinimatrix has added the how to video for AvaStar 2.
My understanding of the work flow is one can make avatars and clothes in Manuel Bastioni then rig them to the SL skeleton using AvaStar. From there they can be imported into Second Life™.
If you are curious how Manuel Bastioni differs from MakeHuman, see this page: ManuelbastioniLAB is not MakeHuman. According to that page Manuel Bastioni has features MakeHuman does not. However, the video review points out some features it does not have.
MakeHuman is at version 1.1.1, which was released 3/6/2017. So, most reviews are out of date as are most install tutorials related to Blender. The up to date tutorial I found is here. As best I can tell neither Blender nor MakeHuman have the MHX2 import-export files.
There is a tutorial for installing the MHX2 plugin into Blender and MakeHuman. It includes a link to a download. Another download source is here.
ManuelbastioniLAB, the apparent official name, is at version 1.4.0 that was released 11/3/2016. It is a Blender addon so, a couple of clicks and it is installed. Much simpler than MakeHuman. Download
Which is better? I have no clue. MBL is easier to install than MH. Your opinions are welcome.