Senra Jamie Workflow: Blender 5, Avastar 4, and Marvelous Designer (Second Life)

I’ve been wanting to get back into making things for Second Life, and Avastar has always been my preferred tool for skinning clothing in Blender. Even though I could keep skinning clothing in Blender 3.6, most of my other 3D work had already moved into the newer Blender versions. That meant juggling workflows, so instead, I started quietly following the Avastar 4 Discord chats and piecing together an updated pipeline.

The good news: it works. I’ve now updated the Senra Jamie avatars and successfully uploaded a rigged clothing item into Second Life using Blender 5.x and the latest Avastar 4.x.

I’m sharing the steps below for any creator who wants to make clothing for one of the most accessible mesh bodies in Second Life. Not everyone wears Senra Jamie, but everyone has one, so creating for it gives you reach across the entire grid.

PART A — Create the Senra Jamie Blender Starter File

The goal of Part A is to prepare a clean, stable Senra Jamie avatar file in Blender and export it as an OBJ for Marvelous Designer. Once complete, you will not need to repeat this process unless an updated Senra avatar is released.

1. Open and Save the Base File

1. Launch Blender 5.x, with Avastar 4.x installed
2. Open Senra Jamie Body v1.0 Blender 3.blend
3. File → Save As → Senra_Jamie_Starter.blend

2. Update the armature and configure the rig

3. Select the armature
4. Avastar → Tool Box → Update Armature
5. Armature Properties → Pose Position
6. N-Panel → Avastar → Posing → Use Bind Pose

3. Set the A-Pose for Marvelous Designer

7. Switch to Pose Mode
8. Enable X-Mirror
9. Select one upper arm
10. Rotate downward: R → X → 30 → Enter

4. Save the Updated Template

11. File → Save As → Senra_Jamie_Starter_Apose.blend

5. Export the Senra Jamie OBJ

12. Select the body mesh
13. File → Export → Wavefront (.obj)

Export Settings

• Selection Only
• Normals
• UVs
• Apply Modifiers
• Forward: –Z
• Up: Y
• Scale 1.00

14. Export as senra_jamie_Apose.obj

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PART B — Create the Senra Avatar in Marvelous Designer and Build the Garment

Part B uses Marvelous Designer exclusively. You will import the Senra OBJ, save it as a permanent avatar, and create your garment.

1. Import the Senra OBJ

1. Avatar → Add Avatar (OBJ)
   • Load as Avatar
   • Thin
   • Auto-Fit Off
   • Scale 100%

2. Save Senra as a Permanent Marvelous Designer Avatar

2. File → Save As → Avatar
   Save to Marvelous Designer → Avatars → Female
   Name: Senra_Jamie_Apose

3. Load the Saved Avatar

3. Avatar → Female → Senra_Jamie_Apose

4. Draft and Sew the Garment

4. Create patterns
5. Sew seams
6. Simulate

5. Set Mesh Type to Quads

5. Property Editor → Mesh Type → Quad Mesh
6. Or right-click → Convert to Quad Mesh

6. Set Particle Distance

7. Property Editor → Particle Distance
8. Simulate

7. Clean the Garment

9. Delete internal lines
10. Arrange UV islands in the 0–1 tile
11. Set Thickness = 0

8. Export the Garment OBJ for Blender

12. File → Export → OBJ (Selected)

OBJ Settings

• Scale 1.0
• Select All Patterns
• Thin
• Weld Off
• Single Object
• Unified UV Coordinates
• Normals
• Auto Smooth
• Quad Mesh

13. Export as garment_LOD0.obj

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PART C — Rig and Export the Garment in Blender

This section returns to Blender to rig the garment using Avastar and prepare the final mesh for Second Life.

1. Import the Garment

1. File → Import → OBJ
2. Select garment → Ctrl+A → Rotation & Scale

2. Set Bindpose

3. N-Panel → Avastar → Rig Modify Tools → As Bindpose

3. Parent to the Armature

4. Select garment → Shift-select armature
5. Ctrl+P → Armature Deform → Empty Groups

4. Configure Avastar

6. N-Panel → Avastar → Rig Display → Deform Bones
7. N-Panel → Avastar → Rig Display → Volume Bones
8. Armature → Pose Position
9. N-Panel → Avastar → Posing → Use Bind Pose

5. Weight Mapper (Copy Weights)Select the source mesh (Copy From)

9. Avastar → Weight Mapper
10. Select the source mesh (Copy From)
11. Shift-select the garment (Copy To)
12. Copy Weightmaps

6. Clean Up Weights

12. Weights → Normalize All
13. Weights → Limit Total (4)
14. Weights → Clean
15. Weights → Smooth

7. Pose Test

16. Pose Mode → Move shoulders, elbows, hips, knees
    Adjust weights as needed

8. Export the Garment to .DAE

17. Select garment and armature
18. File → Export → Avastar Exporter (.dae/glb)

Required Export Settings

• Apply Modifiers
• Apply Armature Scale
• Export SL Rotation
• Triangulate
• Only Weighted
• Only Deform
• Export With Joints
• Use Bind Pose

18. Export

9. Import to Second Life

9.1 Upload the Model

1. Build → Upload → Model
2. Select your exported .dae

Enable:

• Include Skin Weights

Optional:

• Include Textures

9.5 Check Land Impact

10. Review streaming cost
11. Adjust LODs if needed

9.6 Finalize and Upload

12. Upload
13. Rez the item in-world
14. Wear or attach
15. Test rigging and deformations