The information in this tutorial is not yet final
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U |
| V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
A
Access Pass Only (AP)
Access Pass is an available add-on purchase for users over the of 18 that unlocks adult content on IMVU.
Access Pass Only is a product rating category in which includes items acceptable only to an adult audience. Goods in this category are available only to users aged 18 years or older who have purchased the Access Pass (AP).
The Virtual Goods Rating Policy applies to all content available in IMVU’s Shop.
| AP Content Definitions |
|---|
|
Actions
Actions are available movements that your avatar can make by typing a trigger word/phrase or by clicking your avatar and choosing an action from the list. In IMVU Studio, you can add triggers to an item, .XAF files (Avatar Animations) and/or .XPF files (Morph Animations).
Age Verification
The process of getting your identity confidentially verified by IMVU. You will receive an Age Verified Badge, and this opens up the ability to purchase an Access Pass if you are over the age of 18 and is one of the steps required in the Earn Money Program.
More about Age Verification
More about Steps to Get your Age Verified
Attachment Node
Avatars have over 80 skeleton parts that a mesher can attach an accessory to. These parts have specific node names that IMVU Studio recognizes. In rooms and furniture, nodes are also used for placing items in a scene.
Avatar
It is your IMVU persona! Avatar can mean the specific base item that you build your look with (usually gendered) or can refer to your overall completed look.
Avatar Name
This is your avatar’s permanent name, often the “@name” you’ll see when using IMVU Web, IMVU Desktop, or the IMVU Mobile App. In the IMVU Classic Website and the IMVU Classic Client, your avatar is the only name that displays.
The editable name you can make for yourself in IMVU Web, IMVU Desktop, and the IMVU Mobile App is called a Display Name.
B
Badge
Badges are the little icons that appear in the grid next to avatar images. They are a great way to express yourself and are a lot of fun to share and collect.
Badge Canvases
A photo frame where you can organize and show off your badges.
Base Product
A base product is always made by IMVU,Inc. and has a derived cost of 0.
Bundlability
Bundlability is an IMVU Classic option found in the Product Submission Card, while uploading a product to the Catalog. It allows or disallows users (including yourself) the option of including your product in a bundle or sellable outfit.
This feature is only found in IMVU Classic (as of 9.27.21).
By default, the “Allow inclusion in 3rd Party Bundles” box is checked when submitting an item and you must uncheck it to disallow.
Bundles
Bundles can be created by a developer to allow multiple products to be purchased at the same time as a set. Items can only be added if they have “Bundlability” turned on by the original Developer.
Bundles (Promotional)
These larger item sets are created for IMVU to specifically promote on the IMVU Classic Website or IMVU Classic Client. IMVU works with Developers who submit their ideas for a bundle or IMVU might reach out specifically to a Developer if they have someone they would like to feature.
C
Catalog (or Shop)
The Catalog is where all products reside. It is accessible from IMVU Web, IMVU Desktop, IMVU Mobile App, IMVU Classic Website and IMVU Classic Client. The Catalog provides tools to help you find the creations of your favorite Developers, trendy products, or specific products thanks to the search tool among other things. Shopping is easier than ever.
Catalog Price (or Final Price or Total Price)
The Total Price of a product submitted to the Catalog is the amount of credits you will earn when your product is bought. It includes the derivation fee, your profit markup, and the 10% IMVU markup. Example: 500 derivation fee + 200 profit + 70 IMVU markup = 770 Catalog Price.
| Catalog Price for VIPs |
|---|
| VIPs have a 5% discount when shopping. This does not come out of any creator profits in this chain, and instead comes from the IMVU portion of the price. Following the example above, a VIP user would pay 731 credits for that same product, but you as a Creator would still receive your 200 credit profit or developer token. |
CHKN
CHKN is the file type saved from Classic Create Mode and can be imported into IMVU Studio.
Community Guidelines
Refers to the IMVU “Community Guidelines” policy governing allowable user behavior
CID
Customer ID. This can be found by opening IMVU Studio and navigating to File > Preferences (Shortcut: Ctrl + , “
Copyright
A legal term meaning that a Creator of an original design/work has the right to their own work. If you want to use Third-Party Content, you must have permission from the owner to do it.
IMVU prohibits the submission of Copyright and Trademark violations to the IMVU Catalog.
More about Copyright and Trademark Infringements
More about Reporting Copyright and Trademark Infringements
Creator (or Developer)
A Creator is a person who creates content for IMVU. Typically, Creators are divided into two categories: Meshers and Texturers. A mesher creates base 3D products that texturers can derive from to create unique versions.
Create Mode
The Create Mode (in IMVU Client) is one of the major tools you can find in the IMVU Classic Client. It gives you access to the Creator Dashboard which contains Creator News, Creator Progress, Creator Resources, and Advanced Tools to derive and edit products, and to open your local projects.
IMVU Studio is our latest Creator Tool.
Creator Advertising Program
A program that give Creators the opportunity to promote their products, their brand, and their business to millions of users on IMVU.
Creator Badge
The earning of Creator Badges are gauged by gaining quarterly awarded, Tier Points. These badges are automatically granted and revoked as your Creator Tier Level goes up or down. You Tier Level can be found here.
Creator Education Center (CEC)
The Creator Education Center (CEC) provides many helpful tutorials for new and experienced Creators.
Creator Program
The Creator Program allows Creators design and make their own products (such as clothes, accessories, rooms and furniture), but also customize the existing ones in the Catalog by deriving from them. Creators can sell their products by submitting them to the Catalog and make money.
Credit
IMVU’s digital currency. There are True Credits, purchased with money, and Promotional Credits, given out by IMVU to users.
Credit Balance Events
This report, available in your Developer Report Dashboard, show you any and all things that affected your credit balance, like deriving new products, gifting friends, shopping, as well as income from your sales after they’ve cleared pend (if your Earn Money settings include any percentage towards credits).
Credit Income Events
This report, available in your Developer Report Dashboard, show you income from your sales. It provides interesting data on if Credits or Promotional Credits (Predits) were used as well for each transaction. Your income is listed in credits, but that is adjusted in reality based on you Earn Money settings. Predit sales all result in one Developer Token each.
Credit Pend
The process of sales profits being held in suspension for 14 days before being released into your balance. This was created in a multi-faceted way to prevent credit fraud, alleviate refund issues, and to keep bad actors from being able to “cash in” on breaking the rules.
D
Daily Spin
A feature on your IMVU Web Homepage that allows you to get free stuff (credits, a random item from the Catalog, or a random WithMoji).
Derivation Chain (or Derivation Tree)
On each product, you can see the line of products that the current product came from. Useful for finding the base derivable product for making your own version of something you enjoyed.
Derivation Fee
The Derivation Fee is the fee you have to pay to the creator who made the product you want to derive from in order to submit and sell your product in your Shop.
Deriving
The process of creating a new, uniquely-textured version of a product that already exist in the Catalog.
Developer Token
When a user purchases a product using Promotional Credits, instead of getting profit for the sale, a Developer receives a Developer Token which has a set value of 10 Credits. These are redeemed automatically when you submit new products in the form of a reduced submission fee.
Digital Millennium Copyrights Act (DMCA)
The legal process of a trademark or copyright owner filing for the takedown of a product illegally using their intellectual property.
E
Earn Money Program
Creator Payments are open to all Creators who are able to verify their account and accept payments through PayPal. The account verification process includes providing IMVU with identification details and a review of your Catalog.
Editor Mode
In IMVU Classic (IMVU Client) Editor is where all IMVU products are assembled, where product creation occurs.
IMVU Studio is our latest Creator Tool.
F
FBX
FBX (or FilmBox) is a popular 3D file format used to import multiple materials, meshes, and animations in one shot. In this way, assets can be transferred from one application to another.
Feed
The IMVU Feed lets you post your thoughts and photographs, and also see posts from all the people you Follow. As a Creator, you can showcase your products and make yourself known to the IMVU Community by posting in the Feed.
G
General Audience (GA)
General Audience is a product rating category in which includes items acceptable to all audience. Users are required to be 13 years or older.
The Virtual Goods Rating Policy applies to all content available in IMVU’s Shop.
| GA Content Definitions |
|---|
|
Gift Card
A way to get credits for your account. Before purchasing or redeeming credits using an IMVU Gift Card, make sure to read the Terms and Conditions.
I
Image File Types
-
- .GIF files allow for animation and transparency.
- .JPG files are generally smaller file types and do not support transparency.
- .PNG files are slightly larger files that support transparency.
These file types can all be used in IMVU Studio, or the IMVU Classic (IMVU Client) Create Mode. .JPG or .PNG files would be used for your Texture Maps and Opacity Maps.
IMVU Classic Client
The IMVU Classic Client is the legacy software application that gets installed on your desktop or laptop computer and lets you derive, edit, and submit products to the Catalog, but also it allows you to connect and chat with people from around the world, make new friends, get matched with others that share your interests, share music in your chat rooms, dress up your avatar, and shop for products in the Catalog among others.
NOTE: IMVU Classic Client will only run on a Windows PC.
IMVU Desktop
The IMVU Desktop is the new software application that gets installed on your desktop or laptop computer that lets you to connect and chat with people from around the world, make new friends, get matched with others that share your interests, in your chat rooms, dress up your avatar, and shop for products in the Catalog among others.
IMVU Studio
The IMVU Studio is the new software application that gets installed on your desktop or laptop computer and lets you derive, edit, and submit products to the Catalog. It the next evolution of Create Mode available in the IMVU Classic Client.
M
Markup
The Markup is the amount charged by IMVU for submitting your product to the Catalog.
Minimum Coverage Guidelines (MCG)
The Minimum Coverage Guidelines are rules that describe what areas of the avatar’s body must be covered for a product to be rated General Audience (GA). It covers clothing products and all depictions of avatars or humans, including product icons and any images on a product page.
Mesh
This is the name of any 3D base product on IMVU. The mesh is the shape and body of a product, and it is combined with a texture to create a finished product. They can be derived from to create unique versions by changing the texture.
O
Opacity Map
This file is your transparency map that can go with any texture on a product. No opacity map renders the entire texture visible, and adding an all-white opacity map would render the same effect. Adding black to the Opacity Map would cause that part of the texture to be invisible, and if you turn on “Use Blending” on the Material Parameters, you can also use shades of grey to create different levels of transparency/opaqueness. It is easiest to build your Opacity Map by using the UV Wire Map if provided.
Outfit
In IMVU Classic (IMVU Client), collections of bundleable avatar products curated by users and available for sale.
Outfit Card
In IMVU Classic (IMVU Client), an Outfit Card stores the items included in an outfit among other important information. Within the card, you can:
- Editing the outfit title and description
- Removing an item from the outfit
- Deleting the outfit
- Changing the picture of the outfit
P
Peer Review
A community-based process of screening items before being available for sale in the Catalog. Users can complete Peer Review for Promotional Credit rewards.
The process involves evaluating products to make sure that they comply with the rules of their rating (General Audience [GA] or Access Pass Only [APO]) and to make sure no Unsuitable for IMVU (UFI) products are submitted.
Pended Credits / Cash Schedule
These reports, available in your Developer Report Dashboard, show you the sales reports from a given period, the amount you earned (credits or cash depending on your Earn Money settings) and when that balance will be available to you.
Pro
Developers who have reached a Tier Level of 7 – 10 are given this tag on their product cards in the Catalog.
Product
A creation that was published to the IMVU Catalog.
Product Identification Number (or PID or Product ID)
The Product Identification Number is assigned to a product when it is submitted to the Catalog.
| IMVU Classic Website |
|---|
 |
| IMVU Web |
|---|
 |
Product Submission Card
In IMVU Classic (IMVU Client) Product Submission Cards contains input fields for everything a product requires in order to be submitted to the IMVU Catalog.
Project
A creation that is saved to your local computer.
Promotional Credits (or Promo Credits or Predits )
Predits are free credits given by IMVU to new users and to users who complete promotional credit offers. A Developer does not get paid their normal profit when an item is purchased with promotional credits, and instead receives one Developer Token for the purchase.
Publish
The process of submitting a product. When everything is ready, you can publish your product which then moves to the next step in the creation process, Peer Review.
S
Sticker
Art that can only be used on IMVU Classic homepages. Can be static (PNG or JPG) or animated (GIF).
Submission Fee
A required fee when submitting a new product to IMVU. This fee changes based on your Tier Level, and if you have Developer Tokens, these will automatically be applied towards your submission fee (1 developer token = 10 credits).
T
Texture Map (or UV Map or Wire Map)
The “unwrapped” design of a mesh brought into an editable, 2D form. As a Creator, you can customize these texture maps and add your new designs to a mesh. Meshers will often include a texture map with lots of lines that, when worn, show you exactly where all the points on the map meet when realized in 3D form. These line maps are often called UV Maps or Wire Maps.
Tier Levels
Creators are ranked from tier 0 (new) to tier 7 based on a combination of metrics based on sales, submissions, ratings, and more. Higher tier levels unlock different rewards, like cheaper submission fees and the Pro Tag (level 5+).
You can find out which is your Tier Level by clicking here.
U
Unsuitable For IMVU (UFI)
Unsuitable for IMVU is a product rating category in which includes items that are not allowed at IMVU at all.
The Virtual Goods Rating Policy applies to all content available in IMVU’s Shop.
| UFI Content Definitions |
|---|
|
Use Blending (Editor Meshes Tab Parameter)
The “Use Blending” is a checkbox option on all textures, controlled individually, that allows you to choose if a texture will use a strict black-and-white opacity map or a blended gray-scale opacity map that allows for varying levels of transparency.
| “Use Blending” turned on |
|---|
| You can use grayscale colors in your map to create sheer, see-through textures. This works well with things like glass in rooms and tights in women’s clothing. |
| “Use Blending” turned off |
|---|
| Your textures will be crisp along the edges but this will not support sheerness. It only identifies black and white, and gray values will be treated as black or white, depending on which it is closer to. |
V
Virtual Goods Rating Policy (VGR)
The Virtual Goods Rating Policy are the rules around content ratings on IMVU. The suitable categories are:
- General Audience (GA)
- Access Pass Only (AP)
- Unsuitable For IMVU (UFI)
VIP Program
A monthly, quarterly, or early subscription that unlocks exclusive features and services for VIP members, including the ability to create products.
You receive credits each month, a shopping discount, a VIP badge, VIP support, VIP avatar actions, the ability to whisper in a chat room (private message a specific person while in a group) and more.
2
2x (or “Power of Two Rule”)
Textures in IMVU should be in a scale that is in the power of two (2x2x2…) such as 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, and 512. Most commonly, textures are in 256×256, 256×512, and 512×256.