1. Introduction
Trick-or-Treat!
Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic, and superstition. Scary costumes, decorating with black and orange, and sweet treats are traditions (among other things) that make this festivity unique and unforgettable. And guess what? At IMVU, we love Halloween!
This “spooky” tutorial shows you how to create and add a face to an existing IMVU pumpkin head!
At the end of this tutorial you will have a scary pumpkin head to dress your avatar, or you could even sell it in the IMVU Catalog and make money!
Let the fun begin!
2. Download the materials to make your pumpkin face
Many products in the IMVU Catalog can be derived. This means that if a product is set as derivable, other creators can make a newly edited version of the item and sell it as their own.
In order to create a pumpkin face, we have provided you with two products (two pumpkin heads) to derive from. You will have to choose between the female (Pumpkin Head F) and male version (Pumpkin Head M).
The pumpkin heads contain two textures – one for the outside part of the pumpkin, and one for the inside part of the pumpkin. This means you can create realistic looking carved pumpkin heads using opacity maps. Also, the heads come with built-in bald caps. No need to struggle with finding a hair that works well with them!
Both products use the same wire maps (images with black and white lines) and you can use your texture (the one you will create later on following the tutorial steps) for both the male and female version of the pumpkin head.
To make this tutorial we are going to choose the male version. The female pumpkin head uses the same textures, so you can repeat the process for the female head in the same way as for the male one.
Go ahead and download the textures to your computer.
On the product pages of both pumpkin heads, male and female, there are colored textures, gray shadow maps, and wire maps supplied.
Save all of them by following the next steps:
- Right-click on a texture/map
- Save the texture/map to your computer by selecting Save Image As…
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the other textures/maps
After downloading the textures/maps, you will see the following files in your computer’s “Downloads” folder.
If you are not familiar with textures, please read Introduction to Textures.
3. Customize the pumpkin head
After all textures are downloaded – two colored textures, two gray shadow maps, and two wire maps – we are going to use Gimp or Photoshop software to customize the pumpkin head.
If you are not familiar with Gimp 
or Photoshop 
, no worries. Just follow the instructions and you will see how easy is to make awesome products.
Photoshop requires a paid license and Gimp is free.
Click on the link below to get started. Completing this step is required before moving on to “4. Final material.”
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Customize Pumpkin Head using Photoshop |
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Customize Pumpkin Head using Gimp |
To download Photoshop or Gimp, please click Download Photoshop or Download Gimp.
5. Choose a base product
Let’s specify the product you will base your pumpkin head on.
Before jumping into Create Mode, if you are not familiar with IMVU’s Editor Mode and Creators Guidelines, please read these articles:
For those who have not downloaded and installed the IMVU Desktop App yet, please read Download and Install IMVU Desktop App.
Open the IMVU Desktop App and Log In. Click on the Create button.
When you click on the Derive New Product button, the Derive a new 3D product window pops up.
- Enter Product ID 46763029 in the Specify Product ID field.
- This product ID belongs to the product you will base you pumpkin head on.
- Click Go.
The Editor Mode will open.
For future reference, Product IDs can be found at the bottom of product pages if you access from the IMVU Classic Website and it is also the number at the end of a product page’s URL if you access from the IMVU Classic Website or the IMVU Next.
-
From IMVU Classic Website
-
From IMVU Next
You can also Derive your Pumpkin Head from the Product Page. Click Derive from product at the bottom of the page.
A window will pop up asking you to open IMVU. Click Open IMVU (you may be asked to log in as well).
6. Product creation
Once the Editor opens, a default avatar is displayed on your screen.
To see your own avatar on the screen, go to the Bottom Toolbar and click Outfits 
.
It allows you full access to your clothing inventory. You can add any product or outfit to the avatar you’re using, as long as it does not conflict with the product you’re creating.
Click on the avatar you want to display.
The one on the screen will be substituted with the one you have chosen.
Just a few more steps and you will see how the Halloween spirit takes over your avatar!
Select the “Colored Texture” asset in the Materials Column and click Edit.
- Browse the folder where you saved your texture and select the pumpkin face texture you created.
- Click Open.
Now, the texture in the Materials Column is the one you created.
Make sure that the Opacity Map in the Texture Assets Panel is empty.
Assure that the Two Sided parameter in the Material Parameters Panel is unchecked.
An Opacity Map is a grayscale image that determines what areas of your texture are opaque, transparent, or translucent.
Opacity Maps are loaded separately from the Texture Map, and can be added to or removed from any Material.
To learn more about this topic, please read the article Opacity Maps.
Be careful of having as checked the Two Sided parameter because it is going to double the amount of triangles that a mesh has.
Let’s have a look to the next asset in the Materials Column.
Click on the next asset in the Materials Column.
In this case, leave the Texture slot as it is.
Make sure that the Opacity Map in the Texture Assets Panel is empty.
Assure that the Two Sided parameter in the Material Parameters Panel is unchecked.
All textures are loaded, so let’s see how your avatar looks!
Click the Apply Changes button.
Your pumpkin head is ready! If you want to make more adjustments – go for it, do what feels best for you!
Once you are happy with the results, save the changes done.
Click on the Save button.
- You have two ways to save your work. You can use either Save (by clicking the Save button) or Save As (by clicking the small arrow to the right
). - Save will save your file in your IMVU Projects folder with an automatically generated file name.
- Save As allows to use a unique file name of your choice, making your file much easier to find if you decide you want to work on it later. You can also Save As by pressing Shift + Ctrl + s.
Once you have saved your product, you can upload it to the IMVU Catalog and make money.
To learn how to Upload a Product, please read Upload a Product.
CONGRATULATIONS! You just made your first pumpkin face!
You can market your products by taking photos of your creations and sharing them with the IMVU Community. Click on the following links to learn how to take photographs and how to post pictures in the IMVU Feed.
7. Make a carved pumpkin head
Why do not make the pumpkin head even more spooky?
It looks scary!
You are just a few steps away from having a spooky pumpkin head! What are you waiting for?
Click here to get started.