Put on your happy face (for under 10L)!

I checked out a trillion* face animator thingees today, all in the name of investigative journalism. Cause thats how I roll. (Actually, in started because of this post, and Kit asking me which emoter I use. Unknowlingly, she unleashed a beast.)
*Not a trillion. Actual figure is 16.

First up are some Hud-only emoters...

This one is a Yadni-adjusted Hud that I bought the other day. It cost 159L, and I want to show you how much of a rip-off that is. You'll see from the rest of the post that there are many other options - most of which are free (Yadni's Junkyard is a legendary place with a plethora of free items, thats been around forever. Check it out while we still have it in SL).

This next one is what I've tended to use often because its easy. After testing all the other ones today, I've discovered this isnt the best (for me) and I may end up retiring it. It comes from VR Foundary and is free. It has all 19 animations and up to two can be combined each time. It minimises up to the picture on the top of the screen - and good thing too, because it takes up alot of screen space when open.

This one is from Serenade and this is what happens when you combine too many animations at once. I liked the little faces on the hud, and the expressions were fairly easy to judge. It has 19 options, and it also has a sleep one which isnt on any of the others. It can be minimised down to the little blue arrow and it was very easy to use.

The aDorkable hud from XStreet is also free (there is also a store inworld), and can combine as many faces as you want. I found that the faces were a little hard to see on the hud, and whenever I right-clicked to detach, I ended up picking up something from somewhere behind me! The hud can be minimised down to the aDorkable label at the top.

The Hanuata hud is one I've had in my inventory for ages. So long in fact, that I cant find the store anymore. Sorry 'bout that, so lets move on (Good thing anyway, its too small to see which animation you need).

Next up is a Yadni-adjusted Hud called Lady A's Emoter Hud (only available on XStreet here). Its pretty cool, the Hud is medium sized, minimises to just a blue dot on the screen, and it has all 19 face animations. There is an unlimited amount of clicks on the hud so you can select more than 1 at a time to create some very interesting faces. Best of all, its free.

Next we have some Menu and Menu/Hud emoters...

Firstly, the Face Animator from an aptly named Cannibalism. I bought it for free on XStreet and it came with an inworld LM, but I didnt visit it. Whats the point? The animator attaches to the hand, and once I selected my animation, the menu closed and the expression only lasted a few seconds. The instruction given to re-open the menu didnt work, and when I attached my ring back on to my hand, the thing came off. This rated the lowest for me.

The Zens Mood Chip (Xstreet - 5L) was just a bit of a step up than the last one. It has a hud - which does nothing but sit on your screen and spin. To activate the menu once it closes, you have to type something like /menu234874353423897438953 (slight exaggeration) to get it to reappear. Most annoyingly of all, the chat spam.

Facial Expressions Animations (Xstreet, 9L) was another step up from the last two, in where the hud attaches to the centre of the screen, but is invisible. Once the menu is closed, it will reopen after typing /4 menu. Compared to the other free versions, and all the other options, dont waste your well-earned lindens.

This next one started to look promising with this cute little questionmark attached as a Hud... ... and when the expressions is selected, it turns in to a little smiley face. But... I found the menu a bit clicky. Called the Face Animator 2.0 Expressions Combiner (XStreet, free), sadly enough the best thing about it was the evil picture on the XStreet ad.

Next up is the KP Expression Face Hud, which tied-equal in first place for the menu-driven emoters. It was 1L on XStreet here (inworld here), and with a bit of programming, it can to loop a bunch of animations one after another. After the menu closes, it remains on the Hud as a little blue button. Nice.

The one its tied-first with is the Pandora Hud (Xstreet, 10L. Inworld here) made by the wonderful London Spengler. It allows for some interesting creations with mix'n'match menu, and after the menu is closed, it remains as a small hud on the screen. I did find the menu a bit confusing at first, and it took a bit of getting used too, but its worth taking the time.

This next one was an AO/Emoter/Gesturing combo from Bright Corporation (inworld here) that is currently free on XStreet here. When the expressions button is pressed, the menu comes up and you can pick which one you like. Only one will play at a time, but what it lacks in this area it picks up in others.It comes with a handy notecard, and good clear instructions... ...and has the added benefit of being an AO - so its on your screen the whole time. I found the static stand poses were a bit uncool (not to mention a bit nom-nom), so if it was to become a wardrobe staple I'd be adding my own (if you want to know how, check out this post I made last year). I had heaps of fun playing with the emotions, signals and gestures. Way fun - I'm going to *so* use this when out exploring! And then this happened. Whoops!

A couple of duds I found on Xstreet was the Emoticon Hud (a shocking 10L), which came up when I searched for Emotion. This little sucker allows you to press the button of an emotion and it types in chat the emoticon you need. How lazy are you to need this? Just type it!Incidentally, it does not emote the face.

The other dud is the Expressions item from XStreet. Now this one pissed me off as it was the set of actual animations. Not a hud. Not a menu. The actual animations. For 9L I was seriously ripped off.

Now, for the one unique and stand-out purchase of the day, is the Sensual Facial Animator 1.1 thats free on XStreet here. It allows you to program and loop a series of sensual expressions to play over and over during sexytime. Be warned, youre about to see Banana's orgasm face.

I bet you never thought you'd see that.