IMVU Dictionary

 

“Everyone here is using all these strange new words and abbreviations or even worse old words in new ways! I’m sooooo lost!!! HELP!”

 

Here’s my collection of common IMVU words and their meanings in relation to IMVU.
Send me an IM to suggest a missing or new word! (amended 4 25 12)

 

 

10% Markup: This is a fee tacked onto all sales.

 

2D Programs: Programs used for 2D work. Paint, Photoshop, Paint Shop, Gimp

 

2D: A flat image. In IMVU a texture or a sticker. A developer may say “I am 2D only”, meaning they only do image work.

 

2x: The dimensions a rendering engine needs 2x2x2x2 etc. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512.

 

3D Programs: Programs used for 3D work. 3DMax, Blender, Milkshape.

 

3D: The Structure of a product. Its framework. A 3D developer would be one who makes new product shapes structures, and animations.

 

3DMax: A professional level 3rd party 3D program. Is the only one IMVU supplies source files for.

 

3rd Party Programs: Programs needed that are not supplied by IMVU and in most cases cost money.

 

Accesses Pass, AP: A pass purchased from IMVU that unlocks the catalogs over 18 content. You must be 18 to purchase the Access Pass.

 

Access Pass Council, APC: A council of users that was used for brainstorming and discussing IMVU Access Pass issues. (now merged with the Customer Advisory Board)

 

Actions:
a (In chat) The movements you can make your avatar do.
b (In Previewer) the things that make the products do something, including adding animation files that control the movements of an avatar or product, adding sound files to a product adding trigger words and results to a product.

 

Alpha Map: Also known as Alpha Channel or Opacity Map map. The grayscale image that gives instructions on transparency. White is solid, black is clear, shades of gray everything in-between.

 

Attachment Node: Reference point on the avatar where you attach meshes. Used in avatar accessory meshing.

 

Avatar Name: The moniker you go by.

 

Avatar: The digital representation of you.

 

Beta: The stage of software development when it is being debugged. Wikipedia on Beta

 

Blender: A Free 3rd party 3D program.

 

Breakeven Price: The fee for using a mesh, it is deducted from each sale to pay the mesh developer(s).

 

Bot:
a: An avatar run by IMVU to announce news and features.
b: Code designed to automatly send out mass mailings, do PR, or other activity on a mass scale. Use of such code is against IMVUs TOS.

 

Buddies: Those who which you have a reciprocal friendship.

 

Bundles: A way to purchase a collection of related products all at once. Bundles are made by Developers.

 

Bundle (Promotional): Developer and IMVU made bundles that IMVU mass promotes.

 

Bundlability: Permission for other to use a product in their bundle.

 

CAB: Customer Advisory Board: A council of users for brainstorming and discussing IMVU user’s issues.

 

Cal3D: The file format the IMVU Previewer needs to make a product. Patches are needed to make your 3D program export in this format.

 

Catalog Price: The final list price of a product including your fee, the breakeven price, and the IMVU final markup.

 

Catcher Node: Used in room and furniture making in conjunction with the Pitcher Node to assign where cooperative actions will happen. The catcher is the receiver of the action.

 

Content Creator: One who makes products on IMVU, also known as a Developer.

 

Content Creators Council, CCC, C3: A council of developers for brainstorming and discussing developer issues. Formaly the DC- Developers Council

 

CFL: The file type used by IMVU for products

 

ChatCast: Old Feature that was available in chat that would list the topic of your chat on the IMVU homepage and allows others interested to join. (Feature has since been removed)

 

Cooperative Actions: Actions that one avatar does to another.

 

Copyright: The right to copy. Love Wikipedia!

 

Credit: IMVU funds purchased with real currency.

 

Customers AvatarName: The name temporarily given when an account change is made while the system updates such as buying your name. (this bug has beef fixed)

 

DC: Developers Council: A council of developers for brainstorming and discussing developer issues. Now called the Content Creators Council, CCC, C3

 

Deriving Chain: The family tree of a product. More Info

 

Deriving Fee: This is the fee payed at submission to pay the mesh maker(s) for your copy of the product.

 

Deriving: Using one product to build from to make another. Usually done by retexturing.

 

Developer: One who makes products on IMVU. Also known as a Content Creator.

 

DMCA, DMC, Digital Millennium Copyright Act: The law that protects digital copyrights. Happy Reading!

 

FAQ: Abbreviated frequently asked questions.

 

Fredits: Shorthand for free credits.

 

Friends: Those who have added you to their friends list.

 

Furniture: Items that can be place, scaled and moved around in a Furniture Room. Not necessarily actually ‘furniture’.

 

Furniture Room: Chat rooms that support the use of furniture items.

 

Exporters: The plugins necessary to make a 3D meshing program export files in the format the Previewer needs.

 

GIF: A file type used for stickers that supports transparency and animation.

 

Gift Beggars: Those who engage in the practice of thinly veiled or just plain outright begging for credits, gifts, passes, or name purchase in the form of forum posts or unwarranted page messages. A generally frowned upon practice in IMVU.

 

Gimp: A FREE 3rd party image making program.

 

Gold Pass: A product discount pass purchasable from IMVU

 

Google: The most underutilized (and your most powerful) tool when learning to use 3rd party programs.

 

Guest_ : A user of IMVU who has not purchased their name.

 

Guest Developer: One who became a developer in the early days of IMVU before the name purchasing requirement was implemented.

 

Handel Node: Used in room and furniture making to set the location of the seat icon.

 

Homepages: Every account is given a customizable homepage. Depending on your level of html knowledge you can modify it simply with colors and stickers or delve into more advanced world of coding.

 

IMVU: Instant Messenger Viewer. Pronounced ‘Em View’

 

JPG: A file type use in both products and stickers.

 

Locked Room: (formally known as Scenes) Chat rooms that do not support furniture placement They are all-in-one packages. These were the old chat rooms on IMVU before furniture was available. You cannot add to or move their contents. Generally Locked Rooms are faster to load and cheaper use than a Furniture Room full of furniture but there as is nature has made them unpopular in today’s IMVU.

 

Mapping Template: The roadmap to a mesh that tells you what is where on a texture. Also known as Texture Map or UV map.

 

MCG, Minimum Coverage Guide: The guide that shows what areas need to be covered for a garment to be rated General Audience.

 

Mesh: The 3D frame that a texture wraps around.

 

Metric: Data used to measure a developer’s performance for Tier level points.

 

Milkshape: An inexpensive 3rd party 3D program

 

Moticons: The ANNOYING giant balls that your avatar becomes when you type :D :) :P , not that I have an opinion on them ;)

 

OGG: The audio file type needed for product making in the Previewer.

 

Opacity Map: Also known as Alpha map. The grayscale image that gives instructions on transparency. White is solid, Black is clear, shades of gray everything in-between.

 

Paint Shop: An entry level 3rd party image making program.

 

Paint: A basic 3rd party image making program.

 

Peer Review: The process of pre-screening products before they go live in the catalog. more info

 

Photoshop CS: A professional grade 3rd party image making program.

 

Photoshop Elements: An entry level 3rd party image making program.

 

Pitcher Node: Used in room and furniture making in conjunction with the Catcher Node to assign where cooperative actions will happen. The pitcher is the one initiating the action.

 

PM: Private Message: There are two ways to sent an avatar a PM. A hidden message on their homepage or through their forum account.

 

PNG: A file type used for stickers and product pages that supports levels of transparency. Can also be used of products when higher detail is needed, though their opacity is not supported.

 

Predits: Shorthand for promotional credits.

 

Previewer: The old program provided to IMVU developers for editing and submitting products to IMVU. Now replaced by Create Mode

 

Pro: The tag on the products of devs who are Tier 5 or higher.

 

Product Price: The sum of your profit and the products breakeven price.

 

Professional Developer:
One who earns a significant income from their IMVU developing.
One who was ranked a ‘Pro’ on IMVU’s old ranking system.

 

Professional Developer Program: IMVUs old developer ranking system.

 

Profit: The amount you will earn on each sale if your item is purchased with credits.

 

Promotional Credit: Free credit points given by IMVU to promote the IMVU experience. A developer does not get paid when an item is purchase with promotional credits.

 

Prop Actions: A mesh action that involves the use of a mesh(s). Example the violin in IMVU’s old sunset scene.

 

PS: Shorthand for Photoshop

 

Publish: The act of sending a product to Peer Preview when it is ready for public consumption.

 

Rankings Panel: IMVUs rating system that tracks your stats on IMVU.

 

Retail Markup: IMVU’s 10% markup on all products sold in the catalog.

 

Retexturing: The act of making new textures for an existing product.

 

Room: The environment that IMVU chats take place in that furniture can be used in. Can be anything from a simple flat background to a complex 3D outdoor scene.

 

RSS: Ready Simple Syndication: Allows you to have a RSS enabled blog, journal or news feed displayed on your homepage.

 

Scenes: The room environment that IMVU chats take place in. Can be anything from a simple flat background to a complex 3D outdoor scene.

 

Seat Node: Used in room and furniture making to assign seat locations.

 

Shoutouts: The ticker tape messages that scroll across the top banner of the website and the bottom of the chat window. They are purchasable in the catalog.

 

Skeleton Node: The head of the linking hierarchy of a product.

 

Sketchup: A Low cost 3rd party 3D meshing program with limited IMVU support that can be used for some meshing

 

Skin:
a A product worn by an avatar.
b To texture something.
c. In mesh making, one can use the skin modifier for weighting.

 

SMS: Short Message Service: A way for non US customers to make name and credit purchases on IMVU with their cell phone.

 

Spinner: The old slot machine like IMVU game one can play to win from Zero to 500cr per spin. One spin per day. This has been removed.

 

Sticker: 2D graphic that is used to decorate homepages.

 

Submission Fee: The fee paid when submitting a product to IMVU. This fee is reduced as ones tier socre increases.

 

Tier: The level at which a developer is ranked against their peers on various aspects of developing and participation.

 

Tiers: IMVU’s system of ranking devs. more info

 

Texture Map: The roadmap to a mesh that tells you what is where on a texture.

 

Texture: The 2D image that wraps around a mesh

 

Token: The much hated necessary evil of the IMVU promotional credit system. A developer receives a Token in lue of payment whenever a product is purchased in whole or in part with promotional Credits. They can only be used for submission fees and Shoutouts.

 

Try it Pass: A pass that allows you to try on a product to preview it before making a purchase.

 

Unfit for IMVU, UFI: Content that is a breech of IMVUs Virtual Goods Policy. Examples of some  UFI items… depictions of sexual acts, illegal drug use, actual gambling,  ‘hate speech’ products, depictions of extreme violence.

 

UV Map: The roadmap to a mesh that tells you what is where on a texture. Also known as Mapping Template or Texture Template.

 

UV Mapping: The act of making a texture map in a 3D program.

 

VIP Program: A monthly subscription fee that opens up exclusive VIP content.

 

Weighting: Done in a 3D program, Giving instructions to a mesh on its relative position to it’s attachment point.

 

Wishlist: Where you can display items you want from the catalog so that those interested know what products your are dreaming of.

 

XAF: A products Animation file in Cal3D format

 

XMF: A products Mesh file in Cal3D format

 

XRF: A products Texture information file in Cal3D format

 

XSF: A products Skeleton file in Cal3D format