“Nope,” she said. “I haven’t been getting any requests.”

Why not? I’m sure many animators have been crushed by the number of requests for replacements. Well, it’s because Luth has been selling her animations as copyable/no transfer. Since her customers can copy their animations, they never lose them. Sure they might lose a HUD or two, but no problem. They just get a new AO, and copy the animations inside again.

It certainly would be great if more animators followed Luth’s lead and at least offered their animations in copyable versions. Many of the big animators refuse however. I know, I’ve talked to them many times about it. And I’ve decided for myself, that I will never buy another dance, pose or AO animation that is no copy.

So I’m going to keep a list here on my blog of animators who do carry copyable animations as a service to my customers. I’m going to start with two, Reel Expression (Luth’s store) and Animazoo. A couple months back, I contacted Dave Bellman of Animazoo and told him I would promote his dances at Animazoo if he would offer them in a copyable version. He thought about it and agreed! Just recently he got back to me and told me that all his dances were now sold copyable/no transfer. Dave’s dances are really great. They appear to be original motion captured animations in a lot of different styles. Next time you are looking for dances to buy, make sure you stop at Animazoo first!

Here is the list, I’ll be adding to it often, so bookmark this page. If you know of animators who sell copyable animations, please post their shop name and SLURL in the comments.

• Reel Expressions – Some of the best poses in SL
• Animazoo – Motion capture dances
• Outrider Animations – tons of great poses for AOs (added July 2nd, 2008)
• AKEYO MAINSTORE – Motion capture dances and AO animations (added November 17, 2008)