New Mesh Avatar source files? Soon?

[RipleyVonD]

I'm looking foward to checking out the new mesh Avatar's UV Mapping and weighting. Any word if we'll get some source files to develop for soon?

[Cathy Foil]

I've thoroughly checked out all the new female mesh starter avatars and I am pretty disappointed.  The weighting on most is horrible and none are modifiable so even if the UV pattern is the same as the default avatar mesh you can't change skin I tried.  If they are not modifiable then there is not point in supplying the source files.

I can tell the mesh they used isn't the default avatar mesh just weighted to the collision bones.  The breast area in particular doesn't have enough vertices so from many angles it looks blocky.  

Almost all the female avatars do not have toes but the same basic mesh shape as the default avatars.

All the avatars do not use your avatar's eyes.  The eyes are fixed and do not move.  This gives the expressionless faces a blank stare which quickly becomes kind of creepy.

The hands on almost all the avatars are in a relaxed but unnatural not very flattering position except for some of the monster avatars.  Speaking of the monster avatars the Zombie girl actually has very good weighting.  Whoever modeled her and did her weighting should have been given the task to do all the others.  Her hands are better sculptied.  Her feet actually have toes and her skin textures while yea it is a zombie texture are wonderfully done just so much better than all the rest of the females.

Of course none of the new mesh avatars have facial expressions nor eyes that move or blink and hands that are frozen into one position.

If LL had really wanted to make a real improvement to Fitted Mesh and the default avatar situation what they could do is add two more default avatars to SL that are weighted to the Collision Bones but that use the head, face and hands Morphs and allow Materials. 

I would have a contest open to all residents to submit their own weighted default avatar using the default avatar mesh where the residents vote for which ones win.  Maybe even permit a limited number of vertices to be added as long as they don't change the basic UV layout.  

What we would then have in the Editing Appearance menu would be two more options at the top next to Male or Female would be Classic and Fitted.  

These two new avatars would be added to the avatar_lad.xml and .llm files for the mesh body added.

If LL would do this Fitted Mesh would actually work as advertised.  Making Fitted Mesh would be a lot easier since we could copy the weights from the avatar to our mesh clothing giving us a much better starting point when adjusting the weights of the mesh clothing we create.

Will any of this be done?  Probably not.
But I hope I am wrong.

[RipleyVonD]

I was pretty excited to check them out, and I headed straight to the Zombie characters. lol Just the snapshots of the heads look so much more modern, but for some reason when I click their thumnails nothing happens. I see a short loading animation for a second and then nothing.

I stumbled on a post on the SL Universe forums who is having the same trouble, and we are on the latest LL viewer. That's alot of great Ideas Cathy, and since these are mesh avatars I would hope theirs a sort of clean slate for LL to consider improving them with out hesitation, but I get the feeling they are still relying on old Avatar tech somehow so I imagine its gonna be the usual pace LL moves at in improving things... Yeah... I know. :smileysad:

The new Avatar headshots remind me alot of Mixamo characters. Seriously, which wouldn't be bad... I think. 

https://www.mixamo.com/fuse

[HD Pomeray]

This is not a new SL avatar.  They use the same old avi.  These are just fitted mesh bodies that are worn over an alpha.  No different than the ones offered in the Market Place.   

[Sassy Romano]

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RipleyVonD wrote:

I'm looking foward to checking out the new mesh Avatar's UV Mapping and weighting. Any word if we'll get some source files to develop for soon?

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http://gyazo.com/307cdf5b791dda8e034c9ccd0f687f1a etc.

 

[LovedWarrior Quan]

Dang I tought we would have them soon

[Coby Foden]

OMG, what a mess those UV layouts are!  :smileysurprised:  :smileyindifferent:

[RipleyVonD]

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HD Pomeray wrote:

This is not a new SL avatar.  They use the same old avi.  These are just fitted mesh bodies that are worn over an alpha.  No different than the ones offered in the Market Place.   

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Crap, I thought so.

 

@ Sassy Romano

Are those UV maps the new mesh avatar on the left and Mixamo avatar on the right? I did a quick search for Mixamo character UV maps and didn't see anything right away.

[Sassy Romano]

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RipleyVonD wrote:

 

@ Sassy Romano

Are those UV maps the new mesh avatar on the left and Mixamo avatar on the right? I did a quick search for Mixamo character UV maps and didn't see anything right away.

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No, all 3 are from the new fitted mesh LL avatars.  As I said, I looked at 4, 3 had different layouts from each other, 2 shared the same.  I didn't look at any more.

[Cathy Foil]

If LL gives us the source files and allows us the same freedom they do with the default avatar mesh we could remap the UVs to match the default avatar's UVs.  It would be a pain in the butt and a lot of work but it can be done.

[RipleyVonD]

I thought of working on a mesh character and matching the UVs to the default avatar's, but those UV's are not something I want to work with. lts been ten years since that model was first mapped, UV maping tools have advanced significantly, and there are better ways of UV mapping a mesh character. 

The huge inventory of skins and clothing compatible with the old UV mapping is very appealing, but I would rather UV map a mesh character with UV's I think are ideal for easy texturing.

 

 

[Cathy Foil]

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RipleyVonD wrote:

I thought of working on a mesh character and matching the UVs to the default avatar's, but those UV's are not something I want to work with. lts been ten years since that model was first mapped, UV maping tools have advanced significantly, and there are better ways of UV mapping a mesh character. 

The huge inventory of skins and clothing compatible with the old UV mapping is very appealing, but I would rather UV map a mesh character with UV's I think are ideal for easy texturing.

 

 

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I agree with you RipleyVon.

The default avatar's UVs are not all that good and leave a lot to be desired.  A new improved UV layout for them would be wonderful.

LL could add some code that would allow the default avatar's to have two or more sets of UVs.  One would simply go into Editing Appearance Mode in SL and then click on the UV option they like to use.  UV Set 1 (Classic), UV Set 2 (Improved 1) or UV Set 3 (improved 2) and so on.

This way residents will still be able to all the old skin and clothing or use the new one made for the new UVs as they become more and more available.

[RipleyVonD]

That's a fresh idea. That's Good, I haven't stumbled on anyone else mention that. I wonder how much effort would be involved in implementing something like that. Even if this would get implemented it would only attract my attention if Normal Maps were also supported along with that.

Mesh bodies have my attention because of Normal Map support, I am so ready to start working on a Fitted Mesh body but I'm currently distracted by Linden Scripting, its a must, a necessary evil. LOL Just like UV mapping.