difference between add and wear

[Gino Molinaro]

when changing outfits and alpha, what is the difference between add and wear?

[sven Homewood]

Wear always replaces clothes on the same layer. Add just adds them. You can add up to 5 layers of the same layer. Attachments are similar, you can add 38 objects to the same spot or wear 38 objects on all 38 attachmentpoints.

Only Skin, SystemHair and Shape are different, there is only one possible. Oh eyes too I guess, but I am not 100% sure now.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi Gino,

When you "Wear" an attachment or clothing layer, it displaces anything and everything attached to the same point, or worn on the same layer. When you "Add" an attachment, it leaves any existing attachments to the point in place. When you "Add" a clothing layer, it lays on top of existing clothing on the same layer. If that added clothing layer item is completely opaque, you'll not see anything else under it, but if it's got transparent/translucent areas, the underlying clothing will show through. You are limited (as I recall) to five attachments per point and five clothing items per layer.

ETA: Sven knows more than I do. It's five clothing items per layer and 38 per attachment point!

ETA2: While additional attachments can increase viewer load (my hair has 242 prims!), nothing you do on the clothing layers affects loading. The "baking" process reduces all clothing/alpha layer items and your avatar skin to a single layer of texture that's painted on the avatar. So, whether you're wearing five clothing items on each layer or none (naked!), the rendering cost for your avatar is the same.

Have fun!

[Madelaine McMasters]

Gino PM'd me (most likely because the Answers section is designed to thwart interaction between residents by not allowing us to post followups to our own damned questions) asking this...

"should I add alpha and wear clothing or can alpha be worn and clothing be worn at the same time?"

I'm working from memory here, so feel free to correct me, everybody.

There are multiple layers of textures that get painted into an avatar. The undermost layer is the avatar skin. Just above that is the tee shirt/underpants layer, then comes the shirt/pants/skirt layer, then the jacket layer and finally the alpha layer.

Opaque pixels in any layer will obscure any pixels in the layers underneath. So, just as in RL, your jacket covers your shirt (and because it's longer than a shirt) the tops of your pants. Your pants cover your undies, and everything covers your skin. Transparent/translucent pixels in any layer allow underlying layers to show through. So a ripped hole in a pair of jeans would allow the skin of your knee to show through.

Within any layer, the resulting look depends on the order in which you "Add" clothing to that layer. If you first "Wear" a full coverage tee-shirt, then "Add" a bra, you're going to see the bra over the shirt. If you wear the bra first, then add the shirt, you'll see only the shirt. So, within a clothing layer, the order of donning clothing items is important.

Between layers, the ordering is fixed as I previously described. If you wear a bra on the shirt layer, then wear a tee on the tee layer, the bra will still be visible.

Since the alpha layer is the outermost layer, anything you wear on it will affect the visibility of everything underneath. So, if you wear a foot alpha layer to accomodate a pair of sculptie/mesh shoes/boots, it will erase all your clothing and your skin in the area where the footwear is expected to show. This prevents a poorly fitted item from exposing bits of your avatar in places where it fits too close to the avatar's center.

If you are going to put on multiple attachments that come with their own alpha layers, you should "Wear" the first one (to clear the alpha layer of any previous alphas) then "Add" subsequent items so that you don't remove the alphas from those you've just put on.

Once you've got yourself looking the way you want, save what you're wearing as an outfit so you don't have to to through all this over and over again!

ETA: Sorry for the bra/tee example, Gino. You guys get away with just slapping on a tee. Many of us gals have to do a bit more than that before running out the door.

;-)

[Lindal Kidd]

Yes! Eyes are one of the "essential four" items needed to define a minimum avatar.

[sven Homewood]

Adding to that: You can sort the order of clothes of the same layer! Just go in "Edit Appearance" and there will be an arrow that points up/down.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Oooh, I didn't know that, Sven!!!

[sven Homewood]

Even I am a boy (male) avatar I know it!

[Madelaine McMasters]

... hangs her head in shame.

 

;-).