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Advice Needed for Mesh - Avatar/Complete


Tina22 Carter
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I am considering getting Mesh for a complete avatar look (skin, shape, ears, hair, face,hands, feet). However I have a few questions that needs answers/advice.

1. What is the basic mesh needed to make a complete avatar?

2. Can I have mesh skin, shape, hands, feet and use the classic outfit/ accessories/ shoes?

3. Can I have mesh outfit/accessories/shoes on a classic skin/ shape/ hands/ feet?

4. Is there alot of work (adjusting etc) if i get mesh?

5. What is your advise/concern with mesh?

6. Do you know someone who does custom mesh skin/shape/hands/feet?

 

Thanks in advance.. Appreciate it heaps..

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While this is the forum for MAKING mesh and issues that arrive, I will pipe in here anyway.

 

If you go with many mesh bodies that are on the marketplace (Maitreya, Belleza, Slink etc) then you can wear either fitmesh or standard sizing mesh (assuming your avatar is fairly standard in shape). To be completely mesh you will also need to get a head. Some heads come in skin color lines to match bodies (example Lelutka heads and Maitreya body which is what I have). Some skin designers make appliers for heads as well as bodies so you can "wear" a skin on one of the commercial mesh bodies much like you would wear a skin on the legacy non-mesh SL avatar.

You can no longer use texture garment (you need special appliers for that) or most of your old shoes (some boots will still work). You can still wear SOME of your older mesh garments. It will depend in part on the alpha layer set up on your body hud and how well things match up. Note that each hud on each body is different so it is VERY IMPORTANT that you play with the huds before purchasing as the hud is as least as important as the body - head. IMHO of course.

 

I love my all mesh avatar. IF however you get an avatar that is not compatible with skin lines, clothes etc you will not be able to have a wardrobe, so a custom avatar would be like that. Certainly not my thing, but for folks that never change clothes (like a lot of guys) that works :D.

 

Do a lot of research as this gets to be pretty expensive and you want to make the best decision for you.

And yes, you can wear mesh shoes and clothes and hair etc on a classic avatar. You don't NEED a body, it just looks better.  :D

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Hi Tina,

I'll give you a longer explanation of what classic and mesh avatarrs are and how they work together, or don't depending.

The classic avatar skeleton and skin are the base avatar for both mesh and classic. When using a new mesh body the skin of the classic avatar is hidden behind it and poke-through is hidden using alpha layers.

Clothes and skin made for the classic avatar apply a texture/image to the mesh surface that makes up the skin of the classic avatar, which we usually just refer to as the system (original) skin. We call these clothes and skins classic, system clothes or skin. You can think of the images as being like decals stuck on the mesh that makes up the classic body.  These are the clothes we make with ONLY GIMP or Photoshop.

If you use GIMP or Photoshop you are familiar with layers. In the classic avatar the skin is the bottom layer. On top of that we composite the tattoo, undershirt, shirt, and jacket layers. We can also wear ‘attachments’ on top of all those layers.

Over the classic avatar body and those ‘system’ layers the new style mesh avatar places a new mesh surface, which is an attachment. The two surfaces are so close to the same position we generally hide the classic surface using Alpha Layers. The classic skin/surface pokes through the new style mesh avatar’s surface when the avatar moves. It’s a basic limitation of modeling and animating in all 3D worlds. It is just the state of the technology we have. Note, this hiding also hides the system clothes applied to the classic skin.

The viewer always applies system skin, tats, shirt, etc. to the system or classic avatar’s surface. This is why when you wear a new style mesh avatar and make changes to system clothes you will see no change. The change happened on the classic avatar skin/surface, which is HIDDEN UNDER the new style mesh skin/surface.

Special skins and clothes are needed for use with the newer style mesh avatars. With mesh clothes another mesh surface is placed over both the classic and new style mesh skins. A rigged mesh top should fit over both skins. A rigged mesh jacket will be another surface that fits over all the surfaces below/inside it.

We use 'Appliers' (a HUD that usually comes with a skin or other attachment) to place textures/images on the new surface that makes up the mesh avatar skin or clothing. We must composite the skin and clothes we want to put on the new style avatar skin ourselves. But, it is intended that we use new style mesh clothes with the new style mesh avatar body. So, in general we only place skin and underware on the new mesh skin.

Mesh clothes can be used with the new mesh avatars and classic avatars. System clothes can only be used with the system/classic avatar, unless they come with an Applier.

So, to explicitly answer your question:

1 The basic mesh avatar is a; body, hands, feet, and head. - For a time I used hands and feet with the classic body. Now I have a mesh body I use with a number of outfits. I still prefer the classic head. So, it is very much a mix and match world.

2 Can you use classic skin/shape/hands/feet with mesh body? Depends. I hope the long explanation answers this one so you can understand what may work with a mesh body. Classic shoes, maybe. Some will and some won't work. Shape, probably. I find that the shape I use with my classic body doesn't give me the same shape with my mesh body. I had to adjust my shape to get my shape the same when wearing a mesh body. They do WORK, but may not look the same. Outfits? Depends. Some yes and others no.

3 Can you use mesh outfit/accessories/shoe on a classic? Mostly yes. But, you will likely have to edit your shape to make the stuff fit well.

4 Is there a lot of adjusting? No... but maybe. I think it depends on what you are tryng to wear. Mesh on classic, I do a lot of adjusting and often just give up wearing some mesh items with a classic body.

5 Advice? Try the demos. You can get demos for bodies, hands, feet, heads, clothes, skins, etc. If it does not have a demo, DO NOT BUY IT.

6 Do I know a custom mesh maker? Yes and I know of several. But, none doing custom body stuff. I suspect custom bodies and other body related items will be expensive.

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