New to the whole mesh body thing...some questions

[Melody Frostwych]

Hi everybody.  I'm trying to understand the mesh avatar thing.  I've been doing the Classic Av thing for like 5 or 6 years and am finally going to jump into the deep end, but i need to find out some things, like...

I've been using the Serenade Emoter (it changes the expression on your face to match different emotions) practically since I first logged in and i love it.  I don't know why everybody doesn't use it!  But will i still be able to use it with a mesh avatar?

I was thinking of getting a Maitreya avatar (ESODE Olivia Skin and Sophia Shape).  But i want to modify the shape. The demo doesn't allow mod but does the full version allow modifying the shape?  How can i tell for sure?

and - a little off-topic - I've been having lots of trouble with my avatars' feet either sinking below or hovering above the floor, and also, when wearing different footwear (especially high heels) sometimes the standard feet don't go all the way down into the shoe, and/or the flesh-colored foot shape is visible outside the shoe.  I never used to have this problem with my avatars.

Thanks very much for your attention!

MF

[Syo Emerald]

1. A mesh body is not a complete mesh avatar. Your will continue having your classic head (if you don't replace it too). So you can continue to use your emoter.

2 The Maitreya mesh body reacts to the shape you use. You do not mod it, but change the sliders of the shape.

[Theresa Tennyson]

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Melody Frostwych wrote:

Hi everybody.  I'm trying to understand the mesh avatar thing.  I've been doing the Classic Av thing for like 5 or 6 years and am finally going to jump into the deep end, but i need to find out some things, like...

I've been using the Serenade Emoter (it changes the expression on your face to match different emotions) practically since I first logged in and i love it.  I don't know why everybody doesn't use it!  But will i still be able to use it with a mesh avatar?

I was thinking of getting a Maitreya avatar (ESODE Olivia Skin and Sophia Shape).  But i want to modify the shape. The demo doesn't allow mod but does the full version allow modifying the shape?  How can i tell for sure?

and - a little off-topic - I've been having lots of trouble with my avatars' feet either sinking below or hovering above the floor, and also, when wearing different footwear (especially high heels) sometimes the standard feet don't go all the way down into the shoe, and/or the flesh-colored foot shape is visible outside the shoe.  I never used to have this problem with my avatars.

Thanks very much for your attention!

MF

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The emoter will work as long as you don't get a mesh head. The most popular mesh bodies currently, including Maitreya, are only neck-down and use the default avatar head so anything about your face will stay exactly the same.

All shapes, including the ones worn with mesh bodies, are exactly the same things that Second Life has been using since 2003. As long as a shape is modifiable you can adjust it with the sliders and according to the marketplace Esode shapes are modifiable. The current fitted mesh bodies will adjust along with the sliders - however, they won't respond exactly the same way the default body does, and they're designed for an average figure and don't generally respond well if you're trying to make them very fat or very thin.

It sounds like you're wearing old shoes. The problem with the foot shape showing means that the shoe used "invisiprims" which are no longer supported with the advanced lighting system that many people  now use. You probably started using advanced lighting without realizing it. You can use an "alpha" layer to hide the deformed default foot for these shoes (if you can find one that fits.) If you're buying a mesh body you'll almost certainly use either the feet that came with it or Slink feet, which use shoes custom fitted to them.

[Persephone Emerald]

If you're considering buying a mesh body, look up the comparison chart and reviews at The Mesh Body Addicts blog. Then try demos for the bodies that interest you. The Mesh Project has a free mesh body, if you want to see what it's like to have one, but the freebie version doesn't have all the features most people want. Some of the features people like are the ability to wear other mesh feet, hands and heads, good alpha cuts for wearing mesh clothes, an easy to use HUD, and Omega system compatibility. Omega is an applier system that allow you to wear many "painted on" skins, tattoos and clothes besides those made just for that mesh body. Wearing a mesh body means wearing more scripts and using a more complicated way of dressing, but the shapes are often very nice compared to those of system bodies.

[Conifer Dada]

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Persephone Emerald wrote:

. . . .  but the shapes are often very nice compared to those of system bodies.

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.....Often, but by no means always !!!!

[Bobbie Faulds]

Demo, demo, demo...find one that YOU like the way it looks, not just a name. I use Maitreya, Belleza, Both Slinks, the uLukie healthy, GInc and Banned/Isteni (not currently available), depending on the look I want. They each have different. shapes for the butt and the breasts and the alphas are different on each. They are all Omega compatible so most skin makers make the appliers for them.

The TMP body, while not badly shape, has some technical problems. First and foremost is the overly complicated Style Hud. There also aren't a lot of designers making things for it. To get one you can actually buy skins for and wear as well as applier clothing, you're going to have to go with the top of the line. The "free one" only lets you wear the skins in the hud and mesh clothing but doesn't include alphas. To get alphas, you'll have to spend at least 2500 L. It also has the problem that all textures, ie skins and clothing, aren't inworld, per se, but installed onto the Style Hud and are loaded from an outside website when you want them. So, if that server is down or they decide to close up shop, you've got a problem.

Good luck.

[Jake Mysterious]

Research, Research, And Research again! Know you will have to buy new clothes also that fit whatever mesh body you are buying. And the floating thing you mentioned may be from your hover set wrong on your shape, or if using firestorm.