Mesh Body vs Standard Body

[Phil Deakins]

Thank you all for your inputs. I'd read, and listened to, people discussing clothing difficulties with mesh bodies, and I wondered why use them at all if they cause such difficulties. I was never against them, even though one or two people imagined otherwise. I was genuinely curious as to whether or not they had any real benefits, or if people were just jumping on the mesh bandwagon simply because it exists and is more modern.

I've learned some things from the thread. I've learned that mest bodies do have benefits. A couple I found for myself after someone mentioned beaches, and there were more that other people posted, especially the one about bums still looking like bums when sitting. Well almost like bums. I'm sure that even mesh bums don't flatten a bit when sitting

I hadn't realised that mesh faces were uneditable, and look just like everyone else who bought the same one, so it seems to me that Amethyst's method is good.

I am now convinced that there are genuine benefits to mesh bodies, and I thank you all for educating me about them. I said earlier that I might even experiment for myself, but, in view of what Qie said about the upcoming changes, I'll hold back on that.

[Alwin Alcott]

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Phil Deakins wrote:

but, in view of what Qie said about the upcoming changes, I'll hold back on that.

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most mesh body creators will try to keep their customers happy and bring the new as update or at least a substantial rebate for their current customers.

If they do not, most will go to another brand thats better/cheaper or earlier in releasing the new design.

[Venus Petrov]

It took me awhile and some demo attempts to find a mesh head I felt was acceptable. I like the head primarily for photography and sometimes for the animations that come with it.  I wear a mesh body nearly 100% of the time  now.  It takes dressing/undressing a tad longer but no big deal.

The only thing I wonder is the impact on a n00b of seeing a bunch of rezzing avies in a shop.  They will first blame their own graphics and then blame the viewer.

[Qie Niangao]

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Alwin Alcott wrote:

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Phil Deakins wrote:

but, in view of what Qie said about the upcoming changes, I'll hold back on that.

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most mesh body creators will try to keep their customers happy and bring the new as update or at least a substantial rebate for their current customers.

If they do not, most will go to another brand thats better/cheaper or earlier in releasing the new design.

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I don't think the existing customers have any market power here at all. It may be that, nonetheless, the creators do the right thing (although they could be making commitments -- and I've not seen any) but the level of investment folks have made in their mesh-avatar-specific wardrobes is so high that buying the mesh avatar from scratch would be a drop in the bucket. (This despite the heavy coin the things fetch, even in their current lame "beta" state.)

At least that's how I understand early products (notably TMP) still retain any customers at all, despite lacking the sophistication of  successors.

All that said, I hope somebody with more current and detailed knowledge of Bento might weigh in. It's my general impression that, for human avatars, it will mostly affect hands and faces, and to some extent feet, but not so much the rest of the skeleton. So maybe it would be safe to buy a body (only) from a creator that seems likely to track the Bento developments with new heads and hands. (I'd expect Slink to do that, for example, because they've been in the hands and feet business for so long.)

I sure wouldn't be buying a mesh head from anybody, though, pre-Bento. I mean, what's the point? It's not just that they lack customizability (as mentioned above) but they're motionless. Squicky death masks is what they are -- and Bento should fix all that.

[Yavuya]

I love my nonmesh body and if a person is good at editing their full shape from head to toe to try and look realistic in their nonmesh body, they might even look better if not similar to mesh bodies. I notice only a few differences: the private area; which can look more realistic in SL bodies by getting the proper clothing layers(female), the hands; which can be made to look realistic by shrinking them some if they are too big. Having a realistic skin makes a big difference too. I recommend Glance Skins, any skin color looks very real and allows you to edit and have freckles and skin definition on your body. Be sure to get the FULLPERM ones. Umm, what was next, oh ok physics. Make sure your areas bounce and move properly and not stiff(females). Mesh feet do look better than SLregular feet, butttt some skins do have realitively fine looking feet too.

Having a full mesh body is not so fun, I know because I did try to have one. Ok, say I put on a specified outfit with that body. Once I take that outfit off part of my body goes missing, then I have to wear the mesh HUD to reapply the parts which disappeared. The mesh outfits take up lots of inventory space and having to detach before I attach clothes is not like the old easy way with regular SL bodies. Also, some of the boobies defy gravity and that annoys me. If you have large breasts, there is no way they should be lifted from the rib cage and stick out and up at a slop, especially if you are trying to go for a realistic look. Realistic large boobs rest on the ribs. (I have lg breasts in rl and young so I know what i am talking about). Plus, it seems that many fully mesh bodies have a certain size, though the shape can be edited to a point, they still don't allow for women to have rolls around the waist. However, a few do. Not everyone is meant to be a size '0' or whatever size the mesh body creators are trying to represent  Anyways, it is your choice on how you portray your character. I just only told some of the benefits and nonbenefits of having either body.

[Qie Niangao]

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Yavuya wrote:

Ok, say I put on a specified outfit with that body. Once I take that outfit off part of my body goes missing, then I have to wear the mesh HUD to reapply the parts which disappeared. The mesh outfits take up lots of inventory space...

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It took me a while to stumble on this, but I've found the only way I can tolerate a mesh body for everyday use is to only ever wear outfits. That is, I go out of my way to define a new outfit for any assembly of items I ever wear, just in case I may want to wear it again. Most importantly, always include a fresh copy of the entire mesh body inside each outfit (including hands and feet).

Yeah, I know there are "presets" on the customization HUDs for alphas, tattoos, etc., but they're a joke -- you can't even label those presets. (Do not get me started on the quality of mesh avatar scripts!)

Granted this adds even more to the inventory bloat. the clutter of folders compounded by being forbidden to so much as rename the No-Mod copies thanks to the creators' petty greed.

[Phil Deakins]

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Qie Niangao wrote:

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Yavuya wrote:

Ok, say I put on a specified outfit with that body. Once I take that outfit off part of my body goes missing, then I have to wear the mesh HUD to reapply the parts which disappeared. The mesh outfits take up lots of inventory space...

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It took me a while to stumble on this, but I've found the only way I can tolerate a mesh body for everyday use is to only ever wear

outfits.

 That is, I go out of my way to define a new outfit for any assembly of items I ever wear, just in case I may want to wear it again.

Most importantly, always include a fresh copy of the entire mesh body inside each outfit (including hands and feet).

Yeah, I know there are "presets" on the customization HUDs for alphas, tattoos, etc., but they're a joke -- you can't even label those presets.

(

Do not get me started on the quality of mesh avatar scripts!

)

Granted

 this adds even more to the inventory bloat.

 the clutter of folders compounded by being forbidden to so much as rename the No-Mod copies thanks to the creators' petty greed.

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Aaw, go on. Get started. You know you want to

[AnimalChi]

Oh yes, it certainly is more difficult to use mesh avatars than the default avatars, but to me, it's a worthy price to pay to never have to look like a low poly 3d model from the 90s.

I'm to the point where I'm using omega appliers to apply my own customized skins, clothing layers, and combining those edits with fitted mesh, and so on. It definitely has been frustrating to learn how to customize all of this through a HUD instead of directly editing it like back in the day. But when taking the time to learn it all, it's possible to edit everything as precisely as the default avatars.

[Rayanna Shelman]

I have been reading all the messages with great interest.     Been on SL for a very long time but still have the "old" classic avatar even though I have recently bought Slink Feet & Hands.     A few friends have been trying hard to persuade me to get Maitreya Lara mesh body and (mainly out of curiousity) I got the demo a few days ago.     

Cannot say I was not impressed because in some ways it looked good but when fully dressed I could not really see a great deal of difference in my avatar.      My inventory contains a vast amount of outfits  many  are mesh but a lot are not and I found quite a few of them did not seem to fit as well as they do on my classic body.      Admittedly I was not exactly sure what I was doing with "Lara" but I did not find it easy to use the HUD to "mask" certain parts of the body and make other parts visible just so I could wear a summer dress.   I realise it would take a while to become familiar with all the options and a lot of "trial & error" before getting it right but have to say(  In my opinion) it is much easier to wear an alpha layer. 

I know there are other mesh bodies available and am wondering if ALL use a similar type of HUD or if some are easier or more difficult.

I am still very undecided about "going mesh" so any help and opinions would be more than welcome.

[Imagin Illyar]

I wear a mesh body no matter what I'm wearing.  Even if most of the body is covered up.  The reason is because I can keep my own shape in a better quality body.  

Standard sized mesh clothing does not conform to your shape.  

Classic fitmesh conforms to your shape but generally looks awful because the standard avatar mesh it's fitted to is awful.

Mesh clothing that is made for your specific mesh body is also fitmesh but because it's fitted to a better mesh body it looks great.  So you keep your own shape and all the joints and curves are so much better than anything you can create with the standard body because the mesh is that much better - whether there are clothes over it or not.

A quality mesh body is not harder to dress if you buy clothes made for your body - and there are a LOT of clothing makers doing that now.  

[Teagan Tobias]

My problem is that I can't tell a classic body from a mesh body when I am out and about, I just can't tell the difference.

I guess if I camed in real close and inspected everyone, then maybe, but I'm not going to do that. I don't care.

I have tried some demos but they leave me cold, can't get my head to fit without a line across my neck. And with the new Jelly Dolls feature I don't see a lot of avatars any how. I'll spend my money on clothes and shoes, lots of shoes, and leave the mesh body works to the rest of you, enjoy.

[wherorangi]

the only downside for me with mesh bodies is the delay sometimes in fetching and applying layers. When is lag then people can appear naked for quite a while on my screen some days

i never say anything to anyone or comment inworld tho when that happens to them. Just be polite and not say anything to embarrass them. Their clothes will come eventually hopefully

+

is just another thing really to add to the long list of things for LL to look at

layer baking for attached mesh similar to system avatar layer baking

[Vulpinus]

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wherorangi wrote:

When is lag then people can appear naked for quite a while on my screen some days

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I tend to think of that as a feature!

 

 

 

 

[wherorangi]

nuuuu !! it isnt

somebody needs put a box on your eyes q; (:

not really just maybe (:

[cloudnet]

I totally agree with you Phil, I asked myself the same question.
I always used standart SL body and was glad with what it had to offer, but then I got a job and a mesh body was required... at first I hated it and it's been sooo confusing, but I learned how to use it (took me about a week!), and I looked for tips and tricks that helped me a lot.
So my reason for a mesh body because it was required for me and then I just didn't want to take it off
But others might say that they use it because it looks more realistic (and it surely does since SL standart body has some bone bugs), or it looks more "sexy" - either way you'll hear the same reasons over and over again.
Tho I think you'll hear more reasons from female users, since there are no many male mesh-body users. 

[Charlene Myoo]

Don't believe your before and after shots are fair to what is possible with the standard face.  Sort of like the shots in an ad of what a person looks like in RL before and after buying a certain product where the "before" photo is simply a bad photo.