Skin or Shape - where does your face come from?

[Alwin Alcott 5,008]

shape ánd skin... both change, or can change the look.

 

 

[Alwin Alcott 5,008]

shape ánd skin... both change, or can change the look.

 

 

[Amethyst Jetaime 1,562]

Mesh heads are have a set shape of the face.  Although skins will effect the overall look, not being able to change the shape of the face on a mesh head will very much limit the looks you can achieve.  If you gravitate to certain looks in skins, I'm afraid the look of the face will change very little. 

This is why so many people just use the mesh bodies but not the heads.  With the heads you are going to look very similar to everyone else with that head.

[Lindal Kidd 10,188]

A skin is a texture that is applied to your classic avatar body and head.  Skins provide flesh tones, makeup, and fine shading detail.

A shape is a set of positions of the Appearance sliders, and is applied to your classic avatar body.  Shape provides physical dimensions and quite a large number of adjustable facial features.

A skin and a shape work together to produce the overall look of your classic avatar.  Some skins don't work well with some shapes...you either need to find a skin that does go well with your shape, or "tweak" your shape to get the best look with a particular skin.

Your Maitreya mesh body replaces your classic avatar body with a mesh body.  You can think of it as a sort of rubber suit that you wear over your normal body.  It does not cover the head...you can either continue to use your own classic head, or add a separate mesh head to cover that part up, too.

Mesh body parts are not affected by what skin you are wearing.  For the skin to work with a mesh body or mesh head you need an "applier" for that skin.  Most major skin creators now sell appliers for their skins that will work with most popular mesh bodies.

So...that's a long way of answering your question.  The short answer is:  Use both the skin and the Appearance sliders to change the look of your face.

[pwrofwhy 0]

A question I have an original face that I have made look like I want it to look,  I have a Maitreya mesh body that I have made look along with sliders look like I want.  I have only one issue.

I have two sets of hands because the Maitreya body has the Bento hands which are really great but both the original skin hands and the Bento's hands are showing?  Any advice ??  

This Mesh body is so difficult I am afraid to do anything to it.  Does it get better ??

[Ethan Paslong 2,530]

11 minutes ago, pwrofwhy said:

I have two sets of hands because the Maitreya body has the Bento hands which are really great but both the original skin hands and the Bento's hands are showing?  Any advice ??  

This Mesh body is so difficult I am afraid to do anything to it.

simple: wear the alpha to hide your system bodyparts

Mesh can be complicated at start, take your time, make a fresh copy of all and put it in a folder, after that play with the hud and body and see what it does. You'll have a fresh copy waiting if you make things worse than you started

[Halo Minoptra 116]

2 hours ago, pwrofwhy said:

A question I have an original face that I have made look like I want it to look,  I have a Maitreya mesh body that I have made look along with sliders look like I want.  I have only one issue.

I have two sets of hands because the Maitreya body has the Bento hands which are really great but both the original skin hands and the Bento's hands are showing?  Any advice ??  

This Mesh body is so difficult I am afraid to do anything to it.  Does it get better ??

You only wear one set of hands, @pwrofwhy.  Wear the Bento hands and not the classic hands.

Yes, it gets better. All the things that are confusing or difficult become easier. There is a support group inworld -- I couldn't find it just now in the search, but I'll get it tonight. It's very helpful and timely when you're inworld. But you can also always ask questions here.

 

Edited March 18 by Halo Minoptra

[LittleMe Jewell 20,284]

16 hours ago, pwrofwhy said:

A question I have an original face that I have made look like I want it to look,  I have a Maitreya mesh body that I have made look along with sliders look like I want.  I have only one issue.

I have two sets of hands because the Maitreya body has the Bento hands which are really great but both the original skin hands and the Bento's hands are showing?  Any advice ??  

This Mesh body is so difficult I am afraid to do anything to it.  Does it get better ??

Since the Maitreya Body Alpha automatically alphas the hands with the body, I'm assuming that by "original skin hands' you might be referring to the ones called "Maitreya Mesh Body - Hands (Classic)'.  If that is the case, then detach those and, as Halo said, only add the 'Maitreya Mesh Body - Bento Hand R' and 'Maitreya Mesh Body - Bento Hand L' items from the Maitreya folder.

If it is not the Maitreya Classic Hands that you are talking about, but instead you really do mean the original system hands, then either you are not wearing the "Maitreya Mesh Body - Alpha' that came in the folder or something is really messed up with that alpha.  If, by chance, the alpha is messed up, just unpack a new one from your box - or go to the Maitreya store and get a redeliver of the box so that you can unpack a new Alpha.

 

[rtthgrls 9]

On 5/13/2016 at 4:46 PM, Amethyst Jetaime said:

Mesh heads are have a set shape of the face.  Although skins will effect the overall look, not being able to change the shape of the face on a mesh head will very much limit the looks you can achieve.  If you gravitate to certain looks in skins, I'm afraid the look of the face will change very little. 

This is why so many people just use the mesh bodies but not the heads.  With the heads you are going to look very similar to everyone else with that head.

Soooo you can have a mesh body and not a mesh head? if so then I guess the hard part is matching the skin on the neck? thanks

[moirakathleen 4,774]

46 minutes ago, rtthgrls said:

Soooo you can have a mesh body and not a mesh head? if so then I guess the hard part is matching the skin on the neck? thanks

Yes, you can have a mesh body without having a mesh head.   You need to look for a skin that comes with both (a) a system skin, and (b) an applier for the type of mesh body you have.    

[LittleMe Jewell 20,284]

3 hours ago, rtthgrls said:

Soooo you can have a mesh body and not a mesh head? if so then I guess the hard part is matching the skin on the neck? thanks

This would be why I wear chokers more often these days. Even with a system skin and a skin applier for the mesh body, all created by the same person, there will still be a line that is visible in many lighting conditions.

[Lindal Kidd 10,188]

I wear a skin from Laqroki.  When I wear my Maitreya Lara body, I use the applier from Laqroki to apply the same skin texture to the mesh body.  I don't have any problem with the neck join, and don't use the "neck blending" option.

[Jules Catlyn 543]

On 5/15/2019 at 3:24 AM, Lindal Kidd said:

I wear a skin from Laqroki.  When I wear my Maitreya Lara body, I use the applier from Laqroki to apply the same skin texture to the mesh body.  I don't have any problem with the neck join, and don't use the "neck blending" option.

I have the same experience. I wear a skin and head from LAQ as well. Combined with one of their heads (Scarlet) and i dont have an issue with the neck either. I also do not use the neck blending option as suggested by Lindal.

[MishelleAnne Ember 0]

I have recently returned to SecondLife and just learning how the mesh body works.  This thread provided some great clarity on how the skin/body affects the face.

I have a question tho.  I have some old skins that I love but I wouldn't be able to use those on a mesh body because they don't have the applier right?

 

[Lindal Kidd 10,188]

That's right, Mishelle, but don't throw the old classic skins out just yet.  We are looking forward to a new capability, "Bakes on Mesh" that will allow wearing classic layers on mesh body items. 

Also, a lot of skin sellers make appliers for their skins.  I was able to get an applier for my LaQ skin for my Maitreya mesh body.

[MishelleAnne Ember 0]

Oh that's great to know!  I love my classic skin and just started looking on the marketplace for others but not finding anything even close.  I'm not sure I will make the investment until this "Baked on Mesh" is live.  Do you know any ETA on this feature?