Manipulating Mesh via HUD?

[Shaade Fallen]

Hello~ :3

So, over my years in SL, i've come across several mesh items that could be manipulated via huds that came with them.

For example, a mesh head that can change the expression of the eyes and mouth independently (logo heads), and even one that could open/close

them to the desired degree via sliders (ona heads, I think) - and i'm pretty sure neither used Bento.

 

I'm very interested in making my own custom head, and would like to be able to do this also - so I have to ask, how would I do this?

Is there a tutorial anywhere that would help, or would I just have to be like super script-savvy?

Anyway, just asking for a pointer in the right direction~

[Rolig Loon]

There are always two ways you can do things like this.  One is to manipulate the texture by changing scale or offsets (or by swapping textures on a face outright). The other is to manipulate the object by changing its scale, position, or rotation (or by swapping prims or mesh outright, setting inactive versions transparent).  Now that Bento has arrived and designers have more bones to work with, there are increased possibilities for moving parts, but the game is basically the same.  No matter which approach you take, you'll have to be at least mildly tech-savvy or be willing to pay someone who is.  You'll need to have scripts in the object (your head) to make the actual changes and scripts in the HUD to control them.  A lot of that scripting can be boilerplate stuff, but it will need to be customized for your own application. 

[Shaade Fallen]

18 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

There are always two ways you can do things like this.  One is to manipulate the texture by changing scale or offsets (or by swapping textures on a face outright). The other is to manipulate the object by changing its scale, position, or rotation (or by swapping prims or mesh outright, setting inactive versions transparent).  Now that Bento has arrived and designers have more bones to work with, there are increased possibilities for moving parts, but the game is basically the same.  No matter which approach you take, you'll have to be at least mildly tech-savvy or be willing to pay someone who is.  You'll need to have scripts in the object (your head) to make the actual changes and scripts in the HUD to control them.  A lot of that scripting can be boilerplate stuff, but it will need to be customized for your own application. 

I see. I do have a script I can use for the mesh switch-out option, but it's not exactly the most efficient way to go about it.

It may be my only option atm though...I will have a look into bento also, it's probably the best way. Thank you! <3