How common are mesh avis for teens?

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

My store sells kids clothes, but I'd like to keep older teens in mind as I grow. However, I don't know what that really looks like. I know that younger kids tend to use mesh avatars so they actually look human, and that they are popular for ripped men and beautiful, but I'm not sure about the teen/not bodybuilder community. Are there go-to mesh avatars for teens too, or is making clothing in standard sizes a better option?

If so, bonus points go to those who offer offline creator files so I can actually make clothing fit right.

[Cerise Sorbet]

Most seem to gravitate to SMB (Super Mesh Bros.) or Tweeneedoo/Toddleedoo.

[Marianne Little]

Flat chested Maitreya (V-Tech fits) is an interesting thing. It is not only teens, but also bois and regular adult women who like that there is finally an option for true tiny breasts.

In my opinion, if you roleplay a teenager who has reached puberty, can wear a Slink Physique male and a Maitreya with V-Tech chest add-on and just use a system shape under that is made for a young person.

For pre-teens, Tweeneedoo or SMB is the logic pick.

I am not sure how big Maitreya / V-Tech is. Is it going to be just an obscure thing? On the other hand, SMB and Tweeneedoo is well established. If they are common... I hope some true kid avatars can say some about it.

[Callum Meriman]

Designing for kids, and maybe teens, woohoo.

btw I should chat to you in world about all Harrison  as I'm on your FL and this is pretty much moving into my shapeshifting area of speciality.

As general background for everyone it's SMB or the compatible and 100% free https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/PUNK-Mesh-Replacement-Body-V6-Small-Avatar/10765375 for 7-13 - btw I welcome everyone in SMBs to try the punk Av, the creator did a pretty good job. (Did I say it's free). There is the tweenedoo but yeah, no clothing critical mass and it's overly-plump like the rest of the -doo range.

Then it splits a few ways. You can use SMB quite easily until 18yo - I have one adult aged alt in SMB who is fully accepted as adult in such places.  But the number of SMB adults in SL is very low, maybe tops of 3 or 4 including me... for creation you can cover that tiny market easy with the full-perm mesh you get from Trip Gear or Meshmerlagged, or make yourself, and some others will work just fine for that.

There is the Kuroo, which is a slightly more anime teen body - but unlike the avatar 2.0 body the Kuroo can be a system head. But, Kuroo needs some skin-makers to create something less plastic I think before it will really take off. Kuroo is made by the fabulous Krankhaus who sell clothes meshes as $50 mod/copy/nt and provide the UV maps and AOs. Krankhaus have a model I wish others would follow.

A few teens have gone to orange nova with mods, but meh.. those fingers bro, omg those fingers. *faints*

A whole bunch of teens, especially Japanese, go to Avatar 2.0 with Anime head - again, Krankhaus has them covered for $50 mesh.

Matreiya with flat chest mod... umm... hips and butt as big as a tractor tyre swing in my eyes. Not so popular in the kid community. I can't speak for how popular it is in the femboi community, it could be going rockets there. /shrugs

Then the BULK, like 99.999% of 14-18 in the kid community will be Slink or TMP. Which is male shape based. Luckily the head will swap from female smb to male slink super easy. Now I know you are talking about designing, but part of that is working out which way people are heading and why....

Now this SLINK/TMP needs a whole page of stuffs, and I could waffle on about teen mesh bodies for days... but I will reduce it so I don't bore people.

Number 1, Slink are pretty friendly, and their customer service person is just about one of the nicest people I have ever chatted to for product support. She will happily help you with designer information and talk about templates vs TMP who are... well... *runs screaming* avoid avoid avoid avoid avoid. And of course, with slink templates you can also do adult, so double bonus.

Bodywise, the TMP has mesh muscles which can be undesirable on a teen boy, skins can't really hide those, but it is quite thin (front to back) and quite "twinky". A lot of people are stuck in the TMP and refuse to move out of it - despite some huge flaws - because they like the thinness of the chest.

The Slink is quite thick and wide in the chest at teen sizes, but it does fit acceptably into a highschool swimmer's aesthetic. (speaking of which some of those Aesthetic sized pants fit the smb which I always find funny, things meant for those walnut muscled body on an SMB)

Of note, the latest Slink 2.04 also has some huge improvements around the neck for the teen mesh market, but it's something one must spend a day with getting a shape that works, shoulders are very hard to get right, but it can be done, as with all kids, we are pushing the limits of the original linden shapes.

Skins, there is the "stuck inside his bedroom 363 days of the year" level of pale Joey from Meshmerlagged, but it has a really nice young teen face. Honestly, KenzieKy should release a tone 3 or 4 of Joey. That 2 tone, omgz, so white. Kendra Parfort has some real nice skin in her AvGlam Soft applier, but she sadly seems to have killed off some of her teen faces recetly. One can use one of Kendra's soft appliers and then tint the body to match a face skin.

 

Honestly, I don't think you will go wrong chatting to Slink, but keep a watch on the Kuroo in case someone does a killer skin - And any budding texturers too. But yeah, Slink.

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I know that SMB is the go to for kids and preteens (that's what I use), and am waiting on Punk (I've been talking to the creator about making clothes for it and really appreciate the work he's doing). And I'm looking at Avatar 2.0, since the creator has developer support. I'll look into the other suggestions though, and see what I can work on.

[Theresa Tennyson]

On 4/18/2017 at 3:03 AM, HarrisonMcKenzie said:

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I know that SMB is the go to for kids and preteens (that's what I use), and am waiting on Punk (I've been talking to the creator about making clothes for it and really appreciate the work he's doing). And I'm looking at Avatar 2.0, since the creator has developer support. I'll look into the other suggestions though, and see what I can work on.

Another option to look at that doesn't seem to be mentioned yet for female teens would be the Tonic Fine Beauty body. It's specifically designed for smaller than usual breast sizes and is getting a certain amount of template support already.

[Bobbie Faulds]

Tonic is a good option. For teens, it's not so much about the body as it is the face. Teen's can have large breasts. My mother was a C cup at 13, for instance. A teen will have a rounder face, fuller cheeks and a bit more jowl for that baby face look. They start loosing that at 21-22 as they finish puberty, which is why 20-something actors can play older teens. So, you might be better off with a system head and the Tonic Fine, Slink Physique or Maitreya body for your mesh. 

 

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

13 hours ago, Bobbie Faulds said:

...which is why 20-something actors can play older teens.

I always thought it was so they didn't have to deal with childhood labour laws.

[Bobbie Faulds]

17 hours ago, HarrisonMcKenzie said:

I always thought it was so they didn't have to deal with childhood labour laws.

That too but they can get away with it because of still having the rounder faces