Mesh body question

[Vin Soulstar]

Hi All

Had a quick question about my avi.

My arms seem to change colour when they are behind my back as you can see in the picture, any idea why this might happen?

I set my graphics settings to ultra and the same happens, I also took my tattoo off but no joy which makes me wonder if it's my skin which is a L'Etre skin.

 

Edited September 20, 2017 by Vin Soulstar

[Alwin Alcott]

it's quite normal, ultra settings don't change it.

Be sure to use a shadowless windlight setting with mesh

some mesh bodies show it less... this is my same brand skin on Gianni 4.2, windlight Nams optimal skin and prim, graphics between mid and high

[Vin Soulstar]

Alwin

Thank you for the quick reply.

How would I find these setting in Firestorm? I had a look in windlight settings and couldn't see anything.

[Alwin Alcott]

menu World / environment editor / environment settings / customise my environment/ sky settings ( drop down menu)

or... quick preferences ( if you have enabled that button)

 

 

Edited September 20, 2017 by Alwin Alcott

[Vin Soulstar]

No luck with me, changed those settings and still the same.

[Alwin Alcott]

to be sure it's the skin... or body. (not knowing what you wear ).. perhaps try a demo from another creator for both and see it it happens on that too?

[Vin Soulstar]

11 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

to be sure it's the skin... or body. (not knowing what you wear ).. perhaps try a demo from another creator for both and see it it happens on that too?

I actually wear the same as you, Gianni 4.2 and L'Etre Chris skin.

[Alwin Alcott]

13 minutes ago, Vin Soulstar said:

I actually wear the same as you, Gianni 4.2 and L'Etre Chris skin.

i tried the same skin now... have the same as you, so guessing it's not settings but the used texture for the applier.

Also on Belleza Jake the same result.

[Klytyna]

No... It's not the texture, textures do not change colour because of where they are, texture map x multiplied by colour tint y will always equal output colour z, no matter what position it is in.

This is either self-shadowing by the actual mesh, and is dependent on the way the normals on the mesh were made, and on the exact windlight you are using and how much 'ambient' override it has, or on render features like 'ambient occlusion'.

Ambient occlusion is one of those over used "auto-add photorealism" features in 3d rendering, it's intended to simulate the effect where surfaces in close proximity, block out some of the other surfaces share of reflected ambient lighting from the environment.

Unfortunately it is often badly overdone in render engines, try checking your graphics settings and seeing if you have ambient occlusion enabled, if so, turn it off, it's supposed to simulate a slight shadowing between surfaces an inch or 2 apart, but often ends up as 'fake night time effect' on surfaces a foot or more apart, so just turn it off, reduces frame-rate and looks like crap, and might stop your torso casting a 'total eclipse' on your biceps...
 

[Marianne Little]

In cases like this, I unpack a new body, wear that and the HUD, and delete the old parts.

Not only with Signature, I had to do it one or two times with Maitreya, and also with mesh heads. (I have several avatars, some are male)

I think the Signature HUD is more fickle than most. Often when I change tattoos, I have to clear layers totally, I can not just apply a new tattoo and trust it to overwrite the first tattoo. Sorry, English isn't my #1 language, so I am not so good at explaining. I have seen this kind of tint, a darkening, on parts of the Signature Gianni, and the fastest way for me is to just unpack a new body instead of spending time troubleshooting.

All my mesh body or head problems is fixed when I start with a new mesh one and apply the same things, like skin, tattoos, makeups ++

Edited September 20, 2017 by Marianne Little

[Clover Jinx]

@Alwin Alcott, does any of the above correct what you saw with the same skin on 2 different bodies?

[Alwin Alcott]

13 minutes ago, Clover Jinx said:

@Alwin Alcott, does any of the above correct what you saw with the same skin on 2 different bodies?

i checked on a machine, with AO on, and  the second (also the belleza body ) on a different machine what has a bit lower graphic settings, the Etre skin kept the darker shade , a bit less than with AO on, but it wasn't completely gone.

I don't have tattoos, so didn't test the "clean" use of a new body.

I had also a look at it with Clef de Peau skins, but the issue didn't show up at all.

 

[Vin Soulstar]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I will give them all a go next time I log in and let you know how it went.

[Vin Soulstar]

Seems like any skin I try I still have the same issue like below on the demo skin. 

So it's nothing to do with my AO?

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Vin Soulstar

[Vin Soulstar]

*Edit* Nevermind, even with AO off you can still see the darker patches.

 

[Vin Soulstar]

On 20/09/2017 at 6:18 PM, Klytyna said:

try checking your graphics settings and seeing if you have ambient occlusion enabled
 

Tried your trick with no joy, first picture is with ambient occlusion enabled, second is with ambient occlusion disabled.

Both pictures were taken with graphics set to Ultra.

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Vin Soulstar

[Klytyna]

38 minutes ago, Vin Soulstar said:

Tried your trick with no joy,

Then it loo0ks like the problem is self shadowing due to the way the 'normals' are set, which can't be changed, and due to the amount of ambient override in your windlight,

Try one of the popular non defaults like mam's optimal prim & skin, or cawl etc., or ask the skin maker what windlight they reccomend, often skinners will specify that their product looks best in a particular windlight (usually the one they used when they made it).
 

[Vin Soulstar]

4 minutes ago, Klytyna said:

Then it loo0ks like the problem is self shadowing due to the way the 'normals' are set, which can't be changed, and due to the amount of ambient override in your windlight,

Try one of the popular non defaults like mam's optimal prim & skin, or cawl etc., or ask the skin maker what windlight they reccomend, often skinners will specify that their product looks best in a particular windlight (usually the one they used when they made it).
 

Thanks Klytyna

It's never really bothered my before but lately I have just worn pants and no top a lot so I tend to notice it a bit more. I might even just look at a different AO where my arms aren't behinf my back.

[Morgan Rosenstar]

7 hours ago, Vin Soulstar said:

Seems like any skin I try I still have the same issue like below on the demo skin. 

So it's nothing to do with my AO?

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Vin Soulstar said:

*Edit* Nevermind, even with AO off you can still see the darker patches.

 

When I look at these 2 snapshots, the difference seems to be on how the arms are bending.

My guess would be that the skinmaker did a darker tone inside the arms to give a more realistice effect to his skin. This darker tone makes sense only if you keep your arms along your body but when you turn your arms, this is when the darker tone appears up and looks odd.

If you can, I would suggest to try to find a skin which doesn't have a darker tone inside the arms and test it?

[Bree Giffen]

My guess is the same as Morgan. Some skins have a baked in darker tone shadow on the underside/innerside. The hands behind back animation could be rotating the arms so that the darker tones are revealed. Try going into a t-pose and use a 'full ambient/no sun' windlight settng to see if that skin has a baked in shadow. 

[Vin Soulstar]

Thanks all.

I'm on SL now trying to find some skin places to try demos.

[Chase01]

That would be the kinda thing that would drive me bat s@#$ crazy! I had a skin for one of my mesh bodies and I hated how my shoulder blades looked with some of my shapes. I couldn't but help look at it all the time. I finally had enough lol.

[Markiz Sorbet]

To me, it looks like the skin itself is textured that way, where the underside of the arms are shaded darker (since when arms are usually down, shadows are casted from your pits down).
I'd try skins from other creators! If you need some references to some great skins shops I'd recommend stray dog or avenge (Of course it depends on the body you have  ).