Re: Mesh bodies/Bento

[carabethia]

Gee how many different types of mesh bodies are there? I have heard of bento and can a Bento body be resized? Help! I, of course am just learning about mesh bodies so any links or helpful answers would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Ariel Vuissent]

Mesh bodies are generally fitted mesh, which means they'll resize with most or all of your normal body sliders in edit shape mode. (Right click yourself, choose edit appearance, then edit shape; or right click your worn shape in inventory and choose edit.)

Bento is extra bones. Imagine a reality basic stick figure. That's essentially what used to be under the "skin" of your avatar. SL added more to it, so creators have more points to attach things to. For bodies, this means fingers! If a body is "bento," that generally means it has hands with fingers rigged to the finger bones, so with the right animation or AO, your fingers can move and be posed, instead of single, static positions. 

Check out meshbodyaddicts.com for some really great reviews on LOTS of different mesh bodies, and tutorials! And remember to demo, demo, demo. Also, check marketplace for a broad view of what's available for different bodies; Maitreya currently dominates the market, followed by Belleza, and Slink, I believe. But there are LOTS more out there, so don't limit yourself to those three if they don't work for you. 

Edited June 25, 2018 by Ariel Vuissent

[Fionalein]

Hehe good idea starting in a new thread   - short answer: a lot - long answer: a few useful ones.

OK now the explanation: mesh bodies can be anything, my plushie giraffe avatar is a mesh body, as is my feral horse, and as are some mesh bodies that are basically just costumes (I have a male SWAT avatar where you cannot change a single thing it is just a single piece of mesh, gas mask, gloves, ballistic vest guns , all modelled into the mesh) there are several others too. If you want to run around nude all day allmost all are good, if you want cloth it gets less, and if you want mesh cloth even less again. Fashion creators only create for a limited set of bodies, so you either try to find a body that has much support or try a body that is designed to fit closely to the classic avatar (like psicorp or ebody classic). Anyway what you want to wear later pretty much limits your possibilities.

There are also highly specialized avatars with not as much but some support, like several furry bodies, bodies for old folks or anime themed bodies and all kind of mixes in between. 

My best advice is to hold back and explore the possibilities... it is hard to know the entire market in a day and it is easy to spend Lindens on something that will be useless to you tomorrow, so take your time (and play around with the several free mesh bodies that are available to get used to it - they all are different but not as much that you cannot learn a general thing or two about mesh bodies from any one of them)

 

Edited June 25, 2018 by Fionalein

[carabethia]

Wow thank you Ariel and Fionalein for your helpful answers! you have given me some useful information since I am just learning about the mesh bodies. I truly appreciate your help. And, where do you find free mesh bodies? I don't want to spend L's on something I am just learning about. And, I really like my  classic body but hope to make my own mesh body someday.

[carabethia]

And, Ariel,  what is so special about the Maitreya. Belleza and Slink bodies that they dominate the market?

Edited June 25, 2018 by carabethia

[angeoco]

The only quality free mesh bodies right now that I know of are the free versions of the two EBody bodies, available at their inworld shop. The bodies are the same as the full-priced versions but with fewer features.

[Bobbie Faulds]

There aren’t any free ones but there are demos that work with clothes and skins; same for heads. There are usable demos as well. Get the demos and find the one you like. The Slink, Belleza, Maitreya and Tonic are among the best. Avoid theTMP body as there is almost no support for it since the creator refused to allow the Omega system, which is also important

Those are the best supported in world. The Maitreya size fits the Tonic fine.

Edited June 25, 2018 by Bobbie Faulds

[TatianaNikolay]

There are some tips here about bodies and heads: http://meshbodyaddicts.com/mesh-body-reviews/

[Ariel Vuissent]

14 minutes ago, carabethia said:

what is so special about the Maitreya. Belleza and Slink bodies

Nothing, and lots of things.

Most (human-shaped) mesh bodies are pretty similar. Choosing tends to be more about personal taste. However, slink, Belleza, and maitreya were among the earliest released and the earliest to have developers kits for creators, if I recall correctly. (Maitreya may have learned behind a bit on the latter...) More simply, they're just the ones people buy the most, and so there's more on the market made to fit them. As mentioned, you can sometimes get around this, with things like alpha cuts (parts of the bodies you can make invisible) or simply because some bodies are very similar in shape. 

Whatever you choose, again, demo. Each body has its pros and cons, including the HUDs they come with. Also, each body adjusts differently, especially at slider extremes, so that's something to take into account if, for instance, you wanted to have very large breasts, or a very large bottom, etc.

[Rhonda Huntress]

1 hour ago, Ariel Vuissent said:

 Also, each body adjusts differently, especially at slider extremes, so that's something to take into account if, for instance, you wanted to have very large breasts, or a very large bottom, etc.

Or small.  Some can't do C cups or smaller even with breast slider at 0.

[Ariel Vuissent]

30 minutes ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

Some can't do C cups or smaller even with breast slider at 0.

Very true. Either extreme can deform, and on some bodies more noticeably and more quickly than others. Many don't do well with the breast slider under 30, for example; mine tend to swing sideways at that point, which is...not what I'm generally going for.

[Fionalein]

I was reading some girls went for the maitreya + vtech combination for smaller breasts... not sure how well that works though, as vtech is designed for a male breast on maitreya

[carabethia]

I want to thank everyone for answering my questions and giving me some great information. And, if anyone has  more to add to this I would appreciate it. any help is appreciated! you are awesome people!