Advice on testing demo mesh heads

[Ursular Winterwolf]

Hello,

I’ve been away from Second Life for a while and returned to a world of mesh heads - the Bento type ones seem the most up to date. I have 2 questions I'd appreciate some advice upon:

(1) I've got got a couple of demo skins that I like (one from Nylon Outfitters & the other from Mynerva). Both skins and their demos have Omega appliers. Next, I wanted to demo some Bento heads.  But of the heads I’ve tried (e.g. Genus, Catwah, LAQ, Logo, LeLutka etc) only Logo seems to have the ability to trial their demo heads with existing skins via Omega. 

I know it’s important to try out heads via demos, especially important to me as my skins choices are more quirky & not a ‘glam’ look. So ....

- are we only meant to trial the heads with the skins provided in the demos?
- or do I need to get a universal Omega applier Hud and use this to trial demo heads, if it works?

(2)  Could someone recommend a Bento mesh head with smallish lips? With the lovely Logo head that I’ve trialled with my skins, even when I adjust my mouth with the sliders, the upper lip becomes like a shelf! And the head looks better with larger & more protruding lip shapes.)

Thanks everyone ☺️
 

[Sasy Scarborough]

If the appliers are only omega,  then you would need to install omega on the demos of the heads, as it is not active in demos, I am not 100% sure on other heads, but LeLutka that is how it would work. What you could also do if not wanting to outlay the funds is perhaps ask a friend or group member of the heads if anyone is willing to try the demos of the skins on so you can see. Possibly try skins that have appliers for the head types themselves as they all differ slightly and omega will not always give you the best look of the look available.

[Orwar]

   1: Skins that are Omega-applied do not always align well with your head; different heads use different UV maps, for precision you'll want a skin that is made with your head of choice in mind - in some cases, an Omega-applied skin can cause your nostrils shadows to end up outside your nose, or similar such flaws - it varies from head to head and skin to skin.

• No; you can use a demo skin on a demon head, as long as its appliers are compatible with the brand. Some heads may have omega relays built in, or done so specifically for their demos at least, but if you get a demo applier for, say Catwa, and put on a demo Catwa head, the two are compatible.
• Omega HUDs (relays) aren't universal, but brand-specific. If you want to apply a texture (skin, makeup, etc) to your mesh head using the Omega option, you must have the Omega relay for your head - unless they come Omega compatible out of the box.

   2: Afraid not, I don't use a whole lot of female mesh heads - bento ones you can adjust it on, though, using your usual shape sliders; demo, and see what you like best. Keep in mind that the market is now fairly stuffed, you've got dozens of heads out there to try out. Personally I prefer Catwa's heads, but I'm intrigued by the Genus one. Having invested quite a lot in my heads and the skins and accessories to go with them I'm unlikely to change anytime soon though, unless a new technological leap is made - or if I win the lottery. 

[Pussycat Catnap]

While Omega may not be perfect... you have to do what you have to do sometimes when it comes to demos.

But I recommend getting one 'decent skin' from somewhere that comes with all kinds of appliers. At the least the major brands plus omega. And if you're serious a skin with some contrast - so not too pale or too dark. The added contrast will give you dimensionality to spot how things look on the head.

An alt is also handy... and an install of SL that lets you log in two avatars at the same time...

- What I do, is hand my shape to the alt, and put myself and my alt on a side by side posestands. I then put the test head or body on, and try to get myself to look like I do over on the alt, only better... because if it's not better why buy it?

 

And as a last step, get on some furniture that has expressions. About half of modern XXX-beds have this. Not sure what G rated stuff does... but it is a very handy way to see how well the face animates.

This script can also be used to get your avatar to make all the expressions and thus test how well a head animated:

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Dora_Gustafson/JSON_structure_facial_expression

- Simply put that in a prim and then sit on the prim and use the menu for it (should pop up automatically, if not click the prim after you're on it), to pick expressions.

 

My personal recommendation in heads is Mayreal. That said Mayreal heads don't have expressions built in... you need a HUD for them... But otherwise I like the brand. But the size of the lips and mouth of any brand should be a matter of your shape dials. Any brand should be able to give you small or large by adjusting your shape right.

 

[Ursular Winterwolf]

Thanks Sasy Scarborough - in my confusion, I’d not realised I needed to install an Omega HUD/Relay in order to demo Omega compatible heads with demo skins that have Omega appliers (unless, it seems,  the demo head builds Omega appliers in, as does the LOGO head demo.) 

Thanks Orwar - I didn’t know Omega HUDs/Relays aren't universal for skins but brand-specific. So following from Sasy’s point above, I’ll need to get an Omega HUD/Relay for each demo head I’m trialling with an Omega combatable skin  - unless the demo head contains a  head applier.  (Thanks too for the tip about the compatibility of UV maps with Omega and the potential precisions issues - which I'm now looking out for!)  

Thanks Pussycat Catnap for the recommendations & great suggestions for scripts - plus the point about a ‘decent skin' with all kinds of appliers. I love the new Nylon Outfitters (‘NO’) ‘Lumi’ but both the demo & full price skin only have Lelutka and Omega appliers for heads (plus Mayatraya for body.) So unless I chose a Lelutka head, I’m stuck with Omega appliers. 

I like hand painted/hand drawn skins with lots of contrast. Years ago, I started off with Blowpup skins, then went to &Bean. But I can’t find many skins of this type today L 

[Sasy Scarborough]

3 hours ago, Ursular Winterwolf said:

like hand painted/hand drawn skins with lots of contrast. Years ago, I started off with Blowpup skins, then went to &Bean. But I can’t find many skins of this type today L 

With baked on mesh coming soon, your old skins have a chance of working, i used the baked on mesh beta (the one time it let me) and found an old &bean skin she made to make funds to spend at hairfair lol it was awesome seeing it on my LeLutka head that is baked on mesh ready. It may be worth logging into that viewer with some demo heads and seeing if you like the look, also some birdy and tres blah skins, hand drawn looks great. Nylon Pinkney has made some of hers with appliers now too

[Chic Aeon]

Along with ALL OF THAT LOL.  Even if you have the "correct" Omega applier for the head you are testing (this means BUYING the applier of course in order to test which I consider a pain and sometimes a wasted expense) there are times when the appliers STILL will not work --- this not on demos but on the actual heads or bodies. Some brands have several (like three) different Omega appliers available and it is pretty much impossible to tell which hud is the one you need. 

Hence -- LOL. I still have my OLD Letluka head as it is so very much of a hassle these days even to test.  Hopefully everyone will hop on the Bakes on Mesh wagon as soon as that is viable and we can just put the "skins" on our "bodies" like in the olden days. What a relief that will be. 

The general rule here on the forums that is said more than daily is " no demo -- no buy". So if you can't get the head and skin combo to test, then honestly --- especially with the high cost of heads -- it is better to pass. Hopefully you can find a pair that works well for you.

ALSO NOTE that there are some skin makers that make skins specifically for certain heads and so you will NOT need an Omega applier --- certainly a plus in my book. I still  only use Lelutka appliers as I just don't want to DEAL. 

Good luck!

 

[Ursular Winterwolf]

Chic - thanks for emphasising the ‘no demo, no buy’ point  - I’m only just grasping the importance of this. And I think this is why I was drawn to the LOGO (Ariel) head; I like it very much but the demo also came supplied with Omega appliers, so I can demo skins which have Omega appliers with the head. But I’ve not ruled out buying appliers in order to demo other head.

Sasy - I’d not known about bakes/d on mesh before your post (I’m a new returner), so really appreciate your comments. I’ve just downloaded the beta viewer, followed the Strawberry Singh advice and all set to try my old skins tomorrow, in the Beta region, when my inventory refreshes. (I’ve got loads of birdy, tres blah, Nylon Outfitters, !imabee and &Bean skins and can’t wait to see what they look like on mesh heads!)
 

[Blush Bravin]

One thing to keep in mind when thinking about using BoM to apply old system skins to mesh heads, you're still going to need a skin that matches for the body and since system skins do not match up on the hands or feet then you're going to have to find someway to fix that problem. There have been some suggestions for using tats to cover up the drawn on nails that system body skins have though I'm not sure how effective that will be. 

[Ursular Winterwolf]

Blush  - thanks for the observation. If I've got you right,  I can also see the BoM match problem as the older skins on the mesh head don't match the older skins as applied to the body 😞 But my older hand painted skins do look fantastic  

Everyone -  aside from the BoM issues, could I ask another query about Bento heads (if I need to post this separately, please let me know.)

1. Can I "turn off" the brows on the heads; i.e. have a no brows look? I ask coz I like the brows that come with the Nylon Outfitters skin but when applying these to the demo LOGO head, I have 2 sets of brows!! Or perhaps it depends on the head? 
2. Can I turn off the eyelashes that come with the Bento mesh heads?

  I've asked in a few inworld groups but not had a reply on these questions so far. 

Thanks

Edited January 16, 2019 by Ursular Winterwolf