Helped needed with catwa and maitreya

[Emily Seorn]

Hi so I was away from SL for quite some time. Im still learning about omega and such. I have a maitreya body and am looking to buy a catwa head. My biggest question is how will I get the same skin for both? Do I need omega applier HUDs for both?

 

thank you

[Rhonda Huntress]

It can depend on the skin maker but in general, you will need to buy your skin appliers for both the head and the body.  Most people make these separately and for a variety of heads and bodies.

For example, lets say you want to use one of Izzy's skins.  You would go to the store and look at the skins for Catwa.  Find the one you want in the skin tone you want.  Buy that.
Then, go to the body section and buy the skin tone you picked out for the Maitreya body.

This will give you two different appliers -- one for body and one for head -- but will match perfectly.

 

That said, it is typical for the head skin to cost the most plus have the most options.  With the body, it is usually cheaper with the one skin in all the different tones.  Just pick out the matching tones and you're good.

[ETA]
Going even further, some places have different muscle shading on the body as well.  It is still a case of matching skin tone names but you may have more options for your body as well as the head.

So bottom line, find a skin store ypu like and buy both the head and body appliers from the same source.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Rhonda Huntress

[Coffee Pancake]

Most places that I've seen will sell you the face and practically give you the matching body. Shop around, you can put demo skins on a demo body & head.

[Chase01]

The OMEGA version will allow you to use that skin on other OMEGA compatible heads/bodies but bear in mind that not all skin creators offer an Omega version. If you do purchase an Omega skin, you will need their HUD for both the body and head (additional cost). If not, just make sure the skin you are looking at is compatible with both Maitreya and Catwa. Most skin vendors will sell the body and head appliers separately. If the vendor does not sell the body appliers directly, they will generally include a NC with the demo as to which vendor sells the matching body applier.

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

The primary value of getting an Omega instead of Catwa specific applier for the head is the ability to later change your brand of head if you so desire.

Heads come in brands such as Catwa, Mayreal, Luteka, and others.

As near as I can personally tell, Catwa's 'UV map' is the same as the 'default avatar' to a fairly granular level - meaning a properly made Omega applier will match it just as well as a catwa applier. But that's anecdotal.

Your best bet is to buy a skin from a maker who includes in there a whole pack full of appliers for assorted major brands: both Belleza and Maitreya for body and maybe some of the off-brands as well, and at LEAST Catwa, Letuka, and Omega for head, and maybe some off-brands as well (nobody ever includes my favorite off-brand Mayreal, but well made Omegas work great on it so... /shrug).

- that way you future proof your choice of skin should you later want to change one of the other brands.

 

 

 

[Rhiannon108]

I see in listings for skins in the marketplace that some skins for heads specify a particular Catwa (such as the listings for Emily tending to say head Catya) head and some just say Catwa and don't make a specification. Do some skins only work with a specific head model and not the whole line from that maker? What to do about the ones which don't specify?

[Skell Dagger]

13 hours ago, Rhiannon108 said:

I see in listings for skins in the marketplace that some skins for heads specify a particular Catwa (such as the listings for Emily tending to say head Catya) head and some just say Catwa and don't make a specification. Do some skins only work with a specific head model and not the whole line from that maker? What to do about the ones which don't specify?

I can't speak for other head brands, but as a CSR for Catwa I can tell you that she doesn't make changes within her range of heads that mean a skin will work on (for example) Catya and not on Margeaux. I'm not sure why some skin creators name specific heads, but my guess would be that they own the head in question and have only tested the skin on that head, so they name the head 'just in case'. The only other reason I can think of is if the creator also included a shape, which would have been made for that specific head. (And even then you can get interesting effects trying shapes made for one head within a specific brand on another head within that same brand.)

In short: any Catwa-compatible skin should work on any Catwa head, but - as always - check with a demo. Omega skins, however, are a different beast altogether. They are created to work across as wide a range of heads as possible, and different heads use different UV maps. So Omega skins tend to feature words such as "based on LAQ" or "based on Catwa", which means they have been tested on those brands and are guaranteed to work well on them, but you take a (very small) risk with using them on other brands.

As with any purchase in SL: if a demo is available, ALWAYS try the demo.

[Aerdrie Fabre]

On 12/18/2018 at 4:32 PM, Skell Dagger said:

To get your body and head to match you will need either -

• A Catwa head (skin) applier and a Slink body (skin) applier - both in the same skintone and from the same skin designer

or -

• An Omega head (skin) applier and Omega body (skin) applier AND
• The Omega System Relay for Catwa AND
• The Omega System Installer for Slink

The two Omega System relays/installers (which I'll shorten to 'Omega Catwa/Slink HUD' for the rest of this post) look like this:

Omega appliers aren't a brand in their own right. Instead, it's a cross-brand system that acts in one of two ways (detailed below) and works across most mesh body parts from most creator brands, as long as you have the corresponding Omega relay HUD for your body parts.

• Some Omega HUDs act as installers: wear them once, click them, and they install Omega compatibility into that body part. The Slink Omega HUD is an installer.
• Some act as relays: you need to wear them each time you want to add an Omega applier to your mesh body parts. The Catwa Omega HUD is a relay. It acts a bit like a 'remote controller' - communicating with the scripts in your Catwa head. If you're wearing it, and then click an Omega skin applier HUD, the Omega relay HUD will 'tell' the head which textures it needs to apply.

Let's say that you've found a great skin that you love. The head appliers state that they're for Lelutka (a head that you don't own) and Omega, and the body appliers are available only in Maitreya (a body that you don't own) and Omega. In order to wear that skin on your Catwa head and Slink body you would need to buy the Omega versions of the head and body (skin) appliers, and ensure that you have those two Omega HUDs shown above: the Slink Omega System Installer and the Catwa Omega System Relay HUD. Then:

1. Wear your Slink body and Catwa head.
2. Add the Slink Omega HUD and click it. That will install Omega compatibility into your Slink body. You can now detach the Slink Omega HUD (but hang onto it, as you'll need to reinstall it if there are any updates to the body, or if you make a copy of it at any time).
3. Add your Omega body (skin) applier and click it to apply the tone that you want. When you're done, detach the body applier.
4. Add your Omega Catwa relay HUD. Keep it on your screen while you follow step 5.
5. Add your Omega head (skin) applier and click it to apply the tone (and any other options that it gives you, such as freckles/brows, etc)  that you want. When you're done, detach the Omega head applier and the Omega Catwa relay HUD.

You're all done Any further questions, come back and post again and we'll do our best to answer them.

I found this explanation on another thread by Skell very clear and helpful in figuring out how Omega works.   Otherwise, if you're looking for other skins - look for their head and body appliers for Maitreya as mentioned in previous posts.