Clover Munro Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 I'm attempting to rejoin SL after a long absence, but this mesh head situation is overwhelming me. I have tried tons of demos from places like LAQ, Lelutka, Vista, and Catwa, but even after wasting hours messing with the shape sliders, they all just look weird to me. My hope is that if I explain what I'm looking for, somewhere out there will know if it exists or what might be closest. I would like a head that has a regular, everyday, cute kind of look--rather than these severe model types with odd-shaped, squashy, doll heads. I know skins affect the outcome, so suggestions for skins that would help achieve that look are welcome too. I have zero interest in animations, so that's not a concern. FYI, I have the Maitreya Lara body. I really don't know much about all this (new to me) mesh stuff or what's currently going on in the world of skins and how it applies to this. I just want to find something that isn't complicated to use and that I can adjust so that it's cute but doesn't look like everyone else. This whole thing is giving me a headache. Please help! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenSmith1 Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) This is my Alt she has the Catwa head Katey I think it is and the Diana skin from Lara Hurley I think it looks everyday not super model like or squishy cuteness . I did the shape myself . Also she's wearing the same body as you Edited May 14, 2019 by StevenSmith1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clover Munro Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 I had forgotten about Lara Hurley. I'll definitely swing by and grab demos there. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skell Dagger Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Clover Munro said: [...] odd-shaped, squashy, doll heads [...] If the Bento heads that you've been trying look squashed to the point of distortion then you're probably not wearing the correct shape with them. Many (if not most) Bento mesh heads ship with a 'starter shape' that you need to wear in order to set the ideal starting face sliders, which you can then begin to tweak from there. If you're wearing your old system body shape, or the Maitreya body shape, then most Bento mesh heads will look squished and odd. If you like the body of your current shape, just edit your appearance and note down all the sliders under the Body, Torso, and Legs tabs. Then put on the mesh head's shape and transfer those numbers across, and re-save it. You now have your preferred body numbers and the ideal starting face numbers in the same shape. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllieNewell Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) I've had Lelutka Simone and loved it. I've had LAQ Leia ( I think!) and loved it. But for me Genus is the one. And the shapes from Elle et Lui are my favourites, admittedly with mild tweaking. Elle et Lui also do shapes for other heads which are also lovely. Edited May 14, 2019 by EllieNewell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elora Lunasea Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) Also a lot of appliers come with their own shapes which are far superior to those supplied with the heads or bodies. If you find an applier you really like, chances are it also comes with the shape. If you look through Flickr at all the top creator names of appliers you can narrow down the shapes you like there and get the demos in world. If a shape comes with it, the demo box will have it but, beware that this one will be highly distorted; don't judge by it. The one you get when you purchase it will be exactly what you saw in the photo. Then, you can tweak it just a bit to make it more of your own look but it will be a much better starter - or of course you can leave it as is. Sometimes I use my own shape that I created, sometimes the ones supplied with the body that I tweaked, sometimes the one with the head or a third party. Depends on what look I'm trying to achieve but nearly always I wind up changing it at least a little to suit my own personal aesthetics. Edited May 14, 2019 by Elora Lunasea 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSpeed Racer Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 4 hours ago, Skell Dagger said: If the Bento heads that you've been trying look squashed to the point of distortion then you're probably not wearing the correct shape with them. Many (if not most) Bento mesh heads ship with a 'starter shape' that you need to wear in order to set the ideal starting face sliders, which you can then begin to tweak from there. If you're wearing your old system body shape, or the Maitreya body shape, then most Bento mesh heads will look squished and odd. If you like the body of your current shape, just edit your appearance and note down all the sliders under the Body, Torso, and Legs tabs. Then put on the mesh head's shape and transfer those numbers across, and re-save it. You now have your preferred body numbers and the ideal starting face numbers in the same shape. So, what you are saying is to write down the slider numbers for your system head, then, wear the starter head shape, then adjust the sliders using the numbers you wrote down (and tweak as needed) ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda Huntress Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 No. Write down the Body slider number for the shape she has now. Wear the shape supplied with the mesh head. Then, change the Body values of that shape to what is written down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 1 hour ago, GoSpeed Racer said: So, what you are saying is to write down the slider numbers for your system head, then, wear the starter head shape, then adjust the sliders using the numbers you wrote down (and tweak as needed) ??? What Rhonda said - that will give you back the body you had before. Then play with the head sliders to get the look you want - but definitely start with the shape supplied with the head or one made specifically for the head. That at least gets the head past the really weird squished / deformed shape that you would see using the settings associated with a System head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, Clover Munro said: Finding the right mesh head is hurting my real head... I'm attempting to rejoin SL after a long absence, but this mesh head situation is overwhelming me. I came back in early 2017 and I happen to like my current face/head. I have a folder full of mesh head demos, that I play with from time to time. After 2 years though, I've still not made that plunge. I just tend to get too frustrated playing with the demos. Edited May 15, 2019 by LittleMe Jewell 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clover Munro Posted May 15, 2019 Author Share Posted May 15, 2019 I'm taking notes, guys. Thanks for all of the input. So far, I like the Genus Classic the best, but the eyes seem a bit funky. I wish I could just use my normal eyes with them. I'm going to sleep on it. Maybe the answer will come to me in a dream. ☺️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Nova Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Clover Munro said: I'm taking notes, guys. Thanks for all of the input. So far, I like the Genus Classic the best, but the eyes seem a bit funky. I wish I could just use my normal eyes with them. I'm going to sleep on it. Maybe the answer will come to me in a dream. ☺️ There are quite a few eyes that are genus compatible and on the hud there is a way to adjust how the genus eyes look, also IF you buy the head, there is an update for the eyes. Just shop around until you find the eyes that you like IF you decide on the genus head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bree Giffen Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 One thing I've discovered is that you want to use the each shape that comes with each mesh head. These are almost always set to have really big eyes and big lips. Making the eyes and lips smaller changes the face from a doll to a regular human. The head should be about five eyes wide with an eye width in between. Also, use the camera zoom-in (9 key, or 8 key?) to remove the fisheye effect which will affect how your avatar looks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Boyle Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 (edited) On 5/14/2019 at 8:09 PM, LittleMe Jewell said: I came back in early 2017 and I happen to like my current face/head. I have a folder full of mesh head demos, that I play with from time to time. After 2 years though, I've still not made that plunge. I just tend to get too frustrated playing with the demos. That is exactly my story, except I've never had a prolonged absence. I spend a few hours trying demos and get really tired of it and give up until next time. I'm wondering if there is a consultant that I could pay to find the right mesh head for me. It is important to me that I keep looking like me; I'd just like a better version, not a different face. Edited May 20, 2019 by Jennifer Boyle 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipathia Naidoo Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 (edited) 16 hours ago, Jennifer Boyle said: That is exactly my story, except I've never had a prolonged absence. I spend a few hours trying demos and get really tired of it and give up until next time. I'm wondering if there is a consultant that I could pay to find the right mesh head for me. It is important to me that I keep looking like me; I'd just like a better version, not a different face. To my arms! I feel in the resistance. Thirteen years are many years, I've lost a lot of time to have the appearance that I have (improved version of my real self). All bento head that I tried, lose my identity, but at the same time, I feel outdated, all the people around me recommending bento heads. I see the textures, I breathtaking at the perfection of pixels, I'm not blind! I just want a bento head that fits my facial features, fluid, like a second skin. Ironic, right? Please, we need a consultant ingame!! Edited May 21, 2019 by Ipathia Naidoo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie Misfit Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 9 hours ago, Ipathia Naidoo said: I just want a bento head that fits my facial features, fluid, like a second skin. Ironic, right? You'll want a bento head that looks like Ruth then. Heads with very unique features tend to move too far away from the Ruth shape and using the sliders has less, or no, effect on the head and it is difficult to create a shape that looks like anything but that mesh head. I am sure someone could give a technical explanation for that. The <UTILIZATOR> Normie Head is pretty close to the standard SL avatar head, and will give you lots of room to move with most sliders. It might be worth trying a demo to see if you can create a suitable shape with it. It is cheap and Omega compatible. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branduff Bisnovat Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) On 5/15/2019 at 12:03 PM, Bree Giffen said: One thing I've discovered is that you want to use the each shape that comes with each mesh head. These are almost always set to have really big eyes and big lips. Making the eyes and lips smaller changes the face from a doll to a regular human. The head should be about five eyes wide with an eye width in between. Also, use the camera zoom-in (9 key, or 8 key?) to remove the fisheye effect which will affect how your avatar looks. It's Ctrl-9 and Ctrl-0 on Windows, one is zoom-in and the other resets camera to default, but I always forget which is which! Just found out about it recently and I'm glad you brought it up because it's a life-changer. Also want to echo the importance of using the included body shape. The only way to judge a head is to wear the included shape and then try to edit it is as close to your liking as possible, (there are probably exceptions but this is pretty much the rule.) When it comes to "normal" face proportions, here is some of Jack Hamm's stuff, from one of his old drawing books, which are stylized compared to RL, but realistic compared to SL. The "sinister diagram" on the bottom left shows what people mean when they talk about measuring faces with eyes, but if you don't use the camera controls mentioned above while editing your face, these sorts of guidelines won't be as helpful because of the extreme distortion from the SL camera lens. Just guidelines of course, so have fun with it and make lots of copies of your shapes until you have one that you really feel at home in. Edited May 22, 2019 by Branduff Bisnovat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clover Munro Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 14 hours ago, Stephanie Misfit said: You'll want a bento head that looks like Ruth then. Heads with very unique features tend to move too far away from the Ruth shape and using the sliders has less, or no, effect on the head and it is difficult to create a shape that looks like anything but that mesh head. I am sure someone could give a technical explanation for that. The <UTILIZATOR> Normie Head is pretty close to the standard SL avatar head, and will give you lots of room to move with most sliders. It might be worth trying a demo to see if you can create a suitable shape with it. It is cheap and Omega compatible. I have the Normie demo, and I think I like what I'm seeing...I just can't seem to find skins for it. 🙁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 30 minutes ago, Clover Munro said: I have the Normie demo, and I think I like what I'm seeing...I just can't seem to find skins for it. 🙁 Is it Omega compatible? If so, you will also likely need the associated Omega relay from the Omega store. Then Omega compatible skins should work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clover Munro Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said: Is it Omega compatible? If so, you will also likely need the associated Omega relay from the Omega store. Then Omega compatible skins should work. It says "Powered by the Omega universal Applier system. No kit required." I did find Omega skins at LAQ, but I'm not in love with the result. Everything else seems to be for a specific head and isn't working with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, Clover Munro said: It says "Powered by the Omega universal Applier system. No kit required." I did find Omega skins at LAQ, but I'm not in love with the result. Everything else seems to be for a specific head and isn't working with this one. Keep checking skin stores. There are some that do sell Omega skins, though I'm not inworld and completely drawing a blank right now. ETA: Check 7 Deadly Skins and WoW. I'm sure I'll remember more later -- or someone else will pop in with more. Edited May 22, 2019 by LittleMe Jewell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipathia Naidoo Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 On 5/22/2019 at 12:56 AM, Stephanie Misfit said: You'll want a bento head that looks like Ruth then. Heads with very unique features tend to move too far away from the Ruth shape and using the sliders has less, or no, effect on the head and it is difficult to create a shape that looks like anything but that mesh head. I am sure someone could give a technical explanation for that. The <UTILIZATOR> Normie Head is pretty close to the standard SL avatar head, and will give you lots of room to move with most sliders. It might be worth trying a demo to see if you can create a suitable shape with it. It is cheap and Omega compatible. OMG, do you think it will work? I've not tried that head. But I'm scared! I mean, my avy have chin dimple (like me 🙄), and I'm supposed to look for a mesh head the most similar, right? A mesh head with oval face it would be a bad idea, it's correct? Attach pic. (Skins Glam Affair, since I can remember. I found The Skin for me.) Thanks for the suggest, Stephanie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaiaWang Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 2 hours ago, Ipathia Naidoo said: my avy have chin dimple (like me 🙄) Oh, I have struggled with that one! I also just have to have a chin dimple, but there are no good mesh heads with that... Currently, I faked it by adding some shadow and highlights when I made my skin - but it is hard to get it to look defined enough without it looking too "drawn on". I might have to do it more pronounced than this, but at least I've got some of the look going 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextio Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 On 5/21/2019 at 8:45 AM, Ipathia Naidoo said: To my arms! I feel in the resistance. Thirteen years are many years, I've lost a lot of time to have the appearance that I have (improved version of my real self). All bento head that I tried, lose my identity, but at the same time, I feel outdated, all the people around me recommending bento heads. I see the textures, I breathtaking at the perfection of pixels, I'm not blind! I just want a bento head that fits my facial features, fluid, like a second skin. Ironic, right? Please, we need a consultant ingame!! You can always try the opensource Ruth project to see if the head matches the sliders that you want. They recreated the standard default SL avatar into mesh. It comes with an alpha hud and skin hud, but i'm not sure how skins will work with it. You will probably need the UUID or something. If not, you will have to wait for the Bakes-On-Mesh project to release for SL, then you will be able to use system skins. Afaik, they don't sell it in SL, but i think other people have repackaged it for SL. Here are some links to grab a copy. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/PROJECT-Ruth-20-Release-Candidate-1v2/16068068 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blumfield/116/165/28 There's also a group called Ruth and Roth Community that you can join and ask for help, but i don't know how to link group joins, so just search within SL and it should pop up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipathia Naidoo Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 21 hours ago, KaiaWang said: Oh, I have struggled with that one! I also just have to have a chin dimple, but there are no good mesh heads with that... Currently, I faked it by adding some shadow and highlights when I made my skin - but it is hard to get it to look defined enough without it looking too "drawn on". I might have to do it more pronounced than this, but at least I've got some of the look going OMG, I love it! I'm glad and sad that you understand me. But you done a good job! I hope read us a designer of mesh heads and remember there are people with chin dimple. 😉 17 hours ago, Nextio said: You can always try the opensource Ruth project to see if the head matches the sliders that you want. They recreated the standard default SL avatar into mesh. It comes with an alpha hud and skin hud, but i'm not sure how skins will work with it. You will probably need the UUID or something. If not, you will have to wait for the Bakes-On-Mesh project to release for SL, then you will be able to use system skins. Afaik, they don't sell it in SL, but i think other people have repackaged it for SL. Here are some links to grab a copy. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/PROJECT-Ruth-20-Release-Candidate-1v2/16068068 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blumfield/116/165/28 There's also a group called Ruth and Roth Community that you can join and ask for help, but i don't know how to link group joins, so just search within SL and it should pop up. Thank you! I'll find the group, and try Ruth head. Bakes-On-Mesh project sounds good, too. Don't mind waiting, if worth it. Thanks again, really. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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