Strange white line above upper lip

[AriannaCarmen]

I have a strange white line above my upper lip.  I have cleared everything possible on my Catwa head hud and I have changed skins and shapes, but it's still there. It's worse with a skin that has fuller lips. The arc is higher and closer to my nose.  I've also changed eyebrow shapers and now I'm out of ideas. 

[Zeta Vandyke]

Looks like it could be light? 

Try changing your windlight? I have this effect in certain lights just below my eyes sometimes.

Or look for unexplained attachments in your "current outfit", maybe there's one with a body light effect

[Coffee Pancake]

Sanity check by detaching everything except your head

[Evangeline Ling]

3 hours ago, AriannaCarmen said:

I have a strange white line above my upper lip.  I have cleared everything possible on my Catwa head hud and I have changed skins and shapes, but it's still there. It's worse with a skin that has fuller lips. The arc is higher and closer to my nose.  I've also changed eyebrow shapers and now I'm out of ideas. 

Might even be a light in your house/structure... I would remove all attachments except your head then tp to a platform in the sky where its only you and a platform prim... lastly i would change the windlight setting to Nam's Optimal Skin and Prim and if that does not work... well I'm stumped after that

[Skell Dagger]

It's the lighting. Either you're standing beneath a light or have one close to you that's slightly above you. If the line follows you around, it could be a facelight or a light attached to your hairstyle (believe it or not, some creators do add those).

Go to the Catwa store (make sure you have 'region default' set for Windlight) and see if the problem vanishes there. If so, then it's definitely your Windlight, because the store is set with a region default WL that gives the best possible light for things like matching skins at the neck.

Just to be sure, though (since the shape doesn't quite follow your upper lip line) make sure that you've cleared both lipstick and blush areas on both the upper and lower layers of your Master HUD. And also check the shininess setting (tab 2 of the HUD) for both skin and lips. Turn that off and see if the line goes away.

[AriannaCarmen]

I just solved it by adding a hair base!!!!!!  It's odd that it just showed up last night when I haven't changed the hair base in eons.  Thanks everyone.

Edited May 23, 2019 by AriannaCarmen
Not solved

[AriannaCarmen]

This is really strange. The line is back today.  Nothing has changed since last night when it disappeared....same location, same everything.  When the line first appeared, everything was the same too.....in my house, no new lighting sources, no facelights, nothing different.  I TP'd to other sims and it was there. Today, I TP'd to only one other sim and it wasn't there. If I TP to the far edge of my yard, many meters away from the house it's still there. I'm using the same windlight that I've always used with no problem. I just TP'd to a second store, and it's there, and a third location that's not a store, and it's there. 

[Nextio]

Try getting a redelivery for your head and try different skins to see if it still happens.  Mesh heads do bug out sometimes, so this might be your issue.  If you still get the issue, then it's either a windlight, graphics, or some other light source.

Did you change your graphics settings too?  Sometimes the Advanced Lighting Model brings out unwanted lighting highlights and shadows that you're not used to.

edit: Also, check if your hairbase/makeup layers are on Mask.  If so, change it to Blend. 

Edited May 24, 2019 by Nextio

[Maitimo]

Have you checked the glossiness settings on your Catwa hud, for skin and all other layers? It looks like gloss, which will show up if you have Advanced Lighting on, and if there is a nearby local light source.  It looks as though there's a spot of the same glossiness at the tip of your nose too.

Have you also tried whilst wearing no hair (to eliminate the possibility that there's a light attached or within your hair)?

[AriannaCarmen]

I don't know what happened, but my response from last night isn't here.  I got the latest version of Catya, checked all the settings, and it's still there. I've TP'd to other regions and it's still there. I'm using the same windlight I was using when it wasn't there (Analu *Studio* 5,), which is better than Nam's.  I've changed my hair several times, I've changed skins, shapes, clothes, etc. and it's still there. Nothing has been added to our house either. It doesn't make any sense. I really don't know what to do or where to go for help.  When I logged out one night, it was fine, but when I logged in the next day, it was there.

[Nextio]

1 hour ago, AriannaCarmen said:

I don't know what happened, but my response from last night isn't here.  I got the latest version of Catya, checked all the settings, and it's still there. I've TP'd to other regions and it's still there. I'm using the same windlight I was using when it wasn't there (Analu *Studio* 5,), which is better than Nam's.  I've changed my hair several times, I've changed skins, shapes, clothes, etc. and it's still there. Nothing has been added to our house either. It doesn't make any sense. I really don't know what to do or where to go for help.  When I logged out one night, it was fine, but when I logged in the next day, it was there.

Try clearing the viewer's cache or use a different viewer.  If all else fails, just get a new head from redelivery.  As someone said above, check the glossiness slider for the lips, then slide it all the way down.

[Nalates Urriah]

Be sure the normal and specular layers have been cleared. They are called different things in different HUDs.

Lipsticks and makeup often use materials that apply normal and specular maps. A common new designer mistake is to fail to provide a way to get them off. Other designers that do not use materials never bother to insure those layers are empty. So, most body and head designers provide a way to clear those layers.

[Skell Dagger]

15 hours ago, AriannaCarmen said:

I don't know what happened, but my response from last night isn't here.  I got the latest version of Catya, checked all the settings, and it's still there. I've TP'd to other regions and it's still there. I'm using the same windlight I was using when it wasn't there (Analu *Studio* 5,), which is better than Nam's.  I've changed my hair several times, I've changed skins, shapes, clothes, etc. and it's still there. Nothing has been added to our house either. It doesn't make any sense. I really don't know what to do or where to go for help.  When I logged out one night, it was fine, but when I logged in the next day, it was there.

Apologies for not getting back to this sooner, Arianna. I saw your post about how a change of hairbase had fixed the problem and thought you'd simply discovered some glitch I'd not come across before! I completely missed your follow-up post saying that the issue had returned.

Some questions:

1. Do others see you with that white line, or is it only you that sees it? If it's only you then Nextio's suggestion to clear the viewer cache is the correct thing to try. If only you are seeing a visual issue with regard to your head and everyone else sees you without that issue, then it's usually either a cache problem on your end, or some setting that you've either enabled or disabled.

2. Did the white line show, even on the freshly-redelivered copy of your Catya head, out of the box and with the default skin applier? Please check again by re-unpacking that delivery and adding the newly-unpacked head, then verify (without changing anything else) that the Shininess setting outlined below has the slider all the way to the bottom (or click the 'x' beneath the slider) for the button skin and both sides of the lips button (one side is for the upper layer of the head and one for the lower layer) -

3. Did you teleport to the Catwa store (with 'Region Windlight' enabled), as I suggested in my previous post, and check for the white line while there?

4. Please also go into your viewer's Graphics Preferences settings and ensure that both Hardware Skinning and Anistropic Filtering are checked. Exact locations of these may vary depending on your viewer, but in Firestorm they're in the locations outlined in the images below:

If you'd like me to help you one-to-one (I'm a CSR for Catwa; you'll find my name listed in Catwa Clip's profile picks if you want to verify before contacting me) then let me know when you'll be inworld today. I'll log in especially if I'm not already inworld, and I'll also reach out to you in an IM once I log in later today; just respond once you're available. My timezone is GMT, so I'm on SLT +8.

Edited May 26, 2019 by Skell Dagger

[Rhonda Huntress]

4 hours ago, Skell Dagger said:

I'll log in especially if I'm not already inworld, and I'll also reach out to you in an IM once I log in later today; just respond once you're available.

And this is why we love Skell.  Being easy on the eyes is just the tip of the ice berg.

[Skell Dagger]

I reached out to Arianna in IM last night and stayed online later than I normally would just in case she was in a much later timezone than me, but she was offline and hasn't responded. (It's a long holiday weekend, so that's understandable.) However, her blank profile with nothing but an old system avatar profile pic that looks nothing like her avatar in this thread leads me to wonder if she might be posting here using an alt whose offline IMs might not go to email (or whose email doesn't get checked). If that's the case, then my inworld offer won't even be seen.

Issues like this can best be diagnosed in person, since I can verify if what Arianna is seeing is what I am seeing, but unfortunately - if she is on a later timezone - I won't now be able to stay online late again until next weekend. To that end I will suggest that she joins the Catwa Head Friends group and asks another of my fellow CSRs to help, if I am offline when she next logs in and she still needs assistance.

Edited May 27, 2019 by Skell Dagger

[AriannaCarmen]

Skell,

My profile is blank on purpose. I keep my groups hidden, etc. and haven't bothered taking a new profile picture. I don't know why, but I didn't notice an IM from you, but I often don't bother looking at them. I'll send you a message.

[Skell Dagger]

Thanks for getting back to me, Arianna, and apologies for wondering if you were an alt. You'd be surprised what we encounter in the Catwa group!

I won't be able to respond inworld until I log in later today, but will make sure that I do so.

[PixelBerry]

It is the windlight that is doing that, I get that sometimes too depending on the windlight and what angle the sun is at, but it doesn't have to be the sun, it can be another light source that does that too, try changing your windlight and move to a different location and see if that works. The lip curve of some heads are pretty defined so it can get lighted up like that. As well as the skin your using, the upper lips are smaller than the head's upper lip, making that line more visible, at least from what I can see.

Edited June 1, 2019 by PixelBerry

[AriannaCarmen]

I'm attaching a photo using "Analu Natural" and the line is gone.  I was using Analu *Studio* 5 and had been for several years with no problem on any of my skins until it changed literally overnight. I can't understand that at all. We turned off all light sources in the house, even though none had been added, and I TP'd to many regions and it was still there. I"m not crazy about Analu Natural because although my face looks fine, the house seems a little dark as if it were a dingy, cloudy day. I can't seem to find one that makes my face and the environment look good at the same time. (Firestorm)

Edited June 1, 2019 by AriannaCarmen

[PixelBerry]

You can always try and adjust the windlight to your liking

[dokitten]

On 6/1/2019 at 11:10 PM, AriannaCarmen said:

I can't seem to find one that makes my face and the environment look good at the same time. (Firestorm)

i mostly hang around with the CalWL windlight, is best in my opinion for seing avis, skintones match, seams are usually non-existant. Environment is pretty color-realistic too, maybe tad lighter then a <perfectly neutral wl>. But it also has no shadows... if you want that, then this one wont work, but is stil my favourite.