What do I need to know as a consumer?

[Rhonda Huntress]

So ... BOM is live.  I didn't get an update prompt when logging in so I went to get the newest viewer release on my own.  Second Life Release 6.2.4.529638 (64bit)
This is the Love Me Render release from Monday, August 5, 2019.

OK, so I assume I need an RC ...

I found this: 6.3.0.530037 - BakesOnMesh dated Friday, August 16, 2019

I read the Release Notes

/me sighs as her eyes glaze over.

Maybe I am entirely missing something but this means I need MOD permissions to use BOM, correct?
If I do not have MOD permissions, then I assume I will need to wait for the creator to add controls to my mesh parts.

OK, so what I need to know is, as a consumer, how will I use the new functionality?  I am guessing here, but I will need to wear/add system tattoo layers and then press a button on my HUD.  In other words I will first need to layer up the system avatar with textures that will be baked and applied to the mesh as opposed to stacking up onion layers and baking them down.  Is this too far off base?

Also, am I to assume this is just a first step and now I wait for:

    Actual release of BOM viewer
    Adoption of BOM into 3rd party viewers
    Updated controls for head and body makers

So maybe I'll see and use BOM as an end user sometime in early 2020?

Anything else I need to know or got horribly wrong?  I just want my eye brows, eye shadow and hair to all play nicely ... is that too much to hope for?

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Rhonda Huntress
#$%&in' Spoiler tags not working!!

[Theresa Tennyson]

25 minutes ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

So ... BOM is live.  I didn't get an update prompt when logging in so I went to get the newest viewer release on my own.  Second Life Release 6.2.4.529638 (64bit)
This is the Love Me Render release from Monday, August 5, 2019.

OK, so I assume I need an RC ...

I found this: 6.3.0.530037 - BakesOnMesh dated Friday, August 16, 2019

I read the Release Notes

/me sighs as her eyes glaze over.

Maybe I am entirely missing something but this means I need MOD permissions to use BOM, correct?
If I do not have MOD permissions, then I assume I will need to wait for the creator to add controls to my mesh parts.

OK, so what I need to know is, as a consumer, how will I use the new functionality?  I am guessing here, but I will need to wear/add system tattoo layers and then press a button on my HUD.  In other words I will first need to layer up the system avatar with textures that will be baked and applied to the mesh as opposed to stacking up onion layers and baking them down.  Is this too far off base?

Also, am I to assume this is just a first step and now I wait for:

    Actual release of BOM viewer
    Adoption of BOM into 3rd party viewers
    Updated controls for head and body makers

So maybe I'll see and use BOM as an end user sometime in early 2020?

Anything else I need to know or got horribly wrong?  I just want my eye brows, eye shadow and hair to all play nicely ... is that too much to hope for?

 

Here's the full procedure for an end user with a current mesh body. The necessary applier is available at the Omega store.

1) Log into the project viewer.

2) Make a copy of your body, hands and feet and wear them. Any body currently on the market that supports Omega skins will work; I'll be using Maitreya in the rest of the instructions.

3) DO NOT wear the full-body alpha that comes with the body. Take it off if you're already wearing it.

4) Wear the experimental Omega applier and your Maitreya Omega relay.

5) Click the experimental Omega applier and install the bakes-on-mesh textures. If you're using the default head be sure to select "Body only."

The body you're wearing will now take system skins and clothing exactly the same way the default body does, using the same interface. You won't be able to use worn alphas with a Maitreya body because of arcane settings that you can't change as an end-user, but the alpha cut system will work the same as any other Maitreya body.

Depending on your skin, it will almost certainly have issues with the toes and fingertips on your mesh feet and hands. These can be fixed by wearing a tattoo that covers those areas similar to how a cleavage tattoo works. There may or may not be issues with nipple and navel position, breast shading, etc. because those locations weren't standardized with old skins.

This will only work on the project viewer. Anyone else not on the Bakes-on-Mesh project viewer, including you if you log in with another viewer, will see your avatar covered with bright colors and text, and with parts of your default mesh body poking through the mesh body.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Theresa Tennyson

[KT Kingsley]

5 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Bakes-on-Mesh project viewer

Just to say that the BoM viewer has been promoted to default viewer (version 6.3.0.530115), and is available here if your SL viewer doesn't update itself automatically: https://releasenotes.secondlife.com/viewer/6.3.0.530115.html.

[Rhonda Huntress]

Me, BOM and LL's viewer.

And what my alt sees with Catznip ...

Baby steps ... gotta get the 3rd party viewers updated next.

 

Thank you, @Theresa Tennyson, for the hand holding instructions.  I can see how this is going to work soon.

[LittleMe Jewell]

7 hours ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Here's the full procedure for an end user with a current mesh body. The necessary applier is available at the Omega store.

1) Log into the project viewer.

2) Make a copy of your body, hands and feet and wear them. Any body currently on the market that supports Omega skins will work; I'll be using Maitreya in the rest of the instructions.

3) DO NOT wear the full-body alpha that comes with the body. Take it off if you're already wearing it.

4) Wear the experimental Omega applier and your Maitreya Omega relay.

5) Click the experimental Omega applier and install the bakes-on-mesh textures. If you're using the default head be sure to select "Body only."

The body you're wearing will now take system skins and clothing exactly the same way the default body does, using the same interface. You won't be able to use worn alphas with a Maitreya body because of arcane settings that you can't change as an end-user, but the alpha cut system will work the same as any other Maitreya body.

Depending on your skin, it will almost certainly have issues with the toes and fingertips on your mesh feet and hands. These can be fixed by wearing a tattoo that covers those areas similar to how a cleavage tattoo works. There may or may not be issues with nipple and navel position, breast shading, etc. because those locations weren't standardized with old skins.

This will only work on the project viewer. Anyone else not on the Bakes-on-Mesh project viewer, including you if you log in with another viewer, will see your avatar covered with bright colors and text, and with parts of your default mesh body poking through the mesh body.

OMG - Thank you for that very detailed set of instructions !!!

Needless to say that the wiki page referenced in the announcement thread was not very helpful to the average consumer who does not create.

[Lukorange]

mmm I'm just a bit confused, do we still need to wear the experimental omega applier???   

[Theresa Tennyson]

57 minutes ago, Lukorange said:

mmm I'm just a bit confused, do we still need to wear the experimental omega applier???   

Once the BOM textures are applied to the body it will always display the bakes. The only purpose of the Omega applier is to send the "magic" texture UUID's to the body. If your body has another way of being textured by UUID's then you can do it that way.

[Sileny Noel]

I'm so bummed. Everything used to work for me with the experimental viewer but now that everything is live none of it works, haha.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

And presumably the experimental Omega applier will become unnecessary once the particular mesh body we're using is updated to support BoM?

[Maitimo]

There are a couple of things I don't understand.

12 hours ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

4) Wear the experimental Omega applier and your Maitreya Omega relay.

Where can I get the experimental Omega applier? I looked in the Omega store and can't find it. Do you have a MP link?

12 hours ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

The body you're wearing will now take system skins and clothing exactly the same way the default body does, using the same interface.

Does it take *all* the system layers I'm wearing? Skin plus clothing layers, all at once? What if I want to use a system clothing layer without using the system skin, is that possible? And if I AM using a system skin, does it apply that to the Maitreya skin layer or one of the upper layers? 

 

[AyelaNewLife]

1 hour ago, Matty Luminos said:

Does it take *all* the system layers I'm wearing? Skin plus clothing layers, all at once? What if I want to use a system clothing layer without using the system skin, is that possible? And if I AM using a system skin, does it apply that to the Maitreya skin layer or one of the upper layers? 

The baked layer will replace any skin applier that has been applied to your body, painted onto the body itself; so unfortunately a system skin is non-negotiable if you wish to use BoM functionality (there's no reason why you can't keep using traditional appliers). You also can't mix appliers and system layers in the 'wrong' order, eg wearing a system t-shirt and an applied tattoo will cause the tattoo to appear over the top of your t-shirt.

[Emma Krokus]

2 hours ago, Matty Luminos said:

There are a couple of things I don't understand.

Where can I get the experimental Omega applier? I looked in the Omega store and can't find it. Do you have a MP link?

Does it take *all* the system layers I'm wearing? Skin plus clothing layers, all at once? What if I want to use a system clothing layer without using the system skin, is that possible? And if I AM using a system skin, does it apply that to the Maitreya skin layer or one of the upper layers? 

 

This. Still looking to find info on the whereabouts of the experimental omega applier.

[Theresa Tennyson]

32 minutes ago, Emma Krokus said:

This. Still looking to find info on the whereabouts of the experimental omega applier.

Go to the Omega main store in world (may want to wear sunglasses - optional.) Go through the door opening that says "Add-ons" on the floor. There will be a box on the table to your right with a purple ribbon.

[Maitimo]

2 hours ago, AyelaNewLife said:

The baked layer will replace any skin applier that has been applied to your body, painted onto the body itself; so unfortunately a system skin is non-negotiable if you wish to use BoM functionality (there's no reason why you can't keep using traditional appliers). You also can't mix appliers and system layers in the 'wrong' order, eg wearing a system t-shirt and an applied tattoo will cause the tattoo to appear over the top of your t-shirt.

Hmm this makes it much less appealing. While some of my skins have system versions included, not all of them do... so I won't be able to wear system clothing with those skins at all. That... sucks.

[Kyrah Abattoir]

28 minutes ago, Matty Luminos said:

Hmm this makes it much less appealing. While some of my skins have system versions included, not all of them do... so I won't be able to wear system clothing with those skins at all. That... sucks.

That's where you contact the creator (if they still exist) and pester them to update their product (if possible).

[Cesartje]

The experimental omega applier is outdated, did not work for me (at least till yesterday when I got a new copy). But the body I have that is BOM already, worked fine

[Maitimo]

1 hour ago, Kyrah Abattoir said:

That's where you contact the creator (if they still exist) and pester them to update their product (if possible).

Or just stop buying from them.

Which might get their notice a bit quicker, hitting them in the pocket rather than the inbox.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Ok, so I just read the new Slink FAQ for their updated BoM-compatible "Redux" versions of their bodies. And I watched the videos. It's all very helpful, but . . . one of the things conspicuously absent from the new HUD is an alpha cuts interface.

There is, however, a video for how to create your own alpha layers for mesh clothing that doesn't include alpha layers. Which will be a lot of non-standard sized clothing.

Are they nuts???? (I don't know whom I mean by "they," btw.)

Are we really expecting that the standard resident, many (most?) of whom probably do not have Photoshop, and would faint away dead if they saw the interface for Gimp, are going to create their own alpha layers for all of the mesh clothing that they own that doesn't include it?????

[Freyja Nemeth]

35 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Ok, so I just read the new Slink FAQ for their updated BoM-compatible "Redux" versions of their bodies. And I watched the videos. It's all very helpful, but . . . one of the things conspicuously absent from the new HUD is an alpha cuts interface.

There is, however, a video for how to create your own alpha layers for mesh clothing that doesn't include alpha layers. Which will be a lot of non-standard sized clothing.

Are they nuts???? (I don't know whom I mean by "they," btw.)

Are we really expecting that the standard resident, many (most?) of whom probably do not have Photoshop, and would faint away dead if they saw the interface for Gimp, are going to create their own alpha layers for all of the mesh clothing that they own that doesn't include it?????

Slink's updated body ships with a set of standard alphas. Other bodies will no doubt do the same and there will be packs created on the marketplace. Using premade alphas that may not be ideal fits is about the same as using alpha cuts.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

7 minutes ago, Freyja Nemeth said:

Slink's updated body ships with a set of standard alphas. Other bodies will no doubt do the same and there will be packs created on the marketplace. Using premade alphas that may not be ideal fits is about the same as using alpha cuts.

I hope that you're right. Much will depend upon how many and how precise are the premade alpha layers. There will need to be a lot of them to match the number of possible combinations I could achieve by a careful application of alpha cuts.

ETA: I need to get the new body, obviously, to check this out, but what I'm imagining is that the premade alphas will be more or less equivalent to the shortcut buttons (for tees, crop tops, etc.) on the alpha cut HUD. Those will certainly cover a lot of ground, but they're still going to leave a fair number of gaps.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Scylla Rhiadra

[Madelaine McMasters]

My decision to spontaneously decay is looking wiser by the minute.

[Theresa Tennyson]

41 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Are we really expecting that the standard resident, many (most?) of whom probably do not have Photoshop, and would faint away dead if they saw the interface for Gimp, are going to create their own alpha layers for all of the mesh clothing that they own that doesn't include it?????

I take it that you don't use the alpha HUD on your Slink body much. It's like relying on an easily distracted five-year-old, only not as cute.

 

Just now, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I hope that you're right. Much will depend upon how many and how precise are the premade alpha layers. There will need to be a lot of them to match the number of possible combinations I could achieve by a careful application of alpha cuts.

There's something very interesting about mesh bodies compared to system bodies when you're using alphas. With a mesh body the alpha texture can have variable levels of transparency and you can use a slider to adjust exactly where the change from opaque to transparent hits. I don't know if Slink's alpha wearables are made to allow this, but I do know they include the slider for adjustment.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

I take it that you don't use the alpha HUD on your Slink body much. It's like relying on an easily distracted five-year-old, only not as cute.

It's not great, I'll agree. But it's been sufficiently effective that I've never bought something made for Slink, or in a standard size, that it wasn't reasonably adequate at addressing.

 

5 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

There's something very interesting about mesh bodies compared to system bodies when you're using alphas. With a mesh body the alpha texture can have variable levels of transparency and you can use a slider to adjust exactly where the change from opaque to transparent hits. I don't know if Slink's alpha wearables are made to allow this, but I do know they include the slider for adjustment.

Interesting question. I may find out later today.

[Aemeth Lysette]

On 8/26/2019 at 4:12 PM, Rhonda Huntress said:

Me, BOM and LL's viewer.

And what my alt sees with Catznip ...

Selfie versus tagged photo 😭😂

[Nalates Urriah]

I've been playing with the Slink Physique Redux v4.0.0... aka the Slink BoM body. I have 2,200 word review of what I found here http://blog.nalates.net/2019/08/27/how-to-use-bom-with-new-slink-bodies/

There is a part of the BoM process that seems to be causing confusion. All diffuse textures on a classic or mesh BoM body now have to pass through the bake service. We can only send them by wearing a system skin, tat, underwear, shirt, or jacket item. The bake service composites these and sends them back as a magic UUID. When Siddean, Slink designer, says appliers will work with the new Slink BoM viewer, that is true but ONLY for applying materials, normal and specular maps. If one were to apply a diffuse texture via the applier, it would replace the magic UUID texture. So, appliers CANNOT apply diffuse textures to BoM items.

But Siddean built in the controls to allow all the neat stuff we did with appliers to be done with the BoM bodies. So, I can have specular map control of shiny and control the color of the shine. I can have glow, add a specular map or normal map. The alpha layer can be adjusted in the Slink HUD. There is a video showing how to make alpha layers to work with the Slink HUD. Since this is a basic aspect of SL I expect other designers will do things the same way.

The cloth stretch between breasts, butt cheeks, gloves, stockings, and camel toes is handled by the HUD. I haven't figured out for sure, but they seem to be the few places where that is some onion skinning. 

I was curious how asymetrical tats were going to be handled. BoM provides for left arm and leg textures. Slink has a solution they call the Asymmetry Harness. I think this is a removable use as needed onion skin. I have yet to do any more than look at it.

I think the big advantage in Slink BoM is the reduction in the number and size of scripts used. The script memory use was reduced by 2MB.

I was doubtful BoM was going to be as good as the current mesh bodies. Slink has put my doubt to rest. Once Firestorm comes out with BoM support, I'll be BoM all the way.