Upgrading Classic Male Avatar to Mesh

[GingerPiper Throgmorton]

I am attempting to help a friend of mine upgrade his noob Classic Avatar to Mesh. My question has multiple points.

1. What is the most commonly designed for Male Mesh? (Example: As a female, I went with Maitreya.)

2. What is the best Head for a male?

3. I need a full list of all of the components he will need to purchase as, quite frankly, I have forgotten. I've had my Avi for over a year.

4. Talk too me about these "Complete Avatar" packages. Are they worth it and, is so, is one better than another?

Thank you all in advance.

 

 

[Alyona Su]

4 hours ago, TLHagen said:

I am attempting to help a friend of mine upgrade his noob Classic Avatar to Mesh. My question has multiple points.

1. What is the most commonly designed for Male Mesh? (Example: As a female, I went with Maitreya.)

2. What is the best Head for a male?

3. I need a full list of all of the components he will need to purchase as, quite frankly, I have forgotten. I've had my Avi for over a year.

4. Talk too me about these "Complete Avatar" packages. Are they worth it and, is so, is one better than another?

Thank you all in advance.

I did this for a friend who lurked in his system avie for 10 years

Most used, best creator-supported: Signature Gianni

Best head by creator-support (including skins): Catwa (Daniel head seems most popular from what I see, but that's just my perspective)

Skins: This is relative, but in our case he tried Stray Dog - hated it (and couldn't get the neck seam to go away), tried Navro (I think it's called) - same deal. But when he went with Sessions it looked great (high quality) and ZERO neck-seam, I mean you have to look *hard* to find it - but that's also HIM, everyone will have a different experience.

As for outfits: Just pop "Gianni" into market Place search and prepare to grab thousands of demos. AND DEFINITELY DEMO. A lot of stuff proclaiming a fit (just like with us ladies) doesn't always FIT. However, Gianni HUD has the best alpha slices I've ever seen (compared to ALL my bodies, including Maitreya, Belleza, EVE, Slink and Tonic) and it also has the Auto-Hide ability that he can set-up himself (again: referencing the Gianni body)

There's my input for what it may or may not be worth.

[usedcars]

I would look into this mesh for a male.  

[Marianne Little]

For a costly avatar, he really must buy what he likes...

He has to do the muscle work, like trying on every demo, in his briefs or his b-day suit, move, dance and do some posing. I assume he can edit his shape, the old default one, and see how the body changes. Some things is simply not possible to edit "away", like the deltoids in Signature Gianni.

Am I wrong in assuming that he isn't a serious shopper? All mesh bodies among the "big ones" have content like jeans, swim trunks, shoes, t-shirts and full suits and smokings. Unless he goes shopping for new clothes every week, he should do with one of the following:  Signature Geralt, Signature Gianni, Belleza Jake, and even the infamous Legacy body. The advice over, to look for clothes and see what you can buy in the MP, is a sound advice. Even Slink Male has clothes, but support for it has dropped fast. It is still lots of things for it on the Marketplace.

"The complete avatar pack", I don't know much about it. Can you link to it? Sometimes there is scams on the Marketplace. Or almost-scams, where they sell an avatar from a game that you can't undress, or buy other clothes for in Second Life. Google the avatar/brand and add "review" to the search

Bodies, like the ones I mention over here, is a full pack with all from the neck and down. Slink used to be sold in "parts" but is now selling the whole body.

This blogger has reviewed many heads and bodies. Look at the list to the right , to find all the other reviews. This is his latest: http://www.virtualbloke.com/archives/3335

NX-Nardcotic David is mentioned over here. One blogger who shop clothes often, and who wears bodies like NX and Exmachina, can be a shopping guide for them. Like this one from May. https://billybeaverhausen.com/2019/05/10/taking-david-to-tmd-may-2019/

The Billy Beaverhausen blog can show skin in some reviews. That can be a plus if your friend is looking to upgrade his missing body part. There are a few reviews of that part in the blog too, but the link over goes to a safe and PG post.

You can also notice that the blogger is swapping sizes, ike wearing a Gianni size over another body.

I can just nod to what Alyona over here say about Catwa heads. Best creator support and most content. Very few, if any, is using the default skin. They buy a skin applier for the head and a body applier too, so the body appear seamless. Catwa has several neck fits. The neck can be a problem. It depends upon how picky he is.

IMPORTANT: The mesh heads comes with a shape. Use that one, not another shape! The default head under is twisted, so the mesh head shall look the way it does. The included shape is the start, then he can change it by using the shape editing tools in Appearance. The demo will change just the way the full priced head does. If he can't get the look he want by editing the demo head, it is not going to happen with the full priced head.

I hope we have covered some of question 1-2.

For #3, it is simply put. Demos, demos and more demos. The demos shows what he gets. Don't forget to add in skin demos, from Stray Dog, Birth, Avenge, L'Etre, Not Found, Avi-Glam, Insol, Sessions, LV Designs, The Skinnery, 7 Deadly Skins.... The list is long for Catwa.

If you buy another head than Catwa, make sure he likes the skin it comes with. It can be a problem to find other skins.

LeLutka has some support from skin creators. I will say LeLutka is very goodlooking, very good animations, nice jawline.

A mesh head,

A body,

Skin appliers for his head and his body from the same designer, in the same tone.

You have checked that there is enough clothes for that body. Monthly events for men will show what's popular now, plus the Marketplace for previous content. http://seraphimsl.com/2019/08/05/its-all-about-the-guys-at-the-mens-dept/

Eventual add-ons like tattoos, hairbase(s), beards.

If he has no mesh at all, some heads comes with eyes, and they are the best to use. Less things to edit. He can get eye appliers too, if he don't like the included eyes.

He will use one of the shapes that came for the head, edited it to fit him, and edited the body so it's the height and muscle he prefers.

Of course he can buy a shape from the Marketplace,  with a stylecard, so he can shop from that list. Make sure it's not old content. Some skin brands close, and then it's impossible to find it. Sort by age and newest first. Look at the reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Marianne Little

[GingerPiper Throgmorton]

4 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

Am I wrong in assuming that he isn't a serious shopper? 

Nope, you're right...typical male sending me out to shop. I know he won't want to try on Demos. 

I am not finding anything that I need, besides head shapes on MP? Does this mean that I would do better dragging him kicking and screaming to the in-world stores?

[Marianne Little]

17 minutes ago, TLHagen said:

Nope, you're right...typical male sending me out to shop. I know he won't want to try on Demos. 

I am not finding anything that I need, besides head shapes on MP? Does this mean that I would do better dragging him kicking and screaming to the in-world stores?

Oh, that kind. My experience with them is bad. (My experience, I am sure your friend is a cinnamon roll). But when I try to help a guy like that with a makeover, they want me to find everything with minimal information of what they want. Then they criticize everything. Nothing is good enough, nothing was like they evisioned it. But they will not do any work themself.

Say that he shall look like Khal Drogo/Jason Momoa/Aquaman. 😄 Like this shape: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Jason-Shape-Signature-Belleza-CATWA-Daniel/14051472

It is affordable, has good reviews and a StyleCard included - Containing all the info (skins, hair, beard, tattoos, eyes, ears, etc... Less work for you. Use that list.

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Marianne Little
Typos

[GingerPiper Throgmorton]

hahaha!

 

[Cackle Amore]

Man, the male side of shopping for human stuff seems like quite a barren waste if you don't care for the muscular body building super model look.

[Alwin Alcott]

3 hours ago, usedcars said:

I would look into this mesh for a male.  

just a very few creators make clothes for this one.

[Alwin Alcott]

2 hours ago, TLHagen said:

I am not finding anything that I need, besides head shapes on MP? Does this mean that I would do better dragging him kicking and screaming to the in-world stores?

to the first.. nearly no male mesh bodies are sold on MP, and if you find one be very carefull, it can be a scam.

To the second ... dragging him screaming and kicking ?... does he WANT to update or is it YOUR wish he updates  

[GingerPiper Throgmorton]

Hahaha!! He wants to upgrade! He approached me. As a friend I am happy to oblige, but I haven't done anything as big as a complete upgrade. 

[Alwin Alcott]

1 hour ago, TLHagen said:

Hahaha!! He wants to upgrade!

let him kick and scream, but convince him it's for the better

[Skell Dagger]

1 hour ago, TLHagen said:

Hahaha!! He wants to upgrade! He approached me.

If he wants to upgrade then he's going to have to put in the legwork to do so. It's his head and body, and he's got to live in it. The decisions of how he looks should be his.

Alyona's suggestions are all sound ones. Signature Gianni is the most created-for body out there, but it will take some work to reduce the upper arms. He's going to have to get cosy with a pose stand and spend some time on his shape. To tone down those upper arms from 'prizefighter' to 'man in the street' this is what I had to do:

• zero the sliders for pectorals and shoulders (yes, it looks bad to start with)
• nudge each of those sliders up in small increments, one after the other and comparing them, until the shape is less bulky

Signature also has a fantastic HUD with a lot of great alpha cuts, and most clothing rigged for it fits it very well. Be aware that some clothing has those bulky upper arms built into the mesh (so even if he's reduced those upper arms, the sleeves of some clothing will still look huge) but those items are few and far between.

If he can't be arsed to put in that slider work on the shape, the next most created-for body is Belleza Jake. If he's not a fan of bubble-butts then he'll still need to pull the butt size slider in a bit, though He's also going to want a Bento AO if he opts for Jake, otherwise he might end up with his fingers splayed out all the time (no idea why that's a thing that happens with that body, but it does). I use Vista's 'Gerard' AO, which is a calm Bento AO without too much pacing around.

For heads, seconding Catwa. (Disclosure: I'm a CSR for Catwa. I'm also the guy behind the Virtual Bloke blog that Marianne linked to.) Catwa simply has the most appliers created for it, and he'll get great results matching it to either Gianni or Jake. If he opts for Jake as his body, it comes with a matching Catwa head applier, so he could be all set up with just two purchases. Second head option for availability of appliers would be Lelutka, but be aware that both of Lelutka's male bento heads are created to fit perfectly only with Belleza Jake (although they will fit with most other male bodies; demoing is always important, but it's crucial if opting for Lelutka).

Clothing is a different matter altogether. There are six monthly menswear events on the grid at the moment, but they tend to be hit and miss with regard to what's on offer. If he loves sweatpants, sweatshirts, sweatshorts (sensing a trend here?), hoodies, baseball caps, tank tops, thick tattoos, sneakers, and sportswear then he's all set. If not, then he'll need to look around for something else. If you give us an idea of his style (e.g. casual, or biker, etc) we can recommend some stores.

Suggestions for various body-related appliers:

• Skins (assuming he doesn't opt for Belleza Jake with its included Catwa head applier) - Stray Dog, Birth, Vendetta, Aeros (pricey body appliers, but they match the Aeros genitalia, if he's going to buy that), Amias, Avenge, Clef de Peau, L'Etre, 7 Deadly Skins.
• Hair - Stealthic, Bad Hair Day, No Match, Doux, Dura, Exile, Modulus, Vango, VoltHair, Tram.
• Facial hair (if required) - Mister Razzor, Volkstone, CDC Creations, Beusame.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Skell Dagger

[usedcars]

2 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

just a very few creators make clothes for this one.

Mostly fitmesh

[GingerPiper Throgmorton]

I'm going in now to check out Belleza. I do like the Signature Gianni.

My head is spinning, but better mine than his. We don't want to scare him off SL, again.

[Stephanie Misfit]

If your friend doesn't like the heads at Catwa, Lelutka Guy is also very popular and there are some great skins available for it. I bought a Catwa head for my alt and really wish I had gone with Guy instead, it's a really nice head. Anyway as always, try all the demos.

[Alyona Su]

Too lazy to do any shopping work? Likely won't bother with demos? Prefers a full package? Doesn;t want to spend a lot of $L? And the rest of the world would cringe if he becomes another Doppelgänger Aesthetic Avie? Then this is your answer. Srsly: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/piggu-Jonathan-Avatar-21/11447858

I am only partially har-har here, I have a friend who has this and he LOVES it. Made it look like a local from Hawai'i. LOL

Edited August 28, 2019 by Alyona Su

[GingerPiper Throgmorton]

Well he is about finished, needs some tweaking....

Having a Skin Issue, though. We got him the Signature Gianni Body and the Catwa Victor head. The Stray Dog Catwa compatible head skin works great!

However, mistakenly got the Stray Dog Legacy Skin and am being told by a friend that it won't work with the Signature body. 

Not sure what route to go. There is a neck Line because I can't complete the look right now.

 

[Alwin Alcott]

31 minutes ago, TLHagen said:

Not sure what route to go

 

 buy the one for gianni

 

32 minutes ago, TLHagen said:

There is a neck Line because I can't complete the look right now.

depends a lot on the windlight setting, and yes or no use the neck seam add on ( for me i don't use the ad on or repair as included in the huds)
How you see it... another won't, or different.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Alwin Alcott

[Paladin Tyran]

On 8/27/2019 at 7:13 PM, usedcars said:

I would look into this mesh for a male.  

sadly, this is one of the most underrated bodies in sl.is very nice made, price is under 2000L, works with omega, and , the most important for me , the neck fit is almost perfect (here with akeruka head)

On 8/27/2019 at 10:29 PM, Alwin Alcott said:

just a very few creators make clothes for this one.

if you dig hard, indiana jones style, you can find enough. Justice make some nice ones, a lot of fitmesh sizes s-m work, also , surprise, aestethic pants most of the time.