Is there a way to do this...?

[Maitimo]

I am considering buying a particular mesh body that is BOM only, it has no alpha hud and entirely relies on system alphas.

I know there is a way to make tattoo/clothing layers on only one arm (something to do with that Universal Layer thing, I think) but is there a way to do the same with an alpha layer? Can I alpha out only the right arm, and not the left? If so, how can this be done?

[Rhonda Huntress]

Without knowing the body I would say probably not.  Single arm tattoos, for example, rely on mesh layers that can "alpha" out specific parts.  With straight up system layers it cannot be done.   If the body is BOM only with no alpha cuts then it will not have the ability to hide one arm only.

[Maitimo]

12 minutes ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

Without knowing the body I would say probably not.  Single arm tattoos, for example, rely on mesh layers that can "alpha" out specific parts.  With straight up system layers it cannot be done.   If the body is BOM only with no alpha cuts then it will not have the ability to hide one arm only.

*censored* 😡

[Selene Gregoire]

51 minutes ago, Matty Luminos said:

*censored* 😡

Here use this. 

It's safer. 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Selene Gregoire

[Maitimo]

50 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Here use this. 

It's safer. 

I actually did type out the word "censored", cos I knew that what I wanted to say, would have been 😄

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Matty Luminos said:

*censored* 😡

I haven't played with this at all, but Slink Redux includes an "Asymmetry Harness" that supposedly allows you to apply tattoos to only one arm. Surely this would work for alpha layers as well? I think it's only the skin layers that you can't use asymmetrically.

But . . . I've just realized, that's of no use to you, is it?

Poop, sorry.

ETA: Where is my brain today? Seriously.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Scylla Rhiadra

[Selene Gregoire]

17 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

ETA: Where is my brain today? Seriously.

[Maitimo]

7 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I haven't played with this at all, but Slink Redux includes an "Asymmetry Harness" that supposedly allows you to apply tattoos to only one arm. Surely this would work for alpha layers as well? I think it's only the skin layers that you can't use asymmetrically.

But . . . I've just realized, that's of no use to you, is it?

Poop, sorry.

ETA: Where is my brain today? Seriously.

You can do tattoo layers on separate arms with any BOM body, using the Universal Layer instead of the tattoo layer (it has separate sections for Left Arm and Left Leg (foot), it's not just the Slink body that can do it. The Alpha system layer doesn't appear to have these extra channels.

So my next dilemma is this;

Is it worth me spending L$1200+ on a mesh body that is absolutely the perfect shape for me, fits all the clothes I already own, works perfectly with all my existing skins, except that I will not be able to do my missing arm with it... ?

 

[rasterscan]

2 hours ago, Matty Luminos said:

 

Is it worth me spending L$1200+ on a mesh body that is absolutely the perfect shape for me

 

Yes.

Edited March 16, 2020 by rasterscan

[Pussycat Catnap]

Edit the texture of the tattoo in gimp or photoshop to only be over that one arm.

 

 

[Maitimo]

1 minute ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

Edit the texture of the tattoo in gimp or photoshop to only be over that one arm.

It's not a tattoo, it's an alpha. And alpha masks don't have separate channels for left and right.

But... I got it anyway. This is Vania:

This is so much better than Lara + V-Tech for several reasons. It's nearly 50% lower in avatar complexity, it responds fully to system alphas (V-Tech doesn't), the hips and booty are slimmer, and the feet are resizeable, even with High feet (they fit Slink shoes at between 30 and 40). All my skins work great on it, and all my clothes still fit, though I will need to make an alpha for some of my V-Tech tops as the nipples show through on some of them. The hands look awkward in this pic, but they are nicely animated, they just didn't play nice with this particular pose.

The only downside, apart from getting used to having two arms, is the fingernails - I will need to learn how to make my own appliers for those.

I thought I'd be Maitreya for life, but I guess not... 

[Pussycat Catnap]

24 minutes ago, Matty Luminos said:

It's not a tattoo, it's an alpha. And alpha masks don't have separate channels for left and right.

That's actually even easier. You don't need to worry as much about copyrights.

An alpha is just a plain file wherein some parts you cut transparent holes into it in Gimp or Photoshop, and save a PNG, or save it as a TGA with the sections you cut as the alpha channel.

- you can make that on your own easily (thus avoiding copyright conflicts), and not have to use the copy that's in your cache folder.

  

24 minutes ago, Matty Luminos said:

This is so much better than Lara + V-Tech for several reasons.

Agreed. I'm trying to make the point to the developer of the mesh body I use to PLEASE put out a copy of the body that has ZERO onion layers and just the BOM texture on it...

@Tricky Boucher @XJayceeX / @Onyx LeShelle @Gryphon Ronas - the savings in lag reduction across the entire grid will be massive if I can get at least one major body developer to do that... 😛

If we could get them both to do it... we'd all gain back a few million FPS... 😛

Even if this is seen as an addon upgrade we have to buy, I predict massive numbers of people will flock to it.

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Pussycat Catnap

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Maybe the creator would make a custom version for you? It shouldn't be difficult technically. Worth asking IMO.

[Maitimo]

1 hour ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

That's actually even easier. You don't need to worry as much about copyrights.

An alpha is just a plain file wherein some parts you cut transparent holes into it in Gimp or Photoshop, and save a PNG, or save it as a TGA with the sections you cut as the alpha channel.

- you can make that on your own easily (thus avoiding copyright conflicts), and not have to use the copy that's in your cache folder.

I can, but it would necessarily mean that both arms are missing, because both arms use the same part of the texture. And I'd rather not lose my other arm as well. The whole crux of the problem is making only one arm invisible, not both.

[Pussycat Catnap]

1 hour ago, Matty Luminos said:

I can, but it would necessarily mean that both arms are missing, because both arms use the same part of the texture. And I'd rather not lose my other arm as well. The whole crux of the problem is making only one arm invisible, not both.

That's an insanely bizarre UV map...

and it means you can't use any system skin either...

which makes having BOM, or any applier system even, near pointless on that body.

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Pussycat Catnap

[Maitimo]

7 hours ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

That's an insanely bizarre UV map...

and it means you can't use any system skin either...

which makes having BOM, or any applier system even, near pointless on that body.

 

Uh, no, the SL default body has used the same UV map since year dot, and the commercial mesh bodies, including this one, use the same one. Take a look at the upper body template:

That's not left and right arm it shows; it's top side and bottom side. Both left and right arms take their textures from the same place. Also note the date. Mesh bodies use the same uv as the original system body. It has always been this way, since SL first started.

[Anna Salyx]

On 3/16/2020 at 5:17 AM, Matty Luminos said:

You can do tattoo layers on separate arms with any BOM body, using the Universal Layer instead of the tattoo layer (it has separate sections for Left Arm and Left Leg (foot), it's not just the Slink body that can do it. The Alpha system layer doesn't appear to have these extra channels.

So my next dilemma is this;

Is it worth me spending L$1200+ on a mesh body that is absolutely the perfect shape for me, fits all the clothes I already own, works perfectly with all my existing skins, except that I will not be able to do my missing arm with it... ?

 

Keep in mind that the body will need a linked mesh layer over the left arm/left foot that are mapped to use the BAKED_LEFTARM and BAKED_LEFTLEG for this to work.  the only body that I have first hand experience with implementing native BoM (not triggered by a relay) is Maitreya -- and it doesn't (yet at least) support those channels, just the BAKED_UPPER and BAKED_LOWER, ignoring the rest.  Other bodies may be doing something with those channels, but if most bodies are similarly just mapping the UPPER and LOWER channels, then that'll make that function of the universal wearable fairly useless. 

[Maitimo]

45 minutes ago, Anna Salyx said:

Keep in mind that the body will need a linked mesh layer over the left arm/left foot that are mapped to use the BAKED_LEFTARM and BAKED_LEFTLEG for this to work.  the only body that I have first hand experience with implementing native BoM (not triggered by a relay) is Maitreya -- and it doesn't (yet at least) support those channels, just the BAKED_UPPER and BAKED_LOWER, ignoring the rest.  Other bodies may be doing something with those channels, but if most bodies are similarly just mapping the UPPER and LOWER channels, then that'll make that function of the universal wearable fairly useless. 

The only bodies I know that actually do this are Slink and Signature. I have Maitreya but haven't tested it yet. It was really only alphas that I was interested in, not tattoo layers, and it sems that they can't make use of the extra baked channels anyway.