Catwa (Victor) Head Issues - Cheeks/Dimples Clipping?

[iizu]

Hi there! 

I've been working on a male avi of mine using the Catwa Victor head. My goal is a more angular/thin framed face and have been relentlessly fiddling with sliders to get it to my desired state. I'm getting general looks that work for me just fine, but the Catwa head seems to fighting back at the seams. I constantly keep getting cheeks/dimples that seem to clip out super unnaturally. (Pics attached)

Does anyone know how I can smoothen these out? I've tried adjusting all the sliders but in any case that one appears to work, I would have to expand said facial feature way beyond my desired look. Additionally, I have searched for head shapes on the marketplace, but any I find for Catwa Victor are completely deformed from what was shown in the pictures or just simply not something I like. I would really appreciate any advice or even a link to a head shape that is similar. 

Thanks!

 

 

[Alwin Alcott]

most likely this head isn't suited for the thing you want.
putting the sliders to certain levels simply don't improve the look and make it bad.

[Skell Dagger]

You've "broken" the mesh. While it's possible to move each of those individual sliders to those extents, the combination of them that you have going on there is simply too much for the rigging.

[iizu]

29 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

most likely this head isn't suited for the thing you want.
putting the sliders to certain levels simply don't improve the look and make it bad.

 

17 minutes ago, Skell Dagger said:

You've "broken" the mesh. While it's possible to move each of those individual sliders to those extents, the combination of them that you have going on there is simply too much for the rigging.

Thanks, I feared that was the case. What would plan B be at this point? When buying the parts I had already narrowed down my options for heads with slim faces. Is there a better option on the market I missed? 

[Skell Dagger]

14 minutes ago, iizu said:

Thanks, I feared that was the case. What would plan B be at this point? When buying the parts I had already narrowed down my options for heads with slim faces. Is there a better option on the market I missed? 

You're asking a Catwa CSR to recommend a different brand of head here! That said, if you really do want to get a very thin and angular face like you're trying to achieve there (which reminds me a bit of Hayden Aragon/Hot Doge, the creator behind the Hotdog brand), then Victor is probably the best Catwa option you might have achieved it with, since the chin on Victor is the most receptive to that kind of shaping. The issue you're coming up against appears to be pulling the chin too thin and pointed while at the same time bringing the jawline in toward the neck. I'm not inworld to check what other sliders you could try, but possibly elongating the head ('stretch' head sliders) might give the illusion of a thinner face, although you may then run into issues with the fit of some rigged hairstyles.

Your other option is to try this head. It's intended to work best with this (emaciated) body, so I have no idea how it fits against other mesh bodies on the market (one review appears to suggest that it works well with Belleza Jake), but it's probably the closest you'll come to the look you appear to be aiming for. Since both the head and body are fully modifiable you can edit them manually to be Bakes on Mesh compatible and use a BoM skin. I would strongly suggest trying demos of both that head and any potential BoM skins you might use on it, though, since I'm not sure what kind of UV mapping the head uses.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Skell Dagger

[Rowan Amore]

you could also look for a skin with shading to give the effect more than others rather than making the head unworkable.   A skin like this

Second Life Marketplace - [Avenge] Daniel skin applier for Catwa and BOM layers - demo

the shading on the cheeks will give the illusion of being thinner without actually being too thin.  

[iizu]

6 minutes ago, Skell Dagger said:

You're asking a Catwa CSR to recommend a different brand of head here! That said, if you really do want to get a very thin and angular face like you're trying to achieve there (which reminds me a bit of Hayden Aragon/Hot Doge, the creator behind the Hotdog brand), then Victor is probably the best Catwa option you might have achieved it with, since the chin on Victor is the most receptive to that kind of shaping. The issue you're coming up against appears to be pulling the chin too thin and pointed while at the same time bringing the jawline in toward the neck. I'm not inworld to check what other sliders you could try, but possibly elongating the head ('stretch' head sliders) might give the illusion of a thinner face, although you may then run into issues with the fit of some rigged hairstyles.

Your other option is to try this head. It's intended to work best with this (emaciated) body, so I have no idea how it fits against other mesh bodies on the market (one review appears to suggest that it works well with Belleza Jake), but it's probably the closest you'll come to the look you appear to be aiming for. Since both the head and body are fully modifiable you can edit them manually to be Bakes on Mesh compatible and use a BoM skin. I would strongly suggest trying demos of both that head and any potential BoM skins you might use on it, though, since I'm not sure what kind of UV mapping the head uses.

I can't say I knew you were a Catwa CSR haha, but thanks regardless. 

And yes I have seen that head before and quite frankly it's not what I need. Very old man looking and too cartoonish/sickly. I was aiming for more of youthful and androgynous appearance that didn't use anime-centric components. (Sorry, I'm a bit picky if you couldn't already tell.)

I will definitely try what you suggested and play around some more. It's a minor issue that affects my OCD more than anything else. I'm just frustrated that there seems to be little diversity when it comes to male faces in SL as compared to females. Not everyone want's to look like a chiseled Calvin Klein model with a Bruce Campbell jawline, but I guess that's what is considered most attractive to the majority of the population so I have to accept it haha. 

[Skell Dagger]

1 minute ago, iizu said:

And yes I have seen that head before and quite frankly it's not what I need. Very old man looking and too cartoonish/sickly. I was aiming for more of youthful and androgynous appearance that didn't use anime-centric components. (Sorry, I'm a bit picky if you couldn't already tell.)

Have you settled on a mesh body yet? Because if you're aiming for androgynous then you could choose a secondary route, which is a female mesh head and Maitreya mesh body with either the V-Tech or Maitreya flat chest add-ons. Female faces tend to take to thinner shaping a little better, especially if you start with a more angular head to begin with. Skell's bishonen persona, Syd, uses Catwa's Margeaux head mostly. I haven't gone very angular with his face, but you can get an idea of the kind of looks you can achieve, here.

There's also the Raven Bell BJD heads you might try, but those might not be the kind of look you're after.

Rowan makes a good point about shading. If you're using BoM then there are several contour add-ons you can layer over your skin (from memory I have some by Izzie's, CORE, and Clemm) to give you a more gaunt look. This B&W shot uses the Clemm contour (which, from memory, is only available instore and not on MP).

8 minutes ago, iizu said:

I can't say I knew you were a Catwa CSR haha, but thanks regardless. 

Heh! No problem  Usually I do lead any Catwa-related responses here on the forum with that, but I'm a bit frazzled this evening and forgot to include it.

[Maitimo]

2 hours ago, Skell Dagger said:

Have you settled on a mesh body yet? Because if you're aiming for androgynous then you could choose a secondary route, which is a female mesh head and Maitreya mesh body with either the V-Tech or Maitreya flat chest add-ons. Female faces tend to take to thinner shaping a little better, especially if you start with a more angular head to begin with. Skell's bishonen persona, Syd, uses Catwa's Margeaux head mostly. I haven't gone very angular with his face, but you can get an idea of the kind of looks you can achieve, here.

 

I'll second this suggestion. I also use Margeaux, and my styling with it is more angular than Skell/Syd's with a more triangular jaw. I was aiming to imitate the shape of Catwa's pre-bento Justin head, which was the male head I used before I switched to a female body. Justin has a very characteristic triangular jaw that most other heads couldn't imitate, but Margeaux does it well.

 

It will go thinner and longer than this too, though as Skell rightly points out, if you go too thin, rigged hair won't fit and you'll need to limit yourself to short, unrigged hair only.