Regarding Meshes/Skins/BOMs

[Ozioid]

I've tried to look up documentation and videos. I know that a mesh is the basis of a model. The quads and tris and polys that make up what you see. 

In the span of a 3D Sim like SL, what's the different for player models and pieces? I've tried to even look up some SL tutorial videos and I still struggle to understand what the difference is between:

Meshes
Skins
Outfits
BOM

I'm not necessarily looking for a completely pro/con breakdown, but for someone relatively new (I've been playing very off and on over the past year) it still confuses me. 
Even a link to an article would be nice. I appreciate your help!

EDIT: I am not inworld. PM on here is appreciated or Discord: Requeum#4671

Edited March 10, 2021 by Ozioid
Forgot to include where to contact.

[Yukiko Yeshto]

You can find information in the Knowledge Base: https://community.secondlife.com/knowledgebase/english/

or on the Secondlife Wiki: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Main_Page

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Yukiko Yeshto

[KT Kingsley]

Meshes

Yes, the triangles, vertices and nodes that make up what you see. Also distinguishes from prims (primitive shapes that can be modified and combined to make more complex objects) and sculpted prims (objects that use the RGB values of a bitmap to represent their shape, and tend to be used for organic shapes that are difficult to model using prims). With the advent of user-created mesh models, sculpted prims are pretty much obsolete. Of course, even prims are mesh models, but the underlying mesh is pre-defined and can only be manipulated in specific ways.

Also can refer to a mesh body: a user-created replacement for the basic system avatar body.

Skins

The graphic representation of a human (or non-human) skin. Three bitmaps, one for the head, one for the upper body and arms, and one for the lower body. The position and shape of the graphic components are specified (UV mapped) so that they a drawn on the correct part of the avatar body. Many mesh bodies attempt to match the mapping of the system avatar body so skin and clothing layers can be interchangeable, but many do not, and some are close, but not quite close enough to be entirely compatible.

Also can refer to the colour scheme and layout of the interface of a viewer, with some allowing the user to select the look and feel they prefer.

Outfits

The collection of objects that make up a complete avatar. The body and its basic components such as its shape, body parts such as hair and fingernails, and clothing and accessories. Also may include objects like HUDs (Head Up Display) which perform scripted functions such as controlling the avatar's animations (an AO - animation overrider - which changes the default walking and standing and so on animations for ones chosen by the user), and devices that control things like clothing colours or aspects of a mesh body.

BoM

Bakes on Mesh. A system avatar may be using a skin, a tattoo layer, an underwear layer, shirt and pants layers and so on, each of which has its own graphic components. Baking takes all the layers and creates a single texture (with, for example, the underwear graphics obscuring the underlying skin graphics) that's applied to the system avatar body. Bakes on Mesh has made that baked texture available so it can be applied to a mesh body that's being worn by an avatar.

Edited March 10, 2021 by KT Kingsley

[Ozioid]

On 3/10/2021 at 3:22 AM, KT Kingsley said:

Meshes

Yes, the triangles, vertices and nodes that make up what you see. Also distinguishes from prims (primitive shapes that can be modified and combined to make more complex objects) and sculpted prims (objects that use the RGB values of a bitmap to represent their shape, and tend to be used for organic shapes that are difficult to model using prims). With the advent of user-created mesh models, sculpted prims are pretty much obsolete. Of course, even prims are mesh models, but the underlying mesh is pre-defined and can only be manipulated in specific ways.

Also can refer to a mesh body: a user-created replacement for the basic system avatar body.

Skins

The graphic representation of a human (or non-human) skin. Three bitmaps, one for the head, one for the upper body and arms, and one for the lower body. The position and shape of the graphic components are specified (UV mapped) so that they a drawn on the correct part of the avatar body. Many mesh bodies attempt to match the mapping of the system avatar body so skin and clothing layers can be interchangeable, but many do not, and some are close, but not quite close enough to be entirely compatible.

Also can refer to the colour scheme and layout of the interface of a viewer, with some allowing the user to select the look and feel they prefer.

Outfits

The collection of objects that make up a complete avatar. The body and its basic components such as its shape, body parts such as hair and fingernails, and clothing and accessories. Also may include objects like HUDs (Head Up Display) which perform scripted functions such as controlling the avatar's animations (an AO - animation overrider - which changes the default walking and standing and so on animations for ones chosen by the user), and devices that control things like clothing colours or aspects of a mesh body.

BoM

Bakes on Mesh. A system avatar may be using a skin, a tattoo layer, an underwear layer, shirt and pants layers and so on, each of which has its own graphic components. Baking takes all the layers and creates a single texture (with, for example, the underwear graphics obscuring the underlying skin graphics) that's applied to the system avatar body. Bakes on Mesh has made that baked texture available so it can be applied to a mesh body that's being worn by an avatar.

Thank you so much KT Kingsley. It's greatly appreciated!