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Ayesha Bisiani

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  1. Thanks Nalates, that's a lot of useful information. I've recently made applier eyes so have managed to banish the applier boogeyman 😁. I also plan to make my makeup as appliers as well. This way, a customer would know exactly how it would look via the HUD plus I can offer eye-shadow and lips to go on separately. This would give people the people the option to play with the applier sliders for gloss and environment and introduce changes in the makeup look. Going forward, my new skins will have applier make-up and I'll most probably update my existing BOM makeup layers to applier as well. I haven't thought about making tattoos yet, but I totally get how appliers could be helpful in this. For my base skins however, I am sticking to system layers and have set them up as you suggest. Also elements and add-ons for that particular skin such as freckles, eyebrow options, cleavage, pubes, tan lines etc can be system layers as well so people can layer these as they like without competing for applier space. I prefer not to offer my skins in multiple skin tones because in my mind, each one needs to have a distinct look. If I do a dark skin, I will ensure the features are designed to work with the look I am trying to create, so offering it again as a redhead won't look or feel right. So if there are no skin tones to choose from, the need for skin appliers goes away. A few clicks from inventory and one is done. Plus with BOM, there is the advantage of these multiple layers baking down to a single 1024 (x3 of course for the different zones) texture. The applier can then be used to wear makeup and decide on the look of the day! To my mind, this seems like the best, most practical way forward, to offer my customers the advantages of both systems.
  2. Thanks Marianne. You took a lot of time to explain things to me with a lot of clarity. I've had a smile on my face ever since I read your term "applier slavery".. Very appropriately described. In fact I came back to Second Life because I was so excited about BOM but still find a lot of people attached to their appliers. But then again, they must have spent a lot of money and time to learn this system so they would be reluctant to adapt so soon. Hopefully, in time.. From my perspective, having a HUD is beneficial when there are many choices and it's hard to remember those by name. So seeing those choices depicted visually helps one to decide what to choose. A bit like selecting the color we want for our hair. Or a specific makeup style or eye color. Right now, I'm offering my skins as system layers. I have one version without eyebrows. Sometimes, I offer a no lip version also. All base/system layers. Then I offer pubes (a few colors), freckles (if applicable to the style of skin) and different eyebrows (different styles and colors to suit the skin) as separate tattoos. Makeup is separate and also offered as add-on tattoo layers. The other suggestions you have made are very helpful and practical suggestions. I like the idea of having a push up tattoo layer. I should try to work on that for my next skins or see if it's possible to add retrospectively. A huge thumbs up Marianne!! Many many thanks.
  3. Roxy, Marianne, thanks for sharing your thoughts. When I logged in three months ago, after a long break, I felt I was navigating a minefield of appliers. Suddenly avatars were a lot prettier, but what permutations, combinations and hoops one had to jump to get them that way. Marianne, I agree that not having heads on a tattoo layer is better. I cannot even count the number of times I've removed my eyebrows because I forgot to click "add" so I can imagine how it must look when a faceless person is out and about, blissfully unaware of their appearance. I feel it's so much more practical to have a single skin that works seamlessly across the three UV zones rather than having to shop for a body in one store and a head elsewhere and then have to color match it to get it right. Let's not even get started on the dreaded neck seam. I tend to not like blurring seam areas as I use texture brushes to paint across seams to keep the detail intact. So having to rely on neck fixes or chokers is not very appealing. Roxy you mentioned the skin not fitting quite right from maker to maker but I do feel if the mesh designer stays within the rules and builds the part based on the default linden head/body AND the skin designer takes care to ensure their parts also fit well within the default UV there will not be a problem. Of course, lips and certain other details may or may not always work, but the skin designer can test and adjust. Basically if one stays within the lines, there is a good chance it will be compatible. Plus it's the skin-makers job to declare what brands the finished product works with plus a buyer should always have access to demos of everything. Appliers: Please correct me if I am wrong, as I am having a hard time wrapping my head around appliers. I've been reading a lot and finding all sorts of different perspectives. As an applier newbie, what I understand, is an applier is a graphical interface that makes it easy to put on a skin and it's associated parts like eyes, makeup and more. It allows for normal and specular mapping as well giving the object to be textured a lot more detail. My point however, is this required for skin? One can just wear the skin straight from inventory and have it fit seamlessly across all zones. Click and you are done! Does one need an addional HUD to do this? The specular settings on my mesh body and head, the addition of gloss and droplets show through my system skin just fine. So do I really need to have additional specular maps on an applier? I see the use of appliers for make-up. Having these presented graphically is beneficial. One can see the style and color and wear it. Adding extra specularity to makeup is also something that could result in an interesting look. Same with eyes. One could offer 10 shades of blue and "show" these via a HUD/applier so people don't have to remember blue03 and blue06 are their favorites. I'm also curious about how the alpha layering system works with appliers. I've read that these can sometimes conflict resulting in one having to make a choice what is worn in the event two textures are competing for the same space. This is not so with BOM. One can have a multitude of layers and as long as one clicks "add" instead of "wear" everything will show correctly and work as it should, if layered properly. I also like that once the texture is baked it's rendering cost (regardless of the number of layers) is the same as having just a single skin layer. I am not completely sure if appliers work like this or if they have a different rendering cost which is calculated separately resulting in longer rez times. Gosh I've written a book :-). If you read it, you have my thanks.
  4. Thanks for the detailed and informative response Nalates. I hear you on the advantage of having materials. A system skin layer is certainly limited in that regard, however, I find that even when I wear my BOM skin on the system layer I can still play with the wetness, gloss, makeup highlights that my mesh body and head give me. I'm not sure if this is only typical of the Maitreya body/Lelutka head I am currently wearing and unavailable on other mesh bodies and heads, but I expect similar settings are available. So if one can enable these settings on mesh and have these appear on a system BOM skin, why then duplicate the process with appliers. I hope I am being clear, as my knowledge of appliers is limited at best. You are probably right though, and appliers will likely stay around for a while as those have become the new normal, but I hope more people make the transition to Bakes on Mesh (or at least give it a chance) as it really is a brilliant system. I'm attaching a pic of my BOM skin worn on the system layer with water droplets and gloss activated on my mesh head and mesh body.
  5. Excellent video! As a skin designer from 2006-2012 I used to work only with system layers. I've made a come-back recently and have launched my first skin of 2020 also exclusively as a system skin with tattoo layers for eyebrows and makeup only. I love the simplicity and flexibility of the BOM system and I hope more people adapt to it.
  6. I love Lelutka Evolution as well. I've attached some pics of my new skin (BOM system layers only) worn by Lelutka Nova. Do you think with BOM in place, appliers will eventually be phased out? I love the BOM system, but I'm getting a lot of questions as to why I don't include appliers.
  7. Thanks Lillith for the quick answer and for remembering me When you say body skins, I'm not sure you mean. I understand some designers are making only head skins, but my head and body work in an integrated way with the Lelutka Evolution head and Maitreya body. So basically if I wear both meshes (head from Lelutka, body from Maitreya) and enable my BOM sliders on both, my skin appears. Ideally I would love to provide the skin plus makeup as just system layers. If a customer wants glossy or specular effects these can be enabled via the mesh HUD and show up on the skin layers anyhow.. So my thoughts are why complicate life by giving extra HUD's right? I guess my being HUD creation challenged is also part of the decision 😄 The benefit to having a HUD is one can visually look at the effect of the makeup whilst applying it.. I'm unsure if there is any other benefit in my case as a skin designer. At the end of the day however, I want the customer to be happy and to use a system they are comfortable with. I don't want anyone to buy my product and say "Whattttt.." I have no idea how this works! If you have any further input for me I'd appreciate it. But thanks a bunch again for your quick response.
  8. I used to create skins for Second Life and my business name was "Skin Within". With the addition of Bakes on Mesh, I've decided to look into the world again and hopefully restart my business. Though my base skin plus makeup tattoos are now ready, I am absolutely confused about how to package this. In the days of old, I could just have people buy the skin as a base skin layer, with makeup as tattoo layers and when they clicked on a vendor they received a folder with the files. Now however, the system of HUD's, Appliers and what not has me totally confused. My question is therefore, what do I put in the box? Skins and makeup like before all as layers or do I need to package this as a HUD? Is there any other option or guidance as to how to proceed? I've attached a pic of the skin I am planning to launch (Lelutka Evolution head + Maitreya body) as well. Thanks in advance for your help.
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