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New Blog Post - Cheap mesh applier clothing


Snickers Snook
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I decided to do a series on my blog about inexpensive mesh applier outfits and clothing just for fun. My goal is to feature 3 - 4 items per day that I find either inworld or on SLM for under $100L. The first four pieces are all dollarbies. Let me know what you think of the approach and content. Thanks!

http://snickitty.blogspot.com/2015/09/cheap-mesh-applier-clothing-part-1.html

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I'm sure the approach will be well received but while this isn't a particular comment about the blog, here's what baffles me about the fanatacism over mesh bodies.

First we had a mesh avatar and system clothing (yes the SL avatar is mesh)

Then we had sculpts (stiff but gave depth and greater realism)

Next came mesh and finally better realism and flexible objects that move with the avatar.

Then along came the mesh bodies that clear up a few areas that some aren't happy about but in the process have gone back to painted on equivalent to system clothing!

It's this last part that I don't understand at all and i'm probably not looking for an answer as it's a simple case of each to their own but if having spent a bunch on a mesh avatar, is painted on clothing that desirable?

(Consider this more of a discussion please or just ignore.  I don't have any desire to buy a mesh body only to restrict options to a few).

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Sassy, they are valid points for discussion. At first, I wondered the same things too. So here's my take on where we stand.

1. The mesh bodies I have (Maitreya, TMP and even Ohana) are much more realistic in shape than the system mesh. The breasts are much more natural (don't get me started on Lola's Tangos) and the hands & feet are just much better done. No more cankles either. You also get the option of wearing insanely high feet like Slink's for ridonkulous heels.

2. Paint-on clothing for mesh (aka system type) ends up looking more realistic because the layers are actually physically separated from each other. So clothing layer sits a bit further out than underwear which sits a bit further out than tattoo which is on the same physical level as skin. This actually gives 2D clothing some depth that it wouldn't have otherwise. I'm often surprised at how much more realistic an applier outfit looks on mesh than the same outfit looks when it's on a standard avatar.

3. All this goodness aside, mesh bodies are a royal PITA. I have to save each outfit wearing all the right body parts PLUS the appliers themselves AND if it's an OMEGA applier outfit, it also has to have the OMEGA relay attached too. Then you have to apply the clothing to the right layers. Oy.

4. Mesh bodies don't always work correctly with mesh clothing. Usually something is popping through and turning on the appropriate alphas for a mesh outfit is, again, a chore. Much easier to simply wear a mesh outfit with the standard avatar provided your shape is in-range and the designer has included a properly made alpha (many don't make good alphas).

Now for YEARS I've been screaming at LL to improve the base avatar. Seriously we have so much better hardware now that doubling the vertices and tweaking the sliders should be pretty straightforward. Make the layers do exactly what the mesh body layers do -- set the physical distance away from the avatar. 

Another idea I've thought of is that LL could provide a true ADULT avatar. One with more realistic bits. I'll bet a lot of people would check the appropriate over 18 boxes and pay extra for one.

Right now the load on the servers has GOT to be heavier with all these unoptimized and scripted monster mesh avatars running around. Wouldn't SL be better off with a much improved standardized avatar?

(Think I'll copy this to my blog lol.)

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A question of passing curiosity then. If you have multiple layers, do you not find z order transparency flipping issues?

 

This would happen a lot with the likes of mesh breasts so with a little camera work, the breasts would flip from covered in a bra or top to then flip to nude.

 

I would expect the same z order transparency sorting issue to affect mesh layered avatars.

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You guys are missing some of the features of mesh bodies.

1. mesh bodies usually have more polygons than the classic avatar body. The polygons are laid out in a better arrangment for animating, which is why they look so much better. And with that arrangement is better weighting. Also mesh bodies do not use shape morphing as the classic body does. That is important because we cannot make clothes that use morphing. Therefore, mesh clothes fit mesh bodies much beter than they do the classic body. Mesh clothes and mesh bodies change shape at the same rate when siders are moved. Something we cannot duplicate for shape morphing, without being able to use morphing in the clothes.

2. Paint on clothes for mesh bodies are typically tats, skin, makeup, and underwear. Most other clothes add meash items over the mesh body. That isn't to say there are not lots of paint on (appliers) clothes. It is just the really nice looking stuff is a mesh addon.

3. Wearing mesh bodies can be a pain. But, they don't have to be. I use a BASE or ORIGINAL mesh body. The same for feet and hands. I don't use a mesh head. I use those as I build my outfit. Once I have everything the way I want it, I save the outfit. The I go in and copy the feet, hands, and body to a folder. I replace the base hands, feet, and body with the copies and then resave the outfit. I can now change the base body, hands, and feet without messing up the previous outfits. That makes it as easy to change mesh body outfits as it is to change classic body outfits.

4. Not everything fits. Just like real life. Nor do all the alpha layers work with all the clothes. Slink has serious limitations with sun dresses that have a top running across the back from armpit to armpit. Clothes have to be designed with the bodies limitations in mind. So, not all mesh clothes fit all mesh bodies.

The base avatar is unlikely to change until we see Sansar. Doubling the poly count for the avatar is not that big a help. A few hundred additional polys and way better ararangement and weighting would do the trick. There is a fix for the SL avatar out there. It improves the avatar a bit and elminates a couple of the bigger problems, which is a good trick when one realizes it is compatible with all existing clothes. But, it isn't as good as a mesh body.

When the Quick Graphics viewer makes it to  default viewer status you'll be able to see how some mesh clothes and bodies are overloading the system and how good some way low poly count garments look. Some blinged out mesh avatars are downloading 30mb of data. Some equally gorgious meshed out avatars only need 30kb of data. It isn't poly count that is making mesh things look good. It is in knowing how to use the polygons.

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Sassy Romano wrote:

A question of passing curiosity then. If you have multiple layers, do you not find z order transparency flipping issues?

 

This would happen a lot with the likes of mesh breasts so with a little camera work, the breasts would flip from covered in a bra or top to then flip to nude.

 

I would expect the same z order transparency sorting issue to affect mesh layered avatars.

Most mesh bodies have an option to have the layers either use alpha blending or alpha masking for any given clothing layer. Alpha masking doesn't have issues with transparency sorting so you can go:

1) Mesh body "skin" layer (non-alpha texture)

2) Tattoo or underwear on alpha blending layer

3) Outer clothing on alpha masking layer.

A stack lilke this won't have transparency sorting issues.

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I think the other girls hit the nail on the head, it depends on what you're wearing. Some applier things look pretty good on a mesh body. Though I mainly wear mesh, a nice pair of jeans or a bodycon dress from an applier is something I'd buy and wear. Another thing to consider, there's a whole population on sl that isn't catered to at all by mesh clothing creators the "urban" market. All that is really there is applier clothing for that market.

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