Interest in Mesh BODY only! Possible?

[StoneCold Firehawk]

Hello SL vendors,

I am very interest in a Mesh BODY... not the head or face. I actually - finally have my Avatar LOOK exactly as I want her. But I keep hearing that the Mesh body is so much better. So, first.. WHY is the Mesh body so much better?

I want to make sure of everything before I buy. I'm looking over the Slink Mesh body... but I don't want to spend until I know what to expect.

My skin texture is perfect as well - would I be able to match the Mesh body with my head and face texture as well? :womanwink:

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Yes you can use just a body without a mesh head, many people do that.  It is important to get a demo and try it before you buy.  As far as matching your skin, many skin makers now have appliers to use on mesh bodies.  If your skin maker has one, that is the way to go since it will give you a perfect match.  If not, you may still be able to get a good match using the skin HUD that comes with it.   The body itself comes with several skins too that may suit you. You could also buy another skin with appliers.

The advantages of a mesh body is that it eliminates many of the weak spots of the legacy avatar.  The breasts have a more natural shape, the crotch are isn't subject to that ugly texture stretch that you get if you wear certain panties or bikini bottoms, the butt stays round when you sit, and the chest area stays natural looking in all positions while the legacy avatar's scrunches up, to name a few.

The disadvantages (if any) is that you can no longer wear system clothes, you need to by appliers for that.  I have the slink body myself, and am still able to wear all the mesh clothes I have already, but depending on your shape, this may not be the case for you.

[Chic Aeon]

I have had a Maitreya Lara body since February and have only taken it off once to blog a skin for Skin Fair. I LOVE my body. It is wonderful and smooth and looks fantastic.

I had very little trouble matching the body to the skin. I belive you can test that with the demos on most bodies.

There are a few disadvantages but the advantages certainly outweigh them.

If you have Ambient Occlussion turned on in your graphics settings SOME Windlights will give you a stripe where you neck meets the body. The more places you go with folks wearing mesh bodies, the better chances you have of looking good to THEM as well as to yourself . 

Aside from legacy (old style) texture garments not working with the mesh body ( I went through my inventory and happily threw those all out) not all mesh clothes will work either. So a mesh body isn't a fix for the "it doesn't fit" issue. You still need to try on clothes demos. The other "new" issue is that depending on the garment, not all mesh clothing will work because of the alpha layer issue. You no longer use alpha layers with the mesh bodies; instead you have a hud that lets you hide different parts.

 

With the upgrade to Maitreya Lara 3.0 (and 3.3 now) there are many MANY ways to hide your body so most clothes work well. There are SOME sliders for your body parts that make very little or no difference in the shape of your body. So if you want to have no waist for example for a more androgynous look, it may not be possible.

Maitreya is the top selling mesh body and for a reason, so be sure and try that one as well as the others .  It was difficult to get shoes for Lara at the beginning but lots more designers are making shoes for that body now.

 

Good luck. It is an expense and I am a cheap gal by nature but I have never regretted buying my mesh body.

 

 

[Persephone Emerald]

Try all the demos and understand that a mesh body will be more difficult to dress than a default body is to dress now.

That said, the shapes are sooooo much more natural and attractive than the default bodies that it's worth the extra effort.

TheMeshBody has a wearable free demo that's well worth trying, but their Shopping HUD & the HUDs for the body are the least simple to use.  Their body is said to be the least adaptable for those who want to wear SLink hands or feet or any mesh heads besides their own. Their body does not work with Omega System appliers either.

Maitreya has the most popular female mesh body right now, with good reason. It's beautiful, adaptable, & easy to use. (This is the mesh body I'm using now, after starting with TheMeshProject one last year.)

Belleza has a new update which makes their mesh bodies (you get 3 for the price of one) very worth trying. Their update includes a separate clothing HUD & other features that I hope Maitreya will include in some of their next updates.

SLink is good & still very popular in SL, which means you'll always be able to find shoes that fit.

Eve is not one of the 4 front runners right now, but their latest mesh head makes this body worth trying too.

You absolutely do not need to wear a mesh head with a mesh body, but in case you change your mind later, you'll want to have choices that fit your body properly & for which you can match the skin on the head to the skin on the mesh body.

 

 

-  Do a web search on "Second Life mesh bodies" to get more opinons & see some popularity poles. -