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HeatherD Tungsten

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  1. Taking up the conversation at "LeLutka head, SL Neck". I downloaded that kit (at least I'm pretty sure it was that one) last year, messed around with it for a while, to try to fix the neck issue of the body and head I created, but I found the Dev Kit useless. The big problem is that it was not rigged. It's one thing to manually move or copy vertex positions, but if you don't have standard weights, - or at least the same weights for the body and head you are trying to wear together, then there is no way they will line up as "Shape slider setting" change. Further, the Ruth example avatar body provided by the SL Wiki, and the newer Bento example body also from the SL Wiki, do not have the same starting mesh shapes, nor weights. When I first created my body mesh, I used the ruth, then when bento came along, I changed to the bento weights, but if someone takes OFF their mesh head, it's the old Ruth head that appears, or which some people still use every day - nothing lines up. The other point is that we are trying to achieve a model with a smoother look via higher detail in the mesh, when making a mesh body or head, than what the SL bodies have. But then using the neck vertexes and weights of those old bodies defeats the whole point. Further, if you have to include multiple necks in a body mesh to match dozens of heads, then the vertex count climbs defeating streamlined model making as we try to strike a balance between keeping vertex counts low but high enough to provide a nice looking model. In my case, I've just spent the last week reworking the mesh and weights of my models neck to match the SL Bento example. I got it working nicely, but then for curiosity, removed my mesh head, only to see the default neck sticking way into space outside of the body's portion of the neck. Back to the drawing board I guess. But what to do next? It's like LINDEN needs to take the leadership, toss out the old stuff, and provide an actual updated bento neck model we all can use to copy both the vertex positions and weights.
  2. I have seen Voting Stations in a few places now - that are supposed to help raise awareness and traffic to locations in Second Life. But the versions in the Marketplace all seem to be old products and with a lot of bad reviews. So is this still a thing in Second Life, and is it worth setting one up on my land?
  3. I want to make a sign that turns to face the viewer no matter where the person is viewing from. I've seen signs like this around SL but I'm not even sure what to call such a sign. Then I would like to cut and paste some script to make it work. But seeing that I don't even know the proper name for such a sign, the script search will have to wait. So.... for starters, what do you call such a sign? And if there are more than one person in the area, will that sign show flat on to everyone? I'll be using it in my store to direct shoppers.
  4. There have not been a lot of sales yet, so it will be easy to include a note and redeliver the corrected mesh. That is the plan for this evening.
  5. Wow Theresa. Thanks so much. I didn't know about that setting option. It was a simple fix.
  6. It seems likely that this topic has already been addressed but I could not find it.... I recently completed totally remapping the Ultra Vixen mesh avatar (as well as other improvements), and then uploaded the new Ultra Vixen - BOM Bento Female Mesh Avatar body and head. So far so good. She still fits in all the previously made clothes. So still good; until I tried on some of my lingerie. Many of the lingerie items I made make use of partly transparent textures to give the look of lace. Many of those items then conflict with the BOM body surface under the clothing item, turning completely clear. Clearly an ALPHA problem, but how do I address this. Did I miss some setting or modeling or texturing step as I created this mesh? HeatherD
  7. It's my favorite dress. Red is my color. This is a shot taken in my store where I'm arranging new clothes.
  8. MrsSeren. Taking things off or putting them back on again is the job of the Appearance button (or Appearance in the menu). You should include a nude version (which includes the hair and makeup you like) just for situations like you talked about in your reply. When things go wrong with your avatar - and the will, then you can restore it in one click - well ok... two. Click the Appearance button, then click your saved nude outfit. Done. That removes everything and then puts on the saved body. Now that you are nude, it is a great starting point to then wear what ever outfit you like. But you should also have a few outfits save for those times you need a quick change.
  9. Hey Mr.Volatile. I do not have all the answers but I had the same problem as you with the various attempts at rigging my hands. I found that I could move the parts of the armature to be placed inside the mesh. and then checking and adjusting the numbers to ensure that left and right were the same. Once you upload your avatar, it will not look like your model inside BLENDER because the setting of the shape file will resize things. That is where you then have to play with the sliders in the [Edit My Shape] window till you look like you. I am not sure about this but from looking at my results, I get the feeling that Second Life positions the bones to where it wants them even if you move them in BLENDER.
  10. Hi Friday. Speaking of rigging or modeling a face.... A lot of heads and faces are inventions of the modeler - and that's cool - but it means a user's preexisting shape file, and the Classic face that they invested so much time into designing to be just right, then goes out the window. When they put on a mesh head, they never look like themselves again. I speak from first hand experience. When it came time to design my bento head, I used the Second Life Bento head example as a guide. I developed a head with much more detail and a much higher vertex count, but followed the same overall shape. I tried to hand paint a similar Weight Painting, so that when loaded into Second life, it takes on the same shape as the user already know. At least that was the goal. The bento armature does respond differently from the classic armature of the system heads, so I could not achieve the exact look, but it is close. Skin and Makeup textures then also have a great effect. The odd thing about this approach is that my head does not actually look very good when seen in BLENDER - while other heads are a study in Beauty when seen inside their modeling program. But those pretty heads get completely reshaped by the body shape file and will look totally different. sometimes to some really awful results. My ugly head also distorts. It however is similar to the ugly system head when seen in the modeling program. Once inside Second Life, it takes on all the loving care people have put into making their system head pretty. So with the exception of skin and makeup, at least the shape is recognizable. So back to your point of " neither a luscious-lipped Playmate nor a rock-jawed stud" - my head takes the shape you give it. If you would like to try it, contact me. Also your comments and help would be appreciate to refine my Ultra Vixen II head further.
  11. The fit problem is in both the model being used and in what is called "Weight Painting". The process of weight painting is a system that determines how much each vertex is effected by animations and by the slider settings in the [Edit My Shape] window. Each vertex of an outfit needs to have the exact same weight as the adjacent vertex of the mesh avatar. It seems there are far too many clothing modelers who don't take the time to weight paint for each mesh brand they model for - resulting in problems such as in the first image above. In my case, I have the correct Weight information for my avatar mesh (since I am the creator), therefore most of my clothes have avoided the same problem, but even when getting to extremes or when modeling shapes that are not exactly the same as the underlying avatar - such as loose fitting clothes - the vertexes can get away from you. Believe me.... this stuff is hard! https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/167675
  12. I have designed a custom female avatar and related clothes. I have set the properties for both the mesh items and all the textures to COPY and MODIFY. Yet once I've passed some of my mesh products to other people, some but not these items have the texture tab in the EDIT window locked. It also remains locked when rezzing these items to the ground in a sandbox. Likewise, the bottom of the General tab in the EDIT window also has check boxes to set permission for the next owner. Some of my items will not let me set the check boxes to Modify or Copy for the next owner. Is there anyone who can enlighten me as to why I am finding this inconsistency? HeatherD
  13. Hey Kyrah, as I said " These new parts work well responding to all the sliders except "Body Fat" and "Torso Muscles". " It is the head and hands that I am taking about. The two sliders don't work for those parts, and that leads to a lack of ability to scale. I need to know if I missed weight painting some bones or if there is some other problem?
  14. Hey Kyrah, I am not an expert, I am only learning BLENDER and only have a handful of the Second Life techniques figured out, but... you locate the Second Life sample avatars in the Second Life Wiki. Load those into Blender. Now I even forget the technical term, but you transfer your mesh Parent/child control to the Second Life Armature. I did NOT use the Second Life weights. I deleted the Second Life Mesh, and weight painted my own mesh to each of the individual bones so I could control how my mesh moved or deformed. Then did the upload, and everything is "fitted mesh". My avatar can take up quite an array of body shapes with little distortion.
  15. I have been designing my own custom avatar mesh. I am using the classic armature for the body but have split up the head and hands into their own parts and converted them to the Bento Armature. These new parts work well responding to all the sliders except "Body Fat" and "Torso Muscles". That in turn leads to problems of alignment with the wrists and the neck not lining up, and with gaps depending on the viewing angle. I suspect that I may have missed weight painting particular bones of the Bento Armature, but as I look through the list or view the bones in BLENDER, I have not been able to determine which I missed. Any help would be appreciated.
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