It isn’t common to see people making all four LoD (Level of Detail) levels. But, we can do the polygon reduction thing for making a lower poly model for use with a normal map. The challenge is in making the lower poly models. Now Mixamo has a ‘decimator’ online that we can use. It is free to use until July 12, 2014.
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You’ll find it here: Optimize Your Polycount the Fast and Easy Way. Continue reading
The new ‘fitted mesh’ avatars for new users were initially released as no-mod. It appears that has been corrected and the new mesh bodies are now mod-ok. Linden Lab announced the change: Updated Mesh Starter Avatars Are Now Available.
Update: Dagger Faulkwing finds that ONLY the shape of the avatars is mod-ok. So, these avatars still really suck.
Mesh ‘People’ Starter Avatars
There were also problems with some avatars’ feet sinking into the ground. They say that is fixed too.
Slink is rumored to be preparing a mesh body for release. A picture of it leaked. I am using the Slink hands and feet now, flat and high. The hands I love. The feet are OK. All the appliers for various things make both way too fun. I love the gloves and nails I can use. Continue reading
Ciaran Laval has an article up that covers the history of Second Life™ groups and his suggestion that things change to break a pattern present in SL since it started. See: Second Life Group System Still Needs An Overhaul.
SL users always want more groups. We are limited to 42 now. Originally it was 10, before my time. I started with the 25 limit.
MOLiCHiNO – Fifty Linden Friday
A major part of groups is chat. Adding more groups increases the server load exponentially. Chat lag and not being able to post to a group are common problems we all deal with now as we use groups. I have no idea how many times I have had to send an IM to someone in the group because I could not get a comment into a group chat, connection fail…
Ciaran is suggesting that we shift from the chat we have now to something web based. I suppose something more like IRC, but with more persistence. Continue reading
In Second Life™ we talk about scale. Some of us are big on getting people and things to RL scales in our virtual world (VW). I’m a fan and I’ve written several articles about building to scale. Now people interested in Virtual Reality (VR) are thinking about scale at entirely new levels. The site Road to VR has an article up about how the fashion industry may use VR to allow people to model RL clothes in VR prior to purchase.
Second Life Fashion
Imagine you could specify your avatar based on your RL shape… that could be a good or bad thing. :/ But, the fashion industry is thinking of using the idea to allow us to try on clothes in VR and decide if we like the fit. I suppose if it fits then we can order it and an Amazon drone will deliver it. Well, it is a dream at the moment. But, an Australian company has a proof of concept demo out for the Oculus Rift.
The idea is also to get away from sizes. Ladies know that sizes from various designers vary, often varying as a way to attempt to flatter the female ego. ‘Oh, I can wear a size 2…’ Personally the miss sizing for psychological advertizing just annoys me. Continue reading
New Avatar – Interesting Mesh Density
OK everyone is posting about these. If you haven’t already heard, you have to be hiding. They are far better than the Ruth and Roth avatars from earlier times.
They are interesting and noobies will look much better. However, noobies will still act like noobies . They won’t be all that hard to recognize.
However, Saturday when I was trying to play with the new avatars the SL system was acting up. The Choose an Avatar panel did not want to load. I kept getting an empty panel. I left the panel open and relogged, that got it working, or it may be just the relog did it. Or my region may have been having difficulties.
Once the panel was loaded then some avatars would not load. I would get what looked like an LOD4 version 0f the avatar only, very bizarre looking up close but ok from a distance. Switch to another one and later retry the one with loading problems, seemed to work.
When you wear one of these avatars a folder is created in the Clothing folder of your inventory. The ‘Lucy’ avatar is of course in the Lucy folder.
These avatars completely replace, well are worn over, your system avatar and a full body alpha mask hides the system avatar. They are complete mesh bodies and clothes. I am not sure why they made them No-Mod. Continue reading
Felicia Silversmith
Appliers are the scripts that allow you to wear clothes over mesh attachments. Those using Tangos and Phat Azz and similar attachments know about appliers.
The problem with appliers is many of the creators of mesh attachments are using their own applier, a custom script they developed. If you make system clothes via the clothing templates, you get a template from the mesh attachment maker and make textures for the attachment. It then looks like your clothes are fitting over the attachment.
The problem is everybody seems to be making their own scripts. The result is there are incompatibilities in how appliers work and how to make textures for the attachments. A big peoblem for designers is in knowing which face number is to be used for a texture. Is face #1 the breasts or butt? Continue reading
Hemi Violet
I am sort of pleasantly surprised by the answers to a question in the Fab Advice column. When the advisors were asked which are the best boobs and butts, only one had answers. The others have little experience with add on boobs and butts and theirs spend most of the time in inventory. See the full article here: Fab Advice #15.
Skyler refers us to Big Boobie Babes. This is a site that keeps up on the latest in Second Life™ boobs and butts with reviews and release news. They also have a blogroll of other sites covering boobs and butts.
Verotic Muscle Skins and Appliers
I do see more and more clothes coming with appliers for the various add ons. I have my Slink hands and love all the nails I get. But, I haven’t gotten into implants… yet. I do like my smaller breasts. But, I do like the nicer shaped ones too. So, I have thought about … having some work done.
WARNING: NSFW… past the fold. Continue reading
Well… surprise, surprise…
There is an excellent thread in the Second Life™ Forum about the designer side problems of getting fitted mesh to fit. See: Blender/Avastar [Fitted Mesh]: Need help/advise with a few issues. Posted by Zakiel Windlow the problems are clearly expressed. Zakiel includes a great set of images to show the problems.
ZAkiel’s Images on Fitted Mesh Problems
Zakiel explained where he is coming from and what he has realized, “A few weeks ago I was using a workflow that gave me good, fast and (more or less) SAFE results:
Standard rigging and 5 or 6 sizes (or more). But I wasn’t happy, anyways. I always wanted the “fitted” mesh so all the girls could use my clothes without problems or restrictions. That was what I thought or was expecting.
Now I realize that with the fitted mesh there are restrictions too; and the workflow (for now) is harder, longer and not safe as the standard rigging. I have to check the fitting with big breasts, small breasts, big+high, big+low, small+high, small+low, big+close, big+open, big+high+close… You get the idea… And what works for 1 combination probably won’t for the other…” Continue reading