Big News for Slink Physique Original Peeps

Have you seen? Erratic, a Maitreya exclusive merchant, is thinking about making clothes for other bodies!

Strawberry Singh has the story in an article titled I’m feeling so Erratic. Plus, she made a video.

In the $L50 Friday event an Erratic L$50 top (Fat Pack) is on sale for multiple body styles including Hourglass and Original. I am interested in Erratic clothes for the Slink bodies. So, I ran down and bought a copy for the Original body.

The sales of this top will be the deciding factor in which bodies Erratic Rain plans to make clothes for in the future. So… if you want more Slink, visit and buy… the free market voting with its dollars… http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LE%20LOOK/131/139/2001

Testing the AvaStar Model vs LL Avatar Model

About 5 years ago I was testing the various models available for use in Blender and comparing them to the SL default avatar. Now Gaia of AvaStar has done that for you. Check it out.

I think it is really nice to have this information. But, there isn’t much use for it. Mesh clothes built based on the default avatar are simply never going to fit well. The sliders will always change the classic avatar and mesh clothes at different rates.

The classic avatar use morphing. Mesh clothes use rigging. Those two things respond differently.

However, the AvaStar model will get you as close to a match as is possible.

Second Life: Stockings – Classic & Slink

Making stockings for the Classic and Slink legs has some challenges. One is understanding how to get a straight edge at the top of the stocking. I’ll explain some of the oddities between Second Life™, Photoshop, Blender, Classic and Slink.

Classic UV Map: Slink and Classic

The frustrating oddity is dealing with avatar templates. Slink and Classic are not compatible, close but a problem.

In the image, look in the ‘A’ section, there is a copy of one of the Robin Woods templates made for the Classic Avatar. I’ve used Photoshop 3D to paint some lines on it.

If you have drawn a straight line across the 2D template assuming it will appear straight on the avatar, think again. I knew it wouldn’t work as I’ve experimented before. Continue reading

Second Life: Business & Drama

Second Life™ is so much like real life. All the same problems, challenges, and drama present in RL are seen in SL too. Now we have the Maitreya Monopoly… First the drama story then the tech that makes this all so silly.

One Reason

One Reason

It seems blogger Sophee Mojo is unhappy with Maitreya or more accurately Onyx LeShelle the creator of Maitreya. The unhappiness has its root in the limited selection of clothes currently available for the Maitreya Mesh body or more accurately the limited set of designers. Sophee points to the developer’s kit for Maitreya that lacks ‘weighting’ information as a deliberate move on Maitreya’s part to control the clothes market. So, the unhappiness is expressed as complaints and accusations. Continue reading

Comparison: Mesh Bodies

The site MeshBodyAddicts.com has new reviews and comparison charts of the mesh bodies available in Second Life. So, if you are shopping, this is a good source of information. See: Reviews: Isteni, Tonic & Dude SLink!

Visage Head Becky

Visage Head Becky

As of now there is no Render Complexity Information in the reviews. With the Complexity Feature on the way (See Quick Graphics viewer in Alternates) I think this is a huge oversight.

If you have wondered about the Omega Applier, see: Omega Solutions.

Rigged Mesh Tutorial Sans AvaStar

I don’t see many tutorials about rigging mesh for OpenSim. But, Hypergrid Business has a new one. See: Quick mesh rigging how-to. Of course the procedure will work for Second Life too. But, this is for ‘rigged’ mesh only, not fitted mesh.

-. InnocEnce .-

-. InnocEnce .- by Perhaps Twine, on Flickr

While they use the Machinimatrix base avatar, you do not need AvaStar. However, not having AvaStar means using the parts of the model included for working with fitted mesh is awkward and not at all intuitive.

I haven’t played in OpenSim since OSGrid crashed. So, I am not sure whether or not we can use fitted mesh in OpenSim. So, this tutorial is more than adequate for most of those making clothes in OpenSim.

Second Life & Virtual Reality

We are getting closer to hands on. The Oculus Rift is to release in the first quarter of 2016. At this point I think the first round of pre-release technical challenges has been met. So, any possible delay would be from manufacturing and supply problems.

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is in production the supply of display screens for the Oculus should be adequate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5XVq4NLnwk

Unity and Unreal, game engine platforms, are both announcing support of HTC RE Vive. This means game developers can move away from having to develop support for the various VR headsets and use the support provided by Unity and Unreal. This saves developer’s time and means new games will move through the development pipeline faster.  Continue reading

Second Life: Mesh Bodies

Coventina Dalgleish posted in the SL Forum: General Observations On Mesh Bodys – 4/6/15. Coventina came across a mesh body that has 2 million faces. OMG!

BA - angel daydreams

BA – angel daydreams by ~ Boudicca ~, on Flickr

The question asked is, don’t the Lindens have a limit on the size of mesh uploads? Well, yeah. They do. But a body is often 3 items, the hands 1 or 2 more items, the feet also 1 or 2 items, and the head another item. So, while it isn’t easy it is possible to get to 2 million faces without exceeding the Linden upload limits per mesh part, just make lots of parts with lots of materials.  Continue reading