state of SL avatar, skin, clothing

[Myficals]

So I gave in and bought a mesh body.

 

[Free]

Don't worry, I'm not happy about it.

 

[Sean Gorham]

But...is this where we are now in regards to wearables in Second Life?

Yup. LL couldn't be bothered to update 15-year-old content (the default avatar mesh), so users once again picked up the slack. The fragmentation of the fashion market was inevitable after that. In spite of that, I wouldn't go back to how it was before. Flipper feet/hands can DIE DIE DIE.

I do miss some of my old "standard sizing" outfits, though. Neve, please convert some of the old Coldlogic stuff!

 

[Kalel]

Yup. LL couldn't be bothered to update 15-year-old content (the default avatar mesh), so users once again picked up the slack. The fragmentation of the fashion market was inevitable after that. In spite of that, I wouldn't go back to how it was before. Flipper feet/hands can DIE DIE DIE.

I do miss some of my old "standard sizing" outfits, though. Neve, please convert some of the old Coldlogic stuff!

i've been contemplating dumping all my non mesh inventory into a box or outright deleting it. cause i know i'm not gonna go back to it again.

 

[Jupiter]

i've been contemplating dumping all my non mesh inventory into a box or outright deleting it. cause i know i'm not gonna go back to it again.

I deleted almost all of it. It was a little painful at first, but I don't see myself going back to system clothing, particularly old system clothing that doesn't look good by modern standards. I only kept a few favourite t-shirts that I hope I can use when Baked On Mesh is introduced. And I do wish there were more options for RP clothing.

 

[Free]

i've been contemplating dumping all my non mesh inventory into a box or outright deleting it. cause i know i'm not gonna go back to it again.

Make sure to parse out any giftable stuff and drop them on newbies or friends. I did that a few years back and felt like Santa Linden for days.

 

[Cristalle]

I deleted most of it. I have a few items but they almost never get worn. I do have some applier clothing, for tight clothing that fits nonstandard sizes well. But I pretty much stopped buying that when the dev kits for Maitreya finally started making it out into the wild and more good mesh was showing up. I'm still not likely to go back to it even if I switch bodies, as I a sometimes tempted to do.

 

[Anya Ristow]

...adjust the alphas on my damn body so I'm not sticking out anywhere.

I find it not difficult to do using the Belezza HUD, but the slices are sometimes too coarse or cross in the wrong direction. For example, it's pretty much impossible to use alpha to fix a shoulder poking out of anything with cap sleeves. Do I want my shoulder poking out or do I want part of my arm invisible?

 

[Archer]

I find it not difficult to do using the Belezza HUD, but the slices are sometimes too coarse or cross in the wrong direction. For example, it's pretty much impossible to use alpha to fix a shoulder poking out of anything with cap sleeves. Do I want my shoulder poking out or do I want part of my arm invisible?

I have found that just throwing on a demo shirt or pants isn't enough anymore. I have to do all the alpha stuff too in order to make sure it works together. I have several shirts I had to trash, and some I actually have to have a different shape for in order for things not to show through.

 

[Peony]

I find it not difficult to do using the Belezza HUD, but the slices are sometimes too coarse or cross in the wrong direction. For example, it's pretty much impossible to use alpha to fix a shoulder poking out of anything with cap sleeves. Do I want my shoulder poking out or do I want part of my arm invisible?

Cap sleeves are the worst with most mesh bodies' alpha slices. Bring on "bakes on mesh" so we can use the old alpha layers again. That and tattoo/makeup layers will make mesh bodies that big bit easier to use under bakes on mesh.

 

[sldenizen]

I deleted almost all of it. It was a little painful at first, but I don't see myself going back to system clothing, particularly old system clothing that doesn't look good by modern standards. I only kept a few favourite t-shirts that I hope I can use when Baked On Mesh is introduced. And I do wish there were more options for RP clothing.

Emphasis is mine. I think I'm going to do pretty much the same. I at last got a mesh body (Maitreya Lara) for one of my avatars a couple of weeks ago, and it looks really good and I like the way the mesh system works, now that I kind of have the hang of it. So I'm switching them all to mesh over time.

I do have a lot of things that I've collected over almost 10 years that I really like and hope that I'll be able to use again. So maybe I'll keep them in the hopes that Baked on Mesh will make them usable again.

Then what should I do with old rigged mesh items, and mesh with standard sizing? Will I be able to use them someday?

 

[Jupiter]

Then what should I do with old rigged mesh items, and mesh with standard sizing? Will I be able to use them someday?

I got rid of most things that I didn't absolutely love (and that's my shopping standard - how much do I love this?). Admittedly, it took a few rounds, but much of it was old and looked really outdated and low-quality compared to mesh. That's the thing - there's always something new and better. I was away when mesh was introduced, but I inadvertently bought some standard size clothing largely to realise I'm not a standard size and I don't want to be. It's one of my gripes with mesh in general; I want clothes to fit my body, not adjust my body to fit clothes. And I don't want mesh clothes that make my breasts or ass look bigger (or, more rarely, smaller). The only exception I made was for some themed/RP-style pieces because good ones can be hard to come by.

 

[Nika Talaj]

I believe mesh feet are so small (and not resizeable) partly for technical reasons, partly because of tradition. To the best of my knowledge foot size, even with Bento, can't be changed. I have no idea why.

/me looks at her slightly large Lara feet, resized using the foot size slider in appearance mode, and is puzzled. If your avatar's body is quite large, tho, I could see there being a problem.

There are mesh bodies designed to be big-boned, and I assume the feet are proportionately larger. But with the mainstream bodies, there is indeed a limit. Feet mesh can't be directly resized because they're rigged, and nothing rigged will resize.

 

[Nika Talaj]

Not I have to add another 15-30 minutes to adjust the alphas on my damn body so I'm not sticking out anywhere.

Maitreya, Belleza, and Altamura body HUDs all have a way that you can export your current alpha setup to an object that you just stick in the folder with the clothes and voila, your alphas adjust every time you wear those clothes. I assume ebody has the same thing.

Like Jupiter I have a 'basic LARA Nika' outfit. Actually, I have one for every skin that I like to wear, maybe 5 or so, with the hair etc. that goes well with the skin tone. Then to get dressed I just "add" a folder with clothing, makeup, & any other accessories. Then I take off spare hair and adjust the feet if necessary. It's actually pretty fast & easy, for me it's easier than using LL's outfits system. I have a lot of things with texture HUDs.

 

[sldenizen]

Thank you for the encouragement and advice.

This morning I deleted about 2,000 items from the inventory of one avatar. That was kind of exhausting and kind of liberating and nostalgic. I'm not done, though. I'll do some more deleting with this one maybe later tonight.

I made a folder for things I want to keep for baked on mesh in the future, but, like Jupiter, I think I'll go through that again and get rid of some more things.

Maybe I'll look at my non-virtual closet, too.

 

[Myficals]

If you're the sort (like me) who's reluctant to throw things out, you could always box stuff up. I regularly throw old clothes into a box labelled with the brand and item name (or I keep the box/hud it came in). Those boxes then go into another box labelled with the clothing type (pants, dresses, underwear, etc.) and the year, eventually all these boxes end up in one final box named Clothes (year).

 

[Free]

Maitreya, Belleza, and Altamura body HUDs all have a way that you can export your current alpha setup to an object that you just stick in the folder with the clothes and voila, your alphas adjust every time you wear those clothes. I assume ebody has the same thing.

I don't see anything for saving to an object or notecard or anything like that. It does provide a dozen presets for outfits (and another dozen for skins), and that helps to a degree.

But whether presets or folder objects or whatever, these work for those who maintain outfits with the same components. Whereas I spend too much time mixing and matching for this to work well for me on a regular basis.

 

[Lori Claremont]

For Maitreya there's a free script you can get. Drop it in mod clothing, or a prim that you can attach as a HUD. Wear the item, set the alphas, click click, stored.

It's not a bad system and quite easy to use.

 

[Cristalle]

I don't see anything for saving to an object or notecard or anything like that. It does provide a dozen presets for outfits (and another dozen for skins), and that helps to a degree.

But whether presets or folder objects or whatever, these work for those who maintain outfits with the same components. Whereas I spend too much time mixing and matching for this to work well for me on a regular basis.

There are ten unlabeled buttons on the Alpha tab. That is where you put your presets. Use different copies of the HUD with different presets once you hit the limit.

I have found that just throwing on a demo shirt or pants isn't enough anymore. I have to do all the alpha stuff too in order to make sure it works together. I have several shirts I had to trash, and some I actually have to have a different shape for in order for things not to show through.

I try to avoid this altogether and do not buy things that do not fit well. I buy very few things that don't have a perfect fit, or near-perfect. That helps my L balance, to have some discipline. I do make some mistakes every now and again but overall I have been able to control spending this way. There are too many good creators who can make a perfect fit around my bust for me to buy stuff that makes them look even bigger than they already are, or with straps magically floating an inch off my skin. And I am done with pants with a stupid thigh gap.

 

[Free]

There are ten unlabeled buttons on the Alpha tab. That is where you put your presets. Use different copies of the HUD with different presets once you hit the limit.

Thanks, but

1. There are 12, not 10. and
2. I didn't post looking for help. Keeping track of multiple HUDs...