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Quality of Mesh Clothing
There are of course many things we could say about the quality of
mesh clothing, and much of it will just make sense. Some is great, some
good, some less good. But there are other issues. One issue is what do
YOU consider good?
In our case, whether we are right or just
different than others, we hate using the "alpha" option in the mesh
avatars. Yes, it makes part of the body disappear such that clothes will
not have issues when over that part of the body. We ourselves never like
that. In addition, Maitreya has a software script that can make part of
a body disappear when some clothes are applied, and then bring it back
supposedly when the article of clothes is removed. That would seem a
good idea. But we have also seen that software confused, even though we
cannot recall exactly how. And so for our tastes, we really do not like
using the Alpha option.
One item we prefer instead of the alpha
option is to sometimes change our body shape a wee bit in order to wear
something. While this might at first seem odd, and we agree that others
may not like it, sometimes clothes may actually do that. Certainly a
girdle can hold some portion of a body in place and make it seem
smaller. Or other types of clothes can. And then of course one can
always switch to a different shape with perhaps larger breasts and or
larger bottom when naked, if they wish. It is our preference to the
Alpha thing. And of course if a designer sticks to classic mesh that
comes in sizes, just as in real life, a person might be able to wear a
slightly larger size and be fine just the way they are.
What if
changing your shape does not work?
We have oddly seen some
designers even today whose designs will not work unless you use alpha.
That seems odd to us, and something we ourselves would love to avoid.
But even some so called great brand names have issues like that.
How is overall Quality of Mesh Designers?
Our opinion is that it
varies hugely. Some are great, or beyond great. Many are good. And some
seem to miss even some obvious things. I would guess that the average
customer might think this is all about ability of the designer. But not
always. Sometimes it is about having the right tools, which can be quite
pricey, or perhaps not even be available at any price.
Mesh
Avatars to Test With
We have seen some design problems that just
make no sense to us. How could they have tested this? And perhaps they
did not. It can be quite expensive, as we know, to buy most all of the
mesh avatars for example to check out women's clothing. We know this,
since we have done that step.... bought many mesh avatars body for
tests. Yes, we have mesh Maitreya, and Belleza mesh bodies. Yes we have
Slink Physique and Slink Hourglass. We have TMP, and Eve, and both Tonic
types of curvy body and natural body and also eBody. This costs a lot to
do. But then, yes, we can at least verify some simple things with each
of these mesh avatars. Some other designers clearly do that as well.
Some other designers clearly do not. But there is more to these design
needs.
Design Forms
While some places do offer avatar
forms for offline clothes design, few if any match up exactly to any
real mesh avatar body available in Second Life. Yep. And even worse, the
variations in how mesh bodies move or expand if the breasts or bottom
area or legs become larger can also be quite a variable. And even the
shape of the legs, calves, hips and more can vary. So, what to do? Of
course those people who design the original mesh avatars have design
versions that they can use to make exacting clothes from. And they can
give those exact design versions to some key design suppliers who will
then have a very unfair edge. And let me guess which ones, and you might
also guess which ones. And then those mesh avatar companies can also
decide to NOT give the exacting models to others, narrowing the field.
How do Mesh Designers Get Around Some of This?
Well, some
they can get around, and some they cannot. For Classic mesh, the generic
type of Second Life avatar design model is close enough to help provide
sizes in classis mesh. And one might be able to get close to some
fitmesh values that might work as customers adjust the size of breasts,
bottoms and legs, and hips.
Does It Ever Get Perfect?
It
may get perfect to our needs. But in reality, mesh design for clothes
can never be perfect since many things are a tradeoff. For example, each
point or one of the vertices of a mesh clothes item can be set to follow
EITHER a bone for movement or to follow a shape if the legs perhaps get
larger or smaller. And so one must decide how much emphasis to give to
movement, and how much to shape change, and there is no adjustment that
simply does both perfectly fine for each. However, one could argue that
our point of perfection here is going too far. One can get close enough
to perfect to be judged really good, for most customers. And that of
course, should be the goal.
So What Makes Good Quality?
Every
person must decide. Perhaps unlike us, you are fine with using alpha
means for making some of the body disappear to make clothes work. Or
perhaps like us, you are sometimes willing to make your body shape less
extreme to wear some clothes. Or perhaps you run into a very good
fitmesh supplier who has the right design tools to do a great compromise
on clothes for your particular mesh or regular avatar. But the choice of
what is good quality, will always, always, be for each of us to decide.
What about us?
We have good tools for doing "class mesh" that can
move as an avatar moves and also respond to shape height and thickness.
But classic mesh will not change shape if breasts or bottoms or legs are
enlarged too much. We also do have some good tools to do Maitreya
Fitmesh and we ourselves are happy with some of those products we have
done so far.
Best wishes to you in your search for good items. We
hope this discussion helped at least a little. :)
thanks! Hope you also enjoy our products
Visit us at the Owl and Pussycat Mall
in Second Life at Tissela
look under classifieds for Owl and Pussycat ..or
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tissela/64/92/102 |
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