Linden Lab announced a few days ago that Mesh is coming to Second Life this Summer. I’m pretty excited about this, even though I know nothing about Mesh or how much it will change SL as we know it.
My friend Yabusaka Loon sent me a Full-Body Mesh Female avatar to try on the Aditi (Beta Grid). In order to test any mesh items on the beta grid, you have to pull up the World Map and search for “Mesh” and teleport to any of the Mesh sims.
I immediately ran to a Mesh sim to try on this avatar and whoa! It’s pretty incredible looking. At first glance, this is similar to the SL avatar we have now, but upon closer look, the hands and feet are much nicer.
Yabusaka’s Mesh av comes with a HUD to change 3 different facial expressions, and 3 different hand poses (Left and Right hand can be different).
What I noticed about this particular Mesh Av, is that it can use a lot of items I have in my inventory already. I can use texture eyes, prim hair, poses, and even some accessories. I am wearing Mesh lashes in the photos above , but I can probably wear my regular prim lashes too.
Yabu has more info about the Mesh Avatar on this website.
You can even create a whole new face, using the Yabusaka Mesh Head Generator, as I have done above. All pics in this post are used wearing the ‘default’ shape, but I love round faces with full lips, so I tried to create that with the sliders on the website. If I ever get a copy of the Mesh Gogo face, I’ll show you guys! 😀
I am kind of sad we can’t just go into Appearance Mod and modify our faces though; with Mesh, it doesn’t work that way 🙁
If any skin creator wants to give these Mesh Av a try, please contact Yabusaka Loon in-world!
It’s too early to tell if these mesh avatars will be embraced or rejected by SL residents. I am hopeful that it will be just another fun thing for SL residents to play with, and I look forward to what some of my favorite creators will release. SQUEEE!!
/Update – June 6th, 2011/
Yabusaka has added a range of Pink Fuel skins to the Mesh Head Generator!
Mochi is so awesome for letting Yabu use her skins <3 I think that a great skin makes a HUGE difference, as you can see in the above image, the face is instantly more realistic and lovelier.
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….all i can say is WOW.
No me gustó!
I don’t like the idea of mesh avatars. All clothing we have that combine system layers and prims, will be useless. It’s the total freedom to mix’n match that we hav now that we will loose. It will be the end to the fun I have in SL now.
Others will probably embrace it, and maybe it will not be so bad after some months, with more to choose from. And skins? I sometimes change skins several times a week. I imagine that those first mesh avatars will be expensive. That too, will change as creators offers more variety. But it will not be like now, when we have unlimited freedom to use any skin out there.
I really, really wish that LL would change the avatar mesh that we have now. I know nothing about it, but I have read that others have created better mesh just by moving polygons. And a upper body template with just one arm? Sigh. Ah well, more time spent in RL i guess.
I don’t really know how I feel about the mesh bodies, yes, they look so much better than the ones we have now, but I doubt I’ll be able to convert my regular shape to a mesh shape, and I love my current shape :/
Interesting..I had a feeling using attachment points for an AV mesh may be a way to go. I like the better hands and feet. But to me, not being able to mod inworld is a dealbreaker. It was in Blue Mars for many. LL should just bite the bullet and upgrade the AV mesh, UV map ( hears screams from skin makers) and increase the texture resolution in SL.
Anyway, I will send off the parameters I come up with and see what happens when i try to skin the mesh with my homemade skin.
it looks good and while I kinda get its sad the way to mod is changed. I do much prefer mesh as I hope mesh clothing sits more realisticly (is that even a word?) Im hoping mesh does away with much of the clipping issues atm but who knows.
You do realize that they’re actually supposed to be *mannequins*.
like the body, DO NOT WANT the face. not that the person’s face isn’t nice. but it doesn’t look as real as what we have now (not that we look real real, but we strive to look like adult women, not young anime girls)
okay i tried it. the work is really nice, but you really can’t make yourself look overly different by changing the sliders (and i full banged up my lips too). still look like a 15 year old. cute though.
I’m thrilled to actually see mesh avatar in action. No doubt in mind that people will come up with amazing ways to exploit mesh, just as they have done with sculpts. Clothing and hair that doesn’t sink into your boobs will be awesome. And finally, no more cankles!
I love that face, Gogo. Very natural and realistic!
Omg….The Sims online?…They could just make normal hands and feet… Dissapointed . If we will have a chance to wear our old skins and all our current inventory,if not only the face,but body will be customizable too,MAYBE is not so bad…i just cant understand why they cant make a bit better but change everything…And for sure as someone said….wonderful rl. Btw before sl i was in another ‘game’ which looks as what i see here now…Many people came from there to sl only because of great customization.
God, so fucking ugly… Seriously, me and a couple of friends tried it out too.. Bleah, it’s great and still.. not so great. At least for now. Seems one can’t get the same results with the sliders either, plus it being web-based is horrible.
I tried to abuse the sliders in several ways, always ended up ugly – never cute/ugly but we’ll see, this is not so important now anyway :p
I’m not sure I like this whole mesh thing for a few reasons :
1) Most items I currently own (clothes, hair, skins, etc) will be obsolete and good for garbage.
2) I worked 4 years to achieve my current look (shape and all) and I’m not sure I want to start over… plus I’m used to my virtual self to the point I’m not sure I want to change it. A new face, even prettier and/or more realistic won’t feel like *me*.
3) Some other in-world (RLC, Blue Mars, etc.) are using mesh and everyone looks the same, more or less. You’re very limited when it comes to customize your character so it looks like an army of clones.
4) One of the main reason why I love SL is because I like the “cartoon” look of our avis. We don’t look too human, we look virtual and to me it’s more appealing and interesting than something like this. But that’s my personal opinion and I guess lots of people won’t agree.
Of course mesh isn’t all bad, mostly when it comes for buildings, furnitures, etc. considering we’re limited when it comes to prims, and mesh products are very, very low prims.
But when it comes to my pretty little Lisanna… DO NOT WANT!
I second that!
The possibility of being special and not a clone is the best in SL.. Go TP 10 random people for a group photo and you’ll end up with 10 lovely individuals (hey, with different taste, sure!) compared to other games.
I’ve also become so used to ME, in SL, that I don’t feel *home* in any other shape. It’s like someone would force me into plastic surgery in RL.. 🙁
that’s exactly how i feel too. i have been ME for so long, i can’t imagine being any other person. i sometimes try on other shapes that come with skins and it feels so wrong. i would rather see a huge assed big boobed freaky chick standing at the dressing room blue thank everyone looking practically the same with little variations. where will we get our lulz from when people wear bad 2006 shoes, bling and have huge eyes!
Eh it looks kinda child like. I don’t lik that. But, Mesh coming sounds fun to me. If it brings more creativity bring it on. I doubt it’d hinder things haha. I’m totally not with this appearance thing. Yet, since it’s a new development it has a oppertunity to grow and who knows where it’ll be? So, I’ll give it some time and see what happens hehe. Could be fun!
Lol meant to say…Mesh is good for creators! Haha it’s NOT just skin people haha. Tons of things you can do with it. So, it’s not just skin but objects and etc. I think for builders (of all kinds) it should be very useful in the long run, but we’ll see.
Good for creators? I’m pissing myself right now…out of fear.
My shop is doomed to go broke, unless I take a ffng crash course to learn 3D … no one will want the designs anymore in a years time, cause its ‘old’ by then.. Im a good texturer and Im an artist i paint, its what i do best… But as a creator.. I know nothing about 3d i BOUGHT sculpts to add to my design and texture to my needs..cause thats what i am best at.
But 3D.. heck i didnt even know what the word ‘mesh’ meant till now.I tried to make sculpts but idk have you tried using a 3D program? lol… it ffing hard.
With this mesh thing i’ll go broke for sure, who wants a stale old messed up jacket with sculpts and 50 prims when u can get it as a mesh low prim…?…
It’s very extremely discouraging.
I get it, people get into a comfort level. I’m sure some people freaked about the alpha layers and tattoo layers when they we’re new. Some people even refuse to update so they can use them. Don’t be afraid of change. I played with the face thing and it’s pretty fun! I made it look kinda cute. I like to change in sl, I like my shape but I do mod it and change skins etc. Frankly if I had to start all over again with mesh stuff. It would be better then what I had and it would let me kill and put to rest my old out of control inventory (25k plus was up to 32k ;_;). So actually, I’m happy and better hands and feet? count me in. I’m so tired of tinting prims cause I suck hardcore at it >.<.
i don’t think as many people freaked out about alpha and tattoo layers, except maybe skin makers who wouldn’t make as much money on makeup for their skin (as you could now buy individual lipstick and eyeshadows). i think people refuse to update cuz they don’t like the new viewer. this is totally different. this is taking your face and completely changing it.
My understanding is that all the objects currently in SL are meshes already. It’s just that the meshes that SL has supported to date have been rather primitive and with tight constraints on the level of detail that can be supported. By opening up the platform to accommodate “non-standard” meshes what will happen is there will be scope for more detail where it’s needed and more simplicity where it isn’t – just more flexibility overall in the types of objects that can be imported into SL.
In theory, I think that means you could make (or commission!) an avatar that looks, say, exactly like your current SL av if you want, but with more realistic detail. You could even create one that looks like your RL self or like some famous person – in fact all we will be limited by with the new mesh support will be our imagination and 3D modelling skills (plus cost if we lack those two talents).
I prefer to be open minded about this. I know that content creators have been pushing for it for a long time and some have migrated to eg. Blu Mars because it has offered the type of mesh support and flexibility that is currently lacking in SL. I think this step was therefore inevitable and should be welcomed or at least understood fully before we resist in some Luddite fashion.
Yabusaka was pretty brave to offer up what I assume is a “prototype” mesh avatar for Gogo’s critique. I think the least we can do is try to understand something about the issues here, and perhaps the place to start might be to consider just how many hours go into modelling something this complex in any 3D app. and even to make it just *slightly* user-modifiable in-world is I believe a massive achievement. I have worked a little bit in Z Brush as part of my own exploration of content creation for SL and let me tell you, to start with it’s a bit like trying to model detailed figures out of clay using your feet!! Thanks Yabusaka!
I think this will ruin SL.
To take for example hair, shoes, necklaces etc.
How is it possible to have them now? Because the avatar shape is the same for everybody, you can edit it any way you want but if you want shoes, hair, necklaces etc you keep certain sliders at a certain levels.
It is only possible to have the concept of fitting shoes because it is possible for everybody to get the same feet size.
Sliders equals size. If noone shares the same sliders anymore, that means noone can get the same size in anything.
If creating an avatar shape becomes like making a sculpted prim, then every creator makes their feet and head and neck any whatever size they wish.
That means the concept of fitting shoes will be gone. Because for every creator it will be different.
Slider-controlled Linden created avatar shape is the neccessary as a measurement meter. So while anybody can be modified beyond recognition, essentially they are the same.
Without it, anything people create for their avatars turns into chaos because the very concept of size is gone.
And not just avatar attachment things, but envionment too.
How do you decide just how big should you create a doorway or a chair?
Because you can get your shape to Height 50 and Legs lenght 50 you can see just about how tall is the average tall and take that into consideration while making your chair.
And if nobody shares the same shape sliders anymore? The concept of size and height disapears and the entire SL world turns into chaos because everything people make becomes mismatching in size, because now everybody’s perception of how big is their avatars is individual and not shared in any way.
Avatar shape should stay the way it is now. Updated yes, improved yes, but the essential concept should stay the same, otherwise it will get chaotic.
I’ve been excited about mesh for a while! The avatar shape and clothing system we have now isn’t going away or changing really (unless people decide to stop using it), so I’m not sure why people are really upset.
Mesh is going to be like sculpted prims but instead of creators having to build thier creations out of a bunch of squishy blobs (aka sculpies), they can make one clean mesh with a lot more flexibility and upload it in one piece. Hairs and things can also be fixed so they won’t chop into your boobs.
Mesh avs are just optional attachments, they aren’t replacing the avs we have now. 🙂
Actually from my understanding most traditional ‘clothing’ via clothing layers will not work on mesh AV’s, and the same applies to mesh clothing only working with mesh AV’s. I’ve done some 3D modeling work before (I was a early designer working in blue mars at one point before I got fed up with them) and clothing with meshes is definitely totally foreign even to modern sculpties in SL.
This separation is going to split the market. And with how one creates the two things being drastically different… Well the best example is that each mesh shape will require basically it’s own line of mesh clothing (this is due to 3D objects layered on 3D objects and no way to edit them inworld as we do now). Which further ruins the market creating more fragments and reducing choice in AV meshes.
I see this becoming a huge issue for the SL we have that loves customization of look and style.
I have seen Mesh bodies on the beta and they are amazing, I was blown away by the fact that AO’s work with them so well. One thing I had not considered though until this post – possibly because you make them – but wont this completely wipe out the shape industry?
I know so many say they don’t buy them, but someone is, there are far too many stores for this to not be a lucrative market. So if mesh is embraced in full, skin makers can of course possibly collab with mesh makers and so on, but shapes will be obsolete…that sucks.
You bring up a great point, and I’ve thought about “what will become of our shapes” as well. But honestly, have you see how sloooooooow SL residents are to adopt anything new? I would say we have a good two years before shapes are “obsolete” LOL. People tend to resist change for awhile.
out of curiosity is there no way to make mesh shapes? or is it all cookie cutter? I assume they use a 3d program like Maya etc etc and import. I guess the cost of such programs does put it out of normal users reach. What does Yabusaka use?
When i was making a mesh avatar i used 3dsMAX but i dont know what yabusaka is using, my partner has the programme so i use his 🙂
Thanks for showing it off, its exciting to see. I wouldn’t worry about this runing SL as some people do. Look at it the same way as furries who wear full prim avatars. They can’t switch skins or wear all their system clothes but they do it because it gives the perfect look they want that they otherwise wouldn’t have. People who don’t need a full mesh avatar can just buy hands and feet the same as we already do with sculpties.
People who say this face looks to childish or isn’t your style…this is just one style of face. Mesh can be anything, its like looking at a sculpted shoe and saying sculpties aren’t your style. I doubt full sculpted bodies will get very popular for human avatars because our basic mesh does the job well enough and many do love to change skin and shape often. Hands, feet, ears that is what I suspect will be most popular. Even people who decide to use a mesh head will probably end up using the regular LL body because of clothing standards.
It’s nothing like the end of SL, just one more awesome tool and I’m excited to see what creators come out with.
Well, here we are at the birthing stage of mesh avatars and as I expected there is a ways to go. The sliders are disappointing at this time so I hope that they are enhanced along the way. It’s like they are moving backwards to move forwards. The skins I worked with in the head generators are ones that I’m familiar with in world & do not translate the same way as their original counterparts which already exist. This gal will not jump on board due to novelty, particularly when it comes to the avatars themselves. Just not impressed at all at this time. The other builds based on the new mesh I’m really curious to see. That said, I commend Yabusaka (and the others alongside her) for working on this generation of the whole mesh development. It has to start somewhere, right?
I agree with the other girls. it isn’t that good… I invested loads of lindens to make my Av nice and as a fashion blogger I receive tons of nice stuff from designers. It would be a disaster to me. My inventory is 75K now…giggles
Yeah it will get annoying and i make clothes ect so its going to kill cutie creations when all this happens, and my inventory is full of clothes and stuff that i have baught of other places.. im not with all this mesh either but everyone has their own opinion on it, some like it some dont, and im one thats not to keen on the idea but will try it, even tho it going to put me outta pocket -_- lol xx
Body good, but the face is horrid. Downright cartoonish. And having over 150K inventory mostly made of of clothing and skins … this is gonna suck so bad for me. Yeah I am really not happy with the idea at all.
So your saying you can’t adjust the mesh bodies inworld? or the faces anyway? This would end alot of my fun in SL if this became the norm. I create shapes all the time and switch skins like jeans. Can’t say i’m thrilled that my inventory would be obsolete but there were adjustments made for sculpts and I suppose in time mesh adjustments can be made as well.
I highly doubt that sl will force us to use mesh avatars? :S
It was about time Second-Life stepped up in terms of graphics. Things were looking pretty outdated and mesh is commonly used in any other 3D application (including IMVU).
Love mesh. No more prims going through heads or bodies and I love the face-style of this mesh. No more ‘painted-on’ look of shirts and jeans since they’ll have an actual form and shape.
However what I don’t like about mesh here on Second-Life is the inability to create flexibility like material which makes ‘fluffy’ skirts and similar projects impossible. Why this hasn’t been implemented yet is rather stupid.
Concerning the body form of mesh i’m finding that hands and feet are stiff as planks. Tried several AO animations and the results were the same.
Customization is lacking for now. There’s really no way to change eyes or skin-tone which sucks.
Mesh clothing (so far) is not mod. If it doesn’t fit your avatar then you must alter your avatar. And here we go…all looking similar. The clothing is beautiful, as are the few mesh avatars available, but I much prefer the option of individuality over the option to look fantastic…and much the same as many others.
Hope you naysayers grew up, Mesh is standard even in video-games. Face it prims were primitive and had so many limitations it made a 2000 console game look gorgeous and feel responsive. The next step is for LL to overhaul the LL scripting so SL can be a TRUE engine and not some laggy web-based chat prog with some uploads.
I know SLer’s don’t like comments like these but as a computer programmer SL had so many limitations and staleness to it that it held itself back. There should be more accessibility to users and creating the choppy script language as a secret thus even basic movement is uneasy is one of them.
When I look at SL I see low-resolution stretched images, ugly avatar-prim models that look like their aged polygons since 1996, lots of un-smooth and jerky movements even in the basics of walking, and over-pricing of simple walk animations and the such. Mesh on the otherhand brings a whole new visually appealing and praticual standard. I know some will hold onto their ancient avatars they spent $1000 or more just in inventory they can’t even keep but for me I got OpenSim and Mesh only items. None of that old outdated stuff.