2k Bakes on Mesh (BoM) textures are now live in Second Life (read official blog post). But what does this mean? We have been able to upload and use 2048×2048 textures for more than six months now, and I have even seen some skin brands advertise their skins as having 2k textures. However, it seems we couldn’t truly appreciate it until today, according to Second Life’s blog post.
I need to compare the same skin in 1024 versus 2048, so I messaged Aida from Glam Affair. She kindly provided me with a 2048 version of the skin I often wear, Liv. I snapped these comparison photos in the latest official Second Life viewer, so you can see the difference without graphic settings from third party viewers affecting the resolution. At first, it might seem as though there are more pores, but I believe it is not solely about the pores. The highlights, lips, and overall skin texture now look as good as HD (lipstick) layers.
What is 2K BOM?
If you missed the beta launch announcement, here’s the scoop: 2K BOM allows compatible textures to bake at up to 2048×2048 resolution, bringing sharper details, crisper clothing, and a whole new level of avatar customization. But don’t worry—this won’t send your GPU into a meltdown! BOM will always bake at the highest resolution available among your layers, meaning:
🔹 If all your layers are 512×512, your bake will stay at 512×512.
🔹 If you mix 512×512 and 1024×1024 layers, the bake will be 1024×1024.
🔹 If at least one layer is 2048×2048, your bake will be 2K!And for those wondering—no, 2K BOM does not apply to your eyes. They’ll remain safely capped at 512×512 to keep things running smoothly.
What Does This Mean for You?
This upgrade means sharper, more detailed avatar textures—whether you’re rocking an intricate tattoo, finely embroidered fabric, or a hyper-detailed skin. Creators and fashionistas, rejoice! Your designs will now have even more depth and clarity.
(from official blog post)
As I understand it, if you are wearing at least one layer that is 2048×2048, then the rest of your tattoo layers will bake at 2k for that stack. For instance, your head, upper body, lower body, ears, and so on are each considered a stack. As long as one of the layers you are wearing in that stack is 2048, then they will all render at 2k.
Regarding head skins, I think that from today onwards, brands will begin releasing 2k textures to take advantage of more detailed textures. Since many skins are no mod, it is challenging to inspect the texture to verify the size. I submitted a feature request to display texture size in the Item Properties window because I want to know if a texture is 2k. I confirmed that my body skin is already 2k, as it is modifiable. I don’t think skin brands will update past skins, but they should certainly do this for bestsellers or the latest releases. Body skins should definitely provide free updates if they are not already 2k.
Are you excited about 2k textures? Let me know in the comments!
What I’m Wearing:
Glam Affair – Liv (Snow)
Stealthic – Pluse
Everfaery – Camille Dress
It seems like no one actually “Lives” in SL anymore. It’s mostly just a photo studio these days. A place to compose fake images to post on Primfeed, Flickr, and even hateful platforms that hunt our (avatar) kind like Facebook. And hateful platforms that work hard to destroy democracy across the globe, like X.
So I guess it doesn’t matter that Second Life, a laggy, crashy, buggy platform, keeps adding PBR, 2048 BOM, and more and more things to make our runs-like-crap world even laggier, crashier, and buggier.
Wow, when did I turn into such a bitter, curmudgeon avatar??? IDK the answer to that! Seriously though, does this do anything for anyone who wants to LIVE in SL? To feel salt spray on their face as they sail across the Blake Sea? To experience the diversity of creativity as they walk across the SL Mainland? Wait, what am I talking about? Walk across the SL Mainland? NOBODY Walks in SL! And they couldn’t even if they wanted to, all the Ban Lines, Security Orbs, Curtain Walls, and Vertical Terraforming see to that! Nope! Let’s just admit that we live in a more photography-only world every day.
This comment is spot on and also completely reflects my thoughts on the current state of SL. I loved exploring SL, but the longer load times have made it impossible to smoothly explore new areas. Some people have even demanded 2K textures for their eyes, which is absurd for such a small area. This also reflects the mentality of the current SL population. I’m not going to buy a new laptop just to somewhat alleviate these unnecessary and ill-considered annoyances.
By the way, most of the new additions to SL have been copied from Roblox.
Now I am confused. I read that with BOM, it would bake all at the lowest common denominator, so if any texture was below 2024×2024 it would bake at the lowest. Of course I can’t remember where I saw it but I hope you are right and I am wrong. I also read that about the eyes remaining at 512.
I like having the option of 2K skins for photos but I do ‘live’ a bit in SL after a 12 year long absence so to me it doesn’t matter a whole lot at this point. I run SL on a 3 year old gaming laptop so even with major tweaking my settings in Firestorm my pics are still subpar in comparison to most of what I see on Flickr. I do not care too much because I am having fun again in SL and this time around being a lot more social so I will buy a few new sale skins anyway because I am a skin/makeup whore, haha! Someday soon I will buy a new computer so I can revel in the 2K BOM details but for now I buy mostly because I like to support creators that I love 🙂