TO MESH OR NOT TO MESH- Dean Lawson Reporting...

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Maitreya Mesh Lanai vs. Standard Primmed Lanai

The pros and cons of getting a mesh avatar

As someone who enjoys the virtual world with a basic shape and skin avatar (also known as a primmed avatar ) I’ve always wondered why my fellow Second Life Residents would spend their lindens on expensive mesh avatars. Are there benefits to using mesh that I don’t know about? Is the choice to go mesh purely aesthetic? To mesh or not to mesh? That is the question, here are some of the answers I received from the good people at Builder’s Brewery.

Ryo Ichikawa (bartimaeus.brandenburg) wrote: “I love using mesh ava… they look very elegant, but customizability can be a bit of a pain… and most are expressionless... "

Trixie Seomun replied : "i personally think it is a waste of everyones time. . . they take longer to load . . you have to purchase specific clothing that works with THAT spefic mesh body, and i just dont see the upside to them."

Evie Moriguchi concurred : "In Trixie's defense, some of the bodies are kind of "bloated" there have been a few where it takes a few minutes for the full body to rez … I'm more of a fan of hybridding. I really wish there was a system that broke the body into limbs or fitted attachments when huge parts of the body are going to be invisible anyway"

Ryo Ichikawa (bartimaeus.brandenburg) added : "Well, some of the issues with mesh is blatant IP violation. Some people upload my little pony or Halo avas. Beyond that, I don't care how heavy my vanity ava can be to anyone's computer. I'll flaunt it 'cuz I've gots it."

Josie Edwardstone (tess.edwardstone) asserted : "i like the mesh its more detailed … i see some for for as high 6 k and up"

Kyrese Okami (kkay1991) explained : "the pricing to mesh is high becuz it takes longer and more time to create"

Eressëa (eressea.karsin) stated : "Until Bento releases, an avatar's head is not animatable. It's a ball on the end of a stick. After Bento, we'll see…"

Trixie Seomun added : "oh another reason i didnt want to git a mesh body was because of all of the clothing i already had that i would not be able to use"

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Sex Goddess Daisy Jolie

In a private conversation with SEX GODDESS DAISY JOLIE (daisy.stoneshield), Daisy replied : "I was sceptical about using a mesh avi because when you first purchase one sometimes they are confusing ... but they are more life like than the primmed ones that makes me like them … on the primed avi's the feet are hideous then when you purchase slink feet which are cute you get this line that never goes away so spend way to many lindens on trying to buy jewelry to cover the lines up but with the mesh avi I have it comes with feet and hands so those lines no longer exist"

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Issabella

In another private conversation Issabella (issabellabeauclerc) stated : "i have the maitreya and the slink … the slink is cheaper but for a first time mesh body not the easiest … i also know a little about the tmp … maitreya is the easiest to use ... i spent over 10k for my slink i dont use ... the slink hud is a nightmare for a beginner … what i suggest to my friends is the maitreya with a sl cat skin cause it has appliers for alot of the mesh bodies"

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Sizzelle

In a conversation with Sizzelle, the SL Artist replied : “ I’ve grown attached to my avatar’s appearance and with mesh clothes the body doesn’t really matter. However for images that feature "nude" subjects I use the mesh project body."

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Mage

Othella the Editor of MAGE Magazine elaborated : "We use both mesh and system avatars for our magazine images and machinima videos. Mesh is very good for close ups while basic avatars tend to distort as you zoom in to the face. For non human avatars such as Aldo the Alien, Yayo the Minotaur and Mez the Werewolf, we use mesh. For human avatars we create mesh hybrids. The down side is that there are seams around body parts where the mesh connects like the wrists and ankles but we cover this up with bracelets, anklets, collars or I “airbrush" out the seams in the editing process ... I also found full permission hands and feet which are used by the MAGE models. The hands cost 50 lindens and the feet were free… Based on my own experience mesh furniture, props and clothes create less lag than objects made with prims."

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Mage

So it seems the choice to adopt a MESH lifestyle is a debate over aesthetics, affordability and performance that remains undecided. But why not decide for yourself? The Mesh Project offers a free mesh body and both Maitreya and Slink offer demos at their main stores. For those of you who have experience with mesh, I invite you to leave your comments.