NOOB RESOURCES: What is Mesh?

What is Mesh?

Mesh was introduced into SecondLife around 2011-2012, and it enabled users to create more realistic avatars by incorporating skeletons into the the default system avatars to which body attachments could be added. Prior to mesh, our feet didn't have actual toes - they were just flat, and skin creators did their best to make toes look less like one flat flipper. 

At first, there were mesh feet, which we attached to our avatars' legs and either tried to make their color blend with the skin we were wearing or used strategically placed ankle straps. 2012 brought us the first mesh clothing and instead of clothing items being painted onto our avatars, they were "rigged" to the avatar's skeleton, which allowed them to sit on top of the avatar, giving them a more realistic look.

I left SL around the time that mesh clothing was first becoming popular. I returned in 2020, and there was a pretty steep learning curve. At first, I thought my avatar looked fine as she was and I was determined not to fall prey to the world of mesh bodies and heads (they're not inexpensive). That didn't last long. The first time I saw mesh feet, I was sold. When I saw mocap animated facial expressions, that was it!

The learning curve may be steeper for returning residents than for true newbies, mainly because you will have to change the way you think about your avatar, its appearance, and how it wears clothing. Where there could be a smaller learning curve with returning residents is with Bakes on Mesh (BOM) because BOM is essentially the way we always used to don clothing, tattoos, and makeup! BOM was tough for me to learn because I had fully embraced mesh and tossed a good part of my old inventory. DON'T do that!! Unless an old system layer item is completely ugly, hold onto those things - especially undergarments and tattoos.