Lazy Sunday holding onto the dream of summer

His Dark Materials

Redgrave's liquid mesh gave us mesh that follows flesh now Hoorenbeek gives us mesh that follows light.

Materials means mesh with a reflection sheen that tracks local light.  As you can see with Hoorenbeek's Logan jacket light behind my right shoulder follows the sculpt of my jacket naturally.

You need a viewer capable of materials, My Cool VL viewer has it in an experimental beta version that is working well for me.  There are multiple versions of each Materials ready piece Hoorenbeek has released recently.  A dynamic, mixed and static version.  Static means old style painted on high lights, no materials, Dynamic is all materials lighting and looks matte black in a viewer that can't see materials but takes advantage of the full effect in viewers that can see it.  Mixed is exactly what it sounds like.  A version with the painted on high lights that  looks good to someone in an older viewer with Materials sheen underneath giving a partial Materials effect.

Mixed is probably what most people will opt for while while everyone gets their viewers updated to materials ready, but Dynamic is Materials lighting at its most spectacular.

As you can see the light reflection catches colour differences too allowing you to match the mood of any SL environment.

Liquid mesh gives us a glimpse of the post Deformer SL world's clothing shapes, Materials a world where light shines and dances across surfaces.  There is still a place for the craftsmen and crasftswomen sculpting equisitely detailed clothing shapes.  Things like jackets and shoes, Objects with mass and weight.  Materials lighting effects just add another arrow to the creator's arsenal.

Mesh Leather Pants - Black - Materials & Mesh Deformer Viewer Ready
 
Mesh Leather Jacket - Logan - Black - Materials Viewer and Mesh Deformer Ready

Leather Sneakers - Justin - Black (Materials Viewer ready)

 Shape: Self made
 
  3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop  

  Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

 Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1  

Letis Tattoo :: Sirius ::  

 

Liquid Courage

I had checked out Redgrave's Liquid mesh experiments when they first surfaced a few months ago.  I thought they were a fascinating first step towards the holy grail of mesh that follows tissue instead of just bones.

The results were crude womens jeans that sort of worked as advertised but like most SL women's fashions were incompatible with body shapes outside the Barbie mode.

Now a torrent of new designs for men using liquid mesh have hit the Redgrave shelves and like most mesh they work better on guys with our straight lines and less diversity of body shape.  This is exciting stuff and I have started seeing the few designs they have released everywhere.

In a way its almost a return to the old days of putting on an outfit and then adjusting your shape and seeing the clothing adjust with it.  If you put on liquid mesh and you see holes and gaps, you may find no matter how counter-intuitive it seems, that you need to increase rather than decrease muscle mass or widen your shoulders to make the gaps close.  Usually the required adjustments are minor.

Also featured in this post, my Road Trip necklace is going to be one of the finds in the upcoming MENstuff Hunt by  Bats Mertel's Digital Aura

Shape: Self made
  3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop  
  Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop
 Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1  
Letis Tattoo :: Sirius ::  
HeavyUsed Jeans+Belt / ClassicCut - REDGRAVE  
Mesh - T-Shirt Imprint- BUNDLE - REDGRAVE 



Guest Photographer Amy Smith

Just Because isn't a good enough answer

 Just Because has a new line of mesh shirt vest combos.  Its the kind of thing that suits my style so I picked one up without trying a demo at the Mens Fashion Fair.

Unfortunately it was a disappointing purchase.  It looks great from a distance but formless up close.

First the good.  The vest is a nice template with good texturing and the combo fits well.  Stylistically this should have become one of my favorite combos.

But the shirt collar ruins the whole effect. As you can see the problem is 'Collar?  What collar?'  Sure you can argue they were going for a deliberate low buttoned collar look but there doesn't even seem to be an attempt to add any 3d modeling to the mesh template.  The collar effect is purely texturing and with all the options out there for startlingly realistic three dimensional mesh clothing shapes, that just wont cut it anymore.

They seem to have gone all in on this template with a whole Great Gatsby inspired classic 1920's line planned with what looks like some really nice texturing, but nice texturing is frankly wasted effort when paired with such a weak mesh template, particularly for the comparatively high price they are charging.

I wanted to like this, I wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't and if I had liked it I would have picked up more shirt/jacket/vest combos from them, but it will probably be my last Just Because purchase without a fundamental template rethink on their part

The Good Life

A new outfit featuring new Dura hair, a Hoorenbeek sweater/shirt combo that looks good - but requires an Avatar rebuild every time I put it on to stop my eyeballs bulging out new Habano khakis from Hoorenbeek and samples for review of new shoes from Jeepers for Men.

The shoes are a nice saddleback brown pair called Connery Maroon, not yet up on Marketplace.  They are a quality pair of casuals with a good smoothly processing resizer script.

Hair: Dura Boy 41, Dark Brown
  Skin: Christen Medium by Evian    
Shape: Self made
  3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop  
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop
Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1
Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 
[ hoorenbeek ] Mesh Pants - Habano
[ hoorenbeek ] Sweater - Mesh - Black - S
[ hoorenbeek ] Ansor Watch - Large - Black
Connery - Maroon - Review sample from Jeepers Shoes for Men

Look good in Leather

I've been waiting semi-patiently for the Lapointe and Bastchild open leather jacket for quite a while.  Regular readers of this blog already know of my gushing fondness for L&B's high standard of quality beautiful original templates and lovely texture options and this new product is another triumph.

Leather jacket fans were dependent on stiff sculpts and careful resizing for many years.  After mesh came along my L&B sculpted leathers were about the only sculpted prim clothes I would still sometimes drag out of the darker corners of my bulging inventory.  It says something that I would get people asking me 'where I got that great mesh leather' when they were actually looking at a sculpt item.

But even with high quality sculpts you were still spending hours if you were finicky carefully sizing, stretching and positioning to try to downplay the essentially stiff and static nature of prim attachments to create the illusion of a stretching, dynamic, three dimensional piece of clothing.  Unlike some die-hards who resisted mesh I was a grateful early adopter not least because my determination to shape and position prim components had started to border on OCD.

Of course mesh comes with its own challenges:  getting items that match your body shape - or adjusting that body shape to match what was available, that long uncomfortable period before mesh capable viewers became the norm where half the people or more that you met thought you had an invisible body with a weird egg shaped object floating where your torso should be and of course, cheap ass templates with minor texture variations flogged by every designer who wanted to claim he was a mesh designer.

But L&B create their own exclusive mesh templates and textures.  They are expensive but worth it.

MENS S'Wear MESH "Classic" Black Leather Jacket w/HUD
 HB - Pocket Bandana Pack  MENS "Biker Classic Fit" in Black Distressed Leather Boots
  Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown
  Skin: Christen Medium by Evian   Shape: Self made 3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1 Letis Tattoo :: Sirius ::  Necklace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

Lost Treasure of the Inca Warrior

Second Life isn't really a game but you can play games in it.  One of the best game makers in SL is MadPea Games, creators of such recent in-world hits as Room 326 and most recently The Lost Treasure of the Inca Warrior.

A friend and I recently played it, questing through a mysterious cave full clues, gems and deathtraps.  To play you buy an add on HUD that guides you through the immersive story with prizes from inworld vendors including clothes, temples and full avatars.

My pictures from our adventure were posted on Madpea's flickerstream with one of them winning pic of the day.

Hoorenbeek Tux revisited

Apparently I wasn't the only one a little put out by Hoorenbeek cashing in on finally releasing their mesh tux by charging twice  for the whole outfit for the option of having the jacket open or closed.  Additionally, in a notecard issued today, Hoorenbeek admits to unspecified 'problems' with the formal closed jacket version - this marketplace review is probably what they are talking about.

So this weekend they released a complete version in one.  Jacket open, jacket closed, loose tie tied tie, with or without jacket at all, vest options - this is quite frankly the Hoorenbeek tux they should have released in the first place.  Did L&B's feature heavy and spectacularly beautiful formal wear tux release panic them into releasing this tux too early?  And why are the flawed open and closed almost featureless versions still available on Marketplace to trap the unwary into paying the same price for a crippled version that they could for this final version with all its options?

And what about the people who bought the stunted, in some cases broken versions?  Will they be given refunds or free upgrades to this ultimate version?  I've experienced Hoorenbeek's unwillingness to consider refunding or replacing items that don't work for customers - one of their mesh sweater combos made my eyeballs bulge out of their sockets - their response was 'oh that's interesting.' no refund or replacement was forthcoming. 

In comparison with the eager and friendly service of an outlet like L&B who respond with alacrity to customer issues and seem to really care about how their outfits look on you - its a stark difference.  When I once had a delivery problem with an L&B single jacket they immediately shipped me the fat-pack.

Its a good combo, now, but here's a head to head comparison with the L&B classic tux for 261 L less:

 First Hoorenbeek's mesh tuxedo for 960 L, you get more shape options, jacket open or closed, tie tied or hanging loose, with or without vest or jacket.  In order to not look too big on me I have to wear small and it makes me a little thin but the lines are great, elegant and classy.

 It's a definite improvement over the first version but even this fix seems rushed; the notecards that come with the outfit mention color change HUDs for shirt tie and handkerchief that the outfit doesn't contain!

L&B's Mesh 2013 "Classic Black Tuxedo" for 699 L comes with less shape options but more texture options.  jacket open and tie tied is the only shape and there is no vest or  shirt only option, the top half of the outfit is one sculpt.

But it comes with a texture HUD like all of their many men's formal wear outfits and you can do multiple variations of colour and texture on shirt, tie and jacket.  It comes with a nifty cummerbund unlike Hoorenbeek too.

The biggest difference to my mind is that L&Bs tux like all their outfits lovingly sculpts their outfits with the underlying musculature in mind.  There are curves and bulges and a sense of the 3d shape underneath the clothes that Hoorenbeek subsumes to the shape of the clothes.  I could almost wear L&B stuff without an alpha.  With Hoorenbeek that would make me look like I was wearing some scattered rags.

These are both good outfits now but I still have a clear preference for the L&B version.

Dancing

 L&B Mesh Worn Blue Bootcut Jeans 
Kauna - Open Shirt Male: Black Silk 
HB - Pocket Bandana Pack 
MENS "Biker Classic Fit" in Black Distressed Leather Boots
  Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown
  Skin: Christen Medium by Evian  
Shape: Self made
3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop
Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1
Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 
Necklace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

Risky Business

<kal rau> Casual Blazer M5_Black
<kal rau> Dark Jeans M2_Mesh
Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown
  Skin: Christen Medium by Evian  
Shape: Self made
3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop
Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1
Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 
Necklace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

After Hours

Rocking the House

Shape: Self made
*ARAI* & **Dura** Nakano hat(Black hat)
Aloft Headphones - freebie not on Marketplace
* Guarded Cross * GC Jean Jacket: Riders Black
* Guarded Cross * Hand Knit Sweater II: Grey
[ContraptioN] Driving Glasses Not on Marketplace 
.Pekka. Juicious Unisex Piercing (Jack & Jill Hunt)
 ! " Su Xue " Allumette Match Red NEW 
Watch: Musashi Chronograph *Brute* Brown Leather - Male Version
MENS S'wear "Chinese Coin" Braided Necklace
Necklace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men 
=Razorblade Jacket= Jaw Breaker Grunge Jeans /// Black  
Skin: Christen medium by Evian
3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

The Joy of Hunting

So six plus years in Second Life and I only recently discovered the pleasures of hunts.

In the last two months since doing the Room 326 hunt by Madpea and being blown away by how addictive and immersive a well designed hunt could be I've done the Madpea follow up hunt Love Potion #9 with a friend, burning through it on the first night and started the 'Tie Me Up' hunt, the 'Jack and Jill' hunt and I'm planning to do the Tainted Love hunt and it doesn't look like I will run out of enthusiasm for them soon.

Second Life hunts involve searching areas for hunt items.  In most of them you are led from store to store where you follow hints to discover the specific hunt's symbol item hidden somewhere in the sim you are in.  The majority of hunts are for specific items in each hint object. The Madpea hunts require you to find all the items and complete a HUD you pay 50 lindens for at which point after a cool little story sequence and final puzzle you are delivered all the hunt items at once.

If you enjoy the challenge of puzzles and searches you can wander about following hints and camming until you find the objects.  If all you care about are the prizes most but not all hunt items can be found with the Area Search tool in your viewer.

There are some useful resources for the budding or experienced hunter, the website SL Hunts lists most current and upcoming ones and inworld The Cookie Jar seems to have the poster for every hunt imaginable on its walls.

Here are some examples of the prizes I've found:

.Pekka. Juicious Unisex Piercing (Jack & Jill Hunt)

The Plastic :[P]:-Jeans Blackwash (Jack & Jill Hunt)

[P]:-Chrysalis Earrings (Jack & Jill Hunt)

+REDRUM+ Leopard Tattoo (Jack & Jill Hunt)

Shape: Self made
 Dura-Boy23 Dark  
Skin: Christen edium by Evian
3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

 +REDRUM+ Do Not Disturb Hoodie Mens - (Room 326 Hunt)
*Just BECAUSE* Evidence Pants - (Room 326 Hunt)

1986

Sunglasses: Hoorenbeek Retro - Not available on Marketplace
Hair - Dura-Boys&Girls 18 
Hoorenbeek - Mesh Jeans - Washed Blue

Hoorenbeek - Mesh Leather Jacket - Brooklyn - Black
Gizza Christmas Gift blue shirt - not on Marketplace
Skin: Christen Medium by Evian
Shape: Self made
3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop
Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1

The Operative

::GB:: & *Dura* Knit Cap (Dark Brown)    
Mesh - Tweed Coat - REDGRAVE  
Mesh Turtleneck - Wool - Black
 ! " Su Xue " Allumette Match Red NEW
>>Geo4Clothes<< - Gloves(Dark Grey)
 Skin: Christen Medium by Evian
Shape: Self made
3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop
Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1

Dear Mister Fantasy

Less than a month after initial release and Lappointe and Bastchild have released yet another major update of their already excellent and feature packed mesh Tuxedo that I wrote about here.

The new iteration is a spectacular White Tuxedo suit.  I loved it on sight, and as it was already giving me a real John Lennon circa Abby Road vibe I went all the way with that idea by switching my hair to Dura-Boy 34 and my glasses to the Kassa 'Wise Man' model, not available on Marketplace. 

Turn me on Dead Man.
 

   

Skin: Christen Medium by Evian  
Fob watch from the Avid Count Valentino outfit
Shape: Self made

3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop

Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

Grease Monkey

 

Headband: selfmade

Watch: Musashi Chronograph *Brute* Brown Leather - Male Version

 Sunglasses: Hoorenbeek Retro - Not available on Marketplace 

<kal rau> Plaid Shirt M3  

〘T〙Grease Monkey Garage Oil Stains

 HB - Pocket Bandana Pack

 Wristband - from ViGo - Rick brown-black medieval outfit

L&B Mesh Worn Blue Bootcut Jeans

Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown
Skin: Christen Medium by Evian
Shape: Self made
3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop
Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop
Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1
Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 
Necklace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

Hoodie Blazer

<kal rau> Casual Blazer M3_Mesh 

Mesh Jeans - Black- Hoorenbeek

Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown

Skin: Christen Medium by Evian

Shape: Self made

Glasses - Adjunct New Browline Readers, currently a freebie inworld.

3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop

Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1

Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 

Neclace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

*Milady's* -Bridges- Onyx/Silver Men's Bracelet

Oh Canada!

Oh Canada! tee from Peer - Not available on Marketplace available inworld store


MENS S'Wear MESH Jeans BootCut Style Smooth Slate

Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown

Skin: Christen Medium by Evian

Shape: Self made

3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop

Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1

Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 

Neclace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

*Milady's* -Bridges- Onyx/Silver Men's Bracelet 

 Magnum Watch and hPhone: Hoorenbeek not on Marketplace available inworld main store.

Pensive

ISPACHI Mesh [Brandt Cardigan + T] Black 

MENS S'Wear MESH Jeans BootCut Style Smooth Slate

Hoorenbeek El Paso Boots - Brown - not on Marketplace

Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown

Skin: Christen Medium by Evian

Shape: Self made

3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop

Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1

Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 

Neclace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

*Milady's* -Bridges- Onyx/Silver Men's Bracelet 

Glasses: Hoorenbeek Ansor Mens - Not on Marketplace available inworld at Main Store

 

Hot for teacher?

Kauna - CasualBlazer: Pinstripe Brown 

Hair: Dura Boy 1, Dark Brown

Skin: Christen Medium by Evian

Shape: Self made

3D Prim Full Beard by Jaryth's Barbershop

Tintable Masculine Eyebrows by Jaryth's Barbershop

Eddesign - Complete body hair type 1

Letis Tattoo :: Sirius :: 

Neclace: Silver 5 Bead and Leather Cord Necklace by Culture Fine Jewelry for Men

*Milady's* -Bridges- Onyx/Silver Men's Bracelet 

Glasses: Hoorenbeek Ansor Mens - Not on Marketplace available inworld at Main Store