Fab Advice – Edition #12

March 28, 2014 by Love Trill 1 Comment

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QUESTION #1:  Hey my question is about mesh skirts and dresses.  When i wear them on the leg area it always shows empty ( its like a piece of my leg is missing )  bcs of the Alpha is there a way i can make it show more normal ? thank you 🙂

Love Says:  I know exactly what you are talking about and I have had that problem in the past too.  My suggestion is to make sure you try a demo first.  With any logic, the same alpha layer was included with the demo that would go in the pack with the purchased skirt/dress.  It sounds to me like the items are already in your inventory though, so I was a little late with that advice!   I don’t have a smartypants technical answer for this one (hopefully the other bloggers will lol), but my best guess is that the model it was designed on was a completely different shape than your own. You could try sliding your shape around a bit to see if you can get it to disappear, but make sure you save a copy of your shape first!  I would also recommend contacting the designer with a snapshot.  I’m sure they’ll know what to do!

Serena Says:  My understanding is that mesh cannot be changed or altered. If you’re talented enough, I think there is a way to change an alpha in PhotoShop, but I’ve never tried it, and I don’t know that for a fact. If it’s a serious problem, you could try contacting the designer… perhaps it was an oversight on their part. Otherwise, I don’t think there is anything that can be done, sorry!

Xiu Says:  I’ve had that happen with mesh skirts and dresses also.  It has to do with the way the alpha, for the mesh item, was made.  Unfortunately, some creators/designers create the alpha in a way that it is too close to the edge of the skirt/dress hemline.  So when you wear the mesh over the alpha layer…you see a gap.  With a mesh dress/skirt you will usually see a “hole” under the dress/skirt…where the top of your thighs would normally be…but you shouldn’t see a gap between the hemline of the mesh skirt/dress hemline and your leg.  If you see the gap you can send a notecard, with a photo, to the designer/creator to let them know about the issue.  Hopefully, they will rectify the situation by making a new alpha that is done correctly for that mesh item.  If, however, you are just speaking of the “hole” under the skirt/dress…there isn’t much you can do except wear a pair of system panties with the dress/skirt…it won’t fill in the area where part of your leg is missing but it will at least give you some modest coverage for other areas.  I have seen some designers provide little system shorts to cover the leg “holes” but not many of them do it and it can also present challenges with the shorts showing below the hemline of the skirt/dress.  See if you have a pair of system shorts in your inventory and if they are modify…try them on with your dress/skirt and color them to match the mesh item…perhaps that will work.  Good luck! ❤

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QUESTION #2:  This is more a request than a question but I have to ask.  Why do you show so many full priced items in your posts?  I appreciate your hard work in showing us the best places to find free gifts but mostly  you accessorise your free gift feature with non-free items.  Since I dont buy any linden in SL, I am  unable to achieve the look you do.  I wear free skin, free shoes, free hair.  I go and pick up the gifts and follow your fashion advice best I can but it never looks as good.

Love Says:  That is a very vaild question, thank you for asking it!  There are plenty of free items to put looks together with and we could indeed show 100% completely free looks here on FabFree, but we each have our unique reasons for blogging the way we do.  I am really interested to see the responses from the other bloggers, because there are so many different views on this.  My personal reasoning for mixing up free with non-free items is mainly because I think it is important to support the designers and the SL economy with purchases.   As much as I like to show off fabulous free items, I like to encourage our readers to make purchases at the stores that offer us such wonderful gifts too.  When we do so, we keep them in business and in a financial position to continue gifting.  I understand that some residents choose not to purchase lindens and that is their choice, of course.  If you are unable to purchase lindens, and would like to make purchases inworld to complete the looks we put together, there are options!  There are tons of linden paying jobs in Second Life to apply for.

Serena Says:  Our rule here at FabFree is that we will always show at least one item that is 75L or less in each post. Sometimes we are able to show a completely free look; sometimes we’re not. Personally, I try to show at least one completely free item in each post whenever possible. That being said, I often choose to show full-priced items in my posts because I believe in supporting SL designers. The simple truth is that if we do not support them financially by buying their products, they are not able to be so generous with their gifts. Remember, even freebies cost a designer in time, effort, and money. If I really like a store’s gift, I will often purchase a product from them as a sort of thank you. And, sometimes if I just really like a product, free or not free, I will want to share it with our readers, since many of our readers do purchase Lindens.

Xiu Says:  Great question!  Speaking for myself, it is about balance.  I love being able to find quality free items to feature in my posts but I also don’t wear ALL free items in my everyday SL life.  I do buy lindens, but I am also on a very limited income in First Life…so I must budget and save to buy the items that are not free.  I also join groups that might have a higher join fee up front but provide amazing, high quality FREE group gifts…so budgeting the linden to join the group actually saves me a lot of linden from otherwise buying all those items full price!  We may not show ALL free items in each of our posts…but I do know we show free items from EVERY fashion category collectively.  So, instead of trying to re-create one particular look we are showing, you can take the free jewelry from one post and coordinate it with a free outfit from another post and free shoes, hair, eyes etc from other posts.  This way you can be really creative and put your own fashion stamp on your look! Also, check out our weekly Hunt report from Xia Nishi…you will find a TON of free items in the Hunts…in just about every fashion category you could desire. ❤ ❤

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QUESTION #3:  I LOVE the FabFree blog.  Reading it is a fun part of my day.  I would like to learn about Machinima.  How would I do that?  I have read information on several websites, but it seems very complicated and I think I need a class.  I can read it over and over, but I need to do it to learn it. Any suggestions?

Love Says:  I really enjoy watching SL machinima, however I have no idea how to do it or where to point you for information.  I hope that one of our staff bloggers or readers can help!  Thank you for your kind comments regarding the blog.  Reading wonderful things like that, inspires us to keep on blogging!

Serena Says:   I’ve only made one machinima in my whole SL life, and that is posted here: https://fabfree.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/gavin-plays-the-guitar. I had never tried it before, so to figure it out I finally had to Google “How to make Second Life machinima.” I found a wiki here http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Movie_Recording that listed several different types of third-party machinima-making software. I wound up going with the free version of Fraps, which you can download at http://www.fraps.com/. If I ever decide to do this again – which I probably will! – I will likely upgrade to the full version, but since this was just an experiment, I used the freeware. After making the recording, I imported the video into Microsoft Movie Maker (another freebie) to add the credits and effects. Adobe Premier is also a very good editing program, but has a bit of a learning curve, and is not free (although I think you can get a trial version).

Xiu Says:  I LOVE Machinima!  I don’t really know the technical aspects of how to do it and I have only halfheartedly researched it.  What I found was predominantly tutorials through youtube videos.  What I would suggest is searching specifically for Machinima on youtube and, once you find a machinima artist whose work you like, contact them.  Many people are more than happy to help…because they were once exactly where you are.  How exciting that you want to learn this…I wish you all the luck and hopefully we will soon be enjoying YOUR Machinima work!  Good luck! ❤ ❤

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