Mesh has been rolled-out to the Main grid. Doubtless, there will be some tweaking and nips and tucks, plus we already have the promise of further improvements / updates in the future – and the rendering code has yet to find its way into widespread use – but this is the start of something new and hopefully full of potential for SL.
Kkudos to Rodvik, Charlar, Runitai and all at Linden Lab and all those users who worked through the Beta programme and the Mesh/Live Volunteers programme for making this possible in Second Life.
YouTube is awash with mesh-related videos, but to mark the roll-out I thought I’d pin and handful of my favourites here.
And because it is so stunning, Rockerfaerie’s video of Claudia222 Jewell’s amazing creations:
Credits
- Mesh Montage – Damien Fate
- Vehicle import test – Bytegang
- Preview tour – SparkaphatDoobie.
Update:
- A few more of my favourite YouTube mesh videos.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
I still don’t know what mesh is or what it does. Do you integrate it into your clothing? Do you use it for smoother dance moves, what is it? The mesh I have in my inventory is like a latex chain metel. I think I am missing something. There are so many short films with examples but I still don’t know how “mesh” will help me. Could you explain or advise a short tutorial that explains mesh?
LikeLike
Hi, sixcurt,
At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, you might try reading “A very *simple* guide to mesh” on this blog – which provides a general overview on mesh.
In short: mesh is a means of 3D content creation that uses tools external to Second Life, rather than the traditional prims, etc, we have in-world. These tools can be used to create detailed objects (buildings, cars, plants, clothing, etc.), that can incorporate a high level of realism and detail, and also allow for much more realistic movement (such as with clothing) that can be achieved with more “traditional” means such as flexiprims.
The process is complex, and not without issues – as hopefully the article linked to above touches upon – and there are currently some limitations as to how mesh can be used (there are some issues around re-sizing mesh clothing, again touched upon in the article).
Overall, the hope is that mesh objects will bring new means of content creation into SL and help make the platform more attractive visually. There is also a hope that over time, as mesh objects become more widespread and replace more “traditional” prim and sculptie objects, that it will help improve grid performance. However, given the newness of mesh, the jury is still very much out on both of these latter points, as they come down to a combination of how mesh is used by the various market sectors in SL (house builders, clothes creators, vehicles makers, and so on), and how people actually react to them being available on the market.
I cannot accurately speak for the item you refer to in your inventory; if you purchased it a while ago, it might not be mesh in the sense referred to here, but may simply be an item of “traditional” clothing that simply (and confusingly) has the word “mesh” in the item description.
LikeLike
As someone who has some knowledge about the 3D animation and modeling industry, I believe I should point out that a mesh, is a noun. It is quite simply a collection of faces, edges, and points (vertecies (plural), vertex (singular)) to create a 3D object. Already in Second Life, all 3D objects (except particles) rendered are translated into meshes for 3D rendering (and probably physics calculations) – however, these new features will allow for people to import actual mesh data into Second Life without turning them into prims or sculpties.
Please stop saying “something is mesh”, that is incorrect. Something is A mesh. It is a raw collection of triangles that make up a 3D object.
SL getting meshes will make it a BILLION times easier for 3D artists to create stuff for Second Life. I for one am eager to switch to Viewer 3, JUST for this feature alone. And I’m one of those guys that never really did switch to Viewer 2. I’ll be jumping from the Viewer 1/Snowglobe based Phoenix Viewer, to Viewer 3. As soon as a Viewer 3 based viewer comes out with some of the extra viewer options I use in Phoenix, at least… 😦
LikeLike