Ravenna Hennin for Men @ Midnight Order

    When first I released the Ravenna Hennin, my intention was to offer an option for male avatars as well.  After getting the female version done just in time for the opening of Midnight Order, I started work on the male version thinking it might take me just a day or two.  I was very wrong.  

    I never imagined how much trouble it would be to rig it to move properly on male bodies.  Instead of using about five different weight painting bones like for my female version, I used nearly twenty.  The people who rig their items for both get extra kudos from me, now that I've seen what a pain it is!  However, I was committed, and men have few enough options in-world as it is.  After struggling for the past couple of weeks to get everything working together, I learned a lot about rigging.  After sinking so much time, work, and frustration into it, I didn't feel comfortable adding it to the female version of the hennin without increasing the price.  So, I decided to offer it as its own separate item.  

 

Shown with the "Loras" doublet by Sublime.  Skin by Gloom, "Camden" head by LeLutka 

Even though hennins are traditionally associated with women's costume, when it comes down to it, who cares?  In searching for images for inspiration I found some amazing men's masquerade costumes that incorporated hennins similar to this one.  My version includes three versions of the cowl, in different lengths, to accommodate wearing clothes with collars.  I also added alphas to wear just in case your neck or ears clip through, for Evo X as well as SLUV.  There are also two fits for the hennin itself, one that rests against the bare skin and another with a bit of space to wear over clothes.

I hope that at least few of you out there will see this and be excited to see what kind of magnificent outfits you can create with this.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you all do with it.

 

Out now at Midnight Order through to February 20th 

Curiata Remastered

    For thirteen years the Curiata mask has been one of my favorite designs.  It is one of my most distinctive masks, and it's become a symbol of my brand.  However, while I've grown in my skill and ability as a creator, the Curiata has aged, if not in its style then in its execution.  

I have been working on revisiting many of my most popular masks to update them to PBR and HUDs, but when I pulled this one out and took a good look at it, I realized it needed a little extra attention.  There was more to be done than just new materials.

Thanks to dutiful backups and my data hording habits, I was able to load up my original files and give this mask the update it deserves.

 

 

    The original mask was made to be extremely geometry efficient, but now after this many years I feel a bit better about using more vertices. It was also made for the original system avatar heads, so I made some subtle shape tweaks to fit modern mesh heads better.  Originally, I was limited to the twelve colors available in my touch script, but the HUD has no such limitations. I've added three new colors: the missing copper color that I had originally swapped out for Niobium, an orangey red gradient I've been calling "phoenix", and a green and red ombre that I just thought looked cool.

 A side by side comparison really lets you see the difference.

 

 This is the version of the Curiata that it always was in my head.  I don't think I ever imagined it being for sale for thirteen years but what better way to celebrate its anniversary than by finally bringing it to its full potential.  

 This update is available for free if you already own this mask.  An automatic update has been sent out, but if you did not get yours, feel free to visit the redelivery terminal at the store on the Twilight or reach out if you have any issues.  If you don't already own this mask, I've just put it out at Midnight Order for 25% off for half time through to the 20th.

 Midnight Order

The Twilight 

 

Ravenna Hennin @ Midnight Order

      Today is the start of Midnight Order, a dark and noir themed shopping event.  Since coming back to SL it's been one of my favorite events, full of luscious gothic elegance. As I've been catching myself up to modern workflows over the past three years, I daydreamed about being able to make something worthy of the theme. When a friend involved with the event tapped me on the shoulder and told me I should apply, I felt I was finally ready to make something deserving. 

 

 The Ravenna Hennin is inspired by the costume of European noblewomen during the late medieval period.  It's a tall structured hat, worn with layers of fabric to create drapes and veils with a wimple or cowl to hide the hair.  My version is also inspired by the magnificent garb worn by the attendees of the Venetian carnival, and my recent desire to give Evil Queen vibes.  It comes in two pieces, with a cowl to wear underneath, and an upper crown that can be worn rigged to the body with the drape, or unrigged and free to resize without it.  It comes in my usual selection of twelve colors, with four separate colorable areas for maximum customization.  You can wear just the crown with hair, but it will probably not play nice with most styles.  There are no specific body fits, but it was tested on Legacy, Lara, Lara X and Reborn and didn't seem to have any terrible conflicts.  Please forgive my newbish rigging if there are peeks of your neck now and them. 

This was a very ambitious project for me.  I have not tried making cloth since the Ladro mask, and have only made baby steps into rigging.  This was a chance to experiment with Zbrush's new (to me) cloth simulation system and to learn how to make something that actually moves with the body.  Not only that, but I wanted to make something built from the beginning with PBR in mind.  I still am not comfortable working with modern material programs (I am learning Instamat but haven't been happy with the results yet) but I am actually getting the hang of manually manipulating the image maps that make up PBR materials.  This allowed me to play with creating bump and shine on the brocade, and the way the threads in the floral pattern catch the light makes me so happy.

The rigging was an adventure in troubleshooting, and an education in how the bones of Second Life avatars work with sliders and with animations, as well as 3rd party body parts.  I uploaded dozens of test versions on the beta grid and made many many tweaks, and I only just barely managed to get most of it to behave without clipping.  I still don't know why the edge of the cowl clips through the back sometimes.  This, along with some nonsensical technical issues that decided to crop up during texturing, ate up my time and necessitated the support of my family this weekend while I neglected my usual responsibilities and pulled an all nighter to get this done on time.  Right now, it is only rigged for feminine avatars, but I will be starting work on getting a masculine version done after I crash.  I'm exhausted, but when I look at my avatar, it feels worth it.

 

The Ravenna Hennin is available exclusively at Midnight Order for 600L until February 20th, after which it will be available at my shop on the Twilight.