SL has arrived the point where latterly all good mesh body’s have BOM (Baked on Mesh). But what is BOM or Baked on Mesh?
Well ill save you the long boring wiki explanation and give you the (al do slightly technically inaccurate) easiest explanation i can think off:
- When a Mesh body (or head) is not BOM you are attaching a “prim” and hide your body with a alpha layer. Skins, tattoo’s etc get added to your body with a applier. You could compare this with a simple texture changer.
- When a Mesh body is BOM (or head) you are replacing your body with a “prim”. Skins, tattoo’s etc get added to your body just like they would if you have the default (non-mesh) avatar. Your default body is in that scene not hidden with a alpha later but replaced by the mesh body.
Lets say you get a shirt that comes with a alpha layer and you attach it to a none BOM body. You will most likely have to wear your body HUD and hide parts of your body so that skin doesn’t poke true. This is because the alpha layer is applied to your default avatar (that is already invisible) and therefor has no effect.
In case of a BOM body you simple wear and are done (assuming the alpha layer is properly made). This is because the alpha layer applies to your mesh body.
As you can see, BOM is quite practical and makes everything a lot easier. In addition it also reduces lag as you are using your avatar as it has been designed to be used by LL. Or one could say, you are walking around like a avatar and not like a object with many textures on it.
Some mesh body’s and clothing do come with practical scripts that automatically hide parts of your body when you attach clothes, this however is unfortunately not the standard.
None the less, its is highly recommended you setup your body and head as BOM. And in combination with the right alpha layers you can change your outfit on the fly without ever having to mess with a HUD.
Or if you want to make it even more easy, check out my Real Wardrobe for 1 click outfit changes.