**Notethat I purchased this body and it was not given to me to blog. Please also note that the images have not been altered or photo-shopped. They have only been cropped to fit the blog. I shot the images on High using a non-shadow windlight, Nam's Optimal Skin and Prim**
Now, aesthetics on bodies will differ for every person, and I do not expect everyone to agree or like this body as much as I do. But, that being said, I do believe it offers a good alternative if you want something outside of the Belleza, Slinks and Maitreya. (Mind you, I own all of those as well and each one has it pros and cons).
As a photo artist and blogger in SL, I generally have a few requirements that I go by when I purchase mesh: 1. Universality 2. Ease of use 3. Aesthetically pleasing 4. Longevity
Universality
Basically, are there plenty of options from creators for this mesh. Can it use default sizes as well? Is it Omega friendly? The Tonic bodies support rigging for Slink feet, so that solves the shoe issue rather well. It also has a few creators making some mesh clothing that is rigged for Tonic. However, I've found that I can, with my shape, fit Maitreya-rigged well and Slink- rigged to some degree. For example, I can fit Vinyls clothing that is Maitreya rigged using the alpha for the body with very little shape adjustments, if any.
That does speak perhaps to the fact that the shapes I use tend to be proportionate and not overly exaggerated one way or another. As always, I urge people to DEMO, DEMO, DEMO everything before you purchase it to be sure it fits your shape.
The body has recently been updated with Bento hands, which is awesome, as well as having the ability to change the feet from flat to medium to tip toe with one button on the HUD.
This body is Omega ready. It will accept all skins that are Omega friendly, as well as clothing and nail appliers and tattoos.
Ease of use
The body is easy to use, with the HUD being very self-explanatory, and the note cards that come with the body are simple, easy to read and understand and well organized. I found that if I needed to ask a question, 99% of them were answered in the Notecards included with the body. I did not have to go to a website, join a group, etc to get what I needed. I did, however, join the Tonic group and I found it to be super helpful and a good source of information for the body in general. What I noticed is that the creator of Tonic will send out notices with information on clothes, nails, accessories, etc that have been made by others for the Tonic body, which is a nice bonus for Tonic users.
The HUD itself is simple, and I found that there are plenty of alpha layers to accommodate clothing fits. The only thing I'd add would be a button that would alpha basically the Bust region in one click. Currently, you have to pick each alpha slice to alpha the bust area. If the creator were to add the option of "bust" then that would be an easy and fast option for when everything else fits but you need to alpha the girls!
I've included some images of the HUD for you to see here.
Aesthetics
Yay! more photos! Yes, I really love the curves and lines of the Tonic body. If I had to categorize it, I'd say it is in the more universal and youthful group. The lines are smooth, flowing and allow for creating some lovely shapes. Even though I am using the "Curvy" body, you can certainly make it slimmer by the shape you use under it. Something to note, the Curvy body and Fine body both have the same general body shape as far as hips, legs, etc go, but the main difference is in the breast size. For the Fine Tonic body, you will not be able to get very large breasts at all, while with the Curvy body, your breasts are going to be larger from the start.
Now, let's look at the breasts.. (now there is a phrase you will really not hear often!). I love the line of these breasts, and I like how natural they look. Again, this is all based on the shape you use and how you adjust your gravity and size, of course. So, play with the shape and see what you like the best.
I also wanted to note that the Catwa mesh heads fit perfectly with the neck on this body. For my shape, I lowered the size to 0 as that fit best.
You can see from these two images that the neck fit is close to flawless. Depending on which windlight you use and your resolution level, you may see seams differently.
Here is a look at the legs, and in particular the way the thigh connects to the lower buttock area, which is again, a lovely line with no awkward angles.
One of the areas that I would love to see a bit of tweaking on is the joint of the wrist and the hand. One of the reasons I love Slink is the pretty tapering of the wrist towards the arm as well as the more elongated and elegant fingers. If I had my wish, I'd love to see the wrist area be a bit more delicate and shapely, if possible.
Now the derriere... another win! This body has a pretty and perky derriere. Again, everyone has a different aesthetic for their shape. But, I like this curved apple or heart shape more than bodies who do a squarish shape to the bum area.
Below again you can see the lovely "hang" to the breasts and the curves of the hip and thigh area. I also used poses that twisted a bit to see if the body "pinched" or "bunched up" anywhere. Generally, the joints of the neck, shoulder, elbows and wrists have that issue on all bodies though.
Longevity
Will this body become obsolete? Well, that depends on the advancement of SL and what comes in the next few years. I never expect anything to stay the same, especially as technology advances. I knew that even though I loved my Lolas Tango breasts, they would fall by the wayside once mesh bodies came online and were perfected. Bento has changed things to another level of customization as well. So, I can't predict what will happen but I can say that as for mesh bodies, I eagerly await all the fun updates and improvements that are in the future, whatever those may be!
In closing, the Tonic body really is a contender in the mesh body world. I would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone, new and experience users included.
Cost: 2000L
Omega ready: Yes
feet and hands included: Yes
Bento: yes
can use slink shoes for feet: Yes
skins preloaded: Yes, from Lumae
free updates: Yes
Used in the images:
Catwa - Alice Mesh non bento head
skin - .Atomic. Elf skin appliers (with Omega option for body)
hair - Truth
eyes - IKON
Stay tuned for my next review blog.. for the UTILIZATOR - Normie head!
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