The provided source material details a specific virtual product line and a promotional freebie offered by CATWA, a creator of digital mesh heads for the Second Life virtual environment. This information pertains to digital goods rather than physical consumer products. The sources indicate that CATWA has released a free promotional item, a Christmas-themed head accessory, and has detailed technical specifications for its HDPRO head series, which includes features, updates, and compatibility notes. The available data does not contain information about physical free samples, trials, or mail-in programs for U.S. consumers in categories like beauty, baby care, pet food, health, food, or household goods. The content is focused on virtual reality (VR) avatar customization within the Second Life platform.
Promotional Free Gift Offer
A promotional free gift has been announced for the Second Life platform. The offer is for a "Xmas Head Accessory with festive lights and a Santa hat." The source describes this as a "FREE GIFT" intended as a thank you to users. The item is available at the in-world store location for no cost. A note clarifies that the item is listed for 1 Linden dollar ($1L$) on the Second Life Marketplace. The reason provided is that free items cannot be purchased as gifts for friends on the marketplace platform; the 1L$ price is a technical workaround to allow gifting. To obtain the free item, users are directed to the in-world store. The source also provides a Live Chat Support link for users to join the Catwa.Clip Designs group and seek assistance.
CATWA HDPRO Head Series Overview
CATWA's HDPRO is a range of advanced Bento mesh heads created by Catwa Clip of the CATWA store. The series is described as a new level of avatar head technology for Second Life, featuring new smoother rigging, high-definition textures and materials, and an improved UV mapping system designed to be as close as possible to the default Second Life UV. A significant feature of the HDPRO heads is the "Universal Neck," a collaboration between mesh head and body creators to use a common neck, aiming to eliminate neck seams. The smile with Bento Bones is noted as a unique feature of the CATWA HDPRO.
At the time of the source material's writing (September 2020), two female HDPRO heads, "MajerEdged" and "MajerSoft," were released, with a male head in development. Both demos and full versions are available at the Catwa store in-world or on the Catwa Marketplace store.
Bakes on Mesh (BoM) Compatibility
The HDPRO heads are created with Bakes on Mesh (BoM) in mind. While users can apply skin appliers and other appliers, the focus of HDPRO is on BoM functionality. The heads are compatible with BoM skin and BoM makeup layers. However, the additional hairbase, blush, and neck layers have been removed from HDPRO. This means users cannot wear an applier skin and then add an applier hairbase on top of it. To wear a textured hairbase with HDPRO, users must activate BoM and use a BoM skin and BoM hairbase. The Eye Mask, Lips, and Ear Mask areas retain HD applier support for higher-definition textures.
Applier Compatibility and Updates
Older Catwa appliers may still work on HDPRO, but because the UV mapping is different, they may not look correct, especially around the eyes, nose, and brows. Appliers for hairbase, neck tattoo, or blush will not work due to the removal of those layers. Users are advised to consider using BoM layers for these elements. The HDPRO Style HUD must be worn when using appliers.
The source includes information about updates to the HDPRO heads and HUDs. For example, an update in September 2020 added "Killer Wink eyes, and lips moods" to the head and updated the Style HUD to accept both HD and NonHD textures. Another update fixed bugs, such as missing animations and incorrect settings for eyes mask appliers. A specific update for the MajerEdged head fixed an issue with a light remaining on the back of the head even after the face light was turned off. Instructions for updating are provided: wear the old head, save presets, wear the new head, and apply the presets.
CATWA EVOX Heads Line
The source announces an upcoming CATWA EVOX HEADS line. For this new line, CATWA has received approval from LELUTKA to use their UV map for BoM skin and BoM makeup layers. The HD Makeup layers for EVOX will use the HDPRO UV maps. Compatibility requirements for CATWA EVOX Heads are specified: BoM skin and BoM makeup must be EVOX, makeup appliers must be CATWA or CATWA HDPRO, and materials must be CATWA-EVOX. The source notes that since this is a very new mesh and scripts, there may be initial glitches that will be fixed quickly.
HUD and User Interface Features
The CATWA HDPRO system includes a Style HUD with various tabs and settings. The "Settings" tab allows users to show or hide specific parts of the head, such as the scalp, tongue, brain, lashes, ears, tears, iris, and lacrimal. The "Preset Appliers" section provides a one-click save slot for all head appliers and settings, though it does not save BoM settings. The "Reset" function can set selected items back to factory defaults for skin, makeup, alpha settings, or the entire head.
The HUD itself has a speaker icon to toggle clicking sounds, colored squares to change the HUD color, a transparency slider, and a size slider. Caution is advised for the "Scripts Buttons," which delete styling scripts (paintbrush icon) or animation scripts (running man icon). Users are instructed to always make a backup before using these functions.
The "Shapes" tab includes the "CATWA BEYOND SHAPE Sliders," which are new sliders in addition to the default Second Life shape sliders, allowing for different facial features. After using these sliders, users must reset their skeleton either locally (for their view only) or globally (for others viewing them). The "Share" icon allows sharing Beyond Shape sliders with other HDPRO users nearby, either by live sharing for real-time adjustment or by saving and sending slider settings.
Conclusion
The provided source material offers detailed information about a virtual freebie and the technical specifications of the CATWA HDPRO product line for Second Life. It describes a free Christmas head accessory available in-world, outlines the features and updates of the HDPRO mesh heads, explains BoM compatibility, and details HUD functionalities. The information is specific to the virtual reality platform Second Life and digital avatar customization. It does not contain any data regarding physical product samples, trials, or promotional offers for U.S. consumers in standard consumer goods categories.