What is a mesh?
agentorange:
What is a mesh and where can I download it/or one?
SimmieCal:
Think of a mesh as a template. For clothing - think of it as a mannequin that a tailor would use.
There are meshes and there are recolors. Take a Maxis sofa. There are only so many sofa colors for it and then someone makes a new "recolor" and puts it up for download. The "shape" or "template" of the sofa is already in your game (part of the Maxis program). You only need to download the "recolor".
Now take a look at the wonderful bodybuilder meshes and clothes available on this site. You don't see any body shape like that in the regular game, right? Well, first you must download the mesh - the "template" / "mannequin" for the bodybuilder's shape. Then you can download skin colors (nude/ anatomically correct / whatever you want) that sit on top of the mesh or you download clothing that sits on top of the mesh. The bodybuilder clothes won't show up on your sim if the mesh isn't there for them to "sit on top of".
Does that help? If not, feel free to ask more questions.
jase439:
Objects in 3D games are comprised of "geometry" (or "models") and textures - two dimensional pictures or images that are applied to the surface of that geometry to give it a particular look. In 3D games, object geometry is actually made up of tiny triangles "glued" together to make a single contiguous surface. This is traditionally called a "mesh" - a latticework of triangles that make up 3D geometry:
If we solidify this "mesh" we get our mannequin that Simmie spoke of:
We can then apply a texture (clothing, in this case) to our model to give it a more appealing look than dull gray :)
The 2D texture is stretched across the surface of the geometry, producing the end product:
As SimmeCal mentions you might download one mesh, and then multiple textures (or skins) which are applied to that mesh to create many different looks.
In short:
A mesh defines shape
A texture defines style
You need both to see anything in the game. Many (if not most) custom clothing or content just uses the mesh files that are already in the game. But if you want a differently shaped object - one not present in the game by default - then you need a custom mesh for that object as well. Many custom body styles, hair, and clothing require the use of such meshes.
J
BeosBoxBoy:
Excellent work Jase, thanks for this!
Emovan:
When I download a mesh to I just put it straight into the downloads section?, and what happens to the clothing or whatever that I download with it?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page