Insimenator.org

Presenting my latest project, an experiment with Alpha layer clothing over my Hi-Res BodyShape meshes.

This outfit combines my default Hi-Res nude body mesh with an overlaying Tshirt and Skirt outfit, which are fully Alpha enabled to allow transparency to the body underneath, which can be textured separately.

Also, due to new techniques and tools, I am now able to enable Bump Maps on the Hi-Res meshes, so these outfits are fully bump-map enabled!

Many thanks to Marvine, PAF, Bsett and Dr. Pixel for helping me get these working, and to WesH for his awesome Unimesh tools, and to my wonderful testers Persephone, Meremale and Manturr for helping me get them just right for clothing makers.  Can't wait to see what they come up with for these!  :group hu:

The UV for the top is based on the Maxis Tshirt top separate, while the skirt is based on the Hula Skirt outfit.  Feel free to recolor or modify these in any way you like, just don't post to a pay site and give me credit for the meshes.

Other BodyShape sizes will be forthcoming, as well as a High-Heels version, so watch for them!  :D

Enjoy!

*UPDATE 7-22* Fixed transparency issue with mesh, which made it necessary to make 2 different outfits...  Now an Alpha texture that makes layer fully opaque will work like it should, and the weird glow effect around the edges has been fixed.  The Non-Transparency outfit is no longer needed.  Thanks to Marvine for helping fix those issues!  To get the latest files re-download and overwrite the old files.


Warlokk

Nice and thanks as always.
What do you think of continuing with semi-transparent clothes ? or 1/4 transparent... i say semi or 1/4 visible underwears...under every-day clothes.

Easily do-able with this mesh, the underwear would be textured onto the body mesh, while the alpha clothing layer could be set to a slightly transparent setting.  The outfits posted here have a panties & stockings texture under the skirt, so by altering the alpha layer on the skirt slightly, you would have that exact effect.  Adding a bra texture to the body would allow the same for the top.

I have ideas for several other meshes that could be done with alpha layers, but I really need to get back to finishing up my Bodyshape sizes, so that will come later, or as I get inspired anyway :)

Wow! Can't wiat to get working on new outfits. Makes me ALMOST want to cancel next weeks vacation :)

Very nice, Warlokk - thanks!

Nice job!

Great work! Thanks so much! :)

Very nice...

Thanks !! J'adore :)

Great job Warlokk, congratulations :)

Thanks Ju, couldn't have done it without you! :D

Love it, fantastic, wonderful.  Now, I need a high heels version.  Great stuff as always.

hurah!!! thank you. that transparancy was killing me. buy any chance when you makeyou alpha meshes could the geometry closser match the body?

This one was my first go at it, so more than likely the next ones will be a bit better... everything is a learning process... :)

I have several ideas for other Alpha outfits, but I have a lot on my plate so it'll be a little bit.  I'll strive to get them as close to the body as possible, if the outfit warrants it of course.

Great work, thanks!

I really apreciate all the hard work you've put into this project. I have been following ( ok stalking ) your forum since the first body shape project and I'm really enjoying the new stuff. I'm here for the long haul. Take your time because I know it will be well worth the wait. I can texture pretty good and some alpha editing (but no meshing) So if uou need any help from me just let me know.

oooooh when will the next size of this wonderful collection be released?

The rest of the sizes for the Alpha outfit will be a while... I've got the full-body nudes in testing now for all the sizes however, and they will be released soon.  Since those are a component in making the sizes for this outfit, it's an important step, plus it'll give everyone some full-body meshes to start making clothes for in all the sizes.  Once those are released, I'm going back to the A's, then we'll go from there.

Ty Warlokk...Great work:)

woot
awesome

YAY!! Thanx very much, Warlokk :)

Hello, have you a tutorial to add a alpah part to a mesh, when I do it the mesh is tranparent. thanks for the great job

There isn't one yet that I'm aware of, I had some help from Marvine though.  It's tricky though, I'll say that.

ok and could you explain to me how you do please?

Not really, it's been a while and it'd take forever to type up... your best bet is to start with the Hula Skirt outfit from Maxis, that's the one Marvine and I both based our first ones on.  The important thing is the groups need to stay the same, which it sounds like you got... there's a setting in SimPE someplace for Transparency that needs to be set to a certain value, but I forget which... I'll try to look tonight, but my free time has been pretty limited lately.  All the info is over at MTS2 in the Create section though, I believe.

I was playing with this one to see what it inspired and noticed a fascinating anomaly:

(http://thesims2.simshost.com/images/warlokk_alpha_skirt_anomaly.jpg)
Artifact appears at oblique lighting angles
No boobies were harmed in the making of this screen shot.

Here I filled in the regular layer's alpha channel with solid white and used a skin tone for the texture.  The alpha layer (which is the skirt and blouse) has a solid red texture and solid black alpha channel in the region of the skirt (and no top yet).  Both bump maps ("normals") are flat; this is just a test article.

The amusement happened when I rotated the model in Body Shop.  When the lighting at the sides of the skirt is oblique, a small triangle will appear.  I'm guessing that we're seeing the inside of the skirt because the shading matches light reflecting off the inside.

This isn't a serious problem because you can make a lot of different outfits that blank out that portion of the skirt (such as a shorter skirt).  The artifact will only appear if you try to make a full knee-length skirt based on this mesh.

It's probably something odd about the UV map.  (This UV map has other amusing anomalies that will present more of a challenge to the skinner, but that's a different subject.)

Here's the challenging bit about the UV map that skinners should be aware of:

(http://thesims2.simshost.com/images/warlokk_alpha_skirt_uvmap_anomaly.jpg)
The UV map is pinched in the front of the skirt

The skinners at Maxis must have done this to achieve some effect in the hula skirt.  Perhaps they were wanting to distort the pattern of the grass skirt to make it appear more natural.

In any case, if your pattern won't line up in front, this is why.  The UV map is pinched in the tummy area.

Once you get this one open in Body Shop you'll also see that the skirt is oriented sideways in the texture (which is why the letters are sideways in this screen shot).  It will help to export the hula skirt to see how the whole thing lays out.

(Note that you can also see the anomalous triangles in this view.)

Just in case someone wants the body grid I was using in the screen shot above, here it is:

http://thesims2.simshost.com/images/bodygrid.jpg
(Big file, about 1.1 MB.)

Aw, darn.  This morning I ran into a problem that is a show-stopper for a sleeved outfit.

(http://thesims2.simshost.com/images/warlokk_alpha_arm_uvmap_anomaly.jpg)
UV Map leaves a hole near the underarm
Don't shoot the messenger.

That little ragged hole appears on both sides, on the inside of the sleeve.  It won't go away even if I use a solid white alpha channel for the clothing layer (that would be the "alpha" layer).

It might be that those facets on the skin layer are outside the clothing layer.  Blanking out the skin layer doesn't fix it, but I don't suppose I would have expected it to.

But... hmmm... one might make an outfit with no armpits.  They used to do that back in the 19th century, before the invention of antiperspirants.  It could be a Sims outfit and a history lesson at the same time!
Downloading such an outfit would probably would qualify for college credit in Nyawk or Fornia.

There are also a couple of those tricky bits where the background shows through at certain lighting angles, too.  (You can see one of them here, where the blue part of the sleeve just isn't there.)  This alpha business seems to be more complex than I would have thought!

Well it actually appears that (warning, i'm still learning terminology for skins meshes and stuff, trying to figure which words yall use to describe which items) The Skin? is pushing out past the clothing mesh at that spot. In other words, the underarm is bigger than the clothing mesh supports. I think if others look closely they can confirm or dispose my assumption. Either way, if it is in fact the issue. Hope my bringing it up helps you.

is there a alpha version of this size?

Not yet, I haven't created any sizes for this yet, but it's on my to-do list.

Thanks!  That's sort of what I said--those facets of the skin are outside the clothing layer.

There is a solution for a sleeved outfit, however.  You could add matching patches to the underarm area of the skin so that when it shows through, you still see the fabric.

Thank you,

I have been going absolutely wild downloading your stuff.  Love it.

Great job~!! thank you.:shock:

Thankyou

Very Useful...
Great work, as always!

Great Job!! Thanks

Very Nice Work, Thank You so Much for Sharing These!

seems  great, try it now, thanks

Thank you. Love it. You Ruuuuuuuuule!!!! :-P

hey .. can this great mesh be updated with the sexy feet and hi heels too ??

I wouldn't see why not, but I want to get the rest of the XHi-Res sets done for the various sizes first.  I do plan to do some more alpha stuff with the XHi meshes though.

thanks!!!!!!Great work!!!!