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Retired Creators => Female Hi-Res Bodyshape Project => Topic started by: Warlokk on February 10, 2006, 10:27:43 am



Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on February 10, 2006, 10:27:43 am
Clothing:

Open BodyShop, Create Clothing, start a new Clothing project, and export the outfit you want to use the textures from. Name it something you can find later (PurpleShirt, for example). Once it exports the textures, cancel that project.

Now do another Clothing project, using the outfit of mine you want to use, and give it the name you want to use for this outfit, preferably with the size you're using (Nat36DTankTop for this example). You're limited to a certain number of characters so you may have to be creative. It helps if the mesh is based off the same one you're transferring to, but not always necessary if you can make it work.

Once the files export, open an Explorer window (keep Bodyshop open), and browse to your My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\ folder, and find the Projects folder. Inside you should see a folder named for each project you made. Copy the .bmp files from the first project folder (PurpleShirt) into the 2nd (Nat36DTankTop), overwriting the ones there, there should be 2 or 3 of them depending on if there's a normal map (bump map) or not. Make sure you don't overwrite the .package file, or you'll have to start over.

Now go to BodyShop again, and click the little circle-arrow Refresh button, and you should see the new texture over my mesh. If everything looks OK, you can put some notes in the Comments field and import it to your game, and select which categories you want the outfit to show up under, and you're done! If you need to make some tweaks, you can use your favorite graphics program and edit the .bmp files in the new project folder, and use the Refresh button to check your progress after each save.

Now here's a cool trick... if you want to use the same mesh to do a number of different outfits, you don't have to re-export mine, you can just use the same project you already created. You just have to export the outfits you want to use the textures from, and copy them into that project folder and re-import, it will create unique outfit files each time and put it in your SavedSims folder.

Skintones:

Again in BodyShop, go to Create Parts, Genetics, and export the skin you want to convert, which will dump the textures into the project for you. Like before, give it a name that's descriptive, 'cause you may want to use it again later (We'll call ours LightReal).

Next, cancel the project (the files will stay where you dumped them), and start a new one to export the custom mesh skintone with the shape you want, and name the project something with the size in it (Nat36D36) so you can find the files later. Then, in Explorer copy the texture files (.bmp's) over from the first folder you exported (LightReal) to the new project folder (Nat36D36)--don't MOVE them, unless you feel like going through the whole first part again, and make sure you don't copy the .project file, just the textures.

In Bodyshop, click the little refresh icon to make sure it worked(you'll see the updated texture, but still no shape, that's normal since the mesh isn't a true nude), and re-import my skin to your game. If you want, you can edit the swatch.bmp file so the icon looks better, but it's not necessary. That's it! You can redo it with other sizes too now that you have the textures exported you want from your favorite skin (you did copy them, and not move, right?). To do more sizes with the same skintone, repeat the process starting at the 2nd paragraph. I'd advise putting something in the Notes field telling which skintone and mesh it is using.

I hope this helps some people tailor all these new custom meshes coming out to suit their needs. Remember, don't upload or distribute anything you make using someone else's work without permission! My meshes are free to pass around, but many textures/outfits/skintones are not.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: meremale on February 10, 2006, 08:03:00 pm
Thank you for these tutes.  If anyone wants to adjust the breast to suit your upcoming 3D meshes, these are the locations that fit perfectly using paintshoppro (as they are pixel locations any graphics programs should be the same).
This should be done before importing the new skins.
A Female Left Horizontal  716-720,166; 716-720,172 Vertical 715,167-171; 721,167-171
A Female Right Horizontal 816-820,166; 816-820;172 Vertical 815,167-171; 821,167-171
T Female Left Horizontal  716-719,167; 716-719,172 Vertical 715.168-171; 720,168-171
T Female Right Horizontal 816-819,167; 816-819,172 Vertical 815,168-171; 820,168-171
Hope this helps


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: meremale on February 10, 2006, 08:22:11 pm
Is there any one who knows a way of importing bumpmaps (Semloh skin for eg.)?  I tried using the above procedure adding the bumpmap files. The skin shows fine but not the bumpmaps.  I know the bumpmaps will only show when the sim is clothed (some clothing) but I like the effect and would like to keep it while using Warlokk's different sizes.  Any help would be appreciated.
PS Semloh's skin fits the 3D meshes and is worth looking at.
(I hope it is ok to post this here)


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on February 10, 2006, 08:44:18 pm
The current version of the Unimesh tool does not support bumpmaps.  Wes is still working on a way to get it to work, but for now the data gets lost during the import.  This should only affect the skintones however, which usually don't have bumpmaps anyway.

Once Wes gets them working in the importer I'll fix any meshes released to that point.

More info in Wes_H's thread at MTS2, of course:  http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=122399


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: meremale on February 10, 2006, 09:39:56 pm
AHA Getting my head around this. English to you Swahili to me at the mo. I thought the data was lost because Semloh's skin crashed when being exported in simpe.  I have a feeling that when using the bumpmaped skin and your default new top mesh, they remained in clothing that allowed them but disappeared when naked. Will have another look. No reply needed and thanks for your help. Cheers


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: meremale on February 11, 2006, 12:34:49 am
In CAS TOP CLOTHING, depending on what garment I choose, I have the choice of 3 variations when using Semloh's skin.
1 Semloh's bumpmap effect - uses a mesh without a bumpmap/normal layer, or 3D effects.
2 Your incredible 3D effects - uses your 3D mesh
3 No effect - uses a mesh that has its own bumpmap layer.

Sure beats the old Barbie effects

Am I on the right track?

Regards MereMale


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on February 11, 2006, 10:58:17 am
Sounds like it's working exactly like it should... skintone bumps will show through any clothing that doesn't have it's own, which is probably why Maxis didn't use it on skintones.  If Wes figures out how to get the bumps working in the new tools then they should work again on the nudes too, after I fix them.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Sleepycat on February 14, 2006, 03:47:58 pm
Quote from: Warlokk
Clothing:
Once the files export, open an Explorer window (keep Bodyshop open), and browse to your My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\ folder, and find the Projects folder. Inside you should see a folder named for each project you made. Copy the .bmp files from the first project folder (PurpleShirt) into the 2nd (Nat36DTankTop), overwriting the ones there, there should be 2 or 3 of them depending on if there's a normal map (bump map) or not. Make sure you don't overwrite the .package file, or you'll have to start over.



figured I would mention that this method dosen't work on some computers but the bmps can still be copied by opening each one in the graphics program and then doing copy&paste over the new bmp files (the ones you wish to replace of course)


Quote from: Warlokk
Clothing:
Now here's a cool trick... if you want to use the same mesh to do a number of different outfits, you don't have to re-export mine, you can just use the same project you already created.


oddly enough this also dosen't work on some computers :(  I tried this method a few times when doing the same outfit in different colors and always had trouble getting all of them to show up (and stay showing up) unless Maxis changed something since I last tried it.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: meremale on February 16, 2006, 05:39:53 am
If a piece of clothing (after transfer) shows up distorted in bodyshop, it is not likely to work in game, is it?  Is that because it needs its original mesh? Any quick fix?
Thank Warlokk for all your hard work


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on February 16, 2006, 08:47:06 am
Distorted how?  Exploding mesh, or just off textures?  Pretty much what you see in BodyShop is how it'll show in game, so yeah, you have to get it right.  Post a screenshot if you like.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: meremale on February 17, 2006, 06:34:58 am
The top I was trying to convert was an "off the body open front shirt"  When converted it had black shaddows down the front and some panels of the shirt appeared missing.  The bmp images consisted of scattered panels of material so I guessed it needed its own mesh to show properly


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on February 17, 2006, 08:29:39 am
Ah, sounds like it has more groups or alpha channels than the normal outfits... I haven't worked with those much yet, but I know there are a few in the game.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: kendra on February 21, 2006, 08:25:11 pm
I love all your body shape project meshes, I just have one desire that you and marvine hook up to make clothes for all the different breast sizes useing those great heels. But once again loveeeeeee your work, keep it up!!


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: ladyakhila on February 28, 2006, 10:39:02 am
Thank you so much for this tutorial!  this is exactly what I was looking for!  Hope I can manage to do it correctly...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: ionlylook2sweet on May 04, 2006, 08:13:56 pm
I'm confused:/ are the .rar files already exported into the bodyshop??


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on May 04, 2006, 08:25:14 pm
No, you have to install my stuff, or whichever meshes you want to use, into your game first... then you can use Bodyshop to make new outfits/skins.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: BeosBoxBoy on May 05, 2006, 11:08:52 am
Quote from: ionlylook2sweet
I'm confused:/ are the .rar files already exported into the bodyshop??

ionlylooksweet:

Make sure you unpack the RAR-files with one of the following:

PC-users:
WinRAR ($ PC: http://www.rarlabs.com/ (http://www.rarlabs.com/))
7zip (free PC: http://www.7-zip.org/ (http://www.7-zip.org/))
AlZip (free PC: http://www.altools.net/ (http://www.altools.net/))
TUGZip (free PC: http://www.tugzip.com/ (http://www.tugzip.com/))
Filzip (free PC: http://www.filzip.com/ (http://www.filzip.com/))
IZArc (free PC: http://www.izarc.org/ (http://www.izarc.org/))
UnzipThemAll (free PC: http://www.herve-thouzard.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=6 (http://www.herve-thouzard.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=6))
ICEOWS  (free PC: http://www.iceows.com/ (http://www.iceows.com/))

Mac-users:
Stuffit ($ Mac & PC: http://www.stuffit.com/ (http://www.stuffit.com/))
**Some Mac Users report corrupt packages from using Stuffit
**check for an upgrade or use UnRarX
UnRarX (free Mac: http://unrarx.sourceforge.net/ (http://unrarx.sourceforge.net/))

or some similar software, place the extracted files in your Downloads folder
(one of the following):

Windows XP
[/B][/U]

C:\Documents and Settings\*your-windows-username*\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads

Windows 98, 98 SE, & Millennium Edition
[/B][/U]

C:\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads

other possible locations are:

   C:\The Sims 2\Downloads
C:\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\UserData\Downloads
C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads
C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\UserData\Downloads
C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims 2\Downloads
C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\UserData\Downloads
C:\Program Files\The Sims 2\Downloads
C:\Program Files\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\UserData\Downloads


Title: Quick Question...
Post by: glasaya on May 08, 2006, 10:25:05 am
this is really, really great!  I hated sims all looking alike.  wish i could do what you do.  but i guess that's why you are the master.

would this tutorial also work for crteating invisible clothing for the assorted sizes?  for example, could "mannequins" be made for each individual size, allowing
the sim to remain unclothed?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on May 08, 2006, 10:41:20 am
Absolutely... in fact it's really very easy.  To make a nude outfit for a particular mesh, you simply export that outfit, then edit the exported .bmp with "alpha" in the name... this is the layer that determines what is transparent.  Open that file in Paint or any graphics program, and make it completely black.  This will make the entire outfit transparent.

Note this really only works with a nude mesh, otherwise it looks pretty odd... experiment, and use the Refresh button in BodyShop after you save the changes to the .bmp, and you'll see how it looks immediately.


Title: Thank You
Post by: glasaya on May 08, 2006, 10:45:12 am
Thanks for reply so fast.  i'm going to give it a try.  i'm not very talented,...but not dumb either...so i hope it works.  would it be best to start with invisible clothing first?  i mean, would it be easier?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on May 08, 2006, 11:49:59 am
Easiest to start with is a swimsuit or undies, since the shape and texture is pretty simple.  It's what many nude outfits were made from originally anyway.


Title: you are slick
Post by: glasaya on May 08, 2006, 07:18:25 pm
i want to thank you again for all your help, and to tell you how slick you are.  while looking through undies to alter the alphas, i found the entire set already nude.  just a matter of exporting, re-assigning to all categories and re-importing.  it was so simple!  thank you again!  you rock!!


Title: hey. and thank you. ;D
Post by: freewill on May 17, 2006, 04:03:53 am
this might sound dumb and all -.- but this is my first time using body shop like ever! lol. and I was trying to convert one of your tops and bottoms Warlokk into an outfit that i love that is an whole one. (i dont have any whole outfits of your sizes yet) only tops and bottoms, and  when i click on the top only the top got converted and when i click on the bottoms only the bottoms got converted -.- I was wonder, is there an way that i could add them together so i will be able to make an whole outfit? sorry if it sounds confusing.:sad11:


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on May 17, 2006, 08:12:52 am
Not really, no...  I am going to start working on more outfits shortly, including full-body nudes for all sizes.  Until then though, you can check out the Original Bodyshape set, there are some more outfits in there, although they won't match perfectly, they're pretty close.  You should run the MeshCleanup files afterwards though to remove any conflicts.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: freewill on May 18, 2006, 05:40:33 pm
Thank you ;] i'll do just that.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: IcemanTO on May 20, 2006, 09:29:25 am
Quote from: Warlokk
Not really, no...  I am going to start working on more outfits shortly, including full-body nudes for all sizes.  Until then though, you can check out the Original Bodyshape set, there are some more outfits in there, although they won't match perfectly, they're pretty close.  You should run the MeshCleanup files afterwards though to remove any conflicts.


Hi, "gigantic" thank for your work!
I've made a wonderful girl using your new Hi-Res meshes with a 34DE-36 body. Following your clear tuto I've converted some tops and some bottoms dresses to these sizes and also I've converted the very good Paradise's skintone. All looks very, very good and sexy.
But I cannot convert (or, I'm not able to) some custom beautiful lingerie and swimsuits because there are not yet the full-body sizes I need.
Above, you wrote I can use some meshes from your original bodyshape system (I still have it, stored out of the game, of course).
But, wich "old" mesh must I use (I'm a little confused about the new naming-system of the breast size)?
And I think that I need to use a full-body "nude" mesh to start, or not?

Thanks in advance,
Ice


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on May 20, 2006, 10:15:28 am
The new sizes only changed the numbers on the DD and DDD to be more accurate.  So if you made a 34De-36 sim, you can use the same size outfit from the original set for now until I finish up the rest.  If you had a 36DDDn, you could use the 40DDD from the old set.  The DDD enhanced is new though, so there's no good match for that.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: IcemanTO on May 20, 2006, 10:22:00 am
Many thanks for your quick reply.
It's more clear now.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: cableguy7uk on May 21, 2006, 04:57:03 am
Can the tutorial be used for full outfits?, works great on tops.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on May 21, 2006, 11:03:01 am
Yup, absolutely... it works with just about any outfit, as long as the original and the target mesh are mostly the same, just so the textures line up correctly.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 11, 2006, 01:02:34 pm
Say man,thanks for all your work on meshes-first of all!...I am just discovering it...and now a question:
   I'm fairly new...not to 3d-but to sim modding...but I'm finding consistently with the teen mesh models(and I haven't experimented with the default-but rather so far with the two wider hipped teen meshes)...that they won't take a skirt...
  That is all my efforts to make a skirt for them-somewhat wide ranging...result in hotpants instead-or very snug bermuda shorts...they are great looking shorts and hotpants,lol!...but was hoping to figure out how to get a skirt for them...
   As far as the variations I have attempted-1st I tried a mod clothing for teens from another site....2nd I tried a standard EA skirt...then third I finally tried the skirts that Persephone has made for your wider hipped woman models...and still Bermuda shorts...I also tried mask alterations based on the sucessful skirting she had achieved with your woman models...
  So tried to do some pretty thorough experimenting before presenting this question...Could it be the teen model at present might not take a skirt?..Conforming clothes all seem to convert well?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 11, 2006, 02:22:21 pm
Well, I'm not exactly clear on what you're trying to do... in order for an outfit to be a skirt, you have to be converting it to a skirt mesh... I believe the Teen Bottoms I did included a miniskirt, so that's the one you'd have to use.  Putting a skirt texture on a pants mesh will just end up with, well, skirt-colored pants :)

Oh, one other thing... when you copy the files across from the exported textures to the new outfit, make sure you do NOT copy the .package file... that will cause weird things to happen.  Not sure if that's what you're seeing, but I thought I'd mention it.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 11, 2006, 02:52:44 pm
thanks...not tampering w/package at all...just following the tuts in this thread...but seriously a muddle of confusion at this point,lol...as it just did the same with an adult model mesh....I can do my own tex work in Poser and 3ds Max-yet this Body Studio is throwing me for a loop...Mine are both from Sims 2 and UEP...maybe dated...maybe should search a patch as,now I'm suspecting my prog...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: MutantBunny on June 11, 2006, 06:03:07 pm
I have been wondering if it would be possible to link your female files to BBB/Marvines Muscle man skins. CAN a skin file be linked to two different meshes, one male one female?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 11, 2006, 06:09:49 pm
It can, with a bit of work in SimPe... basically you'd follow Marvine's mesh-linked skintone tutorial, and do it for each category you want to link to a mesh.  For instance mine link to both an Adult and Teen set of meshes for each size.  It's been discussed before, problem is choosing what to link to what, plus I'm buried right now.  If anyone wants to take it on though, I don't mind, just get permission from Marvine & Beos, which I'm sure they'd give.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: MutantBunny on June 11, 2006, 06:17:29 pm
I've never attempted skin linking. I'm taking it this could be a hard job then if YOU can get confused on 'link this to that'.

I'm a paradise skins fan, have been since they came out. But I also like the muscle man skins very much too. I'd take on this linking project if Marvine and BB say it's ok..and their tut is written "linking for dummies".:)


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: cylais on June 11, 2006, 08:33:03 pm
Hey Warlokk! I love your work. I'm trying so hard to find a tutorial you have on putting other clothes on your bodyshape meshes. I saw it somewhere but can't find it. Can you help me out?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 11, 2006, 09:34:38 pm
Umm... this is it  :)  Check the main post on this thread, has everything you need.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 12, 2006, 04:03:09 pm
re:I believe the Teen Bottoms I did included a miniskirt, so that's the one you'd have to use. Putting a skirt texture on a pants mesh will just end up with, well, skirt-colored pants

lol...getting my head around this a little better...Warlokk...Has there been a miniskirt for your Teen Lg Bottom,and Teen XL Bottom?...if so I can't find them...

Trying to get the basics...and already have some interesting skin tex work-that I hope might lead towards towards some community contributions on my part...But in the mean time-trying to rapidly close a learning curve gap on Bodyshop,and SimPe...Look forward to the D Teen whole body release!

  Hoping to see a workflow process for Max-and I think some clothing meshes for your figures would be a great way to start(but I notice Milkshape seems the standard preferred-so hopefully the SimPe plugs have a way to flow for Max...)

  Is all outside my standard z-brush Max flow ( http://gmonkai.deviantart.com/ ),,,but I have gotten quite interested-and would enjoy giving it a try...

  As someone said in another of your threads-"the stupid question is the one not asked"...if a skirt for the Teen XL and Lg Bottoms exist-I'd sure appreciate someone pointing me towards it..


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 12, 2006, 04:37:21 pm
Oh wow!...Maybe these!...http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=155625    so,need no answer,thanks!...the division of MTS2 and Sexysims2 makes tracking all this confusing to newbies...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 12, 2006, 08:07:59 pm
Haha there you go, glad you found them... that's actually why I opened this section here at InSIM in the first place, to make one place where I can post everything... MTS2 gets more traffic, but this area is so much easier to use, for me and others.

As for Milkshape over Max, well, Milkshape cost $20 for a license... Max is... more than that :D  Once you get the hang of it though it definitely gets the job done, plus all the good plugins are for MS, so it's really the only option for body meshes.

Look over at MTS2 for Wes_H's Unimesh plugins, all the info and tutorials etc are there.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 12, 2006, 08:45:43 pm
Yeah...I was ranging around that stuff..That's where I noticed the Milkshape preference for simming...noticed one dude's use of Poser too...and though SimPe hosts some Max plugs-noticed some people saying they found them dysfunctional...and got to looking at milkshape-yeah it's a real affordable package...
  Would be a whole big workflow beast I imagine...Gonna just push with texes for awhile...
   You and Beosboy and the associates modding to your meshes have really given this game some life now...I've always liked high poly and high res texes-but this gets me real interested towards pushing the other envelope...getting such cool looks that can integrate to gameplay realtime!...Once again,incredible work dude...You rock!!!


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 12, 2006, 09:51:28 pm
Actually, the Poser technique you mention is how I am doing the entire Hi-Res Bodyshape series... I created the base Hi-Res meshes in the standard size to start with, but then I run those and all the clothing meshes through Poser, with a set of magnets I've created for each size.  With a bit of tweaking, I can make each outfit the same size and shape, to keep it consistent across the set.

I am considering releasing my magnet sets for those who have Poser, once I get the main part of the project finished, then folks can adapt other meshes to the sizes quickly and (somewhat) easily.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 12, 2006, 10:13:29 pm
Cool!...I was looking at...I think it was "zenman" tut...talking about magnet sets...and integrating the clothing Simpte Bianca tut...
  You still use the Milkshape in some part of your workflow though,right?..like maybe the mesh conversion?...as I see it referenced higher in this thread in regard to the "unimesh" and bumpmaps...
  Bumpmaps will probably be a nice leap,,,I don't know enough on game design to know if they get more processing intensive or not though...I'd like seeing it take displacement maps...lol!-but that might await the next advent in processing and bigger CPU...because displacement I have found(as in z-brush to Max) can make a low poly mesh look like millions of polys when it's done right-but even in Max they slow rendering(but save system memory)so I doubt games could process them yet...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 12, 2006, 10:48:26 pm
Well, the game handles bump/normal mapping, but Wes' plugins do not process the data correctly, so anything created with them loses the bump information.  However, using Milkshape (or Poser) to just manipulate base Maxis meshes, you can export to .obj and use the Mesh Tool, as described in Brianna's tutorial.  Basically, I used the Unimesh plugins for the hi-res nudes, and I use Poser to create the sizes for them and the standard clothing.  Everything goes back through Milkshape though for the fine-tuning, and the final exports before importing into the game files... the process differs though whether you're using Unimesh or Mesh Tool, depending on what you're trying to do.

Zenman's magnets are what I built my magnets from... I used them as a starting point and developed my shapes from there.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 12, 2006, 10:49:23 pm
The first thing I did texwise..was nipple oriented as you pointed out one might wanna do...
  It was a test run that got a great result...but I can't release it as I used a DAZ resource...some of the old DAZ texes are great...in this case I used the old V3 hag nipple-as it is very photoreal...lightened it...shrunk...pasted to the Navitsea tex...a little smudging the edges and aureola under...very cool result...
  When I get to doing them from scratch-I'll use photo and other fully released merchant resources I have...real curious as to what I may get on a full skin...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 12, 2006, 10:52:02 pm
Cool...and leave the polys as they are...and move vertices to sculpt,eh?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 13, 2006, 12:00:06 am
Exactly... as long as you're just moving verts, you can use Mesh Tool, and bump maps work fine.  Once you start adding or removing stuff, you have to use Unimesh, which really works great, but no bump.  That's why I use it for nudes, but not the clothes.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 13, 2006, 01:50:26 am
hmmm...so you can add a few faces,and realign some edges?...wasn't sure the game would take them that way..but I guess as long as the polys don't get excessive,and the bones stay the same-it's cool?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 13, 2006, 08:27:15 am
Actually Unimesh allows you to totally re-work the bone assignments, if you're feeling adventurous... I haven't played with that too much, but the tools are very slick, and have features to help prevent unassigned/underassigned bones etc.  Check out the thread and docs, it's very complete.  :)


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gmonkai on June 13, 2006, 02:39:36 pm
Cool...yeah,I think thru the sites(here,MTS2,and the new adult site) the info threads seem to be really thorough on these subjects...I appreciate you letting me pick your brain a bit man!
  I might be getting psyched up here to attempt a first skin set...Get a bit of momentum,and maybe start looking towards the mesh possibilities later...Have made three experiments of skin redesigns-but as they are "integrations" of the ones available...not for share yet...but they've helped me get the overview of arrangement to where I'm ready to compose one up from scratch...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on June 27, 2006, 08:00:18 pm
Your best bet is really Milkshape, since most of the tools are plugins for it.  There are tutorials for Max over at MTS2 in the create section though, I think, I haven't really followed it since I don't have it.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: gamonthehand on June 29, 2006, 04:47:17 pm
yay for this totural. i have spent my whole week making new clothes for my sims thanks to you warlokk. thanks so much


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on July 10, 2006, 12:58:21 pm
Well, the shoes will just be part of the texture you're copying to the new outfit... the mesh doesn't really have any difference between barefoot and shoes.  So make sure the textures you're putting on the new outfits have shoes in them, if not you could try some creative copy-pasting to get the shoe textures from another outfit texture.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on July 10, 2006, 10:28:12 pm
Sounds like it's being made transparent by the Alpha layer.  Make sure you copied that file as well, and possibly the normal map too.  If the feet area is all black in the Alpha layer, that's your problem.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on July 11, 2006, 11:32:28 pm
You can easily put a full-body texture on a shirt, sure... I'd go into the Alpha layer though, and blank out the bottom half, or else that texture may bleed over whatever bottoms you assign.  It's just a matter of finding a texture that fits the mesh you're using well.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on July 12, 2006, 01:09:26 am
Ahh, I see... I know it's possible, since Roxxy and Duschenka over at MTS2 did it for my first series, by changing the outfit type to something other than everyday... it would apply the texture to another bottom somehow, but I don't really know how it worked, and it could give some odd results depending on how the texture fit over whatever the bottom was... I never really messed with it much.  The full-body outfits usually require a full-body mesh, which I still haven't finished yet.  They'll get done eventually, but I have a lot to do yet.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: mobyl007 on July 27, 2006, 06:14:48 pm
Truly fantastic!!!
It's fabulous, as always totally flawless work.
I'm going to download it right now.
Thank's, thank you for sharing.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: djo200 on July 29, 2006, 09:37:15 pm
Great tutorial. It worked very good for my male sim, but now I'm trying to do clothes for my female sim.

I'm trying to convert a skirt, but when I finish i get a result like some pants. What am I doing wrong?

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a212/djo_001/SimSkirt.jpg)


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on July 30, 2006, 02:16:21 am
The mesh you moved the textures to must have been a shorts or pants mesh... you have to start with a mesh that somewhat closely matches the mesh of the outfit you're trying to convert.  So if you're looking to put a denim skirt texture on one of my bodyshapes, you need to export the Miniskirt in the size you want to use, for example, then move the textures into that project, and re-import.


Title: About time I said thanks
Post by: kosamipabigu on July 30, 2006, 07:30:03 am
:hello2: I have been trawling through your site for the past month or so and want to say a big thankyou especially to warlokk. I always read your posts as you have the amazing knack of stating sometimes pretty basic but essential stuff others take for granted we should know. Not only am I starting to get the hang of basic mods but am learning more about how my pc works and its been a relatively painless process thanks mostly to you. :ot: oh! your stuff is pretty good too by the way :P. A contribution will follow shortly. Thanx again


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: The Mule on August 11, 2006, 12:47:18 pm
What's the secret of converting "non-standard" outfits to the full body meshes? By "non-standard", I mean the packages with 6 files, three alphas and three textures, one standard of each, plus one of each with a 5 in the filename, one of each with a 3 in the file name. An examle being Marvine's awesome sheer stuff here (http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=4245).

I can make the top half seperate but the bottom half with the alpha-mesh is driving me batty.

Sometimes they can be worked through with alot of cut and paste and they end up almost like a new creation, but not the original. Any help?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on August 11, 2006, 08:21:05 pm
Sorry Mule, that's waaaay too advanced for me to try to explain here... basically you're working with Alpha meshes there, which I've successfully managed to get one out the door, but no sizes yet.  Check out the Unimesh thread in the Create forum over at MTS2 and read up on it a bit, and it'll make sense... you're best bet is to start with the HulaSkirt outfit from Maxis, that's what I based my Alpha outfit on, since it only has 1 alpha layer instead of 2, so it's less complicated.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: The Mule on August 12, 2006, 01:57:56 am
Thank you for your time. Great work. What's your next project?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on August 12, 2006, 02:11:15 am
Next I'm getting back to clothing, starting with the full-body outfits for the A tops.  After that will be the rest of the sizes, DDD, D, C and Bnat (not necessarily in that order).  After that I'm not sure yet.  In between all that, I'm moving soon, so that'll slow things down a bit too.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Jourdain on August 28, 2006, 06:13:46 pm
Im haveing a problem finding the refresh button in bodyshop-oddly wierd...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on August 28, 2006, 07:56:13 pm
It's the little circular twisting-arrow button, in the bottom middle somewhere... I  don't think it's possible for it not to be there... :)


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Jourdain on August 30, 2006, 07:27:02 pm
Yea i found it the other day after a search and rescue of the sims body shop so thanks for the info....


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: nuttytartjan on September 02, 2006, 03:56:23 am
how do i convert male things into femail things


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Star Ranger4 on September 10, 2006, 12:56:08 am
:?

well, you have to know how to hack bodytypes with simpe, and then duplicate the item and designate it as now a female item.

actually, its better to just export the texture and find a femine item thats close and replace it


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on September 15, 2006, 06:59:49 pm
There isn't really any way to incorporate a custom-mesh outfit with my meshes from an outfit-making perspective... basically I'd have to make a conversion of the custom outfit mesh to fit my Bodyshapes, with a separate mesh for each size just like the current stuff.  This would require permission from the original mesh creator, and of course a lot of free time on my end which I don't have much of lately.  I do plan to make more outfit meshes for the various sizes, but I am considering also releasing my Poser magnets so other mesh creators can adapt them themselves.  It's not an easy process though, you would have to know how to create a mesh from the ground up, as well as owning Milkshape and Poser.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: ramseyazad on October 25, 2006, 09:11:45 pm
Is there somewhere that explains all the names of the files when you export the clothes from bodyshop?  I have been playing around with moving the body~stdMatBaseTextureName_alpha.bmp and the body~stdMatBaseTextureName.bmp separately and getting some interesting results, although so far they're pretty random.  It seems like the alpha file tells where to apply the other file, so, in the case of some of the D40 dresses I just uploaded, I used some other alpha file and got the bare midriff effect.  Seemed to work better with the swimsuits and things, but I don't really understand what's going on there.  And also, some clothing has files that don't seem to export the same way or something, they have all these other files, i.e. body_alpha3~stdMatBaseTexturename and the same thing_alpha.  Is this some kind of second layer?  Anyways, clothes that export with alpha3 or alpha5 files don't seem to typically work with this method.  I just thought maybe somewhere there was an explanation of what those files do, so I can maybe get better than hit-or-miss recolours.
And why am I a moo-bunny?!


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: ramseyazad on October 25, 2006, 09:12:11 pm
oh, I mean site monkey!?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on October 25, 2006, 09:22:20 pm
LOL... site monkey... :lol:

Most outfits will have 3 texture files... a texture, an alpha, and a normal.  The Texture is obvious, it's the actual colors that are applied to the outfit.

 The Alpha, when there is just one, affects the transparency of the Texture... black areas are hidden, grey areas are semi-transparent, white areas are fully shown.  Basically the darker the grey, the more transparent the texture in that area, showing the skin underneath.

The Normal is your bump map... it is a sort of texture effect that is applied to the model, that makes it look 3d in areas.  Usually it's grey, and raised/lowered areas are either darker or lighter (I forget which is which).  This allows things like straps and buckles to stand out a bit without actually being part of the mesh, and also work great for textured materials like a wooly sweater.

Alpha_3 and files like that are usually textures for separate Alpha Meshes some outfits have... sometimes the texture for those areas is integrated into the main textures, but sometimes it's separate.  Those can get complicated, 'cause how they work is totally up to the mesh creator, so you kinda have to play with it and see what goes where.

Hope that helps!


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Star Ranger4 on October 26, 2006, 02:12:52 am
Ok.  What .bmp's you get depend on the mesh you use...  and you do have most of it figured out already.

Texture name.bmp files define the actual skin of the dress, and its matching alpha files tell the game where to and where not to apply the texture to the mesh.  Any place the texture is not applied, it will show the skin underneath.  Note that this will create strange effects if the mesh is not totally alpha editable, as the mesh will retain the basic shape of the cothes even though it is showing the 'skintone' from underneath.

Some outfits will have a material normals.bmp  This is basicly a grayscale that is used to produce bump mapping on machines that support it.

The outfits with body3 and body5 .bmps (both texture material and Alpha) have an additional mesh layer known as an alpha editable mesh.  What this means is that where the alpha .bmp is black, the mesh will be completely invisible.  The best example of this is Marvines Alpha skirt, and alpha dress.

And you were a moo bunny because thats the title you get for the number of posts you had then.  You've since made enough posts you are now a site monkey


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: ramseyazad on October 27, 2006, 04:13:03 pm
wow thanks.  what does "alpha editable" mean precisely?  And how do I tell if something  is "alpha editable" or not?  I did notice that it's hard to find textures to fit onto the china dress mesh to keep it from looking like a funny mermaid thing (with pubic hair for some reason!) so the alpha bmps that I tried to apply to it really didn't do anything except in the bodice part of it.  Does that make it partially alpha editable?

r


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on October 27, 2006, 06:12:38 pm
No, that's a standard alpha texture on a solid mesh outfit.  The default game has 2 Alpha Mesh outfits I can think of offhand, the Hula Skirt and the Maid outfits.  They have separate parts in the mesh when it's viewed in Milkshape, and the textures are arranged differently than normal outfits, to account for the parts that aren't attached to the main mesh.  Marvine and I have both also made Alpha Mesh outfits, mine is based on the Hula Skirt, I don't remember what Marvine used as a base for hers.

Basically, alpha meshes allow you to have one layer overlapping another, so you can for example, see the legs through the skirt if it's made transparent, rather than it being a solid shape like the China Dress you mentioned.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: raveshade0 on November 06, 2006, 04:17:26 am
teen c turns into adult d.  teen b is adult c


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on November 06, 2006, 06:10:26 am
Right, as raveshade said... Teens "grow into" their adult sizes, which tend to be larger.  The breakdown is as follows:

Adult A = Teen A
Adult B = Teen B
Adult C = Teen B
Adult D = Teen C
Adult DD =  Teen D
Adult DDD = Teed D


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on November 06, 2006, 08:49:57 pm
Well, technically it does only apply to the skintones, since they're the only thing that automatically uses the sizes.  Clothing you have to assign manually anyway, so you can dress them in anything you like.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Nuga on November 08, 2006, 08:56:28 am
This isn't working... that trick that is... *scratches head* I didn't take a screenshot but I swear the textures just do not match... or then I'm doing something wrong. Seriously, if you take a long dress (with them boobies) and copy a short dress' textures in it = mess. lol.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on November 08, 2006, 05:31:01 pm
Well of course it does... one of the first rules is the original mesh has to be roughly the same as the target mesh, or the texture simply won't fit... a little adjustment in Photoshop may be all that's needed though, really.  Best bet is, compare your texture to the original texture on the outfit you're converting from, and you'll see the differences immediately.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: exportdry on November 30, 2006, 02:11:43 am
If it weren't for me wanting to download those damn showerproof skintones GARKMAN made from your meshes & Louis skintones I wouldn't be here & I wouldn't be going mad with the limited amount of clothing about for your meshes!

So now i convert & create clothing for your 34D, 34DD & 36H Body Meshes thanks to your mini tutorial which has made everything clear along with some intuition.

Your tutorial has unlocked a door which had been giving me alot of trouble  trouble picking.

Cheers


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: exportdry on December 03, 2006, 04:16:45 am
One question I've place a body outfit on to a bottoms mesh and cleared the top so only the bottom would show.
Of course renamed as a bottoms base.
Only thing is there is a small seee through gap around the waist line.

Any answers?

This does not happen if I want the top from a body outfit and place it on one of your top meshes.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on December 03, 2006, 09:33:50 am
Sounds like your texture just may not have covered the whole area... compare yours to a texture from the bottoms separate, and make sure all the areas are filled in.  Sometimes you have to tweak them a little, especially if you're coming from a full-body texture, since those tend to overlap the top and bottom... which is why they're full-body outfits in the first place :)


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: exportdry on December 03, 2006, 09:46:09 pm
Found out what was wrong.
Turns out your Jeans with sandal's mesh has a lip around the waistline to give the top of the jeans definition, which made it look like the waists were not joined together properly when I converted low riding pants on to it.
Is it okay to reshape your meshes?


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on December 04, 2006, 05:54:33 am
Sure, if you're able, go ahead and do what you like with them :D


Title: Bump Maps in The Sims 2
Post by: Chairman Greg on December 07, 2006, 08:36:29 pm
Quote from: Warlokk;386424
... The Normal is your bump map... it is a sort of texture effect that is applied to the model, that makes it look 3d in areas.  Usually it's grey, and raised/lowered areas are either darker or lighter (I forget which is which).  This allows things like straps and buckles to stand out a bit without actually being part of the mesh, and also work great for textured materials like a wooly sweater. ...


(http://thesims2.simshost.com/images/normal_scale.jpg)
Brighter is higher.  Darker is lower.
Think of bright mountain tops and dark, shadowed valleys.

What I don't know is how high is white and how low is black.

IMHO, most fan-created bump maps (including most of mine) have too much contrast, and the clothes come out looking like there were made of paper maché.  A little contrast goes a long way with these things.  For most clothing work, you want very small variations from 50% gray.

Footenote: In his notes about this, Jakov sneers at the Sims fan community's use of "bump" map to refer to the "normal" map, but it appears that he is incorrect in that bit of pedantry.  Normal mapping usings all three color channels, while bump mapping interprets the image as grayscale and does not distinguish among R, G, and B.  The algorithm used in The Sims 2 appears to be a simple bump map.  You can feed it a color image but what you'll get is the same as if you fed it a grayscale image.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: SailorZeo on December 10, 2006, 08:24:26 pm
Okay, question here: New to all this, and I wanted to convert an old pale/redhead skintone I had to the 34A34 mesh.  I followed the steps in the tutorial, extracted the original skintone, cancelled the project, then extracted one of the 34A34 skins (a Louis Pale, I think), replaced the textures files....and found out the original skintone didn't have facial textures for Teen-YA-Adult, male or female!  In the original skintone, I didn't have grey/invisible faces, so the data must have been around somewhere...  Did Bodyshop just not extract them, and I should try again?  Or did earlier versions of skintones not need that texture?  Any help would be greatly appreciated, as that's one of my favorite tones to use.

Zeo


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Warlokk on January 25, 2007, 05:57:50 am
Actually most of that is in the post I released the Poser magnet set (http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=31845) in... it's in this section.  I've got links to several tutorials I used to learn how to do the whole thing, basically you extract an .obj mesh file from the outfit you want to convert, import it to Poser, apply magnets, extract a new .obj file, and rebuild the game files.  Figuring it out the first time will take many tries, but once you get the process down it's not bad at all.  That thread also has a bit of discussion explaining things a little, too.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: mikesimslover on April 29, 2007, 10:06:28 am
thanks!this is so cool,your the best warlokk!


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: Nightlife1962 on August 22, 2007, 09:43:38 pm
I just wanted to say, Thanks a 100,000x for your wonderful tutorials! I've linked dozens of textures to meshes and now, my Pinups', Rio's, Fashion Models, and RenGals are the best dressed sims (like the normal Maxis default ones).  So, again, thank you.


Title: problem
Post by: melp1219 on June 30, 2008, 03:15:07 pm
When I did what was said in the first post about overwriting the files the clothes on my sim is blurry. See attached image...


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: babyarlo on October 21, 2008, 09:40:03 am
thanks


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: lilys on October 22, 2008, 07:04:28 pm
Thanks a lot Warlokk.I've converted a maxis outfit on a bootygal and did some editing and it worked.So happy about the result.Didn't know it was that simple.Thank you for telling us your secret.You're the best.


Title: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: miros1 on October 22, 2008, 07:20:14 pm
Quote from: melp1219;1290037
When I did what was said in the first post about overwriting the files the clothes on my sim is blurry. See attached image...


Did you drag the files from folder to folder or open them with your paint program and resave them?  The first method usually gives better results.  You can also use SimPE to re-import the textures into one of your blurry outfits.


Title: Re: Tutorial: Converting standard outfits to BodyShape Meshes
Post by: wally_walrus on March 03, 2009, 02:10:04 pm
Thanks for the tutorial, it made the process much easier than reassigning the mesh! Is it best to leave the final package file in the saved sims folder, or would it be safer to move it to downloads? Is the new skin fully genetic? Also, can you amend which files you include when you import the project back to bodyshop (eg, can you leave out all the male textures, if you just want females, or vice versa)? I was wondering how this would affect 'breeding' in-game.


SimplePortal 2.1.1