I already know how to make packages as ive made alot of objects but i have tried meshing hair a couple of times but each time ive had the same problem..
I was attempting to make an existing maxis hair longer, i moved a couple of the bottom rows lower, and i *presume* i made sure all the vertices were assigned to a joint (i assigned them all to the head since i wasnt bothered about animation for now and just wanted it to show up - i get confused when it comes to the assigning part so im thinking maybe this could be the problem?) - because after exporting and replacing the gmdc i load bodyshop up to check it and its exactly the same hair as before i edited it. Like i said im pretty sure ive replaced the gmdc right since ive made objects which all work.. im stumped as to what im doing wrong altho im pretty sure its such a simple thing. Any help would be very much appreciated


EDIT: ok i managed to get the new length/sttle to show but with this error (see below pic) its gotta be to do with the joints surely?

You've made objects. Does that mean you've clicked 'fix integrity' more than once? Because with hair/body/accessory meshes, you can only do that once.
Then you must move the modified shape and cres into the correct spots in the hair recolor that you made (or body recolor).
That's the most likely place where you're failing.
See...
PART I, II, III and IV of
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=142305
(that from the tutorials area)

coupled with the first article in this hair stuff
http://www.modthesims2.com/article.php?t=139819
(found in the faq/infocenter)

PS - even if the bone assignments were a bit off, you should see your changed mesh, it might have holes or otherwise look odd, but it should look different. So I think that's a separate issue.

See my edit above? so now thats my problem
Would it be worth redoing the whole thing because i may have made a one off error? But then again if its to do with the joints ill only make the mistake again

YEAH! You got a mesh to show up. You might not believe it, but you're doing pretty well.

I am going to assume you are using Unimesh.
I'm going to look up the steps for you, you're almost all the way there.

First make sure all your groups are visible. That might mean going to the groups tab and playing around a bit to figure out that each layer is showing (because some of them are under layers) The 'hide' button there toggles the groups being visible or not... If you've never hidden a group, then just leave it because it starts out all visible!

Now go to the EDIT menu and use 'select all'
Use the Vertex Menu and find the Unimesh Bone Tool
In the bone tool change the top box to weight 100% and bone index head (7)
Click on Apply to all
Click on Commit all

Now your entire hair's bones will be set to 'HEAD'.

Go ahead and save and test. Your display issues should be gone.

---

OOPS - your mesh doesn't go to the shoulders. You will probably need to play with assigning some of the hanging stuff to the Neck (and making a smooth transition to head) so that it hangs, and doesn't stick out like a board when the sim tips their hair forward.... but anyway, like below but easier, I'm sure you'll get it.


Now to refine the bone assignments.
The bones you'll care about are 'head' 'neck' and 'spine 2'
If you want your long hair to animate with a smooth look from where it's kinda stuck to the shoulders to where it meets the actual head, you will need to play with the assignments a bit, but I found that for hair that hits the shoulders....

Select the bottom rows that touch the shoulders and assign them to 100% spine 2.
Now what you want to do (with perhaps some neck thrown in) is make a transition from that 100% spine 2 to the 100% head...

I'm going to do this example with just head and spine 2, you can experiment adding some neck to some of the values, just have the numbers add up to exactly 100%

So select the next row up, and try, like 80% spine 2, 20% head. Click the apply all and commit all
Now select the next row, and do a 50% spine 2, 50% head, apply all commit all.
Now select the next row and do 80% head, 20% spine.

However many rows you have, you can experiment, but this should get you something like a head that turns and looks kinda smooth when it does. When I examined the maxis meshes, in certain extreme poses they do not animate 100% perfectly, so just play with it until you get something you like. If in the middle you decide to do... 40 spine 2, 20 neck, 40 head... that might also work. Up to you to decide what looks right. Do take your sim into the game and make them dance or do other things that will animate them and pause the game to check if you're satisfied with how it looks. As I said, it's not always perfect anyway, but get something you like

It worked!! Thanks so much heh hair meshing here i come..
Can i just quickly ask how i would assign the joints if i wanted movement?

Sorry posted that before i saw you'd replied again, and i actually understood that, you have a easy way of explaining!

But what if my hair doesnt reach shoulder length, how would i assign that to movement?

The hair won't 'bounce' like maxis hair. But if you want it to hang, you can try assigning those bottom edges to neck, or even to neck and head, you'll have to experiment. Gotta be willing to try some things. It could be that assigning it partially even to spine 2 (the shoulders) will help with the 'hanging' effect. You can report back and let us know what you decided looks good.

It's the same idea as above, you just are going to be transitioning only between probably 'neck' and 'head'... although I haven't done that length of hair so I'm not sure exactly what percentages to use. It could be that having the bottom of the hairs 100% neck will look right, or that they might be 60% neck and 40% head... I would just try things and then put it into the game and see what it looks like. Or in that hairstyle, 100% head might look right, I don't know.

The 'bone' assignments are not really bones, but describe the relative positioning of the vertices - they sort of attach the vertices to those 'bones' which the game then uses to guide the (to us) automatic animation of the sim -- when you assign all the hair to 'head' you are anchoring it to that section. The part (if it was long enough) that you assign to 100% spine 2 will stay stapled to the shoulders. That's why you do a transition in between them, it will then stretch/modify the position of the vertices between those spots based on how the head is positioned and how the shoulders are positioned.

right i see! ill start seeing whats gonna work.. thanks for the help!

thank you so much, i just posted this problem and i guess i just found the fix
IT WORKED, yay im so happ now.