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Ms. Byte (Deceased)
Original Poster
#1 Old 10th Oct 2014 at 11:17 AM Last edited by CmarNYC : 1st Jan 2015 at 11:09 PM.
Default How to remove a bumpmap/normalmap from a mesh using s4pe
Since I have reason to believe a non-existent bumpmap linked from a GEOM mesh will lead to the same weird shininess problems as in Sims 3, and since some creators may have worked on a mesh and then find they want to remove the bumpmap, here's a quickie tutorial.

1. Open your package with the latest version of s4pe, and select your mesh. In the data display on the right, look in the Shader/MTNF section for an entry labeled NormalMap. Make a note of the index - the numbers/letters in brackets. (In the example, [0B]) Don't confuse this with NormalMapScale or NormalUVScale.



2. Click the Grid button at the bottom and the Data Grid window will pop up. Expand the last item, ChunkEntries, by clicking the little triangle next to it. Then expand '[0] ChunkEntries'. Expand RCOLBlock. In that listing, find and expand Mtnf. Then highlight SData and click the little [...] box that appears on that line.



3. Another Data Grid window will pop up. On the left side, find the index you noted down in step one. It should say 'ElementImageMapKey' next to it. Highlight it and make sure it says NormalMap in the right-side display. Then click the Delete button.



4. The NormalMap entry will disappear from the list. Click Okay to close the window, Commit to close the first Data Grid window, save and close your package. If all has gone well, your mesh should be bump-free! Just remember you'll have to repeat the process for every mesh in your package unless you have some reason for some meshes to still have a bumpmap.

Bonus: How to identify which link in the mesh TGI list is for the bumpmap:

In the first image above, take a look at the Data for the NormalMap field. In this example it's "0x00000000-0x00000000-0x0000000000000002". While this displays like a TGI, it's actually the zero-based index of the link to the NormalMap/bumpmap in the mesh TGI list - all you need is the 2 at the end. The bumpmap TGI is the index 2 entry in the list.

You can see the mesh TGI list at the end of the display on the right in s4pe, or you can see and edit it using the Grid button - expand ChunkEntries, [0]ChunkEntries, RCOLBlock, and TGIBlocks.
Screenshots

Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
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Test Subject
#2 Old 12th Oct 2014 at 3:02 PM
Hello, i was wondering are you using Colour Magic or the Sims4Studio tool to create with cos none of my files show up like this in my S4pE
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
Original Poster
#3 Old 12th Oct 2014 at 4:30 PM
I usually use my own tool, CAS Mesh Tools. It shouldn't make any difference, though. If you're getting a message saying the wrapper can't be found, you probably extracted the s4pe files with the Windows unzipper. When you download s4pe, you must use 7-zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) to extract the files into a folder. If that's not it, could you be more specific about how your GEOM files show up?

Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
Test Subject
#4 Old 10th Nov 2014 at 4:23 AM
Quote: Originally posted by CmarNYC
If you're getting a message saying the wrapper can't be found, you probably extracted the s4pe files with the Windows unzipper. When you download s4pe, you must use 7-zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) to extract the files into a folder...


Just for the record, I use both 7-Zip and WinRAR as my compression tools, WinRAR being my default.
I have had no problem whatsoever unpacking the S4PE archive (or any others) with WinRAR, it works just as expected.
I only use 7-Zip for .7z files, and only leverage Windows' native .zip support when reading them as directories.

Also, for those having issues running these tools on any Win newer than XP...
DO BEAR IN MIND that you will have endless hassles with admin rights and "missing" .DLL's and such (which are right in the very folder) if you attempt to do so through the My Documents symbolic link, or through a LIBRARY link!!!
The symbolic link is just that, it's a kind of shortcut; and part of Windows' way of sandboxing executable code outside of the Administrative policy. You need to run/edit/create desktop shortcuts, etc. from the native folder itself.
Then, you won't have your modding tools cry for admin rights, or balk at not finding Qt5Core.dll, or whatever.
(Also, you CANNOT open a console in the folder that you're viewing through a symbolic link, say for example to run a Python script or a batch file; you're not really in that folder!!)

Just thought I'd note that for any newer folks who might be getting frustrated with those kinds of symptoms.
It can be a mystery if you are unfamiliar with Windows symbolic links and take their convenience for granted.
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
Original Poster
#5 Old 10th Nov 2014 at 10:45 AM
I believe they fixed the need for 7-zip with the latest release of s4pe.

Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#6 Old 12th Nov 2014 at 8:23 PM Last edited by plasticbox : 12th Nov 2014 at 10:58 PM.
See also this post: http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...569#post4599569

Quote: Originally posted by CmarNYC
[..]My guess is that if the top has a specular it'll override the bottoms specular when the textures are composited in-game, but if there's no top specular you get this effect of the bottom shininess appearing on the top since the UV mapping overlaps in that area. I haven't tested with bumpmaps yet but it's probably the same story.

For now I guess the lesson is to not remove the specular or bumpmap unless absolutely necessary. Long-term, I guess it may be better to use a blank bumpmap and specular when cloning rather than remove it completely. I don't know if there's such a thing as a blank specular, though, and so far we can't edit them.


(In short it doesn’t seem to always be the best solution to just remove this -- may have undesired side effects.)


ETA: regarding blank files, I just came across 0x00B2D882-0x00000000-0xE74F83FC9D68F9C2.dds -- that's an empty, transparent 4x4 pixel texture that I guess exists for the purpose of doing nothing. So that may be something to reference instead of just removing a file .. OTOH I wouldnt know what happens with compositing files when the game expects a differently sized texture.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#7 Old 12th Nov 2014 at 11:00 PM
Normally the game will just stretch it. Thats how the empty/tiny images are helpful - just something to reference when the game expects a reference, but usually have no effect on appearance

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
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