Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 27th Nov 2022 at 8:09 PM
Default Blender 2.91 meshing
Skins are easy & now I want to try something new. I want to edit & create custom meshes for my game.
I have Blender 2.9 with Smug Tomato's BlenderGeom_2.1.3 installed. I'm able to import, edit, & export geoms just fine but I'm having difficulty making the geoms usable after.
I don't know if I'm missing something in Blender or after exporting.
When I put the edited geom into s3pe, the info panel on the right doesn't have the info it should. I'm not sure how to fix the problem.
Do I need to edit shaders, diffuse, & such in Blender. Also the bone assignment & weight. This info is all missing after editing including vertex or any other info.

Unfortunately, all the tutorials I've found are outdated, requires Milkshape, are for older Blenders, or for TS4 & tools not for TS3. I've also found tutorials that seem helpful until the most important info is linked to an unavailable source.

Other tools I have are:
TSRW/MeshToolKit/MorphMaker/S3oc
I've downloaded S3asc with my phone & transferred it to pc. Unless there's a way to install it without enternet it's useless.

Any pointers or updated tutorials not involving Milkshape, old Blenders, or TS4 stuff could be helpful.
Advertisement
Test Subject
#2 Old 28th Nov 2022 at 1:24 PM
bone assignments and bone weights are the same thing
you can't edit ts3 shaders in blender and ts3 clothes don't use diffuse textures

tsrw workflow (works with any blender version):
make a mesh
export as .obj
clone an eaxis mesh in tsrw
export it as wso (that will be your mesh toolkit reference)
do an obj to wso conversion in mtk
use auto tools for wso
import wso into tsrw
done

https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=659402
if you're completely new, do lyralei's maxis match tutorial i've linked in the first message, then follow my tutorial when she gets to milkshape

if you specifically want to use s3pe, i can't really help here, but lyralei has posted her workflow using it in that thread
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 30th Nov 2022 at 11:51 PM
1 problem solved.
I tried installing TSRW 2.2.90 addons to my Blender but for some reason it gave me an error message when I tried to check the boxes to activate & they wouldn't activate. I uninstalled from Blender then downloaded & installed TSRW 2.2.114. The addons installed without problems & are working fine.
TSRW 2.2.90 only has Blender 2.74 addons. TSRW 2.2.114 has Blender 2.74 & 2.81. Blender 2.9 seems to need the 2.8 addons. I can now import files from either version of TSRW & either one can import my export from Blender.

What I've done so far:
I've exported the wso files for the toddler body parts I needed then imported them into Blender. Reshaped feet to claw toe beastly feet & exported from Blender as wso file after removing everything but the feet from the project first. (Haven't found a setting to export only the selected object).
Before MTK would accept the Blender edited feet I had to import them into TSRW then export.
I had to change the name in Blender to "group_bese" with no number or anything else before TSRW would accept it.
After importing & exporting with TSRW, I was able to use MTK to auto-assign bones then import that new version into TSRW & save my work.
For a tail I opened a tail mod package in s3pe, exported the geom file I needed, then used MTK to convert to TSRW wso file.
Imported wso version into Blender, edited to toddler size, renamed to "group_base" and then exportd. I've done the same process as with the feet to assign bones using the original converted tail mesh for the reference mesh.

The feet & tail both show properly in TSRW although I haven't done anything with the textures yet. Leaving the textures of the original objects alone for now, I used the Sims3Pack Multi Installer (s3pmi) to convert to packages. I used S3PE to remove the geoms that weren't the objects, saved, & then tested in game.
They don't show up. There's an icon for the tail under accessories. I can equip it & edit color but it's invisible. The feet don't show up anywhere.
I've made a child tail also & it shows up but clearish & I don't know what I did different.
Going to tinker a bit more till I figure it out.
Forum Resident
#4 Old 1st Dec 2022 at 4:49 PM Last edited by LadySmoks : 1st Dec 2022 at 7:02 PM.
You cannot import an altered mesh into s3pe, as far as I know. You get what you got. The internal referencing of the package does not recogize the mesh. Once you add or remove vertices, or renumber on export, it becomes a totally new mesh, and you need to use Meshing Tool Kit to convert to .wso and add morphs. Not sure, but I believe the .wso tool for Blender was for only one older version. A bit surprised you have a .wso plugin that works with 2.9x. You can export from Blender as object, but then must still use MTK to do conversions, add back bones using a reference mesh, fix seams and add morphs. Then use TSRW, import the mesh and make the new package with all things in the package tied together... internal references.

You need to turn on "import/export wavefront objects" in Blender preferences. In the export menu, it says "wavefront object". Export as object generally gives a smooth mesh, but MTK seam fix becomes necessary during conversion. I find that sometimes, exporting as geom will create odd shadows in the mesh (2.8x). BUT, I think that got fixed in 2.9x.

Probably can't use a tail to assign bones to feet. Tails are usually attached to the pelvis, and need to be painted 100% to the pelvis. Just use EA nude feet to assign feet bones.

TSRW will export as package. Top left corner, "Edit", "Project Contents", export as package. A few advanced things can be done in that window.

Any and/ or all textures are then replaced in TSRW. Again, they are now directly, internally referenced. You can, however, use "replace", not "import" changed textures into s3pe, but I do everything in TSRW, so I have the necessary info there, should I wish to make changes.

Editing shaders for garments (CAS parts) doesn't work in TSRW. It works for objects though. 2 options (that I know). Delphy's geom editor, available here on MTS, and you can edit shaders in s3pe. When I must edit garment shaders, I usually doit in s3pe, but then open that package in TSRW and save that, and make a new package. This way, the shader info is stored and referenced in the TSRW workshop file. Not sure what shader you want to change though.

Not showing can be a number of things. How you made the package, bone assignments, UV mapping... others.

Another thing I came across in my "kitty feet" is the skins and normals map. EA and replacement skins have toes. They didn't work with my feet, so I ended up making skins, specific to the feet for the project, with a new internal normals map.

Current project...

Screenshots
Test Subject
#5 Old 2nd Dec 2022 at 10:33 PM
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
I tried installing TSRW 2.2.90 addons to my Blender

tsrw's wso plugins for blender are absolute garbage (even on their intended blender versions), they're worse than .obj import/export. i don't recommend using them
Quote: Originally posted by LadySmoks
Not sure, but I believe the .wso tool for Blender was for only one older version. A bit surprised you have a .wso plugin that works with 2.9x

the latest tsrw version has a plugin for 2.81, but it was only updated to work in 2.8+ and is still trash

idk why you would want to clone a tail cc if it's just an accessory (also irrc you can clone packages in tsrw through new project > new import (change file extension to .package). you can just clone a maxis accessory and change its category

if you're still having issues, send me the project files (.wrk), i'll look at them
Test Subject
Original Poster
#6 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 4:55 AM
Thanks to thornowl & LadySmoks for the advice.

Nice footwork there. Looks similar to the feet I'm working on but I'm still figuring things out with creating textures, normals, & that kind of stuff. When I said that skins were easy, I meant editing existing skins in gimp & using the skininator. I haven't successfully created one from scratch yet. Tried but it was terrible looking in game.
UVs aren't as easy for me as they seem in videos either. I'm not sure how to arrange the parts on the UV grid and the sizing.
I'll have to watch the maxis match tutorial vids again.

I have finally managed to get my todder tail working.
I created a new project in TSRW using the armband floaties, set the clothing categories, & imported my toddler tail mesh.
I just left all the textures of the floaties for now to avoid messing something up again.
After exporting I opened the package in s3pe, exported '1' geom file at a time to open & view in Blender. Deleted the floaties geoms, saved the package with the changes, then tested in game.
It appears in CAS, I can edit the color, & it's visible in play mode.
First attempt didn't work because I accidentally removed something important like the needed geom.
Second attempt didn't work because I messed with the textures & somehow made it invisible.
I've still got to figure out the morphs part.

While editing or creating meshes in Blender, I'm wondering if it's possible to design/texture the mesh then export as a file I can edit in gimp? If so how?
Test Subject
Original Poster
#7 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 8:11 AM
Quote: Originally posted by thornowl
tsrw's wso plugins for blender are absolute garbage (even on their intended blender versions), they're worse than .obj import/export. i don't recommend using them

the latest tsrw version has a plugin for 2.81, but it was only updated to work in 2.8+ and is still trash

idk why you would want to clone a tail cc if it's just an accessory (also irrc you can clone packages in tsrw through new project > new import (change file extension to .package). you can just clone a maxis accessory and change its category

if you're still having issues, send me the project files (.wrk), i'll look at them


I'm having a slight set back on getting obj files into MTK. Can't remember where I found the option before.
So far I'm not having problems with wso files & blender.

I have some different cc tails but they're only for children & up. I want tails, horns, & wings for all ages. I'm going to make them all eventually.
I have my own tail & wings that I'm working on in Blender but they're not finished. I had exported a teen version of the tail as obj & converted it to wso. That was the only time I had been able to get an obj into mtk. Unfortunately, the obj converted to wso didn't seem visible to TSRW for whatever reason.
That's when I first posted.
I used a tail geom from one of the cc I have to use mostly as reference in mtk for bone assignment to tails now. Resizing it to fit a toddler was just part of my learning process.
Originally, I just wanted to fix a few meshes like a tail that wasn't positioned right. Examples: Tail is not in line with spine but at center of one rump- cheek. Or one teen tail mesh set for both genders but there's a gap between it & the body on a tm.
My attempts of fix mesh has encouraged me to start making my own the way I want them.

Thanks for the info on getting a cc package into TSRW.
It's been covered in some tutorials I've checked out but I have a hard time following the vids that do everything so fast. I also miss some things when I'm trying to watch on my phone's little screen.

How would I send the project files if I do run into more problems?
Sadly I don't even know how to share links.
Test Subject
#8 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 1:54 PM
it sounds like you're completely new to 3d art except for minor texture edits
making sims cc isn't fundamentally different from making 100% original 3d assets, it just has a few more restrictions. if you wanna continue doing it, you'll have to learn blender in general, make at least a couple of non-sims assets for practice
your uv questions specifically have very little to do with the game, you could just google it and find general blender answers

"UVs aren't as easy for me as they seem in videos either. I'm not sure how to arrange the parts on the UV grid and the sizing." > google "how to make uv maps" and look up ts3 limitations
i personally find uv mapping to be one of the easier parts of creating 3d art, just time consuming. a lot of people don't understand how they work, when it's actually really simple — the render engine just "cuts out" polygons out of a 2d texture and puts them on the 3d model



youtube tutorials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7M-B6xnaEM — fundamentals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHLT5Xh_tzQ — more in-depth explanation
that's about all you need, really. you can always find more tutorials if these aren't enough, but if you're just doing small maxis mesh edits/age conversions, i don't know why this wouldn't be enough
in your case of editing ts3 feet, you need to keep the original uv map as much as possible. here's a guide for toddler bodies:


if you've done skins, i'm sure you already recognize that it looks like the skin layout


"While editing or creating meshes in Blender, I'm wondering if it's possible to design/texture the mesh then export as a file I can edit in gimp? If so how?" > google "how to texture in blender"/"how to export textures in blender"
the former has too many answers based on what you mean by "texture the mesh". do you want to edit an ea skin? do you want a simple non-recolorable overlay? do you want to create castable textures? and on top of that, how do you want to make them?
drawing textures is covered in the maxis match tutorial, but you can also do it in blender right on the model: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9nE2Xg6Jgk
you can also make a highpoly mesh and bake the details: https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=621363
the latter:


if you wanted to export the uv layout as an image:


both are extremely easy to google
i'm saying this not to be a smartass but because it's easier to google and instantly get an answer than to post it here and wait for days until someone answers. if you get any more questions, think for a moment — is it fundamentally tied to ts3, or are you just looking for a blender feature/tutorial? if it's the latter, don't waste your time waiting — just google it
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
I'm having a slight set back on getting obj files into MTK. Can't remember where I found the option before.

it's in the tutorial i've linked in my first reply here
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
I had exported a teen version of the tail as obj & converted it to wso. That was the only time I had been able to get an obj into mtk. Unfortunately, the obj converted to wso didn't seem visible to TSRW for whatever reason.

i don't know why that would happen if you followed those instructions right. mtk's obj to wso conversion doesn't seem to like extremely lowpoly (below 100 tris or so) meshes, but if it accepted your mesh, then auto tools for wso should work fine
did tsrw complain about mesh groups like this?

this usually means that the original cas part and your wso have a different number of morphs. most accessories don't have morphs, so importing a mesh with morphs leads to this error
other than that, there's basically no other requirements. here i subdivided a cube a couple of times to please mtk, converted it to .wso, auto assigned bones and created morphs. tsrw accepted it with no issues

Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
I have a hard time following the vids that do everything so fast.

pause them
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
How would I send the project files if I do run into more problems?

upload them to any filesharing site. google drive, mediafire, dropbox, mega, simfileshare — anything. you can also upload files directly through modthesims if you click go advanced and scroll down, but it only accepts archives
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
Sadly I don't even know how to share links.

uh.. ctrl+c, ctrl+v
or right click > copy, right click > paste
Forum Resident
#9 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 4:05 PM
@thornowl, I am slow to change! The only reason I started using 2.80 is because that is what JoshQ was using as he taught me. ))) On rare occasion, I will use 2.93. 3.12 just sits. Never understood Milkshape and find Marvelous Designer to be a mess creator, producing random vertices that cause polycount, morph and bone issues. One of those things where I have developed a system... that works... most of the time. )))

@furiasweetie, Thanks, those feet are made from a set of JoshQ shoe feet, and a small amount of my meshing, so they are actually height altering, +5 units.

I did not make the skins textures, but used a set that I had already altered by ESkins. For this project, I simply blurred the toes of both the skin texture and normals texture so the standard 5 toes would not show on the feet. Then repackaged in Skininator.

I have 2 tails. One is just a simple, long thin tail. The one pictured is more complex. Sometimes, you need more than one package to make things. A part donor, and the one that will be used in the final process. In this case, the EP4 armband, as it is accessory with a mesh AND has morphs. I "borrowed" the ponytail from a hair package. Open in S3PE and extract only L0. In Blender, import a female bottom nude. Import the hair and delete everything except the ponytail. Move the tail into position. As it connects to the pelvis bone, add that to the bone list and delete the others, then paint it 100% to pelvis bone.

Next, I extruded the end to where it connects to the pelvis (always adjusting the UV as I extend the mesh), adjust position of the new end, resized on z axis, and whatever other changes to the mesh. Move, align, adjust, rinse and repeat. )))

This tail is HAIR! It uses a hair style of UV mapping... also hair shader and texture alpha.

I have never imported or exported .wso. Depending on need, either as wavefront object or geom. Geoms hold bone and other data! Objects do not. Often, I export both object AND geom. Geom to use as referencing when converting the object in MTK. However, because this is "hair", I export as geom, since that data and shader is in the geom. Otherwise, other things to do to add that shader to an exported object.

For this, morphs can be an issue, as there are not many morphing tails for reference. I used bottom nude with pregnant morph for initial set of morphs. Now the fun. Convert the morphed tail .wso AND nude bottom .wso to object. Import both to Blender as groups. You will see the tail morphs are distorted. Hide all meshes, except base tail. Duplicate that mesh, and hide the original base. Now, show the fat tail morph. Highlight all, shrink it down and move it off the UV map. In object mode, join the duplicate base mesh to the fat morph. In edit mode, delete the old fat morph. Now, unhide the nude bottom fat morph. Move the new tail fat morph into position. DONE! Almost... Repeat this for each morph, fit, thin and special. Export the new set of tail morphs as object. Convert to .wso in MTK. If MTK gives an error, there is another way, but will cross that particular bridge if we come to it. Use the new set of morphs as the reference, and reapply morphs to you original base .wso. Import to TSRW and check. The new morphs should hold the tail without distorting and simply move it to match the body shape.

There is a way to change the package from being EP4 to being basegame. I can exxplain that later.
Forum Resident
#10 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 4:10 PM
For what thornowl shows, regarding the feet... Most imortant is that your feet mesh AND UV are matched to the EA body mesh and UV. Otherwise, there will be a visible seam. The seam fix in geom export from Blender, and the one in MTK only match bone weight and mesh normals. They do not fix misaligned meshes or UV mapping!
Test Subject
#11 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 4:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by LadySmoks
find Marvelous Designer to be a mess creator, producing random vertices that cause polycount, morph and bone issues

md's cloth sim meshes were never meant for games/animation as is, you have to retopologize them. latest versions introduced retopo tools, and md's own official tutorials always include that step, so even the devs acknowledge that those meshes are not ready for games
as for why cc creators skip it and put low quality cloth sim meshes into the game.. well, you can draw your own conclusions lol

your way of creating morphs is pretty interesting. i've tried making them in blender and using obj to wso conversion, but tsrw refused to accept them saying that there's no group_base, so i gave up on that
never thought of using the result as a ref tho, might try that sometime
Forum Resident
#12 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 6:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by thornowl
md's cloth sim meshes were never meant for games/animation as is, you have to retopologize them. latest versions introduced retopo tools, and md's own official tutorials always include that step, so even the devs acknowledge that those meshes are not ready for games
as for why cc creators skip it and put low quality cloth sim meshes into the game.. well, you can draw your own conclusions lol

your way of creating morphs is pretty interesting. i've tried making them in blender and using obj to wso conversion, but tsrw refused to accept them saying that there's no group_base, so i gave up on that
never thought of using the result as a ref tho, might try that sometime

Oh, I had that discussion before (someone on LL), about MD not being a game mesh creation tool... fell on deaf ears. As no vertices aligns with EA meshes, nothing but clipping, and horrible morphs that cannot be fixed! (((

What I do with morphs, is usually more about adjusting, although some do require the extreme... if a person cares enough. Usually, with many custom meshes, I will need to adjust a few, or many vertices positions, especially fat morphs, since the vertices move furthest from base. There are things as belt buckles, studs, etc, that vertices have little reference from a basic EA mesh, and end up looking awful. My process for fixing that is a tad tedious. Imagine what I said about the tail, and multiply by 30 studs and several buckles. My Harley Quinn outfits are examples of this, but I wanted... VERY MUCH, so did the work. )))

I have actually returned to an old project that I am doing the morphs on now. A somewhat sexier version of the repairman (woman). Suspenders are separate 3d, not attached to the body mesh, so morphed crazy! Had to completely separate from the body, morph and separately. Converted to object, replaced morphs from the base, made basic size adjustments. Then, imported the body, and am now aligning the 2 meshes and will rejoin them with MTK. As said, tedious! May add a pregnant morph later.

I also find that MTK doesn't like some things when adjusting morphs. Example... I cannot have the whole mesh morphs, copy just the suspenders, add them to the fat morph and delete the fat suspenders. I have to separate the part, morph separately, etc as described. If I try the whole mesh and replace pieces, he morph explodes in TSRW! Do not know why. Also, sometimes MTK will not convert adjusted object morphs directly into a .wso. Some, I must check "recalculate normals". Many, I must convert to geom with morph meshes, then to .wso. I have never used the geom morph tool in Smug Tomato's Blender tool set.

Not sure about the "no group". I will usually reset Blender before importing meshes, so it resets grouping of the morphs.

I know that the one pic you posted, about "expected 1 group and found 5". A couple of things will cause that message that I know of. Easy one is something that the clone donor used does not have morphs. Another is something that is like some hairs, that are 2 group, but import/ export as a single mesh set. Found this working on FemmeBots. Plumbot bodies are similar to objects, and import/ export 2 or 3 groups as a single mesh.

The fix... In TSRW, go to Edit (top left corner). Then Project Contents. You can scroll to the geoms, right click and choose "import". You can import a .wso diectly there. But, if it does not have morphs, will only accept the base mesh .wso.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#13 Old 3rd Dec 2022 at 11:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by thornowl
it sounds like you're completely new to 3d art except for minor texture edits
making sims cc isn't fundamentally different from making 100% original 3d assets, it just has a few more restrictions. if you wanna continue doing it, you'll have to learn blender in general, make at least a couple of non-sims assets for practice


I had had gotten my first Blender (2.7) when I discovered. Unity 2017 on a Windows 7 pc. It was the only reason for getting blender @ the time. I had figured out the basics of object & edit mode. I was trying to learn texturing & other stuff, but my pc started having problems. Finally got a better pc & blender 2.9 but I took a long break from siming. ( Console gaming guilty).
Yes, minor texture edits to skins was the easiest place for me to start. (Working out the kinks of getting minor details like spots to match between f,s,&b with tutorials).
Messed around with gimp & cmar's hairinator a bit. (Plan to make re-colorable scales to apply like body hair).
Tried getting a working version of ms3d because it seems like over 90% of tutorials I find use it. (Can't do crap with ms3d other than open & stare without registration. Not worth the money when blender is free & seems to have more capabilities).
Found SmugTomato's BlenderGeom2.1.3 & started messing with blender again to attempt meshing.

Here's what I've done so far on my toddler feet.
Screenshots
Test Subject
Original Poster
#14 Old 4th Dec 2022 at 3:55 AM
QUOTE=thornowl]
i don't know why that would happen if you followed those instructions right. mtk's obj to wso conversion doesn't seem to like extremely lowpoly (below 100 tris or so) meshes, but if it accepted your mesh, then auto tools for wso should work fine
did tsrw complain about mesh groups like this?

[/QUOTE]


No. I made a tail started with the cone shape, triangulated faces, & exported as obj to an empty folder made for the project. When I converted it to wso, I saved it in that same folder but with a number.
In the older version of tsrw I started new project & on the mesh tab clicked import. Navigated to the folder & opened it but it appeared empty when it's not.
I might of missed something but I'll try again.

Quote: Originally posted by thornowl

pause them

upload them to any filesharing site. google drive, mediafire, dropbox, mega, simfileshare — anything. you can also upload files directly through modthesims if you click go advanced and scroll down, but it only accepts archives

uh.. ctrl+c, ctrl+v
or right click > copy, right click > paste


I use my cellphone for online stuff so it's hard to see tiny details like what someone is clicking on. I can't zoom in on vids.
No right click either. (Wish I could connect a mouse to it though. So much easier)
I usually watch vid tutorials on my console the second time so I don't have to keep switching channels. My tv is my monitor. I like to work & apply what I'm seeing or reading. It helps my thick skull absorb info better.

Why don't I go online with my PC?
Last time Microsoft did a forced windows upgrade I had to completely re-install TS3. Base game, eps 1-11, & the extras.
Next is upgrading to Windows 11. Not interested in the lengthy process of installing a 4th time.

Quote: Originally posted by thornowl
i've tried making them in blender and using obj to wso conversion, but tsrw refused to accept them saying that there's no group_base,


I got the same message the first time I tried to import my toddler feet into TSRW. Looked @ them in blender & imported the original feet to compare. I noticed wso meshes directly from TSRW are typically named group. Mine were named clawtowed so I changed the name to group. Same message so I named it group_base even in the drop down. (Out of spite over TSRWs popup. Didn't expect it to work).
TSRW shut up & accepted it. So it seems I have to name all my meshes group_base before exporting or TSRW will nag.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#15 Old 4th Dec 2022 at 6:56 AM
Thornowl;

What version of mtk are you using in tutorial?

Mine is different. It's 1.3.0.0
No obj to wso tab but a convert to TSRW WSO tab.
I'm confused now. Maybe it wasn't my obj file I converted. It was 3am for me @ the time.
Tried to find a way to get the obj file of my toddler feet I just exported as obj into mtk & still can't find it.

Also with no export settings opinions in 2.9 that I can find, there's only export as waveform.obj & no pop-up with options either.
It automatically exports everything linked to the collection with the boxy icon.
Maybe dumb question, but is that 2.9s equivalent to 2.7&8s export as collection option?

I've been temporarily deleting everything but the mesh I'm exporting so far.
I probably could just unlink what I don't want exported.
Screenshots
Forum Resident
#16 Old 4th Dec 2022 at 2:53 PM
@furiasweetie, you do not have this export screen? This is in Blender 2.93.

The feet look good. Your UV is an issue. UV unwrap is no friend to Sims 3 meshing. You will need to import a toddler body or bottom and match the ankle seams of both the mesh and UV map to the body/ bottom. This is to prevent seams.
Screenshots
Test Subject
#17 Old 4th Dec 2022 at 5:17 PM
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
(Plan to make re-colorable scales to apply like body hair)

you can do that with an overlay accessory as an alternative
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
Tried getting a working version of ms3d because it seems like over 90% of tutorials I find use it.

i think the only reason people used it for so long is:
back in 2009 one of the first cc creators preferred milkshape over blender 2.4
they wrote a tutorial using it
new creators read it, got milkshape, made tools for it, wrote more tutorials using it
repeat for a decade or so

i don't know of a single thing that milkshape does better than blender, and i believe that it significantly crippled the community. people could only do minor edits, never learned to retopologize once md entered the scene, etc. all because milkshape is hell to use
i feel sorry for object creators who, as far as i know, still have to use it
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
Last time Microsoft did a forced windows upgrade I had to completely re-install TS3

one of the big reasons why i'm using windows 8.1 lol
there should be a way to permanently disable automatic updates. can't help here because i don't use win 10, so.. google it i guess
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
So it seems I have to name all my meshes group_base before exporting

yes. it's a required step for tsrw
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
What version of mtk are you using in tutorial?

1.4.9, the latest one
its seam fixer for wso is broken for children, elders and female teens, but other than that it's better than 1.3. i don't know why you would use 1.3 if you're making cc for toddlers
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
Also with no export settings opinions in 2.9 that I can find, there's only export as waveform.obj & no pop-up with options either.
It automatically exports everything linked to the collection with the boxy icon.
Maybe dumb question, but is that 2.9s equivalent to 2.7&8s export as collection option?

when you click export > waveform obj, it always shows a window with export options like in ladysmoks's reply. those options are literally on the right of that window
i have no idea what you mean by export as collection. i tried to google it, and all results talk about .fbx export, which i have very little experience with (nor is it useful for ts3 cc)
Forum Resident
#18 Old 4th Dec 2022 at 7:05 PM
Quote:
i have no idea what you mean by export as collection. i tried to google it, and all results talk about .fbx export, which i have very little experience with (nor is it useful for ts3 cc)


I know OF this, but not how to use it. JoshQ mentioned using in a discussion about hairs. I have seen it when opening XPS or MMD models. What I believe @furiasweetie refers to is the wavefront object export preset that exports any and all meshes you may have loaded, and a materials list. I do not have the exact same Blender version, but can say those settings can be changed in 2.80 and 2.93.

Also, I am not familiar with the geom export seam fixer in Smug Tomato's tools for 2.9x. Also, do not do children, toddlers or babies, but can say her geom export seam fix DOES work with teen female and elder in 2.80... if that helps. Probably does do the other ages also.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#19 Old 4th Dec 2022 at 8:03 PM
Quote: Originally posted by LadySmoks
@furiasweetie, you do not have this export screen?


Yeah, it's the export part of the tutorial that shows export as collection with the box checked.
Older versions look so different that they confuse me a bit.
Good grief - I finally found it. Not where I was expecting to find it. For some reason I thought those settings would be somewhere before the file viewer. Like under one of the tabs with a dropdown or in preferences.

Quote: Originally posted by LadySmoks
The feet look good. Your UV is an issue. UV unwrap is no friend to Sims 3 meshing. You will need to import a toddler body or bottom and match the ankle seams of both the mesh and UV map to the body/ bottom. This is to prevent seams.


Thanks. They're a total mess for the UV though after triangulating faces. I think I'm going to have to rework the mesh & manually triangulate. Currently has too many wild edges that are making it difficult to straighten things out properly in the UV.

I imported the nudeshoes mesh & removed 1 foot so I only had 1 to work with & reshaped it. Rather than trying to figure out how to adjust sim height to match, I just imported a full body mesh I had ready for this project. Tweaked the leg length a bit without making it look funny. No hassle with lining up body parts since I only moved the foot's top loop up.
The toe area needed the most work in order to add actual claw shaped toes.

Currently have another version im working on with a different method. No tri-face until I get to adding them so they don't mess with my flow.
Import nudeshoes mesh but hide. Import nudebottom mesh, select all but the very bottom loop of 1 leg, & delete. Merged the 2 verts of the seam.
Unhide feet mesh, select the lonely loop. Extrude 6xs down. Adjust each loop's edges & verts to match the those on the foot before each extrude. Select the 4 vets @ bottom that nearly form a quad & f- key to add face. Add edge @ center going front to back. Close small opening @ the back with a face also.
Select the loop that's open @ the front & extruded 3xs following the foot shape to the end. Adjusted the verts so the edges match the foot. Left the front open for now. Save project & now deciding on how many toes I want. Going to check out some dragons & dinos in the meantime.
Possibly boot up Ark to get some good screenshots for reference & try not to get carried away.
Forum Resident
#20 Old 4th Dec 2022 at 11:21 PM
Quote:
Older versions look so different that they confuse me a bit.


HA HA! Yes, sometimes they are very different... which is why I stuck to 2.79 until it became apparent that I would only understand what JoshQ was teaching me was to use 2.80, as that was what he was using at that time. I think he uses 2.91 now? I have been slowly trying to use 2.93, but find the furniture is yet moved again!!!

Quote:
Tweaked the leg length a bit without making it look funny.


So, doing that, those feet will really only work with that bottom mesh. I understand about making the feet as height altering. It would work better for matching any body/ bottom mesh, but as you say this is for toddler, I do not know of a heel height chart for that age group... only teen thru elder.

Quote:
No tri-face until I get to adding them so they don't mess with my flow.


Yes, it can often be easier to work with quads. Only time triangulating back causes issues is with bone weight flow. But, it's usually only a handful of edges that need to be dissolved and recut.

Quote:
Import nudeshoes mesh but hide. Import nudebottom mesh, select all but the very bottom loop of 1 leg, & delete. Merged the 2 verts of the seam.
Unhide feet mesh, select the lonely loop. Extrude 6xs down. Adjust each loop's edges & verts to match the those on the foot before each extrude. Select the 4 vets @ bottom that nearly form a quad & f- key to add face. Add edge @ center going front to back. Close small opening @ the back with a face also.
Select the loop that's open @ the front & extruded 3xs following the foot shape to the end. Adjusted the verts so the edges match the foot. Left the front open for now. Save project & now deciding on how many toes I want. Going to check out some dragons & dinos in the meantime.
Possibly boot up Ark to get some good screenshots for reference & try not to get carried away.


Genrally, for a project like this, I would just reuse the EA foot. In wireframe, side view, you can grab vertices and move them as needed.









This way, I did not move the top row of vertices for the feet, and never moved the feet UV. Of course, the one I show above IS height altering, +5 units and there is a standard chart for teen thru elder. Plus, those are made from JoshQ feet, so I just fitted toes and claws.

But still, making the toes IS the hardest part.
Screenshots
Test Subject
Original Poster
#21 Old 5th Dec 2022 at 4:40 AM
Quote: Originally posted by thornowl
1.4.9, the latest one
its seam fixer for wso is broken for children, elders and female teens, but other than that it's better than 1.3. i don't know why you would use 1.3 if you're making cc for toddlers


Went looking through my modding tools backup & found I have mtk 1.4.9.zip but forgot to install it when my pc was last online.
I'm working on making cc for all ages so it seems like I'd still need the old 1 for somethings even if I installed the newest.

Quote: Originally posted by LadySmoks

So, doing that, those feet will really only work with that bottom mesh. I understand about making the feet as height altering. It would work better for matching any body/ bottom mesh, but as you say this is for toddler, I do not know of a heel height chart for that age group... only teen thru elder.


That's kinda my plan. I used mtk to join nudetop & bottom a while back when I was just messing around & figuring a few things out. I fixed the seams in blender & did a bit of reshaping around the middle. Slightly less of a potbelly. Plan to eventually make it morphabe for the weight slider but gots lots to learn 1st.
Project has @ least 8 parts to work on right now. Not counting making set for all ages & separate genders for teen & up.


Quote: Originally posted by LadySmoks
Genrally, for a project like this, I would just reuse the EA foot. In wireframe, side view, you can grab vertices and move them as needed.


That's what I did with the 1s in the pics. The toes are the problem area after using the triangulate faces option. I messed something up though when I started messing with the UV. They show up black in TSRW. They showed up fine before when I just edited shape. I'll figure it out eventually.

I'm pretty sure it's possible to screw something up bed enough that it's easier to start over. Especially for me lol.
I'm not there yet but I did start a different approach just in case.
Forum Resident
#22 Old 5th Dec 2022 at 2:27 PM
Quote:
That's kinda my plan. I used mtk to join nudetop & bottom a while back when I was just messing around & figuring a few things out. I fixed the seams in blender & did a bit of reshaping around the middle. Slightly less of a potbelly. Plan to eventually make it morphabe for the weight slider but gots lots to learn 1st.
Project has @ least 8 parts to work on right now. Not counting making set for all ages & separate genders for teen & up.


If that is the plan, you may consider just attaching the feet to that bottom mesh using Blender? A couple of things to be aware... Probably easiest is that you would need "null shoes" for toddlers. Not hard to make. Use any shoe except nude as TSRW donor. In Blender, delete all faces, except one, and shrink it down to tiny. You can move it to inside of the foot mesh, or slightly below floor level. Remove all bones, except which ever foot you are attaching to, and paint it 100%. Export as geom, convert and use same "chip" for all LODs.Make multiplier blank, so no colors will show (even though it is hidden). To clean up the package, I use 32 x 32. I have a solid black for specular, solid red for mask, and one I ran thru process to use as a normals.

2nd thing is that even if I export as object (fewer issues with mesh), I export custom meshes, with custom bones as geom, so I have a bone reference for MTK. If the heel postion is changed, bone transfer from a unaltered mesh may be a problem. You can do much this way, and not need to stay as close to the basic guide rail. But bone paint can be critical.

Quote:
They show up black in TSRW.


May be that the normals were flipped. Blender mirror does that. MTK does not. My 2.93 would not start for some reason, so this is 2.80...






Quote:
I'm pretty sure it's possible to screw something up bed enough that it's easier to start over. Especially for me lol.
I'm not there yet but I did start a different approach just in case.


Yes... Yes it can be!!!!!!!!!!! And no, I do believe I still hold the record for being dense and screwing things up... and scrapping it and starting over!!!!

This is actually my v2 of my demon feet. The original was a one piece, legs and feet, but later made the feet as height altering. Also, the pic shows a simple tail...

Screenshots
Test Subject
Original Poster
#23 Old 5th Dec 2022 at 11:55 PM
So I went back to the edited version of the toddler feet I first exported from blender. They're not fancy, just a quick reshape & export. They're the same ones I packaged & tested b4 but wouldn't show in game just like the tail.
Don't know what all I screwed up so started new toddler feet project. Imported my not fancy feet but this time I made sure to add a texture. Just basic skin for now.
Problem solved.

Now to refine the feet mesh, toddler size my personal tail mesh, finish my toddler wings, & get busy on making some horns.

So here's my little monster for testing. Had to put an outfit on for showing so ignore the ankle seams. The nudybody for these feet actually matches fine though.
Screenshots
Forum Resident
#24 Old 6th Dec 2022 at 1:20 AM
Quote: Originally posted by furiasweetie
So I went back to the edited version of the toddler feet I first exported from blender. They're not fancy, just a quick reshape & export. They're the same ones I packaged & tested b4 but wouldn't show in game just like the tail.
Don't know what all I screwed up so started new toddler feet project. Imported my not fancy feet but this time I made sure to add a texture. Just basic skin for now.
Problem solved.

Now to refine the feet mesh, toddler size my personal tail mesh, finish my toddler wings, & get busy on making some horns.

So here's my little monster for testing. Had to put an outfit on for showing so ignore the ankle seams. The nudybody for these feet actually matches fine though.


Looks like a good start! Basic... THEN fancy!!! You said you added a skin texture to the project? If they are nude feet, the Sim's skin texxture should apply to the feet. Generally, any mesh part that does not have a multiplier should be skin texture. Of course, the tail as accy would need a multiplier, I guess. )))
Test Subject
Original Poster
#25 Old 6th Dec 2022 at 10:41 PM
Yep, that's what I figured & still had to put skin texture in 4 the texture tab.

So I'm tinkering with my custom tm-tail & still trying to figure out the UV system in blender 2.9. I can't seem to figure out how to break the mesh into multiple parts in the UV using seams.
The only way it shows up right in the UV is with the seams marked around the sides.
Exported the UV as is (wireframe) & opened in gimp to mess around with texturing.
Screenshots
Page 1 of 2
Back to top