How to create transparent skirt for Sims 4 ?

[sims4atf]

Please help....

[angiebaby23]

Google?

 

http://sims4studio.com/thread/1469/tutorial-create-transparent-skirt

[crabb]

I will show you how I would do it. As I was typing this out it got kind of long so here are the steps laid out. You need sims 4 studio, blender, and an image editor like GIMP or Photoshop (I use paint.net, it's free). I also recommend doing an info search and learning some of the basics of these programs if you are not familiar with them.

 

 

s4s - Enable transparency for the skirt

s4s - Export the skirt mesh

why move the UV map?

blender - move the UV map

blender - export the UV map

blender - add a body to your mesh and save

Paint.net, GIMP, Photoshop, etc.  - Resize your exported UV map

Paint.net, GIMP, Photoshop, etc.  - Move your skirt texture to the new UV map location

s4s - import your mesh with the new UV map. Import your image with the adjusted skirt texture

 

 

OriginalSkirt.package

 

This is a base game skirt. The mesh is already complete, but you need to enable transparency in sims 4 studio and move the location of the skirt's UV map using blender so the texture of the skirt does not bleed underneath onto the sim's skin

Spoiler

 

 

 

1   s4s - Enable transparency for the skirt

 

- In sims 4 studio open up your skirt package and select the warehouse tab under the window bar.

- Select a geometry file that contains your skirt mesh in the left hand column

- In the right side column, select the "data" tab at the top. Scroll down to the shader category (it's highlighted here) and select "simGlass"

- Repeat the simGlass step for the other geometry files in the left side column that contain the skirt mesh

Your mesh is now enabled for transparent textures

Spoiler

 

 

 

2   S4S - Export the skirt mesh

 

- Select the studio tab under the window bar, and select the "meshes" tab on the right side. hit the green button and save the mesh on your computer.

- Save this as "OriginalSkirtMesh.blend" or something similar. Save your package file and exit.

This mesh file will be need to be saved so you can open it up in blender. There you will be able to move the UV map of the skirt mesh, and prevent the fabric texture from also covering the sim's legs when the clothing is worn

Spoiler

 

 

 

Why move the UV map?

UV Map - In a 3D space X,Y, and Z are used for the mesh coordinates. U and V are the next available letters, and are used as the xy coordinates for a flat texture that wraps around a mesh

 

The image below is the original skirt texture combined with a layout of where Maxis puts the textures of their meshes. If an object has a texture, it needs to find it somewhere on this image. The UV map of an object is included in a .blend file with its mesh, and will tell the mesh where to find its textures on the image. If you ever have a problem with clothing where the texture of one object has been covered by texture of another object, it is because they are sharing the same UV map location and now there are two textures sharing the same space.

 

Below you can see that the skirt texture is right on top of the pelvis. This is not good - the skirt texture must be moved  so that it does not also cover everything under the skirt when the sim is wearing it. We will go into blender and move the location of the mesh's UV map so that we can move this texture to a new location and resolve this conflict.

 

If you are editing a CC skirt (like sstormyy's) that does not keep the skirt texture on top of the body, then you can stop here. You enabled transparency in sims 4 studio, so all you need to do is make the texture more transparent in an image editor, and then import the texture into your package in sims 4 studio. This is done in the "studio" tab >> "textures" tab >> select "diffuse" from the column >> select "import".

Spoiler

 

 

 

3   blender - move the UV map

 

We are going to select the skirt in the 3D viewer to reveal our UV map in the grid on the left side. Once the UV map is revealed, we will select the UV of the skirt, 'detach' it from any other pieces it is currently connected to, and then move it away from the body. 

 

You will be spending some time getting used to making selections in blender. You can use the same selection techniques on the UV map that you can use on the 3D mesh. After you get the hang of this, you will have the experience required to fix any texture conflicts with clothing or any 'special' body parts in your CC folder

 

here is an unedited copy of the skirt mesh -

example skirt.blend

 

 

- Double click the "OriginalSkirtMesh.blend" file you exported from sims 4 studio and open it up in blender

- In the farthest right column, select the s4studio_mesh that contains your skirt. This mesh had three objects, and the skirt mesh I wanted was named s4studio_mesh_2

- Hover over your 3D view in the center, and hit "tab" on the keyboard to go into edit mode

- In the 3D view in the center, right click on a piece of the the skirt, then hit "CTRL +" until you have selected all the "cloth" of the skirt.

- You can delete body parts that are not part of the skirt cloth if this makes it easier for you (make a selection > press "X" > delete vertices). We will add in a new body bottom later. If you want to use freehand selection mode, press "C". If you want to use box selection, press "B". If you want to deselect something, hold "shift" before pressing left click to begin selection. To select or deselect everything, press "A"  https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/meshes/selecting/introduction.html#selection-tools

- In the grid on the left side, right click on a vertex, then hit "CTRL +" until you have slected the entire skirt UV map

- Hit "Y" to "split" this part of the UV map away from everything else it is connected to. This will make it move independently from all other UVs. Do this even if you don't see any other mapping on your gird.

-  With your skirt UV still selected, press "G" to grab and move it to another place. Hit "enter" or left click to place it in the new location. There is an option you can check in the "UVs" menu shown under the grid that will constrain your UV map movement to the boundaries of the grid

Spoiler

**** make sure you have both the front and the back selected in orange, I messed up here and only selected the front

 

*****

 

Where is the skirt on the UV grid?

 

 

if you are having trouble finding your skirt mesh in the UV grid, widen your left window that contains the grid and select this option

 

 

With UV sync turned on, the relevant UV mapping will become selected when you make mesh selections in the central 3D view. Make the correct selections in the 3D view to reveal the UV maps you are looking for. Turn this option off once you have discovered the location of the skirt UV map.

 

 

 

 

4   blender - export the UV map and save your mesh with the new UV map

 

You moved the UV! Congrats. Now we are going to save the UV map as an image. Later we will use it as a guide to tell us where to move the skirt texture.

 

- When you finish moving your UV map, highlight the UV map again in orange and hit "export UV layout". All the vertices, edges, and faces you select here will be displayed on your new image file

- Save as "newSkirtUVmap.png" or other name

- hit "CTRL S" to save your mesh and you are finished.

- Save as "skirtMeshWithNewUVmap.blend" or other name

Even if you did not make any changes to the mesh, you changed the UV layout, and you must hold onto this blender file so you can import the mesh [with the new UV map] into the package in sims 4 studio.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

5   blender - Add a body to the mesh
 

if you are using a base game mesh, it is almost certain that there is no body underneath the skirt. You will need to export and save a body bottom from another package in sims 4 studio, or take the base game one I have provided below, and add it to your skirt.

 

This is a simple operation and can be done with a few mouse clicks. You can also use this action to add a body top to accessory clothing if you want to try making them into real clothing tops.  Make sure you have your meshes stored where you can find them easily.

 

- mouse over the central 3D viewing area

- hit "tab" to go into object mode

- select the "file" option at the top left corner of the screen

- select "append" >> ! body bottom 2.blend >> object >> s4studio_mesh_XX

- on the far right column of your screen, hold shift and use left click to select both your body s4studio_mesh and your skirt s4studio_mesh > select the body before selecting the skirt. This is about 'cut' numbers, which I mention at the end here.

- still in object mode, mouse over the central 3D viewing area and press "CTRL J"

- you have now combined the skirt and the body into a single object

- save again as "skirtMeshWithNewUVmap.blend" or other name and close

 

This is a default bottom you can add, aka "append" to your existing mesh if you are missing legs and a pelvis.

 

! body bottom 2.blend

***when you append this object, it's going to show its original texture from the package I borrowed it from. This wont show up anywhere but here in blender - don't worry about this too much

 

 

 

6   Paint.net, GIMP, Photoshop, etc.  - Resize your exported UV map

 

You have moved the UV map of the clothing away from the body. resolving any future texture conflicts with the sims' legs. Wahoo! Now you must resize the exported UV map into something we can actually use as a guide for our placement of the skirt texture.

 

Your new UV map "newSkirtUVmap.png" will come out as a 1024x1024 square like this.

- resize this image to 1024x2048. This is the same size as the texture map I showed you earlier

Spoiler

 

 

 

7   Paint.net, GIMP, Photoshop, etc.  - Move your skirt texture to the new UV map location

 

- take your 1024x2048 UV map and add it as a new layer on top of your original texture.

- move your skirt texture to the skirt's new UV map location

- save this file as "SkirtTextureNewLocation.png"

Spoiler

 

 

8   s4s - import your mesh with the new UV map into the package. Import your image with the adjusted skirt texture into the package

 

You have changed the UV mapping of the mesh and moved the texture to the new UV map location. It is time to import the mesh and adjusted texture into the package.

 

- Open up your original package in sims4studio

- Import your new mesh/UV map. In the studio tab, select the "meshes" tab on the right and click the blue "import" button.

- Find and double click "skirtMeshWithNewUVmap.blend" to import

 

- Import your texture with the re-positioned skirt texture. In the studio tab, select the "textures" tab on the right, hightlight "diffuse" from the list underneath. Click the "import" button

- Find and double click "SkirtTextureNewLocation.png to import

 

 

******

 

Invisible Mesh and 'Cut' Numbers

 

Meshes imported into sims 4 studio will be invisible unless you import a .blend mesh with the same "cut" numbers as the mesh you originally exported. You may experience this problem of a "wrong 'cut' number" with a mesh that had two objects added together.

 

When two objects are added into the same mesh, the last object selected will contain the 'cut' number of the new combined mesh.

If you are adding something to a skirt you exported from sims 4 studio, you should select the skirt last so your new mesh will keep the same cut number as the original skirt. If you decide to select the body part last, your combined mesh could have the wrong number.

 

- below, the "cut" number of the skirt mesh is 0002, located on the bottom right

- to change this cut number, click on the number and enter your new desired number

- to import this skirt back into the same package, this object must be at cut 0002

- if this number were changed, the mesh may appear invisible. If any other cut numbers on the other objects are wrong, or they were deleted the import may fail

- if you have deleted any of the cut numbers by deleting objects, you can add or "append" the mesh objects back in with their original cut numbers from your original file "OriginalSkirtMesh.blend"

- You will add these mesh objects with their correct 'cut' numbers just like you did before with your bottom body part --- In blender, top left of your screen to File >> append >> and select "OriginalSkirtMesh.blend" >> object >> s4studio_mesh_XX and find the s4studio_mesh you are missing.

- Once an object is loaded back into your the blender file, it may receive a slightly new name if there is a naming conflict. After the object has been added you can save, no further action is required.

 

It is important to look back at your original .blend file and take note of what number the "cut" of the skirt mesh is so you can import all the objects in the mesh at their correct cut numbers. It is also important that your skirt mesh has a similar shape as the original for compatibility. More information about cut numbers by orangemittens: http://sims4studio.com/thread/13120/cut-numbers-easy-explanation

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you are finished - this was longer than I intended, but I hope it gives you a clear idea of what is required. here are the steps again with the files resulting from that step

 

 

1   s4s - Enable transparency for the skirt

>>> "OriginalSkirt.package"

 

2   s4s - Export the skirt mesh

>>> "OriginalSkirtMesh.blend"

 

3   blender - move the UV map

 

4   blender - export the UV map

>>>"newSkirtUVmap.png" and "skirtMeshWithNewUVmap.blend"

 

5   blender - add a body to your mesh and save

>>> "skirtMeshWithNewUVmap.blend"

 

6   Paint.net, GIMP, Photoshop, etc.  - Resize your exported UV map

>>> "newSkirtUVmap.png"

 

7   Paint.net, GIMP, Photoshop, etc.  - Move your skirt texture to the new UV map location

>>> "SkirtTextureNewLocation.png"

 

8   s4s - import your mesh

"skirtMeshWithNewUVmap.blend" Import your image "SkirtTextureNewLocation.png"

 

 

[sims4atf]

Thank you so much for your kind guidance. With this, now i'll finally be able to get going; to create pack of transparent bottoms and upload here, real soon ?

 

 

 

[crabb]

you're welcome, I have been doing these steps a lot lately so it felt good to have it written down. Let me know if you run into any problems I will be glad to take a look