help Tips and Tricks: Screenshots for Stories

[yukitokuroya]

Hello, I'm writing a story in Sims 4 and would like some advice on taking screenshots for the story, like camera position and such.

 

Thank you.

 

PS: Put "help" as the tag since I'm asking for tips, not giving tips.

[mrrakkonn]

Well, the obvious one is to use the photo mode, by pressing TAB, to take your screenshots, allows you to move the camera much more freely and zoom in and out much more (there's also mods around to further enhance the photo mode).

 

If you want to save a certain camera position you can, when in photo mode, press CTRL + a number to save that position, you can then return to that position by simply pressing the number. Though beware that it seems that the lower and higher numbers have functions tied to them, so using the middle ones, 5,6,7 for instance for this is probably best. 

 

Be aware of in game lighting both outside (the world looks very different at morning, noon, evening and night and it also depend on your location) and inside with the various light sources you have available (also remember that you can select lights to choose color and intensity). Being aware of this goes a long way towards enhancing the quality of your screenshots. 

 

Then of course there's the reminder to always make sure you don't have walls set to see through before you take pictures or things will look odd. Also you can enter the cheat "headlineeffects off" to remove plumbobs and most other effects that show up above sims' heads. 

 

Also, when you have your screenshots and are selecting which ones to use, crop them! You don't want or need all the pictures in your story to be the same size or have the same aspect ratio. A simple image editing software like GIMP works well for this purpose. 

[mrrakkonn]

Oh! And make good use of the pose player http://sims4studio.com/thread/2617/andrews-studio but don't rely solely on modder-created pose packs. Make use of the ability to play vanilla animations using the pose player as well, there should always be an attached text file in the link above with an updated list of all vanilla animations.

[R-Lo]

https://fogity.wordpress.com/mods/hidden-highlight/

 

https://simsvip.com/2014/09/21/the-sims-4-how-to-remove-plumbob/

 

https://luumiasims.com/post/167217001494/i-released-the-noglo-mod-about-a-year-and-a-half

 

https://youtu.be/0hFmt0Hsd8E. Reshade

 

Hey! 

These are some things I found helpful, 

The reshade link is for an older version but the vid will give you an idea of how it works ?

 

As mentioned by mrrakkonn, make sure you keep those walls up and hide the UI with tab mode, 

While in this free cam mode, click up a floor or two and you'll see the higher placed furniture and plant life etc if in a multiple level building or lot, also in this mode you have a better zoom, take care when zooming out too far as it'll give you that 'through the keyhole' effect?

 

 

Its very important to decorate your scene, make use of the clutter and plant life etc! Pictures/posters or ornaments, 

You need to make sure your setting is as well dressed as your sims! 

Think about what kind of objects that would possibly be lying around on shelves and tables, 

Then fill those empty spaces! 

A 'lived in' room brings a lot to your scene ?

Also the lighting effects do dramatically change texture on the sims skin, 

In order to avoid the bleached look outdoors, make use of trees to help provide shadow which helps to reduce that, 

 

Indoors, it sometimes helps to add some wall lights or floor lamps /candles which will light up those lower areas in the background, 

Have a play with the brightness of the lights individually to get a balance you like,

Adjusting the settings for all at once will instantly reset all your lights so watch out for that, 

 

Feel free to post anytime in my thread and ask for opinions! I learned a lot from people here and I'm sure that you will easily find more answers from a lot more perspectives ?

[gass23]

This mod is a must for photo mode:

 

http://modthesims.info/d/536953/live-mode-and-tab-mode-camera-mods-no-drift-amp-lower-level.html

[Qalefir]

MC Command Center is very usefull because it give some tools to to what you want like change easely the season, the weather, change the mood of your sim depend on what you need, having a lot of sims in a lot... Very useful for the staging.

 

https://deaderpool-mccc.com/

[Vthena]

Most have been said about the technical standpoint of taking screenshots, and all previous advices are excellent. I don't have much to add. But I like to think I take good screenshots so I may be helpful for the artistic side of things.

It's important to think about your framing. If you have a nice backdrop it's always nice to make use of it. Don't be afraid to move to remote locations and explore to find the perfect spot. If you're working on a story, it's perfect for exposition. You're setting the environement and presenting your character at the same time.

 

Spoiler

 

 

But It's not always possible, so don't be afraid to get close and fill the frame if there is nothing interesting in sight. (On the second picture, the only thing I placed on the lot was a garage door, and nothing else.)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Depth of field if commonly used in photography, unfortunately it's not present in game.  So if you wish to add depth and background blur, you will need to play with photoshop. I think it adds at lot but it's also take quite some time to achieve good result.
 

Spoiler

 

 

Posing is an important part. It's always nice to finds good poses, or create your own. But you can also use the ones already present in game!

 

Spoiler

 

 

When two characters are interacting, try to vary the angles. You don't have to stay far away. Including some close up will emphasis the important bits of the story, or can be used to show inner thoughts.
 

Spoiler

  

 

  

 

[Guest]

Very useful info. Thanks to everyone for sharing.