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Post by akaysims on May 12, 2020 4:11:45 GMT -5
I want to know what the most efficient way of making cuts to prevent gaps in meshes is
All I've seen are bits and pieces of information regarding cuts so I'd appreciate some clarifications on it.
1. Do you have to split your mesh into meshgroups before uv_1 mapping, weight painting and vertex painting?
2. I know that the reason there's a gap between meshgroups is because vertices that share the same coordinates have different vertex group values. how can that be prevented (from the beginning)?
3. Is there a way to accurately split your mesh into meshgroups? I mean either by vertex, face or edge selection? And would it be better to duplicate your mesh the number of times for the different cuts or separate the cuts from one mesh?
4. Also, let's say I need a fullbody outfit for adult males that requires 4 cuts. For a base game item the only option is to use the maid outfit, but the mesh is grouped into left and right bicep, chest and the base mesh. I want my outfit to be grouped into calf, ankle, knee and the base mesh. Can I split my mesh into said groups and then edit the region map entries to reflect the different cuts assuming I keep all related geometries constant? It's confusing to split the mesh that way because there isn't a reference mesh split like that (for base game, as far as I know.)
Also, all this is assuming that I have the same vertex groups from what clone package I used and the mesh I used for a weight transfer.
I've read this thread sims4studio.com/post/140596/thread but I got confused about some of the instructions on there so I needed some clarifications
Thank You!
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Post by mauvemorn on May 12, 2020 9:57:47 GMT -5
Hi. 1). No, you must do everything first and split the mesh at the very end. Append the reference, merge all meshgroups, use it for weight and uv_1 transfer, delete, then append again without joining the meshgroups, use each as a guide on how to split your mesh; 2). To prevent vertices that share the same coordinates from getting different weight values, you should remove doubles first to merge them into one and ensure there are no holes. - transfer a uv_1 map first because having split edges along the seam on the body will give you cleaner results; - mark all split edges first to have an easier time selecting and splitting them again in places where edges should be shaded as sharp in-game. For this select everything with A in Edit mode, switch to Edge select, Select - Select boundary loop. After that click on Mark Seam in Shading/UVs tab; - Tools - Remove doubles, set Merge distance to 0,0001. You can check once again if there are any split edges with Select boundary loop. If there are, remove doubles again only for the selected edges with higher Merge distance; - Transfer weights; - Vertex paint; - select one edge marked as seam, Select - Select similar - Seam. Holding Shift-Ctrl, LMB-click-and-drag to deselect unnecessary ones, if there are such, Mesh - Edges - Edge split. Now all split vertices share the same vertex group values. If you will have to edit the weights again, make sure to remove doubles again. You can select everything again and use Clear seam, then Select boundary loop again, then mark the selection as seams. This way you will not have to deselect the unnecessary seams again. 3). Yes. Import the reference in the scene without joining meshgroups, rename each to ref + its cut number or the last number of the cut number ( so like ref_1 or ref_0001), hide all but ref_0000. Select your garment, switch to vertex select, disable Limit selection to visible, select corresponding (to ref_0000) area of your mesh, press P - Selection. Rename the separated meshgroup 0000 or 0. Use Remove unused vertex groups with this addon. (Type 0 and click Purchase, it's free. Put downloaded file in Blender\2.78\scripts\addons. Install it ( File - Preference - type remove in the search bar - enable the addon - Save user Settings - restart Blender). Compare if vertex groups match with those of ref_0000. Do the same for the rest 4). The game does not like when a meshgroup is affected by vertex groups that the one it will replace isn't. So if you will change a region map, the vertex groups issue will remain. Have you looked at all base game full-body outfit with very long pants? If yes, find the one that does not have ankles and add a new meshgroup. You can open any tutorial about adding transparency to find how |
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Post by akaysims on May 14, 2020 19:30:59 GMT -5
Hii!! Thanks for replying  Had to read this over and over again to make sure I understood what I needed to do. Okay so first off, I thought I had to do all these after splitting the mesh into cuts too. I thought the weights, uv_1, and vertex painting had to be done twice just because of cuts. (Wrong?) Okay so I have follow up questions. 1) you mentioned removing doubles first before joining the reference mesh's meshgroups. How do you remove doubles without affecting the reference mesh's seams? Also, does that mean that even if your mesh will not have any cuts, as long as you're transferring a uv_1 map from a reference mesh with cuts you always have to remove doubles from the reference mesh before joining it? Can you remove doubles from your mesh after you do a data transfer?Does the order affect it? 2) I always mark seams (and mark them as sharp) from uv islands so I don't need to re-select boundary loops and mark them as seams, right? 3) Then I have to split edges on my seams after vertex painting, correct? 4) Thank you for recommending the addon, I used to manually remove unused vertex groups X_X. 5) I was actually looking for a base game item that has 4 cuts and also uses the foot bones Thankfully,I found one after using cas-preview in studio. Thanks again!! |
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Post by mauvemorn on May 15, 2020 0:02:31 GMT -5
No, this way they will get different vertex group values.
1). I did not say that? You do not need to remove doubles before joining the reference. You do not have to remove doubles on the reference at all. This would give you cleaner results in theory but not along the main seam along which the body is split. Even if you remove doubles and split the mesh right away, the borders would be stretched. I usually recommend people to use a different mesh for the uv_1 transfer (no fine details like belt, bows, etc, as little meshgroups as possible). The sim body is very small ( around 2 mm in real life scale), so the program struggles to calculate this information right.
2). You do not have to do it if your mesh is in quads. If it is triangulated, you cannot Alt-LMB-click on the edge to select the loop and split it. You would need to select it either from uvs or with lasso/box selection tool which can take more time. Whichever you choose, without marking the seams, you will have to do it every time you edit weights.
3). You have to split edges after you're done with the mesh but before splitting it into meshgroups.
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Post by akaysims on May 23, 2020 3:27:06 GMT -5
linkSo I'm following these instructions on this post because I'm still getting the gap between the legs " you should transfer a uv_1 map from something that is close to yours in shape but has as little sculpted details as possible. You also do not want it to be split in too many meshgroups. This way the uv transfer result will be better with less split edges in places you do not want them. So clone something like yfBody_DressMaxi. Append it in the scene, join all meshgroups. Switch to edge select and remove doubles in places where the dress was split into meshgroups BUT NOT ALONG THE SEAM. Now select your garment, enable sync, select all body parts and delete them. Add Data transfer modifier, choose the appended mesh as Source object, set the rest like this. You'll get much better results with these settings;" 1.Just to be clear, you're saying to remove doubles on the uv_1 reference? Also, how do you "remove doubles in places where the dress was split into meshgroups but not along the seam?" Edit: Nevermind, just realized that for this to work, both mesh and uv_1 reference have to be split into front, back left, and back right. Also, "- switch to Edge select and select any edge marked as seam, Select - Select Similar - Seam. You only need to split edges that are sharp, like around those areas where you closed holes. Holding Shift Ctrl, LMB-click-and-drag to deselect all edges that are not sharp. Edge - Edges - Edge split; - s4s splits a 3d model along the borders of its uv islands. If you were to export the blend file from your package and Select boundary loops, you'd see that it is chopped up all kind of ways. So this means the uvs are chopped for some reason. You need to Remove doubles in UV Editor as well ( press W, choose Remove doubles, Merge distance set to 0,0001);" 2. If we're removing doubles again after edge splitting, won't the shading on the edges be dark?
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Post by mauvemorn on May 23, 2020 7:36:03 GMT -5
Here's the illustrated explanation which should give a better idea All items should be split along uv island borders. Maxis items already come like this, custom items are split by The Sims 4 Studio during import, so you do not need to do this yourself ( unless these edges should be shaded as sharp in-game).  I don't remember the exact phrasing/reasoning or where I saw it, but a single vertex must have only one uv location. If there's more, the mesh will be split there to create the same number of vertices. For example, if the garment's uvs are split into 2 uv islands, but the 3d model itself is not split along those seams, it means all those vertices along them are in 2 uv locations. This is something you should always remember when choosing a reference for the uv transfer. The uv_1 transfer result will be split in the same places where a 3d model used as a reference is split, which is desirable along that main border seam   But is not desirable within uv islands. The first dress has a lot of details, each of them is laid out as a separate uv island. The mesh is split along the borders of these uv islands. If you will use it as a reference, the uv transfer results will come out messed up. So always try to find a reference with as little sculpted details and meshgroups as possible. I tried removing doubles for the whole reference and splitting it only along that main seam, but Blender did not recognized it as split for some reason and uvs came out stretched.
How to remove doubles in unwanted places but leave the main seam untouched:
- switch to Edit mode, disable Limit selection to visible. Press B to activate box selection or hold Ctrl to activate lasso selection, LMB-click-and-drag to select unwanted places where the mesh is split. Hold Ctrl Shift and deselect vertices along the seam; - Tools - Remove doubles, set Merge distance to 0,0001.
About splitting edges: we mark split edges first, remove doubles, then select marked edges and split them again.
We mark them to select easily again. We remove doubles to make sure vertices along split seams are affected by weights the same way so there would be no gaps in the mesh. We select and split edges again to avoid dark shadows. Remove doubles on the uv map merges only connected vertices. In places where a 3d model is split uvs will not be merged.
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