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Post by fullempathy on Oct 12, 2020 17:58:41 GMT -5
Hi all, I'm wondering if anybody would be willing to take on a hair recolor request for me? Basically I've been looking for a specific split-dye color combination and style that I have not been able to find, and i've looked into a few tutorials and it just honestly seems a bit too complicated for me...
Here are some pictures of a Sims 3 recolor that is pretty much the types of hair and color combo (I'd like more of a golden blonde instead of white) I'm looking for:
And here are some pics of the type of blonde color I'd like on the blonde side:
The hairs I had in mind were Nightcrawler's 'Vixen' and Ade_Darma's 'Brower' . If anyone would be willing to give this a shot I'd so appreciate it!
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Post by Cidira on Oct 12, 2020 20:01:43 GMT -5
So, half and half coloring like this could actually be super easy, depending on how the texture is mapped on the mesh, but it could also be genuinely impossible, depending on how the texture is mapped on the mesh. To be specific, if the hair is mapped in such a way that part of the texture is used in different places on both the left and right sides of the head, then it is not possible to recolor that specific hairstyle in a split dyed style (unless someone were to re-map the mesh, which is a very different undertaking). It's also possible for it to be doable, but difficult... again, depending on how the texture is mapped on the mesh.
With that in mind, I'm willing to take a look at doing this, but since you didn't specify a hair you want recolored, I have some questions, namely:
a) Have you seen any of the existing split dyed styles for TS4? These will generally be really easy to recolor, so if there's a style you like that just doesn't have the colors you want, a link would be perfect, whereas if you haven't found a style you like, or haven't seen any at all, then I'd need to know what kind of hair you want (i.e. is it the sort of thing that's in your photos, which are all fairly similar styles, or were those just examples of the split dye coloring and you actually want pigtails or something?), so that I can see if there's an existing split dyed hair that'll work.
b) Regardless of your answer to the previous question, is there a specific mesh or a small number of potential candidates that you'd like to see used if it's possible to do so?
If we can find a mesh that you like, and that I can get to be split dyed without too much hassle, I'll give it a go. If you are interested, and if you are already comfortable making single-colored hair recolors, I might even be able to help walk you through learning to do it yourself. (I am not on board to just teach somebody how to recolor hair, either the S4S parts or the Photoshop/GIMP/etc. parts, only for helping with 'which parts of the texture do what?' from a non-mesher's viewpoint.)
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Post by fullempathy on Oct 12, 2020 20:16:28 GMT -5
Thanks for your response, Cidira! I was actually looking at these 2 meshes: Nightcrawler's 'Vixen' and Ade's 'Brower' to be split-dyed. I'm not sure how they're mapped (hopefully well enough to pull this off) but those are the specific type of style I was looking for and haven't been able to find. Mostly I've run across up-do styles and styles with bangs that have been split-dyed. Hair recoloring is something I am brand-new to and haven't attempted before. |
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Post by Cidira on Oct 12, 2020 22:20:02 GMT -5
I'll take a look for existing split-dyed styles like that, and also check the mapping on those two meshes, after work tomorrow. Do you prefer the style of texture used on those hairs over a more Maxis-matchy one?
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Post by fullempathy on Oct 12, 2020 23:29:41 GMT -5
Ok, sounds good. I do quite like the texture of those hairs, but honestly whatever would make it easier on you is fine.
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Post by likobear on Oct 14, 2020 11:58:22 GMT -5
This isn't quite the style you're looking for, but Cidira mentioned looking for similar styles/checking out the mapping, and I happened to remember that Nightcrawler already has a split-dyed style and if it helps either of you, then I'm happy. If it doesn't help at all, ignore me n.n |
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Post by Cidira on Oct 14, 2020 18:57:51 GMT -5
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Post by fullempathy on Oct 14, 2020 19:53:55 GMT -5
I actually really like the leahlillith Rogue hair! I wouldn’t mind that replacing the wavy hair I suggested. Hopefully that other mesh doesn’t give you any trouble, but if it does I’m sure there is one out there that is similar enough and easier to map. And please take your time, I’m in no hurry. And nice suggestion, likobear! The only gripe I have about that one is the parting, but it’s still a nice hair nonetheless, thank you.  |
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Post by Cidira on Oct 14, 2020 21:22:26 GMT -5
I've checked both meshes, and neither is suitable. Here's a visual illustration of why:  Remember how I mentioned that, if the same portion of the texture was used on both sides of the head, you wouldn't be able to split-dye the hair? I slapped a different color on each clearly differentiated section of the texture (lower right corner of the image), then imported the result back into the hair in S4S, and took this screenshot of the result. You'll see that the green section, in particular, is obviously used on both sides of the head, the orange/brown section appears in more than one place on each side of the head, and you may even be able to notice small sections of pale purple on both sides too. As the screenshot shows, this is Nightcrawler Vixen; the other had the same sort of results. Just for funsies, here's a screenshot of one of the existing textures of the split-dyed recolor of Leahlilith Rogue in S4S:  Alpha hairs look funny in S4S 3d previews (you can see it in the other screenshot too, it's just not as obvious), but you can see that while the texture still has many small sections, the previous recolorist was able to just divide it neatly in half and get a tidy split-dyed result, because no section of the texture is used on both sides of the head. I can definitely recolor Leahlillith Rogue for you. I also wouldn't mind checking another mesh or two, since it's not a big hassle, but it's really a toss-up how a given hair is made. |
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Post by fullempathy on Oct 14, 2020 22:12:36 GMT -5
I definitely do see the issue and I would venture a guess that this is why there aren't that many split-dye recolor options as it is. It seems like this could be even more time consuming trying to hunt down a mes that is mapped in such a way that would make a split-dye possible, and I honestly wouldn't ask you (or anyone) to try and go through the hassle. The only mesh I've found that is sort of like what I had in mind is this one which already has some split-dye recolors, so I would be fine with that replacing the Nightcrawler straight hair. I also would love the Leahlillith Rogue. Again, thank you so so much for undertaking this project for me, Cidira! |
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Post by Cidira on Oct 14, 2020 23:20:16 GMT -5
Yeah, the split dye accessory for the Candy hair means there's a guide for making a recolor, so I can take a closer look at that one too and expect it shouldn't be a problem. (Candy mentions some small issues with the split dye, so I'll see if I can find the post that explains them.) Glad to help, recolors can be tricky until you get the hang of them, especially trying to figure out what bits do what. Somewhere in the next few days I'll have at them both. Let's see, last things I need to know. For the black, plain desaturated black, brown-black, EA-like blue-black? For the blonde, your examples look relatively similar to the middle EA blonde (i.e. neither the very yellow one nor the platinum one), perhaps a little more golden? Also, both creators require that recolors not include the mesh, so in both cases you'll need to download their package and keep it (whether you also keep their swatches or remove them). Do you want my recolors to add a swatch to the original hair (it would still be a separate package which you'd add to your Mods folder along with theirs, but in CAS it would just be one more swatch instead of a separate thumbnail) or to stand alone (it would show up in CAS separately and I'd give it a simple thumbnail)? |
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Post by fullempathy on Oct 15, 2020 9:11:33 GMT -5
So for the type of black, I think desaturated would be fine and the blonde can be a little more golden. And you can just add on a swatch as I will be keeping the other recolors too.
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Post by fullempathy on Oct 15, 2020 9:24:22 GMT -5
Speaking of Leahlillith, I just came across a hair of theirs that is split-dyed and in the style I originally wanted, maybe you would be able to work with it? Hair |
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Post by o19 on Oct 15, 2020 14:07:33 GMT -5
Hi Cidra
Actually one may move the UV map for the left side to another position and recolor it there. But with 3 or face meshes this is still a pain and nothing for me, Blender UV mapping or applying an image properly is still complicated for me. Or maybe it's a blender and S4S issue, parts of the hair look yellow or white.
As a test I added a plane to the mesh (in edit mode, not to the scene - Add Plane (0.005; 0; 1.5)/(0°; 90°; 0°) - it has to be a little bit off to make sure that the center vertices belonging to the other side can not be selected) and moved it so that I could see only the (back view) left part of the sim, the hair tail going into the plane. Deselect the plane or it will be hidden. This way one can use 'c' or better 'b' to create a box and select and hide 'h' all visible hair vertices of the left part. The hair vertices behind the plane (right part of the hair) will not be selected. After 20 iterations (takes little time with 'b') the sim should look bald. On the right part of the sim one should carefully edit the hair tail manually as it doesn't go straight down and hide a few faces or vertices to make sure it follows the hair direction (this may take longer, better with 'c' than with 'b').
Then select the visible mesh with 'Ctrl+a'. In the UV view select everything 'a', grab it 'g' and move it to the right 'x' '128' (or 512 ??). Not sure if it is a good idea to use the right area in TS4, otherwise one may scale X or Y to 50% to make sure that the UV still fits in the same area. After moving the UV mesh one should delete the plane and un-hide 'Alt+h' everything.
Doing this for all meshes would take some time.
Such a modification of the UV map should work for all hair, so I hope one or the other may use it.
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Post by Cidira on Oct 15, 2020 19:24:17 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, I know that remapping messages is a thing. I mentioned it a while back in an earlier reply. But it is 300% not a thing I can do, and it's also against the TOU of many meshers.
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