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Post by alyssumveil on May 15, 2023 2:44:03 GMT -5
Hi there- first time posting
First off, I'm very new to meshing so admittedly this is all way over my head. Hopefully I'm able to articulate what I'm thinking, but I may not know all the correct terminology.
Basically, what I'm interested in making is an accessory that would create an "exposed bone" effect on a given Sim's legs. I figured I could try to do this by modifying the Jungle Adventures skeleton costume in Blender, removing all but the bones from the hip down. Obviously, it's not that simple and it didn't work. When I reupload the mesh into Sims 4 Studio, it is invisible, I figure hidden beneath the base sim. I thought I might try and download the base rig, remove the legs, and then import the bone legs mesh, but admittedly I can't figure out how to do that. I've tried a lot more things, but it's all clumsy uninformed grappling and probably not worth listing here.
I am completely lost, and at this point am considering pushing the project aside until I've become more familiar with meshing. That's probably the smart thing to do, but I hyperfixate on these types of things so much that I know I won't be able to stop thinking about it. I figured it was worth a try to make a post here asking, does anyone have an idea of how I could do this? Or if it's even feasible in the first, let alone for someone as inexperienced as me?
Thanks for literally any help in advance, sorry if I'm asking a lot or if this just doesn't make sense.
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Post by mauvemorn on May 15, 2023 5:07:36 GMT -5
Hi. If I understood you correctly (you want an accessory that hides the leg, replacing it with the bone), then it cannot be done. The leg does not come as a separate region, so you cannot hide it with another object.
Your two options are:
1). Modify a specific outfit. Just find the right pants/fullbody outfit, clone it, and replace the leg in blender
2). Create a body preset that shrinks one leg. S4 morph maker is used for this
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Post by alyssumveil on May 19, 2023 4:22:19 GMT -5
Ah ok that makes sense! I was wondering if that was the case.
I’ll give your first suggestion a shot! Quick question though, can this only be done with pants/ fullbody outfits, or would shoes work too?
Thanks for your help!
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Post by mauvemorn on May 19, 2023 4:52:42 GMT -5
shoes do not go above the knee. if you want the bone to be exposed below the knee, then yes, in higher, then no
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Post by alyssumveil on May 22, 2023 2:59:59 GMT -5
Hi again, sorry to bother you So the bone going only up to the knee actually sounded perfect, but when I went to try combining the shoe and skeleton legs, the calves still covered the bone. Do you know what I may be doing wrong here? Besides that I think I'm getting pretty close to what I was envisioning. I took a screenshot in case I'm not describing it well enough. Here's a drive link to the image |
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Post by mauvemorn on May 22, 2023 8:54:03 GMT -5
Check the item in-game. If you cloned tall boots and split your item the same way the boots were split, it will work
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Post by alyssumveil on May 23, 2023 23:05:36 GMT -5
Ok so I gave that a try- I'm assuming that by split, you mean divide up the skeleton mesh into pieces that match the different pieces of the boots mesh? The boots were divided into three pieces, so I divided the skeleton mesh into three equally-sized pieces and joined them together. This is what I ended up withDo you know what went wrong here? Sorry for asking so many questions, I'm in way over my head with this. |
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Post by Fwecka (Lolabellesims) on May 23, 2023 23:17:28 GMT -5
You'll need to clone a boot that covers the calf (it'll be tuned to hide the calf and feet so use it for your final package) and assuming you already have your mesh in Blender, append the EA boot into your scene (File > Append > your blend file > Object > shift-click all of the S4studio mesh files if there's more than one > Append from Library). If you end up with an extra rig and bone_bone_shapes just delete them from the outliner (upper righthand corner). Split your mesh in the exact same places the EA boot is split and assign your new mesh groups the exact same cut number as the EA boot has. You should transfer weights, the uv_1, and you should vertex paint your mesh before splitting and assigning cut numbers. The uv_1 and vertex paint are so that the mesh will respond to the game's sliders. The weight paint affects how the mesh animates. After you've done all that, delete the EA boot. I have a tutorial in my signature that I wrote for myself that I decided to share. It's all from information Mauvemorn provided (just so you know who has all the knowledge, lol) and is geared for Marvelous Designer meshes. The process is the same for any CAS mesh. It's also geared for Blender 2.78, but again, the process is the same even if you're using a higher version of Blender. And don't feel bad for getting obsessive over your failures. I do the same thing. Just cannot admit defeat.  |
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Post by alyssumveil on May 23, 2023 23:25:39 GMT -5
Thank you, I'll check out your tutorial and give it another try. I think I forgot to transfer weights and uv_1, so maybe that's the issue? I appreciate all the help ^_^
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Post by Fwecka (Lolabellesims) on May 23, 2023 23:59:37 GMT -5
The weights just affect animation and the uv_1 and vertex paint affect how the sliders work so, no, your problem isn't because of those. Boots are tuned to hide the calves, ankles, and feet. You can change how an item is tuned but it's a little complicated. It's easier to just clone knee-high boots--assuming that your item is basically bones that go up to the knees and no higher--and split your mesh and assign the cut numbers in the same way the EA item has been split and numbered. Cut numbers are used only by Sims4Studio. It's just so that Studio can identify which mesh group is which. You should share your files so you can get more personalized help. |
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Post by alyssumveil on May 24, 2023 1:42:57 GMT -5
Ahh, I see. I'm still figuring out all the terminology and exactly what it means. I'll give it another shot and if it's still not working I'll upload the files!
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Post by alyssumveil on May 24, 2023 2:14:58 GMT -5
The weights just affect animation and the uv_1 and vertex paint affect how the sliders work so, no, your problem isn't because of those. Boots are tuned to hide the calves, ankles, and feet. You can change how an item is tuned but it's a little complicated. It's easier to just clone knee-high boots--assuming that your item is basically bones that go up to the knees and no higher--and split your mesh and assign the cut numbers in the same way the EA item has been split and numbered. Cut numbers are used only by Sims4Studio. It's just so that Studio can identify which mesh group is which. You should share your files so you can get more personalized help. Ok, I'm getting closer but still having some issues. I was able to get rid of the shape of the boots, but the calves are still visible- kind of transparent and shiny, but still visible. Here is a Google Drive folder with a screenshot of what it currently looks like, the Blender file, and the .pkg file. Let me know if I forgot anything. Thanks so much! (Also not sure if it's worth mentioning, but there is an issue where part of the bone texture shows up on the model's back- pretty sure this is just a UV mapping thing I can fix later down the line, but wanted to say something just in case.) |
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Post by alyssumveil on May 28, 2023 7:42:58 GMT -5
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Post by mauvemorn on May 28, 2023 8:12:13 GMT -5
For the calves to be hidden, the outfit must be split into meshgroups in the calf area as well. Some of them are, others arent, so just try a different outfit. This is unrelated to the problem, but you need to put uvs in uv_0 and the diffuse texture in the space meant for shoes. Other maps must be edited as well |
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Post by alyssumveil on May 29, 2023 22:04:22 GMT -5
Ohh I see! Thanks, I'll give it another try.
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