how to combine hair meshes correctly?


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simvixen
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how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 6, 2024 23:42:39 GMT -5

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Post by simvixen on Sept 6, 2024 23:42:39 GMT -5

I have noticed a lot of tutorials leave out information and are hard to follow. I'm a newbe to blender but I understand how to use the controls, I struggle with wrapping my mind around the concept of UV mapping, Baking textures, changing textures. I only really understand how to manipulate the mesh and then I feel like my brain gets stuck once I try to do anything else.

Please tell me if I'm on the right tract.

First: I exported the mesh and the diffuse of the Cas mesh for 2 different hairstyles from Sims 4 Studio

Second: I uploaded the meshes separately into blender

Third: In the file that include the bangs I like, I selected the appropriate hair pieces and then duplicated them by pressing shift+d and then P>selection to create a layer for the duplicate

Fourth: I saved the file, then switched to the hairstyle I'm using as my base, I then went to append>Hair that has the bangs I duplicated>object>mesh that is the duplicated bangs>append

Fifth: I selected the appended mesh in object mode, moved it to the sim head where I want it.

Sixth: Stared at it and realized I have no idea what to do next....

I'd really appreciate a dumbed down straight forward explanation of what to do from start to finish to successfully execute combining bangs with a ponytail, so that they have the same texture in game, I would appreciate a step-by-step explanation from the start and finish of combining sims bangs and a ponytail so it looks legit and operates properly in game. Also I know how to change the diffuse in photoshop, but I don't know what I should be doing with the diffuse of 2 meshes in their placement wise. I would appreciate any help on this

hERE IS MY BLENDER FILE HAIR FILE

mauvemorn
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how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 7, 2024 4:38:52 GMT -5

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Post by mauvemorn on Sept 7, 2024 4:38:52 GMT -5

Hi.
An image is two dimensional, it has width and length.
An object is three dimensional, it has width, length and height.
To project a 2d image on a 3d object, we "remove" the third dimension, height, on an object by "flattening it" in a manner that minimizes stretching and distortions. This process is called "unwrapping", because it is done like a present or a candy are unwrapped.

Okay, this strand of the ponytail is unwrapped in the hair area of the uv space and displays one texture.

The same can be said about all of them.

The problem is, the same applies to the bangs. They are unwrapped in the same place and project a different texture.

In blender it looks right because the ponytail and the bangs have different materials, so they can project their respective textures without problems.
In TS4 there can be only one diffuse texture per swatch. So what you need to do is to combine two diffuse textures into one by re-arranging uvs in a way that prevent overlapping and use them to re-bake textures.
That's the idea behind frankenmeshing.

Aug 21, 2024 11:58:39 GMT -5 mauvemorn said:

- Open S4S, click on CAS, find the base of the hair, select one swatch, click on Next, name it Base, save. Export LOD 0 as Base.blend. Repeat the same process with Bangs;
- Open Base.blend. Click on the top of the hair to select the main meshgroup, double-click on its name and rename to Base. Hide hat chops;
- Select Base, switch to Edit mode, enable X-ray, select one vertex in the middle of the head, Select – Select Linked. Select - Invert. Mesh – Merge – By distance and UVs – Merge – By distance, change Merge distance to 0.0001;

- somewhat select an area of the bangs you want to replace. Press Ctrl L, choose UVs to select the rest. Holding middle mouse button, pan around to make sure everything is selected. Mesh - Delete - Faces;
- File – Append, in Bangs.blend choose Object folder. Select s4studio_mesh_0, Shift-select s4studio_mesh_2, Append;
- Shift-click the top of the appended hair twice, delete others appended stuff. Rename to Bangs, select it;
- In Edit mode select everything with A, merge by distance in 3d view and UV editor. Select everything but the bangs you want to keep, delete;

- select everything, press G, put them in the right place. Rotate and Scale if needed;

- Enable Proportional editing, enable Connected, select one vertex, press G, scroll up to adjust the radius, move. Close all gaps you can this way;

- Select Bangs, choose uv_0, ( very important step) create a new one with + button, select it;

- in Edit mode select everything, move uvs outside of the uv space. Ctrl-select Base, switch to Edit mode again. Click on Open and set this image as the background.

- you can put uvs in the space meant for hair, all areas of the scalp covered by it and that empty space above the forehead ( red line shows all of that on the image below ):

- so put UVs of the Bangs in free spots, without scaling. You can rotate them;

- In Render tab choose Cycles. Expand Bake, choose Diffuse. Disable Direct and Indirect. Disable Clear image. Set Margin’s Type to Extend and Size to 4. Save your blend, just in case;

- Expand the timeline and change it to Shader editor. Select the bangs, select one Image node, press Shift D to duplicate it, do not plug it anywhere. In the drop down of this duplicated node choose the texture of Base ( id advice to rename them for convenience). Hit Bake;

- In UV editor Image – Save as, name it Diffuse;

- while you could rebake all diffuse, specular and normal maps this way with some minor adjustments, I'd advice to not over-complicate things for now;
- when you move things around, its best to re-transfer all data responsible for moving and morphing. In your case there most likely wont be any problems, so you can skip it;
- select Bangs. Select uv_1 and duplicate with +. Then delete uv_0 and uv_1 with -. Rename UVMap to uv_0 and UVmap.001 to uv_1;
- select all meshgroups and Object – Join;
- Unhide both hat chops, merge by distance both of them;
- save, import back into the package, then your diffuse, test in-game;
- once happy, make lods and other maps as explained by the end of this thread

Last Edit: Sept 9, 2024 3:19:53 GMT -5 by mauvemorn

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simvixen Member Posts: 44	how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 7, 2024 16:56:07 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by simvixen on Sept 7, 2024 16:56:07 GMT -5 Thank you for explaining! I was having a brain fart trying to figure out what to do for the maps but this make so much sense! I'll check out the other thread

simvixen
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how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 8, 2024 18:54:03 GMT -5

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Post by simvixen on Sept 8, 2024 18:54:03 GMT -5

I don’t have a braid, so when it comes to maps do I ignore the step that says select braid, press + for a new UV map and select it. If I ignore that step do I later on only duplicate uv_1 with bangs selected, rename that duplicate to uv_1 and keep the uv_0 the same and unaffected?

mauvemorn
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how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 9, 2024 3:21:09 GMT -5

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Post by mauvemorn on Sept 9, 2024 3:21:09 GMT -5

Sorry, missed while editing. You absolutely do not skip this step, otherwise everything will have to be re-done, just do it with bangs. I edited the text

to re-bake from the original uvs to edited, the mesh must have both the original uv map and the new one

Last Edit: Sept 9, 2024 3:22:10 GMT -5 by mauvemorn

PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES OF CREATOR HELP:

• describe your problem and provide a picture of it (if possible);

• provide download link(s) to .package and .blend files.

If you have a Gmail acc, you can host all of the above on Google Drive

simvixen Member Posts: 44	how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 9, 2024 14:33:28 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by simvixen on Sept 9, 2024 14:33:28 GMT -5 no problem! thanks for the clarification

simvixen
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Posts: 44

how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 10, 2024 19:21:30 GMT -5

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Post by simvixen on Sept 10, 2024 19:21:30 GMT -5

if let's say I added bangs and an extra ponytail to the base mesh, would I ctrl select the layers all together in the left panel and then choose uv_0, Create new with + and select? because I'd like to add more than one hair mesh duplicate to the base in the future.

mauvemorn Global Moderator If you get no reply from me in 24 hours, please bump the thread Posts: 13,071 Member is Online	how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 11, 2024 3:49:20 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by mauvemorn on Sept 11, 2024 3:49:20 GMT -5 You add uv_0 to each mesh individually, selecting multiple does not lead to it being added to multiple meshes. Click on the date of the quoted text to go to the original post. In that example 3 meshes were combined
	PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES OF CREATOR HELP: • describe your problem and provide a picture of it (if possible); • provide download link(s) to .package and .blend files. If you have a Gmail acc, you can host all of the above on Google Drive

simvixen
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Posts: 44

how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 13, 2024 18:32:07 GMT -5

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Post by simvixen on Sept 13, 2024 18:32:07 GMT -5

Could you help me understand the thread you shared on How to recolor the diffuse texture (in 24 default hair colors? I have Photoshop, never used photopea but I did for the instructions. I'm stuck at step 11 and I don't fully grasp the rest?

mauvemorn
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how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 14, 2024 5:48:13 GMT -5

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Post by mauvemorn on Sept 14, 2024 5:48:13 GMT -5

To be automatically imported back in the package, the diffuse files you create must be named exactly as the ones s4s exported. So you want the first file to be called Swatch_1_Diffuse_1 specifically. This name can be copied from a layer named Swatch_1_Diffuse_1, the one you just made visible. After that you just change the number ( Swatch_2_Diffuse_1)

Last Edit: Sept 14, 2024 14:16:29 GMT -5 by mauvemorn

PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES OF CREATOR HELP:

• describe your problem and provide a picture of it (if possible);

• provide download link(s) to .package and .blend files.

If you have a Gmail acc, you can host all of the above on Google Drive

simvixen Member Posts: 44	how to combine hair meshes correctly? Sept 14, 2024 14:04:47 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by simvixen on Sept 14, 2024 14:04:47 GMT -5 noted thank you!


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how to combine hair meshes correctly?

Post by simvixen on Sept 6, 2024 23:42:39 GMT -5

Post by mauvemorn on Sept 7, 2024 4:38:52 GMT -5

Post by simvixen on Sept 7, 2024 16:56:07 GMT -5

Post by simvixen on Sept 8, 2024 18:54:03 GMT -5

Post by mauvemorn on Sept 9, 2024 3:21:09 GMT -5

Post by simvixen on Sept 9, 2024 14:33:28 GMT -5

Post by simvixen on Sept 10, 2024 19:21:30 GMT -5

Post by mauvemorn on Sept 11, 2024 3:49:20 GMT -5

Post by simvixen on Sept 13, 2024 18:32:07 GMT -5

Post by mauvemorn on Sept 14, 2024 5:48:13 GMT -5

Post by simvixen on Sept 14, 2024 14:04:47 GMT -5

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