Tutorials:CAS Creation From Start-To-Finish - Glossary

The Glossary Here are some words used throughout this tutorial that may need a little more explanation. Click the More Info button to expand the definition. A alpha channel In CAS creation terms, the alpha channel is used in conjunction with the base texture to map out the areas on the mesh that have visible texture. It can also set transparency areas on the texture. anti-aliasing When using the magic wand/fuzzy select tool in your imaging program, enabling anti-aliasing smoothes jagged edges when making selections. auto-smooth In your 3D modeling program, smoothing a mesh softens hard edges created by welding parts together. When meshing for TS3, always disable this feature because it'll create visible seams on your mesh that are hard to get rid of. B Blender 3D Blender 3D is a free 3D modeling software that can be used for meshing in TS3. While it is less popular in the sims community, it is equally (if not more) powerful as Milkshape 3D. bone assignments Bone assignments are given to each vertice of a mesh, and determine how that particular vertice will move in relation to the rest of the sim's skeleton. TS2 and TS3 meshes are able to support up to three bone weights per vertex; Allowing for excellent smooth animation in game. bones TS2 and TS3 meshes are animated by a base skeleton. This skeleton is made up of several joints that are interconnected by bones; Much similar to the human body. When meshing, you assign each vertex to a bone or a combination of bones. When the sim moves, the bones and consequently the mesh with it. bump map Bump maps are alpha-layered grayscale images that are used by the game to simulate raised bumps and grooves on the texture without having to mesh the details on. C CAS CAS Part caspart category flag channel clipping cloning clothing ambient commit compression contiguous CTU D DDS design E export extract F face flag fuzzy select G geom GIMP I imaging program import in-game J joints K key L lasso tool layer lod M magic wand marquee mask material mesh meshing Milkshape 3D multiplier N normal map O opacity opaque overlay P package Paint.NET parameter part mask Photoshop plugin png polygon preset R RGB mask RGB value repository S scale skin ambient specular stencil S3PE T tag texture texture linking texturing TGI thumbnail translucent transparent type U UV map V vertex W wireframe X XML AS Parts A .caspart file itself can be thought of as a "placeholder" in Create-A-Sim. By linking meshes, textures and other details to the .caspart, you create what is commonly know as a CAS Part. CAS Parts are what a the game actually displays on the sim (i.e. shirts, shoes, watches, etc); this includes the mesh, shape, color, lighting, transparency or anything else that affects the look of the design. [edit]DDS Files A DDS file is a type of raster image, commonly used by many games, including both Sims 2 and Sims 3. DDS files can be saved in a variety of formats, both compressed and uncompressed. You will need to save your textures in DDS format for use in the CTU. Image Editor Your everyday run of the mill image editor like MS Paint or Paintbrush will not suffice for TS3 skinning. Instead you'll need a program that at least has these basic features: RGB Mode Channel View Layers Image Adjusters (i.e. desaturate, colorize, etc.) Most people use Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. However, there are free alternatives like GIMP or Paint.NET. Plugin Many imaging programs do not initially know how to save/handle DDS files, so you'll have to install a plugin for them. Here are two of the most common ones. Photoshop GIMP [edit]Packages The CTU saves your finished creations as .packages, similar to what was used with The Sims 2. For help with installing .packages, see Installing Sims 3 Package Files Parameters To help quicken the search for a mesh, you can dial up the type of mesh you wish to use by setting the age/gender/type parameters. [edit]Mesh Once you set the parameters, you can either pick the mesh you want to use from the drop-down list or you can select it using the Quick Find box by clicking on the thumbnail. Bump Maps Additionally bump maps may be found under the Meshes tab. To extract, click on the appropriate TGI link then hit the find button. When the DDS preview window comes up, click the export button at the bottom right corner of the screen. [edit]Textures The easiest way to extract textures is to use the "Extract Textures" button in the Find a CAS tab. However this will give you all the game textures linked to that mesh.