Tutorial:Sims 3 Hair Basics - Revision history

Kiwi tea at 15:11, 17 September 2012

2012-09-17T15:11:22Z

Kiwi tea at 15:10, 17 September 2012

2012-09-17T15:10:48Z

Porkypine: /* Extract (For Converting - Optional) */

2012-02-23T05:35:23Z

‎Extract (For Converting - Optional)

HystericalParoxysm at 16:51, 1 August 2009

2009-08-01T16:51:48Z

HystericalParoxysm at 13:41, 1 August 2009

2009-08-01T13:41:40Z

HystericalParoxysm at 13:36, 1 August 2009

2009-08-01T13:36:29Z

HystericalParoxysm at 12:58, 1 August 2009

2009-08-01T12:58:52Z

Show changes

HystericalParoxysm at 10:06, 1 August 2009

2009-08-01T10:06:22Z

HystericalParoxysm at 10:04, 1 August 2009

2009-08-01T10:04:20Z

HystericalParoxysm: /* Useful Keys */

2009-08-01T01:01:09Z

‎Useful Keys

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 ==Introduction==
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 ==Related Links==
 [[Category:Tutorials by HystericalParoxysm]]
 [[Category:Sims 3 CAS Tutorials]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:10, 17 September 2012
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	[[Category:Tutorials by HystericalParoxysm]]		[[Category:Tutorials by HystericalParoxysm]]
−	[[Category:Sims 3]]	+	[[Category:Sims 3 CAS Tutorials]]

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 ==Extract (For Converting - Optional)==
-If you're transferring a mesh from TS2 to TS3, you'll need to the mesh and textures first.
+If you're transferring a mesh from TS2 to TS3, you'll need to extract the mesh and textures first.
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 [[Image:TS3Hair-04.jpg|right|300px]]Open one of the texture files in SimPE.  If there's a light blonde, white, or grey version, choose that over black or dark brown type colours, as you'll be converting the textures to look silvery white.
 Click on Texture Image in the Resource Tree over on the left, and then start looking through the list of textures in the Resource List on the right.  Depending on the hair, there may be one, two, or more textures you'll need to export.  When you find the ones you want, just click on the Export button and save the image(s) as a PNG file type.  Call them something descriptive, and save them where you can find them.<br clear="all" \>
-−
-−
 ==Get a Base Mesh==

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 Here's where you set the flags for your mesh.  You'll be creating each mesh package separately, so even if you have mesh files for all ages and both genders ready, you need to do them one at a time based on who can share meshes.  For example, you'd probably want to start with ticking teen, young adult, adult, and elder under Age, then Male under Gender, so you can make just the male one for the older ages, then come back later and do female, child, and toddler separately.
-Under Category, tick everything except Singed unless you've got a good reason to do otherwise.
+Under Category, tick everything except Singed and All unless you've got a good reason to do otherwise.
 Under Extended Category, tick Valid for Random (if you want it to show up for random townies and NPCs) and Valid for Maternity (if you want it to work when sims are pregnant).
@@ Line 303: / Line 303: @@
 ===Step 4 - Mesh Files===
-Click the little ... box next to each of the LOD# boxes in turn, and select the meshes that correspond to the age and gender you're working on.
+Click the little ... box next to each of the LOD# boxes in turn, and select the mesh files you exported from Milkshape that correspond to the age and gender you're working on.  This is when having labelled them clearly on export becomes important.
 ===Step 5 - Texture Files===
-This is where it can get a bit complicated.  As mentioned above in the textures section, you have three sets of textures (Main, Scalp, Face) and each of those has three textures of its own (Specular, Diffuse, and Control).
+[[Image:TS3Hair-17.jpg|right|300px]]This is where it can get a bit complicated.  As mentioned above in the textures section, you have three sets of textures (Main, Scalp, Face) and each of those has three textures of its own (Specular, Diffuse, and Control).
-You can, of course, make your own textures for all of those by looking at the game's textures and editing accordingly.  But you can really shave a lot off your file size by pointing to existing textures - either those already in the game itself, or ones in packages you've already created.  That second bit becomes essential when doing multiple ages, since you really don't want to duplicate all the same textures you've already used.
+You can, of course, make your own textures for all of those by looking at the game's textures to see how they're done and making your own textures in a similar way.
-For those that you've made your own, just click the ... and tell it what you want it to use.  You can, of course, mix and match - for my hairs I've mostly done my own diffuse/specular/control for the Main hair, and used a game's bump map, halo, and diffuse/specular/control for scalp and face.
+But you can really shave a lot off your file size by pointing to existing textures whenever possible - either those already in the game itself, or ones in packages you've already created.  That second bit becomes essential when doing multiple ages, since you really don't want to duplicate all the same textures you've already used over and over for no reason, when you can just point at the ones in your first package.
-If you want to have it use an existing texture, the input is:
+For those items that you've made your own, just click the "..." button and tell it what you want it to use.  You can, of course, mix and match - for my hairs I've mostly done my own diffuse/specular/control for the Main hair, and used the game's bump map, halo, and diffuse/specular/control for scalp and face.
   key:00B2D882:00000000:5AC6E29A1785DFF3
-... You just type that into the box instead of choosing a file.  That's Type, Group, and Instance of the resource you want to use.  You only need to worry about changing the last bit, the Instance, to the instance of the DDS image you'd like to use for that item.  You can get the Instance for game resources using CTU, and you can get the instances of textures you're already using in a custom file by viewing the file with S3PE or Postal.
+... You just type that or similar into the box instead of choosing a file.  That's Type, Group, and Instance of the resource you want to use.  You only need to worry about changing the last bit, the Instance, to the instance of the DDS image you'd like to use for that item.

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 * '''Control:''' This controls the way the highlights, roots, and tips are applied to the hair via RGB channels.  Red is roots, green is highlights, and blue is tips.[[Image:TS3Hair-16.jpg|right|300px]]<br clear="all" \>
 Additionally, you also have a bump map which can make the hair have a bit more 3D type detail, and a Halo, which seems to affect the way shine is applied overall to the hair.  TBH, the bump map doesn't add a whole lot to the hair in most cases, and the Halo only seems to matter in CAS, so it doesn't make too much difference if you use a blank bump map set to fully grey, and use a halo from one of the game's hairs (I use the one from amHair Balding - more on that later).
-The best way to learn how to do these separate textures (as I'm not going into detailed texture editing here - I'll try to do that in a later, more in-depth tutorial) is to look at some of the game's existing textures and see how they're done.  You can also open up any of my hair files in S3PE or Postal and export the DDS files and see how I did them, as well.
+The best way to learn how to do these separate textures (as I'm not going into detailed texture editing here - I'll try to do that in a later, more in-depth tutorial) is to look at some of the game's existing textures and see how they're done.  You can also open up any of my hair files in S3PE or Postal and export the DDS files and see how I did them, as well.  Make sure to open the Channels view in your program of choice (In Photoshop this is Windows>Channels) and examine the channels, especially for Bump Map, Control, and Diffuse - especially on the Control, it is -not- specifically the color red which controls the roots, but the red ''channel'' which does it.
-Most files should be saved as a DDS in DXT3 format - don't save as DXT5 if you have an alpha as it will generally pixellate the edges more than DXT3.  Bump maps may be DXT5 with an alpha.
+Most files should be saved as a DDS in DXT3 format - don't save as DXT5 if you have an alpha as it will generally pixellate the edges more than DXT3.  You may wish to save your control as an 8.8.8.8 ARGB Uncompressed - due to the way compression works you may lose a lot of detail on your blue channel, resulting in very pixellated tip colours in-game.  Bump maps may be DXT5 with an alpha.

@@ Line 116: / Line 116: @@
-====Remove Undersides====
+===Remove Undersides===
 If you're doing a TS2 to TS3 conversion, you need to delete any duplicate groups that were the undersides of the hair.  Usually, front sides and undersides are done in pairs - i.e. hairalpha3 and hairalpha5 as a pair (3 is the underside), hairalpha7 and hairalpha9 (7 is the underside) and so forth.  However, this may not be the case in all hairs, so you'll want to hide and unhide individual groups to determine what's what before deleting anything.
-====Regroup Parts====
+===Regroup Parts Separately===
 Some hair may be quite complicated - for example, a ponytail that has curls at the back as part of one group, plus tendrils around the face as part of the same group.  By selecting the individual parts in face select mode with by vertex checked, you can then regroup them so you can edit them easily on their own.
-====Use Coloured Groups====
+===Use Coloured Groups===
 It's a lot easier to see if different parts are poking through each other if you get them to show up in different colours.  To do this, right-click in the 3D view and tick "Colored Groups."
-====Reshaping for Conversions====
+===Reshaping for Conversions===
 If you're doing a conversion, while the hair may be roughly in the right place, you'll need to do some editing to smush it around and get it to fit into place.  The hairline should usually not start not right at where the scalp does, but about an inch lower on the forehead.  You can always import an existing mesh (other than AMHairBalding) with a harline you like and use it as a guide for placement.
@@ Line 140: / Line 140: @@
-====Regroup====
+===Regroup All Together===
 Delete the face and scalp (don't touch the hidden GEOM-00) and select the rest of the groups (except GEOM-00) and regroup them into one single group.
-====Extra Data====
+===Extra Data===
 [[Image:TS3Hair-06.jpg|right|300px]]Now you need to assign this part of the mesh some extra data.  This functions similar to material definitions in TS2, allowing you to shade certain parts of the hair lighter or darker for interesting effects.  This also makes it so you can recolour the hair properly in game - without doing this, your whole hair can be just flat black.
@@ Line 157: / Line 157: @@
-====Underside====
+===Underside===
 [[Image:TS3Hair-07.jpg|right|300px]]You need to also make an underside for your hair, since faces are only visible on one side.
@@ Line 172: / Line 172: @@
-====Bone Assignments====
+===Bone Assignments===
 For short hair, you can merely flip over to the Joints tab, and with the whole hair selected, find the b__HeadNew__ bone (a little more than halfway down) and click Assign, to assign the entire hair 100% to the HeadNew bone.  Quick and easy and works just fine - TS3 doesn't have issues with back of the neck gaps or sway in the breeze animations to worry about.
@@ Line 197: / Line 197: @@
-====Copy Comments====
+===Copy Comments===
 [[Image:TS3Hair-10.jpg|right|300px]]Once you have your extra data, normals, and bone assignments done, you're almost ready to export, but first, you need to transfer over the comments on the original mesh.  Select the hidden GEOM-00 in the Groups tab and click Comment to view its comments.  Click at the beginning of the first line and drag allllll the way down to the very end - it's long, but you need to select the whole thing.  Then do CTRL-C to copy, and click Cancel to close the comments.
@@ Line 205: / Line 205: @@
-====Export LOD0====
+===Export LOD0===
 Delete the original GEOM-00 mesh from the Groups list.  You should now have just one group left - the one with your hair.
@@ Line 224: / Line 224: @@
 For LOD1, you'll want about half the count for LOD0.  LOD2 should have about half of that, and LOD3 should have no more than about 250 polys.
-Reduce your mesh into each of the 3 lower poly versions, and after each reduction, save the result as an OBJ file.  Remember to save these with descriptive names so you know at a glance which is which.<br clear="all" \>
+Reduce your mesh into each of the 3 lower poly versions, and after each reduction, save the result as an OBJ file.  Remember to save these with descriptive names so you know at a glance which is which.
-Then, you'll need to do File>New and import your LOD0.  Open up the comments and copy them, then delete the LOD0.  Import the OBJ for LOD1 (2, or 3) and then:
+Then, you'll need to do File>New and import your LOD0 (as you will have lost the skeleton in reducing).  Open up the comments for GEOM-00 and copy them, then delete your GEOM-00.  Import the OBJ for LOD1 (2, or 3) and then:
-* Align Normals (it will have gone black)
+* Align Normals (it will have gone black when it was reduced)
-* Redo the bone assignments (Joints tab, assign to b__HeadNew__)
+* Redo the bone assignments (either with the Joints tab assigning it all to b__HeadNew__ or using Unimesh to do another smooth blend from b__Spine2__ to b__HeadNew__ or whatever)
 * Reset the Extra Data (just fill in 255 for all, To All x4, Commit, Save All).
 * Paste the comments again.
-Then export as LOD1.  Repeat for LOD2 and LOD3, making sure to do the normals, bone assignments, comments, and extra data after each.
+Then export as LOD1.  Repeat for LOD2 and LOD3, making sure to do the normals, bone assignments, comments, and extra data after each.<br clear="all" \>
 ===Age Conversion===
-If you want to age convert it, you can use the same mesh for teen through elder and only have to size it down for children and toddlers.  You can do File>New, import your existing LOD0 and the child scalp/face and scale to fit, retaining the same normals/assignments/extra data, just changing the positioning and sizing.  Repeat for all your LODs and save separately.  Repeat again if you want to do it for toddlers too, again saving separately.
+If you want to age convert your mesh to other ages, you should only really have to do meshes for child and/or toddler.  Unlike TS2, you can not only use the same mesh for young adult through elder, but teen can also share the same mesh too.
 ===Gender Conversion===
-Female and males (teen through elder) can use the same mesh in some cases, but in others will need some reshaping done (a more feminine or masculine hairline, and adjusting for clipping).  You can do the same as an age conversion to gender refit - import your existing LODs and scale/reshape.  Both genders of child and toddler can always use the same meshes for both genders.
+Female and males (teen through elder) can use the same mesh in some cases, but in others will need some reshaping done (a more feminine or masculine hairline, and adjusting for clipping) as well as pulling in hair at the back of the neck to fit a more shapely female head.  You can do a gender refit the same basic way you'd do an age conversion - import your existing LOD as well as the example face/scalp/body and scale/reshape.  Both genders of child and toddler can always use the same meshes for both genders.
 ==Textures==
-Because of the way TS3 hairs are constructed, you are basically limited to just a few textures.
+Because of the way TS3 hairs are constructed, you are basically limited to just a few textures per style.  Below are examples from the game's textures, specifically the diffuse for afHairLongStraight.  I've done the images here with the alpha overlaid on top as a multiply layer just to show you the overall shape of the hair - the actual texture doesn't look -quite- like this when you look at it in your image editor.
-* Main:  This will be the actual hair part - all the bits that you've meshed in.
+* '''Main:'''  This will be the actual hair part - all the bits that you've meshed in.[[Image:TS3Hair-12.jpg|right|300px]]<br clear="all" \>
-* Scalp: A texture which overlays the basic scalp.
+* '''Scalp:''' A texture which overlays the basic scalp.[[Image:TS3Hair-13.jpg|right|300px]]<br clear="all" \>
-* Face: Optional - this can match up with the hair of the scalp texture around the edges for tendrils at the back of the neck, the start of sideburns, whatever.
+* '''Face:''' Optional - this can match up with the hair of the scalp texture around the edges for tendrils at the back of the neck, the start of sideburns, whatever.[[Image:TS3Hair-14.jpg|right|300px]]<br clear="all" \>
-Each of these consists of three parts:
+Each of these (main, scalp, and face)consists of three parts:
-* Diffuse: The actual texture itself.  This should look like a light grey or white version of your texture.
+* '''Diffuse:''' The actual texture itself.  This should look like a light grey or white version of your texture - basically, how you would want the hair to work when set to pure white.  The alpha channel on the diffuse (shown here as a black overlay for illustrative purposes) controls the cutout of strands so the hair doesn't just look solid.[[Image:TS3Hair-12.jpg|right|300px]]<br clear="all" \>
-* Specular: A dark grey, almost black, low-contrast version of your texture.  This is the shine applied to it.
+* '''Specular:''' A dark grey, almost black, low-contrast version of your texture.  This is the shine applied to it.[[Image:TS3Hair-15.jpg|right|300px]]<br clear="all" \>
-* Control: This controls the way the highlights, roots, and tips are applied to the hair via RGB channels.  Red is roots, green is highlights, and blue is tips.
+* '''Control:''' This controls the way the highlights, roots, and tips are applied to the hair via RGB channels.  Red is roots, green is highlights, and blue is tips.[[Image:TS3Hair-16.jpg|right|300px]]<br clear="all" \>

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 * '''DDS Plugins for [http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html Photoshop], [http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/~cocidius/dds/ GIMP], [http://download.nvidia.com/developer/NVTextureSuite/Paint_Shop_Pro_Steps.pdf Paint Shop Pro], or [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dds+plugin+for+(my+graphics+program) whichever program you use to edit graphics]''' - For creating and editing the textures you will need to make.
@@ Line 55: / Line 60: @@
 [[Image:TS3Hair-01.jpg|right|300px]]Click on GMDC in the Resource Tree over on the left.  If there are multiples in the Resource List on the right, pick the adult one.
 <br clear="all" \>
 [[Image:TS3Hair-02.jpg|right|300px]]In plugin view, look at the list of subsets under Models at the bottom left.  There may be just a few, or a whole bunch.  Scroll through the list and make sure there are no duplicates of the same name.<br clear="all" \>
 [[Image:TS3Hair-03.jpg|right|300px]]If there -are- duplicates of the same exact name (as some meshes have) you will have to rename them so they all have unique names.  To do this, click on the Groups tab, select each group in turn, and give it a unique name in the "Name" field - i.e hairalpha15-a, hairalpha15-b, hairalpha15-c, and so forth.  If you don't do this, the separate groups will all be combined when importing into Milkshape.  Switch back to the cGeometryDataContainer tab  (first tab) when you're done.<br clear="all" \>
 Tick all the little boxes beside the part names, and then click Export.  Leave the file format as the default, .obj, and save it somewhere you can find it.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Required Stuff==
-You need to get and install ALL of this before you start.  Yep, there's a lot of it, but they're all pretty small.
+You need to get and install ALL of this before you start.  There's a lot of it, but it's all fairly small.
 * '''[http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?&t=358682 DABOOBS]''' - For packaging up your hair mesh and making it unique.
-* '''[http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ab99342f-5d1a-413d-8319-81da479ab0d7&displaylang=en .NET 3.5]''' - Required for DABOOBS.
+* '''[http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=348082 CTU]''' - To grab one of the game's meshes to import so you have a basic skeleton, and to look at the game's original textures.
-* '''[http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/ms3d/download.html Milkshape]''' - You will need the 1.8.5 BETA version.
+* '''[http://sims.ambertation.de SimPE]''' - If you are converting a TS2 mesh to TS3.
 * '''[http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=357403 Q-Mesh GEOM Plugin for Milkshape]''' - To be able to import and export .simgeom files.
@@ Line 23: / Line 33: @@
 * '''[http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=122399 Unimesh Plugin for Milkshape]''' - For multi-weighting if you're doing a hair that's any longer than the back of the neck.
 * '''[http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/11415_090725122135ExampleBodiesandFacesTS3.rar Example Bodies and Faces]''' - To use in scaling and aligning your mesh.
@@ Line 28: / Line 43: @@
 * '''DDS Plugins for [http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html Photoshop], [http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/~cocidius/dds/ GIMP], [http://download.nvidia.com/developer/NVTextureSuite/Paint_Shop_Pro_Steps.pdf Paint Shop Pro], or [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dds+plugin+for+(my+graphics+program) whichever program you use to edit graphics]''' - For creating and editing the textures you will need to make.
-* '''[http://sims.ambertation.de SimPE]''' - If you are converting a TS2 mesh to TS3.
+==Extract (For Converting - Optional)==
-* '''[http://www.simlogical.com/Sims3ToolsForum/index.php?topic=171.0 S3PE]''' - To peek inside files you've already made to get the instances for existing DDS files, so you don't have to duplicate them for other ages/genders.
+If you're transferring a mesh from TS2 to TS3, you'll need to the mesh and textures first.
-==Extract (For Converting - Optional)==
+===Extract Mesh===
-If you're transferring a mesh from TS2 to TS3, you'll need to extract it first.
+Open the mesh file in SimPE.
-Open the mesh file in SimPE.  Click on the GMDC (if there are multiples, pick the adult one), and in plugin view, look at the list of subsets listed under Models at the bottom left.
+[[Image:TS3Hair-01.jpg|right|300px]]Click on GMDC in the Resource Tree over on the left.  If there are multiples in the Resource List on the right, pick the adult one.
-Note: If there are duplicates of the same exact name (as some meshes have) you will have to rename them so they all have unique names.  To do this, click on the Groups tab, select each group in turn, and give it a unique name in the "Name" field - i.e hairalpha7-1, hairalpha7-2, hairalpha7-3, and so forth.  If you don't do this, the separate groups will all be combined when importing into Milkshape.  Switch back to the cGeometryDataContainer tab  (first tab) when you're done.
+[[Image:TS3Hair-02.jpg|right|300px]]In plugin view, look at the list of subsets under Models at the bottom left.  There may be just a few, or a whole bunch.  Scroll through the list and make sure there are no duplicates of the same name.<br clear="all" \>
 Tick all the little boxes beside the part names, and then click Export.  Leave the file format as the default, .obj, and save it somewhere you can find it.

@@ Line 200: / Line 200: @@
 Scalp for AMHairShortFeather (good basic scalp that covers the whole thing and matches up with face detail - works for teen through elder, both genders):
-  Specular:  key:00B2D882:00000000:3B890787BE1DB9AD
+  Specular:  key:00B2D882:00000000:92C99DF8DE3E1D0A
-  Diffuse: key:00B2D882:00000000:92C99DF8DE3E1D0A
+  Diffuse: key:00B2D882:00000000:3B890787BE1DB9AD
   Control:  key:00B2D882:00000000:324631309AB8D48E