Hey! Hope you're having a lovely day! I was wondering if you could share how you take your in-game pictures? (or maybe if you have some tips on how to...) They always look really good!
Hey! Thank you! Hope you too :3
I think I could share some basis 🤔
1) Ultra settings only!
2) SRWE – is your best friend if you want to take high quality screenshots. Without it in-game screenshots are pretty blurry on the distance 😔
Here is the YouTube tutorial.
3) HQ mod? You don’t actually need it, SRWE and ultra settings are enough (especially for maxis match and maxis mix style).
4) You totally need to check out better in-game lighting mod by northernsiberiawinds! It’s really awesome! Escpecially for outdoor screenshots 🌻
5) ReShade and GShade are your friends too! I regret I ignored it before 😅 For now I'm using GShade.
Here is the YouTube tutorial.
6) For making outdoors screenshots I normally put my sims in the shadow areas. The lighting there is less bright and more smooth. I add shadows in the scene by just putting random tree with tool by tmex.
7) For in-door screenshots I highly recommend to use the achino lamps (only recently discovered that they are free now). They also make lighting much smoother and cooler.
Q: What are CAS poses?
A: CAS poses are used to take pretty screenshots in CAS. They replace the normal animations that play when you select any trait.
This works for all ages of Sims and also pets, but it does not work for occult forms, as you cannot change traits while in occult form.
Which CAS traits use which animations
First I will be listing all CAS traits with the name of their animation from Sims4 Studio. Some traits share the same animation, therefore you can't have animations for all of them.
You can find the Google spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eYwZzo_tBA-vhxFXz4ANd0n075Ls_cEbfiQlaM0QNtU/edit?usp=sharing
How to change which CAS trait poses use
Most pose creators offer 1 or 2 CAS traits for their CAS poses, but if you already have poses installed for those, you can easily change that to any other CAS trait.
Requirements:
S4 Studio
The CAS pose you want
The trait you want to use
1. Download and install S4 Studio
2. Download the poses you want
3. Open up your downloaded pose and go into the warehouse tab.
4. Open a second S4 Studio, select “Override” under “Animation” in the main menu.
5. Select the animation name according to the spreadsheet of which trait you want to replace. I will just use the trait "Proper" for adults, so I select "a_CAS_trait_proper_x"
6. Save the file as whatever, you only need it for values and not the file itself. This is your Source. Then also go into the warehouse tab.
7. Now you need to copy over the values in "ClipName" and "Key-Instance" from the source file to the animation you want to change the traits in. They text after "Key" will change automatically later.
8. Now do that for both Types "Clip" and "Clip Header".
9. The Warehouse should now look exactly the same for both files.
10. Rename the animation files to however you organize your animations. I will add "Proper_" as a prefix for my package (see "How to organize your CAS poses" above).
11. Done!
How to organize your CAS poses
I wrote down the (expansion/game pack +) name of the animation in front to make sure i don't use the same ones multiple times and kept the original name of the CC.
It's also nice to write down which traits you still can use for CAS poses:
Hi! I recently found out about this blender trick to easily remove splits in a hair mesh when exported. When you export a hair using sims 4 studio, it will be split along the uv borders, but it will also be split on multiple other places, causing weird cuts all over the hair in game.
This tutorial will show you how to keep the hair split between the different parts, while removing the cuts and doubles in the middle of the uv islands. Continued under the cut.
1. Make sure everything is selected, and then select “Remove Doubles”. This will remove all duplicates, but will also remove the splits between the islands, making it look like a big pile of clay.
2. Press space, and then type in “Seams from Islands” and select it. You will se that the edges that you want to be split are now red.
3. Go into edge select mode and press a to deselect everything. Now select one edge that is marked as a seam (an edge that is red). Press shift + g and select “Seam”. Now all the seams will be selected.
4. Now press ctrl + e to pull up the edge panel. Choose “Edge Split”. Now all the seams will be split.
Voila! You have now removed the doubles on the hair while leaving the uv island edges alone! You can now clear the seams and continue working on your hair!!
I hope that you could understand my horrible explaining and find this tutorial useful!!
Hardly anyone asked for these but I’m finally sharing anyway lol
Here are two tutorials I made on how to make gifs! They’re both fairly basic (and I’m no expert), but I think they do good on sharing the basics of gif making.
Below are the programs I use. I would say no prior knowledge of them is needed, but it would help to be at least a bit familiar:
-OBS
-Openshot video editor
-Photoshop
*OBS and Openshot I only use for recording and editing video; if you are making gif from still images, you do not need them
**Only first video has audio (just a simple song I put on it), the other does not. If you find yourself struggling to follow along with the video or just need more explanation to processes, I recommend reading the doc I share at end of post! I also recommend watching the videos in full screen mode to see everything clearly
First video:
In this video, I show how I made the Victor and Yamachan gif aka how to make a gif from video. It’s pretty short, tho there is some parts where my internet lagged while filming,, It also shows how to export a gif and settings I use
Second video:
In this video, I show how I did the glitch effect for the one zombie hospital gif. Glitch effect aside, it also demonstrates how to make a gif from still images.
Lastly, here is a written version of the second video as well as how to export a gif and the settings used:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VOfNHpeefQJY0OVfJ3JBAltqw0J_UJBIeCxC_QqgVrU/edit?usp=sharing
I may remake these in future or change links to be on youtube but i’m too lazy rn and this works fine
Please feel free to hmu if you have any questions! Sorry about the wall of text,,
PSA - For CAS CC creators: How to make your CC colour wheel compatible.
This tutorial is a WIP and may change. All of this stuff is really new so expect some bumps along the way, and if you have any issues with this please let me know so I can improve the tutorial!
Before we start, this tutorial only shows you how to add one colour wheel swatch to your CC (although you could add as many as you want). The reasons I’m not showing you how to make all the swatches compatible is because...
Pancake is already working on a converter program for this.
The file size would double (LRLE is around 2x the file size of RLE2) - this especially sucks for HQ textures that already have huge file sizes.
LRLE textures have noticeable artifacting/pixelation in comparison to RLE2 - this may be fixed in the future.
Also, in case you didn’t know, RLE2 is the image format that in-game textures use, and LRLE is the new image format that supports colour sliders (it’s what makeup and skintones use now), and is what we’re using for our colour slider swatch.
For this tutorial you need the latest version of S4S, and the Colour Slider mod by thepancake1 & @mizoreyukii (just the UI package). Got that? Alright, let’s get started..
Step 1: Add a new swatch. I added a custom swatch thumbnail so it’ll be easy to identify in game which one it is.
Step 2: Next we need to change the swatch to LRLE format.
First, you need to find the RLE2 image in warehouse of the swatch you just added. If you can’t find your RLE2 image, import some unique texture to the swatch so you can find it by looking at the previews.
For the next bit you need an empty LRLE image, which you download here - SFS / MEGA
Then, going into the data of the RLE2 image, change the type to ‘00000000’. This will make it undefined, so you can then import the empty LRLE image in the image tab (which will save s4s from crashing later), and then save your package. When you import the LRLE file, make sure you switch file explorer from .binary to all filetypes so you it lets you import the file.
Next, you go back into data and change the type to ‘2BC04EDF‘, and save again. This will make it an LRLE image.
Step 3: Next you need your colour slider swatch texture - I recommend using a bright-ish yellow or green texture as they should look the best with the sliders (red and blue textures are darker and may be more pixelated).
Then, export your texture to either .png or an uncompressed DDS - they look the same so I recommended just using .png.
After, just import the texture. If you get an error when importing, you may need to close and reopen your package (this should refresh the swatch and kick S4S into gear).
Step 4: Now you have a fully functional colour slider swatch! Note that all the other swatches will only work with the opacity slider like any RLE2 textures.
Here is a gif of how it works in-game (tumblr won’t let me embed it).
If you want more colour slider swatches, just hit add swatch while you have the first swatch selected and it will duplicate it.
Extra Note - You do not need the colour slider mod to now use this CC, it’s just that if users have the mod installed they are able to use the sliders on the swatch.
One of the questions I see most often with newer builders is how to make a walk-out basement, or what to do about the terrain dip around foundation.
Rather than keep trying to explain this method in words, which is probably not very effective, I finally whipped up this little picture tutorial! Sometime I should probably update with examples of this used on real houses.
But for now, hope this will help.
1. Make the shape of your lower (basement) level with walls and sink it into the terrain. You can do it so it’s fully underground, or only part-way if you want windows on your exterior.
2. Make a wall the same height as your house walls for reference, and build a 1x1 half gable roof with the eaves shortened, raised to the same height as the reference wall.
3. Put that sucker in the terrain dip along your house with the wall facing out. Roofs can go on uneven terrain, huzzah!
4. Drag the roof part so that it covers all of the dipped terrain... 1 tile wider than your house.
5. Copy it and do it for all of the edges of your house that will be underground in any way. (Note: if one side will have a walk-out, then you can leave the house wall alone and dig the terrain out in front of it... then just use 1x1 half gables to cover the open edges.)
6. Build your upper level 1 tile wider around so that it lines up with the roof walls.
7. Ta-da! Looks like walls flat against the terrain.
8. You can add windows in your roof walls for looks, unfortunately your lower level won’t actually have the windows for light inside.
New video up on my channel! @caesarsims Had some issues with blender and also some people on my previous videos have asked about more tutorials so here we go ♡ I hope you guys find this helpful !
How to Create a CAS Hider and/or Disable for Random!
Last updated: September 4th, 2020
Here’s my quick and easy tutorial on how to make CAS hiders for the Sims 4!
You will need
Sims 4 Studio
TS4 CAS Tools
Before we start
Hide in CAS means hiding the item from view in Create-a-Sim. You will not be able to see it or select it in the catalog.
Disable for Random means preventing the item from appearing on randomly-generated sims, A.K.A. townies.
It is entirely possible to hide something in CAS, while still allowing it to appear on random sims - or the opposite, disabling something from appearing on random sims while still being available in your CAS catalog. With this tutorial, you will be able to do either or both of these things!
Let’s get started!
Open Sims 4 Studio and enter your desired name into the “Creator Name” section on the bottom right.
Under the blue “CAS” button, check “Override.” Then hit “CAS” again.
Navigate to the item that you want - you can use the options in the top bar to narrow down the results. (Such as species, gender, age, game pack, etc.)
When you see the image of the item that you want, hold shift and then left click. This will select all the swatches. If you hover your cursor over the thumbnail, you’ll see the name of the item. That’s what I name my .package files for clarity’s sake.
Remember to hold shift when clicking to select all the swatches!
Hit “next” on the bottom right and a window will come up asking where to save your .package file and what to name it. Do so and hit “save.”
Now open TS4 CAS Tools and go to the “Clone Package Editor” tab.
At the top, you will see the box for “Select Package” - click “Select” and navigate to your override you just made.
Now your .package file will be opened in TS4 CAS Tools.
The first thing you’ll want to do is look in the box on the upper far right side.
If you want to prevent sims from wearing this item when randomly generating sims in CAS, you need to uncheck “Allow for CAS Random.”
If you want to prevent random sims from wearing this item in-game and around your town, you need to uncheck “Allow for Live Random.”
If you want to hide this item from Create-a-Sim, uncheck the box for “Show in CAS UI.”
In the “Property Flags” box, you may see the flags “OccultAllowedForRandom” If you’re creating an override that disables for random, you can delete these flags if you’d like. I find it doesn’t make too much of a difference as “Allow for CAS Random” and “Allow for Live Random” seem to override it.
Now click “Commit Changes”, then “Save Package” and you are done! It’s necessary to hit Commit before Save or else your changes won’t be saved to the package file.
And there you are! Let me know how it goes for you or if anything in this tutorial was unclear. Thank you! ♥
Bonus note:
If you’re curious about what the “Disable for ...” options at the top mean, that prevents it from showing up in CAS for that species only. So say you’d like an item to only show for aliens, you’d check “Disable for Human” and “Disable for Vampire” while leaving the alien option unchecked. You will need to leave “Show in CAS UI” checked for this to work, as this option will override all others.
Example: An item that only shows up in alien CAS, versus an item that does not show up in CAS at all.
If you want to allow this item to appear on randomly generated sims of that species, you will need to add an “OccultAllowedForRandom” flag in the “Property Flags” box.
So for the example above, you’d add “OccultAllowedForRandom - Alien.” Remember that you will also need “Allow for CAS Random” and / or “Allow for Live Random” to be checked in the upper right box.
