i planned to do this ages ago and completely forgot... then i took a mini break whoops
but anyways
Shadow Hands Art Trend Tutorial!
under the cut <3
i'm actually so glad i did this tutorial for a group of friends already so i get to just reuse those screenies LOL
to start, i personally use photoshop but if you can't or don't want to, photopea is a great alternative <3
i don't use other programs but if you want me to use another, please send an ask or dm and i'll look into it <3
anyways actual tut:
my personal recommendations for taking the pic itself is to keep the lighting bright (floor lamps are amazing for this, especially if you don't have/use relight) and i personally found it much easier to use a solid color background (which i do highly highly recommend). you are also more than welcome to use my pose or create your own!
after taking your pic you'll first open or plop your image into ps (I pre-cropped my pic for the tutorial's sake) then you'll go over to the layer section
right click on the Background layer, select "Duplicate Layer..."
you'll get a pop up where you can name your layer, I'm going with hand shadow, and then hit okay. you now have 2 layers.
making sure you're on the 2nd layer, you'll turn the opacity down (I recommend 35-45%)
it might not look like anything happened but that's okay. bc next you'll click the move tool and move your image. there you'll see the difference LOL
next you'll want to move your image to where the hands cover the nipples and/or breasts. looks crazy but trust the process.
next you're gonna want to select the eraser tool and erase the area around the hands. you can right click on the image to bring up the brush controls to adjust the size. I recommend having your hardness being about 75-85% though.
if you are familiar with the lasso tool you can use that instead. i just find that the erasing method is easier for beginners!
erase until you get something like this:
doesn't have to be perfect. just get most of your picture erased minus the hands. but don't worry about the fingers yet.
but NOW you want to get to the nitty gritty. focus on erasing the wrists/arms/hands up until where it meets the torso. (holding alt and using the mouse wheel will let you zoom in/out)
it's a bit tedious but I'm used to it so i can crank it out pretty quick ;-; there's slightly more advanced ways to remove parts of the image so if you know them, go ahead and use them.
should get something like this:
next turn the opacity back up
select the magic wand. if you don't see it, but see like the 2nd image, just click and hold on the button and you should get an option to select the magic wand option.
with magic wand, you'll want to select the non hand part of your image. THIS WILL ONLY WORK IF YOU USE A SOLID COLOR BACKGROUND. for the most part. if you don't use a solid color bg, lemme know and i can show you a different way. you can still technically use magic wand but it's a pain in the ass.
after selecting the bg though, you'll want to hit delete, leaving you with just the hands.
you can be a perfectionist and remove any other spots you may see too. doesn't have to be perfect though. remember that.
next you'll create a new layer. name it whatever. for tutorial's sake I'm naming it clipping mask bc that's what we'll be creating.
right clicking on the 3rd layer (which HAS to be above your now floating hands), select Create Clipping Mask.
now, selecting the eyedropper tool, we're gonna find our color for our shadow. i'm gonna use this tiny shadow under nite's jaw. i recommend using the darkest shadow you can find. then just click with the eyedropper tool and your color swatch should change.
click that color square in the bottom left and you'll get a pop up so you can adjust the shade. i drag the circle down to a darker shade. you might have to play around with how dark you want to go. hit ok when you're done.
now you'll select the brush tool. like with the eraser, you can right click your image and bring up the brush settings. but you'll want to make sure your clipping mask layer is selected before doing anything.
then just paint over your hands.
next go to your 2nd layer, the one with the floating hands. you'll change the opacity on it to create the shadow effect. adjust until you're satisfied.
then, staying on the same layer, go to filter -> blur -> gaussian blur. you'll get a pop up. adjust until you get the effect you like. hit ok when done.
and that's it <3
tumblr's 30 pic limit fucked me so if you need more in-depth stuff, please don't hesitate to send an ask or dm <3 (same if you have any questions at all!!! i'm always happy to help :D)
if you do this trend i would absolutely love love love to be tagged <333 (or if you're not comfortable directly tagging me we can use like uhhh "#ts4 shadow hand art trend" so i can see it <33)
ahhhh I finally solved this problem! (I thought that's beacuse I didn't set the secondaryindex correctly. (put a tutorial link about how to reorder non-default eye colors here)
Untill I saw this post (thanks to them!!! or I might left this eyes in draft...for a long time). The prototype id was not 00001D8E, as a result, these non-default eyes even did not exist in my cas
Hi, I know this is a very simple question for you, that are professional people, but I´m relatively new doing packages and I don´t find a
I’ve created a passport template for your Sims! My Sim is used as an example, but feel free to replace everything with your own data! 📝✨
Terms of Use:
Free to use: You are welcome to use this template for your Sims completely for free.
Credit: If you post your work using this template, please credit me as the creator (by linking back to this post or my profile). I would love to see what you create, so feel free to tag me!
Do not sell: It is strictly forbidden to sell this template or claim it as your own original work.
Editing: You are allowed to change the fonts, colors, or add new elements to suit your needs.
Here's a short tutorial on how I use Sim Ripper to get sims for Blender renders. I'm using Blender 4.0 because IMO it's the best one to pair with S4S now that it's supported.
Not a full render tutorial, but I'll show you how to rip the sim and get it ready for posing for a Blender render... in Blender. duhrrrr
1) Open the game & create your sim
You will need to know 3 things about your sim to locate it with Sim Ripper:
First and last name
What outfit you want to export
The number of your save file
Personally I've used the same save for the last 2 years, so the last one's not an issue for me.
Using a separate save file and a NPC-removing mod is probably worth it if you plan to do this often, like for making CC previews.
2) Open your save file in Sim Ripper
After the loading screen, you'll come to this blank one. Click on "Select" in the upper right corner.
When selecting your save file, only select the version that has nothing after the "save" extension. Think of it as your "base" save file that has all the correct info in it.
Click open to open the file in SR.
3) Find that sim
When your save file loads in, if you just have a regular one with default townies, you'll likely have a ton of names to sort through.
I prefer to use the 1st box and first by first names, since they're easiest to spot for me.
Then, you can use the 2nd box to narrow down results to specific types of sims. (I can never remember if my sims are YA or Adults lol)
Next, sort through the list til you find your sim's name from the start.
Finally, they might load in wearing the wrong outfit. You can use the 4th box to change what outfit they're wearing. It takes a while to load up, so that's why I recommend knowing it ahead of time instead of searching in Sim Ripper.
4) Export your sim's files
To export your sim, just click the "DAE" button. I am pretty sure I'm using the out-of-the-box settings on my sim and they work perfectly fine for me, but you can mess around with those if you want.
Next, name your file (I use the default title) and make sure the file type is .dae (it will be by default).
Then hit save, export any additional sims you want, and close Sim Ripper. You won't need it again.
5) Import into Blender 4.0
I totally forgot to delete the cube first, but all you have to do is press X on your keyboard and then click "Delete" unless you want your sim to be swallowed by a featureless gray cube, that's your choice big dawg
To import your sim, click "File" then hover on "Import" and click "Collada (.dae)" to open your file explorer.
Simply navigate to where you saved your sim's .dae file, select it, then hit "Import" in the lower right.
It will look like this if you did it correctly so far!
6) Make it look right
Use the middle mouse button to pan, rotate, and scroll your view in front of your sim. Makes it easier to see what you're doing.
First, you will go to the upper right corner and change the viewport settings. All you have to do is click on that button that is outlined, if it is selected it will turn blue. This adds all the shading and color to your sim.
That's all you have to do, as your sim has all the textures loaded in (or should) already! This is why I prefer 4.0 over older versions - you used to have to connect those manually and it got tedious fast.
However, if you want to do things the right way instead of being lazy like me, you will also do these steps:
2nd, you will go over to the Scene Collection panel and click the down arrow next to where it says "rig." If you have imported multiple sims, then "rig" will have a number after it for each sim, and you will have to do this process separately for each one. Then select your sim's name (or whatever you named the file, that's what it will show up as).
Then, you'll go down to the bottom right corner and select the Materials tab. The icon looks like a sphere with checkers on it.
Finally, you will scroll through that panel to the bottom where you'll see the "Settings" tab. Here, all you need to do is changed the "Blend Mode" dropdown to "Alpha Hashed."
Note: If your sim wears glasses then these steps are necessary to make the glass render correctly however I have been having trouble with that lately and it seems to be a different process in 4.0. If anyone would like to drop a comment on how to render a sim with glasses in this version of Blender, then please do.
7) Prepare for posing
To get your sim ready to pose, you will go back up to the Scene Collection panel and click "Pose". It will turn blue.
Then press the "I" key on your keyboard. I as in "island" because my dumb browser font doesn't make it clear what letter that is.
The black menu will pop up and you can slowly move your mouse down, then click on "Location, Rotation, & Scale."
If you did it correctly, your screen will look like this with a new option in the Scene Collection panel and that little yellow text to the left!
congrats your did it!
For a tutorial on how to make a Blender render, I recommend this tutorial by Solita Sims.
Find a (preferably low poly one) model of the character you want. Try to find one that is posed or has animations with it, otherwise you will have to pose it yourself.
Open up the blender file of any of my figures for size reference
Press Shift+S and click Cursor to center
Add a cylinder mesh
And edit it so it matches the base of my figure
Next Import your mesh, if your model has animations then go through them till you find a pose you like, if not you will have to pose your model
Export your model as an obj, then import it again. This keeps the pose and rids the model of anything extra quickly. Then import the obj back in
Use my figure as a size reference and resize your model and delete my figure
If your model has more than one image, combine them together in any image editing software
Then import the image into blender
And adjust the uvs of each part of the model to fit the new image
For the uv for the base, inedit mode press U to unwrap, and in the uv section press S+0 to make it tiny, Then move to uv to the color you want the base to be on the image
Add 1 to the cut mesh and save the blender file
Open Sims4studio
Import your textures
Edit the disc and title to your liking
And get rid of any unwanted tags
Import the model into the lods,
For shadow lods, go back to blender and delete this part, then change the cut of the model to 0 import that into your shadow lods
If your mesh is over 10k poly delete the shadow mesh
Then save your file and test in game
Heres some places i find my models for those who want
Browse lorisc93's artwork on DeviantArt. 1414 works of art across all galleries.
Browse kittyinhiding's artwork on DeviantArt. 217 works of art across all galleries.
choen7458 is an artist on DeviantArt. hobby: Model collection · Artworks: 620 · Followers: 1095 · Likes: 35
Sims 4 Studio and CAS Tools are programs that are incredibly useful not only to content creators but to any Simmer who wants to keep their CC neat and organized. They might seem overwhelming at first, but they can be extremely powerful tools for fixing those minor but irritating CAS issues that quietly drive you mad, whether that be poor categorization, disappearing accessories, or that one hair that shows up on every single townie in your game. You'll be even more shocked at the laziness of certain paywalling creators when you realize just how quick and simple the majority of these fixes are.
There's a lot of scattered information out there, but I thought it might be useful to gather the tips and tricks I use the most in one place. I've learned most of what I know through trial and error, and I'd like to make it all a bit less intimidating for others if I can. I wanted this guide to be accessible for complete beginners, so it's perhaps more detailed than necessary. Still, I'm sure I left some things out, so feel free to comment or reblog with your own additions! And if you're afraid of breaking your CC, back-ups are your best friend! Make copies beforehand so that you can revert back if needed.
You'll find all these topics covered under the cut:
Setting Up S4S & CAS Tools
Modifying CAS CC Categorization (and More) in S4S
Supplementing S4S with CAS Tools
Unmerging Packages and Running Batch Fixes
Utilizing S4S's CC Browser & Changing CAS Display Index
You can access a Google Docs version here.
1. SETTING UP S4S & CAS TOOLS
It probably goes without saying, but you'll need to download and install Sims 4 Studio and CAS Tools first if you haven't already. Ensure you're downloading the latest versions. I use the installer version of S4S because it's easier. For CAS Tools, you just unzip the files to your preferred location. I usually create a folder for it in Documents. When you want to use it, open the .exe file. As far as I know, both programs are vetted, trusted and safe. If Windows gives you a hard time, you can bypass the warning pop-up to run them anyway.
When opening these programs for the first time, they'll likely prompt you to confirm the location of your mods folder and ask you for a creator name. S4S also has to process a bunch of game data whenever it or the game updates. It can take a while, especially if you have lots of packs and a slower computer. Just be patient. When it's ready to go, you should see this screen.
Once it's installed, I recommend setting S4S as the default program for opening package files. On Windows, you can do this by right-clicking on a package file and selecting "Properties." Click "Change..." next to "Opens with," and if Sims 4 Studio doesn't show up in the list of available apps, click "Choose an app on your PC" to manually locate the .exe. Now you can double-click any package to open it in S4S, which is what we're going to do next.
2. MODIFYING CAS CC CATEGORIZATION (AND MORE) IN S4S
When you open a package file in S4S, you should see something similar to the image below. If you automatically get sent to the "Warehouse" tab instead and see a bunch of technical jargon and numbers, that probably means it's a merged package. You can't edit these in quite the same way as standalone packages, but we'll talk more about that later.
The first tab is "Textures." This is where you'll find the files you need for recoloring, but there are also a few things you can fix here to help improve your CAS experience. See that "Catalog Thumbnail" section? If you notice that only one gender has a custom thumbnail, you can export the thumbnail, switch to the opposite frame, and import it. If there are no custom thumbnails, you could even make your own and add them. Another easy fix you can make here: you know how some CC turns your Sim into a shiny plastic mannequin? That's often a specular issue. Clicking "Make Blank" may resolve this, as it will remove the broken specular. You can also remove swatches you know you won't use.
The next tab is "Meshes." Now, this probably isn't very useful to you if you're not a CC maker. But it does show you the number of polygons in a mesh if you need to keep an eye on that for the sake of your computer.
Next, you've got "Categories." This is the tab of most interest, as this is where a lot of CC goes wrong and where you can customize your experience to make these categories work for you. Before we get into it, it's important to state that you must click "Apply to All Swatches" for every single category you change! Otherwise, the change is only going to affect the first swatch.
"Outfit Type" determines into which category the content will be sorted. This can be changed (when it makes sense)! For example, I move certain types of overlays or accessories that are usually scattered all over CAS into the same category for easier and more convenient access. This helps me remember to actually use them. Otherwise, I'll forget they exist or become so frustrated searching through each category for a specific overlay that I give up. Just keep in mind that this won't fix texture conflicts. If an accessory is in the hat category because it conflicts with hats, moving it to the bracelet category won't change this. If you're curious about learning that particular skill (which requires Blender), @surely-sims has a great tutorial on removing ring/lash conflicts that can also be applied to other types of CC.
Next, you see all the flags that help the game know how to filter the CC. If it's enabled for wrong frames, ages, or fashion choices, you can disable these. But if it's not enabled for genders, ages, or fashion choices that it should be, you can also change that. For example, many accessories like socks, glasses, and hats work basically the same across both frames, but some CC creators will only enable them for one. If you do adjust gender or fashion choice availability, make sure you also scroll all the way to the bottom of this section and double-check that neither "Restrict Opposite Frame" or "Restrict Opposite Gender" is selected. On the other hand, if you have CC that's broken on the opposite frame or shows up when you don't want it to, you might want to keep these options checked.
I don't really pay much attention to the "Occult" section and often just uncheck all the boxes. If you're having trouble with items showing up in CAS for specific occult types, this might help you. Generally, I haven't run into that issue so I can't speak much to it. I also usually don't care enough to bother with all the style categories. I simply never pay attention to or use these systems, so I generally leave them alone. It just depends on how granular you want to get with your organization. But they're there if you need them and you can select as many as suit the item.
"Outfit Type" and "Sub-Part Type" are very important categories. If a certain early access creator who's been doing this long enough to know better (not naming names) always has formal wear categorized as sleep wear, you can change that. With older CC, it might not be properly tagged for hot and cold weather, and you can change that. If a jacket is categorized as a t-shirt or a sweater categorized as a brassiere, you can change that as well. You can select multiple categories here if it fits more than one. I was always frustrated by how useless these were in CAS until I started fixing tags. Now, they actually contain exactly what they're supposed to and my endless scrolling is greatly reduced.
Finally, you might want to make sure "Allow for Random" is unchecked. This is what permits CC to show up on randomly generated townies. I personally don't care for it because it just adds fuel to the bad townie fashion fire. If you want to disable (or enable) all your CC for random, I wouldn't do it file by file, though. There's a much more efficient way that I'll show you in a minute! Anyway, once you've made all your changes (and applied them to all swatches), make sure to pound that "Save" button (if you're like me, three or four times, just to be safe).
Now, take a big breath before moving on! You've learned a lot. You already have so much power in your hands. But are you ready to have even more?
3. SUPPLEMENTING S4S WITH CAS TOOLS
If you switch over to the "Warehouse" tab in S4S, this is what you'll see. Pretty confusing, right? Aside from the indecipherable strings of numbers, you can only make these changes on a per swatch basis. There's no "Apply to All" button, which makes it way more tedious even if you know what those numbers mean. This is where CAS Tools comes in clutch.
I won't spend too much time on this because I cover it in depth here, but one use for CAS Tools is that it can easily help you fix any content that might be excluding parts unnecessarily (like necklaces, bracelets, or nails). You can simply uncheck the boxes under the "Exclude Parts" section, hit "Commit Changes," and then hit "Save Package." There are some other settings here I won't get into because they're a little more complex. For now, this is the main one you'll probably find yourself wanting to change.
4. UNMERGING PACKAGES AND RUNNING BATCH FIXES
All right. Back to S4S. Now that we're comfortable with editing individual package files, let's talk about unmerging packages and batch fixes!
Creators will often merge, say, a piece of clothing and its accessory overlay into the same package for efficiency. If you want to move the accessory to a new category, merged packages make that really difficult to do. But S4S has a nifty un-merge feature. You just direct it to the package you want to un-merge and where it should be un-merged to and voila! Be careful with this, as some content may break if un-merged or separated. This is one of those cases where you definitely want to hold onto the original file in case you end up with the red and white checkerboard of doom in CAS.
S4S also has a ton of batch fixes that you can run on entire folders! I keep all my newly downloaded and unsorted CC quarantined to one folder, and I always at least run "Disallow for random" and "Update images for DX11" on this folder before allowing any of it into my main folders. There's a useful (albeit slightly outdated) breakdown of what the other batch fixes do and how essential they are here. Usually they're meant to help resolve issues introduced by new content or patches. One helpful thing about batch fixes is that running them automatically creates back-ups (Documents > Sims 4 Studio > Batch Fixes). Just make sure to delete these every once in a while or they can fill up your hard drive quickly!
I do not recommend running batch fixes on your entire Mods folder. Not only will it take an incredibly long time, but you generally don't want to run things like default replacements and gameplay or UI mods through the batch fixing process. This is where having a Mods folder that isn't just a bunch of loose files chucked into one place is incredibly important. The more organized your folder is, the easier it will be to isolate specific types of files for batch fixes (or, as it happens, do game troubleshooting like the 50/50 method).
5. UTILIZING S4S's CC BROWSER & CHANGING CAS DISPLAY INDEX
Scroll back up to check out the home screen of S4S. See that "My CC" button? If you're not already using these to view the contents of your CC folder, you should be - because it's a game changer. I know some people prefer other file organization programs, but I've found that nothing works better for me actually being able to see (and edit) CC than this. Again, you might have to wait a while for the CC browser to load, especially if it's the first time or you've added/reorganized a lot of CC, but you should see everything in your Mods folder pop up on the left side.
When you click a package file within one of those folders, it'll pull up the same preview and settings we saw earlier. But this view is especially useful for a few reasons. If you're trying to edit a bunch of files, it's quicker and easier to move through them here than if you were to open each one independently. You can also easily delete files you decide you don't like the look of, and if you simply need to get your CC folder in any semblance of order, this is a good place to start. You can't move files or create folders in the program itself, but you can at least see items without going in game. You can make edits to merged packages in here too. (Just keep in mind that "Apply to All Swatches" in this case means all swatches in all packages contained in a file. You'll have to go swatch by swatch if you don't want this.)
But the biggest secret in the CC browser is its ability to batch change CAS display index (@vyxated has also made a tutorial on this). A lot of you are probably wondering what this means. Basically, the display index determines how far up or down the catalog of items in a category an item appears. In other words, you know how some CC creators' content is usually all lumped together? This is what they use to achieve that. As a player, you can use it too - to basically organize CAS however you like. The problem is it's a pain to change the CAS display index of items individually. You have to do it in Warehouse, which means you have to go swatch by swatch. This is impossibly tedious. The CC browser gives us another way.
Right click on any folder within the browser and you'll see the two options above. They allow you to change the CAS display index for everything in that folder. You can get even more precise by using the "sorted by package name" option. As an example, let's consider my clothing folder. I label my folders according to the clothing subcategories in game, so when I batch change, for instance, the display index of the t-shirts folder sorted by package name, this allows t-shirts to all appear together in CAS but also allows for creator organization within, which is very satisfying visually, I must say. It doesn't always work perfectly, but it gets pretty close.
Here's another example with hair. Again, I've got the packages sorted into folders by subcategory, and you can see how all my bun hairstyles appear together, (mostly) sorted by creator.
So what does this process actually look like once you click the "Change CAS Display Index" button? Good question! First, you confirm which folder you're editing and where you want the back-up to go. You shouldn't have to make any changes here, so just click "Run." Then you'll get a pop-up asking you to enter the value you'd like to change the CAS display index to.
How do you know what that number should be? Another good question. @adelarsims has made a post listing the display index numbers for various CAS categories. Basically, these are the maximum numbers given to vanilla content, so you want to choose numbers higher than those. But that's not all you have to consider. If you're organizing on a more granular level like I am, you'll also want each subcategory to have a different display index number. That way, when you're viewing an entire CAS category at once, say, bottoms, all the various types of bottoms will be neat and well-organized, making for much more enjoyable scrolling. As you can imagine, keeping track of these numbers gets a little dizzying. I have a Google Doc where I've got the ones I'm using listed. You can see a couple screenshots below, but here's a link to it in case you want to use it as a base. (It also tells you what categories I sort certain overlays and accessories into, if you're interested in that.)
Anyway, let the batch fix run, check to see if everything seems right in game, then delete those back-ups once you no longer need them (they really do pile up). This is, of course, an insanely time-consuming project, but if you can get past the initial pain of sorting all your CC, setting aside time once or twice a month to do it with newly downloaded files helps you stay on top of things. I usually don't. And then I suffer when it catches up to me.
But the organizational possibilities are truly endless! Combining CAS display index with recategorized accessories has improved the efficiency of my CAS experience so much. Here are just a few examples. I've got all my hair accessory overlays in toenails since it's an underused category. All accessory tops have been moved to the right wrist category. Hair color overlays are in body scars - dye in left leg and hairlines in right leg.
Okay! I think that's all I wanted to cover in this post, and it's certainly more than enough. If this level of organization isn't for you, no worries. But I've found that it's cut down my CAS time significantly and made me reach for items I hadn't been previously, so I have a feeling others might benefit from it too, even if you take a slightly less comprehensive approach. I've recently undertaken a similar project with build/buy CC, although there are some restrictions (such as no CAS index display numbers). If enough people find this one helpful, I might write a guide about some of the methods I've used there as well. And by all means, if you have any questions, please ask!
I was asked to make a recolour tutorial but it turned into 4 tutorials for stuff.
Note: These are all FREE and don't require a membership! They're posted on patreon because it made sense when I was making them. I might post them also on tumblr when I get a moment!
How to make a plain swatch from existing EA textures (or CC) by ForgottenPixels on Patreon. Join ForgottenPixels's community for exclusive
How to get the UV map for an object by ForgottenPixels on Patreon. Join ForgottenPixels's community for exclusive content and updates.
How I recolour stuff (Build/Buy Stuff) by ForgottenPixels on Patreon. Join ForgottenPixels's community for exclusive content and updates.
How I recolour stuff (CAS) by ForgottenPixels on Patreon. Join ForgottenPixels's community for exclusive content and updates.
