UniMesh plugins for MilkShape (1.78 and UP), V4.09 (12-May-2007)

[WesHowe]

Free Software Notice
This set of plugins is meant to be free to use for any Sims2 modders. It is shareware only to the extent that I have elected to share it with anyone that wants to use it, for free. I neither want or need money for writing or maintaining this.
That said, it costs money to run this server (MTS2) who so graciously have allowed them to be hosted here. Nothing in this package will ever nag or ask you for money, but if you think they are worth something, you may elect to make a donation to Mod The Sims 2 at:
http://www.modthesims2.com/donate.php
If you do this, you can mention either UniMesh or wes_h in the comments.

Like the original set, these plugins REQUIRE MilkShape 1.7.8 or higher (they run on 1.7.7, but there are skin weight related bugs in MilkShape 1.7.7 and 1.7.7a).

Please download MilkShape 1.7.8 (or later, 1.7.10 and 1.8.0 are out and work) from http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/ and then these plugins (go ahead and overwrite the ones included with the MilkShape release, then go to the next message and download the manual.

Also note there are tutorals posted in the Tutorials section both here at MTS2 about Sims2 meshing and also at the MilkShape site about using MilkShape (generic meshing). The manual describes the plugin usage, but is not a tutorial.

Changed are:
The Importer, on body meshes, will no longer import a second skeleton. It doesn't even ask anymore.
There are also four new plugins added (all of which have been available here at MTS2 for testing).

Interim Importer Update: I have rolled back the V409A3 importer, which is not feeling well and crashes, back to the V409A importer. You need only download and replace the single file. My apologies.

<* Wes *>

Release 4.09 attached, posted 12-May-2007.
[The previous update was dated 15-Feb-2007]
Importer Interim Update 03-Dec-2007.

Install the full UniMeshPlugins.zip package into the MilkShape program directory (normally C:\Program Files\MilkShape 3D 1.8.2).

[WesHowe]

The manual for the UniMesh plugins V4.09 is attached to this message. It is in MS Word format (rtf was just too large). The rest of the thread will be open for discussion and reports, as usual.

<* Wes *>

[tiggerypum]

Okay Wes, this is a new Clean thread for the feedback on these newest plugins. All the old thread was moved to: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=214848

Here's to an even greater 2007!

[Warlokk]

Awesome, I'll try these out this week on some new Classic Pinup outfits, I just started work on some XP clothes yesterday so the timing is perfect! :D

You rock as always, Wes!

[cevic]

Wes_h this is so great, hope one day you'll be able to figure out more morphs group. Love your contribution to the community.


Thanks.

[SnowStorm]

These plugins are also great for object meshes. You should have a thread in the object creation area so more people know about using them.

[Nouk]

You should also be able to have bumpmap support for any or all groups, even in meshes that did not have it originally, without exporting and reimporting the mesh in the SMD plugins.

Hair animations should also work without the export/import step, too.

I also added code to scan the mesh for underweighted vertices at the end of the import. If they are detected (pretty common) the importer will ask for permission to correct them.



....... Marry me!!!

[Nouk]

He's MINE! Mine I say!! :D

Undying fame, wealth and health will be bestowed unto wes_h for helping out all obsessed Sims2 creators in the world! HAIL!

[HystearicalParoxysm]

Wes.... O_O!!!

Hair animations and bump mapping as part of Unimesh, eliminating the SMD export/import step?!?

Right as I was starting to dabble with hair animations?!

Please let me know the address where I should send the pics of my boobies.

Thank you!!!

[mininessie]

thanks you so much for all your work and help!

[porkypine]

Hi Wes! Thanks for making the document. (I need all the help I can get! :rofl: I do have one question that I didn't find, or understand the answer for. Is snapping a vertice and welding the same thing? If I add parts to my mesh and snap one point to attach it, does that break the mesh? Should I just line it up instead, adjacent to the area I want it to belong to?

[WesHowe]

Snapping should be just moving vertice B to the same place as vertice A.
This is OK.
Welding, per se, isn't bad, but welding the wrong stuff is.
I will try to explain without pictures.

We will think about a vertex at the corner of a simple cube (made from 12 traingles). This same exact point is a corner of 6 different triangles (make one in MilkShape and count) that are part of three faces (two triangles each).

If you UV map the cube so that it is laid out unfolded like a cross (probably the most common method), every one of the corner points of each face will be at a different spot on the UV map, so each will need a unique UV pair.

The two triangles that make up each face can be welded at the corner because they will have the same normal and UV, but we still need the three seperate vertices because we will have three different UVs.

This is the way the Sims2 meshes work. There are other ways to represent a mesh that would support collapsing all six points to one, instead of three, but there were likely performance reasons that the current method was selected. As usual, every method has its own advantages and drawbacks, and I believe that the Sims2 method is just fine, but you can break it with MilkShape and welding.

Now quite a while ago I wrote a piece of code that unwelds the model where needed before export. However, the extra normals sometimes get lost from the welding, and thus can adversely affect the rendering. This often shows as unwanted shading around the edges of something.

Unfortunately, this code got disconnected from the posted version. It's in the program, but no longer gets used. Thanks to SnowStorm's careful attention to detail this got found, and I have corrected it.

I am going to post a 4.07A exporter update (in the first message). Maxis models you would import and not weld the seams on will export just fine with the old exporter, but without the model integrity checks welded models will not render their texture properly in game.

<* Wes *>

[WesHowe]

He's MINE! Mine I say!! :D

Undying fame, wealth and health will be bestowed unto wes_h for helping out all obsessed Sims2 creators in the world! HAIL!

Gee, I haven't had this much adulation from girls since I was in the 8th grade and spent the summer away at my Grandmother's house (new kid on the block syndome).

But back then, no one offered me any booby prizes. :)

Let's just try to make sure they perform as advertised for all the meshes out there before y'all start a parade. I know that there are some, like the Cowplant, that are too complex for the program as-is. I'll be plugging away here to try to fix that. If I get it working, it will only be usable in a as-yet-unreleased MilkShape update.

<* Wes *>

[marvine]

*shyly joins the choir*

As a body and accessories mesher I guess that moving to new and scary areas of creation is needed in order to fully enjoy these, but at least learning new tools again won't be needed and your plugins are wonderfully user-friendly :)
All my admiration and gratitude as ever!

[porkypine]

Hi Wes,

I was having problems exporting one of my meshes that I'd added parts to. It told me that there were unassigned boens. I'd looked it over and could not find them. SO, I found this the other day and jsut now installed it and now I'm able to export my m3sd file to a simpe file. It told me I had unassigned bones but allowed me to export anyway. I'll see if it breaks in the game and get back to you.

[Dr Pixel]

Thanks so much Wes for your excellent work on these plug-ins!

I can't wait to try them out.

[victoriazap]

i sound like an idiot i know but i have no clue how to mesh . ahh i just downloaded stuff i dont even know what it is!

[WesHowe]

I was having problems exporting one of my meshes that I'd added parts to. It told me that there were unassigned boens...
SO, I found this the other day and jsut now installed it and now I'm able to export my m3sd file to a simpe file.


I changed the error to a warning. I don't think you will get the results you want without bones assigned to all the parts.

Here is how to find them:

Hide all your morph groups, and if you have more than one base group hide all but one (and work them one-at-a-time).

Go to the Model tab in MilkShape, click on the Select button, then hold down shift and drag so you select the whole model.

Then go to the Vertex Menu and pick the Sims2 UniMesh Select Underweighted Bones V4.07 menu item.

The remaining selected items will be your unassigned vertices. You can return to the Vertex Menu, pick the BoneTool, and edit the assignments and weights for these.


<* Wes *>

[MaryLou]

Thank you very much for this excellent work.
I think these plugins are also great for object and food meshes :)
Thanks!!!!

[WesHowe]

Numenor, fireflies and XNem all contributed to helping me get the issues that were 'biting' the food items resolved. SnowStorm and RoseSims also contributed testing help.

I posted a message in the Objects thread about these plugins. When I planned them last year, the objective was a Unified object and body Meshing tool... hence the UniMesh.

There were just some advanced issues left unfixed until recently.

<* Wes *>

[cultjam]

I am getting an error when I use the Sims2 Unimesh Bone Tool then the program shuts down.

I am following Tiggerplums tutorial, combining new legs to a new mesh. When I get to number 35, my program crashes.

[cultjam]

P.S.

I am using Milkshape version 3d 1.7.10

[WesHowe]

I am getting an error when I use the Sims2 Unimesh Bone Tool then the program shuts down.

I am following Tiggerplums tutorial, combining new legs to a new mesh. When I get to number 35, my program crashes.

Probably outdated drivers. For additional information, see this message:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?p=1530374#post1530374

<* Wes *>

[cultjam]

Nope, didnt work. I even re-installed everything - program, plug-ins.

[DogLover258]

Hey, i'm sorta new to this site, actually, i'm really new to this site, i just signed up yesterday and i've been trying to download the Unimesh, but everytime i click on the download, it goes to the 'page cannot be displayed' thing, i tried it on all the other computers too, but they all show the same thing, does anybody think they can help me? Please, because i really want to learn meshing and i can't do it, so... yeah, thanks! :bunny:

[WesHowe]

Nope, didnt work. I even re-installed everything - program, plug-ins.

Well, sorry. If I knew what was wrong I'd fix it, but it works well here, and on almost every other user's computer. I have never tested it on anything other than Windows XP, nor do I have the facilities to do so.

[WesHowe]

Hey, i'm sorta new to this site, actually, i'm really new to this site, i just signed up yesterday and i've been trying to download the Unimesh, but everytime i click on the download, it goes to the 'page cannot be displayed' thing, i tried it on all the other computers too, but they all show the same thing, does anybody think they can help me? Please, because i really want to learn meshing and i can't do it, so... yeah, thanks! :bunny:

When you posted your message, and when I posted this reply, there was a notice at the top of the page in BIG RED LETTERS that said:

Downloads are OFFLINE for a fileserver upgrade. They will be back when this message disappears. :)

I would suspect that it is at least related to the problem you are having. Be patient, things will be fixed sooner rather than later and you can get going then.

<* Wes *>

[Warlokk]

Hey Wes-- just popping in to let you know, the new plugins work PERFECTLY! I've used them extensively this past week and created a whole pile of multi-part meshes with reflective layers and alphas and the works, and not a glitch or hiccup to be found. Thanks again!

[WesHowe]

I'm glad they work well there... I know you are a demanding user and a perfectionist.

Since you build pretty large packages due to the high number of meshes, there is a new keyword you can put in the group comments for morph base groups "NoMorphNorms:". It prevents a set of normal deltas from being generated on morphs. Lots of the EP meshes originally had no normal deltas in the morphs. The new importer will add the keyword if the original mesh lacks normal deltas.

This could shrink your final mesh file sizes around 8% to 10% or so (depending on number of morphs). The base game had no trouble with the omissions in my testing, and I have seen no detectable shading effects from leaving the normals out.

<* Wes *>

[helaene]

thank you thank you thank you thank you <3

maybe i'll finally re-attempt hair-meshing... ;)

[DogLover258]

When you posted your message, and when I posted this reply, there was a notice at the top of the page in BIG RED LETTERS that said:

Downloads are OFFLINE for a fileserver upgrade. They will be back when this message disappears. :)

I would suspect that it is at least related to the problem you are having. Be patient, things will be fixed sooner rather than later and you can get going then.

<* Wes *>

Thanks, i'll try that again. And thank you again!

[WesHowe]

I like dogs, too. :)

Anyway, we (while I wrote the plugins, there are some talented people that hangout here) have gotten quite a few people started meshing via this forum and the tutorials here at MTS2 (there were over 600 prior messages in this thread that were put in an archive). Some of the people that got started here are featured creators on MTS2, and elsewhere (and some turned paysite pro on us).

While I can't promise you instant success (or much more than blood, sweat and tears), this is as much art as science and if you want to learn it badly enough you will succeed.

<* Wes *>

[Berg]

Now what the **** am I doing wrong? When I try to export my mesh from Milkshape I end up with a 0 kb useless file? I didn't do any advanced editing on that mesh, didn't delete or add anything, didn't fiddle with anything but moving vertices about, really...

I'm using a mesh from the base game, the longer nightgown mesh with one morph. I have MS 1.7.8, SimPE 0.60 and of course the plugins + exporter from this thread (I allowed them to overwrite the present ones in my Milkshape directory.

Thank you very much for helping and for your hard, great work!

- Berg :)

P.S. I have the manual of course, but most of the content is far too advanced for me to really grasp...

ETA: OK, it's defenitely something I did, if I only knew what...... I tried to export a totally different project and everything went fine. I guess I messed things up somewhere so perhaps I should just start all over... :|

[WesHowe]

Berg:

Well, I am mystified, as you are. But if it isn't a repeatable error, then who knows... sometimes the little gremplins insid ethe PC run amok. :)

If you do have an issue that crops up repeatedly, when you post about it please use the name it has in the game, such as "amBodyScrubs". It isn't normally necessary to specify the "_tslocator_gmdc" part of the name. It takes me a lot less time to find them by name than it does to run the game or BodyShop, look through the pictures of clothes and try to discern which one you mean (especially with all the expansion pack items available).

<* Wes *>

[animera]

wes_h - Thank you so much for this update!! With out your user friendly tools I would not have been able to mesh... Again, Thanks!!

[MankyUK]

Thanks so much for this much needed update *smoochies*

Just a pondering as at the moment work is really hectic and i dont have the time to play around with the plugins...about the enabled bumpmapping, does the plugin automatically enable them when you export your mesh back out of milkshape or do we need to go through some other process?

[WesHowe]

For a bumpmapped object, you have to have a mesh that has the "bumpmap normals" in it. The plugin will generate a set of these for each base group that has the group comment "HasTangentArray:" (without the quotes).

The comment will get included automatically on any mesh that had one when it was imported. If you want to add bumpmapping, you start by adding the comment and then exporting the mesh.

No mesh that has bumpmap normals will have bumpmapping appear unless the texture material (TXMT) and texture image (TXTR) are set up correctly. And when that is done, graphically underpowered machines will not display the bumpmapping.

But don't let that intimidate you. It's not all that hard when you follow the list. There are only four lines or so to add to the TXMT and, of course, a bumpmap texture needs to be made (similar to an alpha layer, this is a grey-scale image where the bumps are created by altering the brightness from neutral grey (127,127127).

I don't have links handy for these last two items, but Search here should turn them up readily. There is an object, called Semloh's bumpmap tester, that will readily show if bumpmapping works on any machine the game is running on.

I think a lot more information on this will likely be in the Skinning section here at MTS2.

<* Wes *>

[MankyUK]

*Does happy dance* Awww Wes thats so great to know, ive been editing a few maxis meshes that have the normal map but of course due to unimesh lost its bumpiness :P Whee, now i can get them back :D

Thanks so much for your hard work Wes *Chases Wes down and smothers him with hugs and kisses* :D

[Nouk]

Hey Wes!

Assiging animations with the new plugins makes the mesh pull back the hair assigned to the hairbones back into the head.
I only used to have this problem with Pets installed, but I don't have that anymore.

I only have the expansions up untill Open For Bussiness, no stuff packs, your new plugins, Milkshape 1.7.8, and the newest simpe. Before I had no trouble.
Importing and exporting with the .smd exporter/importer has no effect.

(Are the older plugins still available somewehere?:) )

I will try the older plugins again, and make one mesh with that one (working, probably) and make the same mesh with the new plugins, and send it to you. If you want ;)

[WesHowe]

(Are the older plugins still available somewehere?:) )

I will try the older plugins again, and make one mesh with that one (working, probably) and make the same mesh with the new plugins, and send it to you. If you want ;)

I pulled the old package, because I don't want new users downloading the wrong package. If you don't have the older package, PM me you email address and I will email them to you. What you have suggested would make analyzing the problem easier.

I remember your posts about the Pets issue. However, if the old SMD export/import made no difference, then the problem may not lie in the exporter at all (or even in Pets). You may be able to tell by rebuilding with the older plugins.

I would be interested in helping to figure out what is wrong with this, even if it isn't the exporter.

<* Wes *>

[ukch1ckk]

i need to get the unimesh.zip files at the top of the page but the llink comes up with the 503 error and doesnt load after 20 x refresh.. help

[tiggerypum]

ukch1ckk, the file server for downloads is often overloaded, particularly on weekends in the middle of the day (US time) Try again at off hours. The system news says such, and a new sever is one the way to help with the downloading load.


:lovestruc
--- gets in line for the Wes worshipping and offers to marry him ----

[WesHowe]

Assiging animations with the new plugins makes the mesh pull back the hair assigned to the hairbones back into the head.
I only used to have this problem with Pets installed, but I don't have that anymore.


I have been messaging back and forth with Nouk over this issue.
Nouk fixed this herself, all I have left to tell you is what was wrong, so that
maybe someone else will recognize if this happens to them.

Everyone should know by now that the UniMesh importer stores some stuff in the group and bone comments. Of particular interest for this message is the bone comment that starts ImpQuatDat: followed by seven decimal numbers.
These numbers are needed for the exporter to put the bones back in exactly the same place they were when it was imported. I put them in as comments because there is no 'hidden' binary sort of place available in MilkShape for me to retain these values.

These are normally saved as part of a .ms3d file, which is what Nouk uses while working.

What was wrong was that the values in the last three bone comments had become changed. Whether this was a bad save, a bad load, an erroneous select and move, or what is unknown.

Nouk made her fix by exporting the mesh as a .obj file, loading in a new mesh, deleting all the mesh except the skeleton and bringing her mesh back in. This could have been fixed by tediously copying and pasting the joint coments, too.

<* Wes *>

[MankyUK]

Okie for some reason my milkshape seems to crash everytime i try and pull up the bone tool. I get the message:

'ms3d.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close..sorry for inconvience etc..Please tell Microsoft about this problem'

Im following this tutorial here:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=179177 and someone in that thread reported the kind of error i am having and Tig says something about make sure you have up to date unimesh plugins etc, and i think i have since i downloaded the newest ones from this thread.

So where do i go from here? Is is just me? Thanks for any help :)

Edited to add: Hmm just tested the bone tool on all my older saved msd files and the bone tool seems to come up fine so doesnt seem to be plugin problem. im confussled.

[tiggerypum]

MankyUK, hmm. Did you check the Open GL stuff on the milkshape site, maybe your system needs that to work better.

[MankyUK]

Sorry to be completely clueless, Tig but whats open GL stuff? I dont see anything on the milkshape site about GL stuff.

[cultjam]

Wes had posted it in a reply to my problem that is the same as yours. It didnt work for me. But I hope we figure it out, what we are doing wrong or whats up.


EDIT:
Where is the link to the older version of milkshape??
I am still having issues with my newer version.

Thanks


EDIT AGAIN:
I found out my problem. But I have another problem. Probably doing something wrong.

Anyway, when I save my meshes in the ms3d file, then open it and use the unimesh bone tool, the program crashes.

But, when I make adjustments to my mesh, then export it, and open the mesh up i exported, in milkshape, I recieve this error: Err: too many p4 block a data items.

Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

[WesHowe]

The message probably needs changed to something more descriptive. It has said the same thing since the earliest plugins I wrote (about two years ago).

P4 Block A is where the bone definitions are kept. If you're working on a body mesh, there should be 65 bones. Almost without fail, this message crops up when a second mesh is imported overtop of another, and the user chooses not to exclude the bones. You end up with two sets of bones (130 total) and the importer is currently set up to reject that many as a corrupt file.

Also, much of the crashing problems people have with MilkShape is caused by outdated OpenGL drivers. Get the latest by going to http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/ms3d/download.html
and download the "Mesa 6.4.1 Software OpenGL Drivers" package and then install it. This is what has fixed issues with the bone tool and other inexplicable crashes when opening files up.

The bone tool, or any of the plugins, will not operate correctly until MilkShape and the OpenGL drivers are stable themselves, since they work as an extension of MilkShape.

<* Wes *>

[porkypine]

Hi Wes. I created an entry for the Unimesh plugin on the wiki. Please take a look at it and modify as you see fit. It points to this thread. Thanks!

http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Unimesh_plugin_for_Milkshape

[WesHowe]

You know, I just saw that.
Thank you.

We need more people like you that take the time to organize all the little factoids that pop up in the threads and get them onto the wiki. I know some of the things that have happened to you in your meshing happened to others, and were discussed and are now buried in the old threads, or the BodyChop (UniMesh's parents) thread or the V2.17 plugins (UniMesh's grandparents) thread or whatever I called the first plugin I released, that I made my BioHazard sculpture with (which, by odd coincidence is about the same orange color as the one I made my demo Dog Collar with).

<* Wes *>

[porkypine]

You're welcome. :0) I am trying to understand how people want the wiki organized. There is a bit of a language barrier between Patul, Niol and myself. I don't think we always understand each other correctly. Even so, I think those two are doing a great job.

Currently, the wiki points directly to existing content threads, tutorials and posts on MTS2. Often it just points to a thread which makes it very clunky for researchers trying to find answers quickly. I know I don't have much time to wade through things and just want to find the info - not go fishing.

What I'd prefer is to create new entries in the wiki and copy the original material into the wiki and reference the source author and location. Many of the tutorials have great information but take a long time to load - the images are often too large, etc. What I want to do is just capture the images and upload them to the wiki so they show up as thumbs. People reading the tutorials can open the thumbs for a bigger image if they need it. I also want to copy the tutorial content into the wiki, using the wiki format and reference the original source.

The original tutorials on this site, while being a great tool are difficult to search - you have to scroll up and down past large images looking for stuff. I want to revise that, but it's not my call. The main reason I want to put the content on the wiki is to make it easier to insert updates, corrections, clarifications etc. of course, the original author is notated and credited. and there would be links to the original document. Of course, many tutorial authors may not want 'the public' wiki editors from modifying their work. In that case, I think we should link to their tutorial and have subsections for all the modifiers and addendums.

My personal problem is I have a terrible problem typing. I go too fast and invert my letter sequences or I don't hit the keys hard enough so letters drop out. I'm the 'Typo Queen of TEH'. :rofl: This is why I am not a receptionist! Give me a soldering iron, breadboard, some transistors, chips, diodes, caps & transistors and I'll wire up a radio for you. Just don't ask me to type up quick letter to the President and not use spell check.

Maybe this isn't the appropriate place for it, but Scientific American sent me a 'join our book club' junk mail and in it they had, "Electronic projects for the Evil Genius!" Gosh... that title just appeals to me so much! :D (ssshsh! girls aren't 'sposed to like fiddling with electronic doo-hickey thingamabob whatsits! We're 'sposed to like soap operas - [gag-barf] yuck! soap operas are enough to make anyone take up :Pint: )

[WesHowe]

Ah. Interesting.

My first electronics projects used tubes. That's because a CK722 transistor (garden variety NPN) ran $2.00 at Allied Radio (later bought out and flown into the ground by Tandy/Radio Shack). At that time, the minimum wage was below $1.00 (maybe 85 cents), and I didn't have a spare 2 bucks.

My love for radio carried me through a career in related electronics that has allowed me to quit working for 'the man' and set myself up raising cattle. Either that, or I'm a bum, because I haven't had a job now since 2001.

While I am not in control of anything around here (except my fat fingers) I would like to see stuff cut-and-pasted onto organized topic pages. For instance, dizzy (maybe Dizzy2 here) recently posted a message with a comprehensive compilation of the AGED section parameters. While I don't have an immediate need for that information, I might one of these days. Right now it is aging out-of-view in the threads (in the modding area, maybe).

Nuggets like those are what we should be harvesting and compiling on the Wiki. Even if they don't all have a common look and feel, they can be reformatted later, so long as the information is organized. Some people have dedicated many hours to experimenting with the various parameters in the package parts, and what they shared should be easy to find.

<* Wes *>

Oh, and I often have to go back and change teh into the, won;t into won't, and even <* wes 8> into <* Wes *> before I hit 'Submit Reply'.

[tiggerypum]

porkypine, not that we should be discussing organizing data here in the unimesh thread - this part of the site has an infocenter, exactly designed for extracting nuggets and having them here on site in a more readable 'jumble' as it is. The wiki solution of leaving things on mts2 with good text explanations on the wiki but leaving the data also on mts2 is so that it's searchable from mts2. Otherwise we have a tangle where info is in two different places, articles are no longer attributed on mts2 to the members who wrote them, and thanks buttons also become a mess to implement. You can link to a specific message in a thread. Or you can point me at something you want in the infocenter, I'm good at extracting things.

In some cases, reading the entire thread gives the full picture in a way that pointing to a single message does not, it depends on the topic. But yes, it is a difficult balance.

[jase439]

Just a quick update. I finally found that spare moment this weekend to crank out a first pass on that interpolation tool for verts with unassigned bones/bone weights. I ended up constructing a representation of the mesh as an adjacency list using a boost container library (http://www.boost.org) and then using the objx file was able to pick out the unassigned vertices and apply a distance-weighted interpolation of the neighboring bone assignments.

It's not entirely useful as a general tool just yet, but it did for me in 10 seconds, what I spent 2 evenings trying to do by hand (and failed). I am rather pleased with the end result. There is still some fine tuning that is needed to eliminate unwanted clipping during certain animations, but gone is the unsightly shearing and stretching. Yay.

Thanks for your help earlier, Wes.

Cheers,

J

[WesHowe]

That sounds pretty interesting. Likely to be a hit if you get it fully developed.

As far as the help, I was glad to do the small amount I did. If you might rather turn your code into a MS plugin, I'd be happy to help you get started. C/C++ are the native interface, but any language that can interface to MS standard C++ DLL call and can provide a C++ callback (such as Visual Basic) will work.

This might make it a little easier to gather the data and effect the results, because you just make some function calls in a loop to extract the vertex data or bone locations, and a simple function call will make a bone assignment or weighting. In the case of an error condition, you can return the model with any changes ignored (-1) without having to track all previous changes.

I would even be happy to write the framework if you describe what inputs and outputs you would like for the assignment code. The reason I suggest this is that you then do not need to worry about updating to fix any changes in ObjX (not that I know of any for certain) and do not need the temporary file interface.

<* Wes *>

[melanise]

i was browsing through here and yay thanks for the update i'll defenitely have to give hair meshing another shot but oh my god after all plans i've been making for a site for the sims2 on my process through meshing a new outfit adding new bits etc, when i select my new mesh to add assignments and click on the Unimesh Bone tool i get an error message i almost cried lol i even restarted the whole PC i thought it was something minor.
anyway i saw in the thread someone has the same problem as me and this worries me because you said you dont know what it is so i posted a pic here of what crap i'm getting from the program lol hpe you can help >.<; :wtf: http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/4716/unimeshproblemca8.jpg

Edit: Ok.... this is weird i read on and found the site for milkshape, i am also using another half of a mesh and combining it and i am certain that i excluded the extra bones to be braught in with the second mesh. mean while i refered back to an old mesh that i have completed and checked to see if i could use the Bone Tool on that and it worked! i hate to think about it but i might just have to start again >.< but i dunno what could be the problem in the first place....

[melanise]

Ok never mind i guess maybe i put the other mesh in with aditional bones because i just tried again and it works perfect >.< clumsey blonde *slaps her self* thanks again for the update wesh ^.~ xx and i know this is off topic but when i upload the new milkshape do i delete the previous version ?

[tiggerypum]

It doesn't matter if you delete the old milkshape or not. When you download and install the new milkshape, you need to download and install the unimesh plugins again with the most recent version from the site (milkshape comes with one of the older versions). Also, if you get odd error messages still, you can go back to the milkshape site and look for the 'open gl' stuff and see if that helps.

[WesHowe]

The opengl drivers have been a source of a lot of MilkShape issues for a lot of people, not just Sims2 users. I am not sure of what the underlying problem is, but some systems seem to come with compatible drivers and some don't.

The latest posts I read indicate the TS2 works on Vista, as long as the base game has the patch. And I also read that MilkShape works from the start on Vista for some people, others have had to update the drivers. Go figure! If they're running Vista, this is supposed to be the latest systems and software.

Last, for anyone interested, the next update of MilkShape is nearing completion. The BoneTool is expected to be made a part of MilkShape, as built-in function rather than a separate plugin. The latest UniMesh versions (4.07 plus updated exporter) should be shipped with it.

While there are things being done in the update for other games/file formats, of interest to Sims2 meshing are a change that will make comments carry over after a regroup or duplicate selection action. The comments will be concatenated, so that if you grouped two original groups together, the comments from both will be there. The most common use for regroup, though, is where you create a new mesh part (sphere, cylinder, etc.) and add it to the original mesh group. This will help all the people that forget to copy and paste the comments (like myself) so we don;t have to type them in all over again.

Also, by request, the Subdivide2 function will now be built-in and will be UV mapped automatically (based on the subdivided vertices).


That's all I remember about the update, and the timing of the release isn't set, although I think it will not be a real long time away.

<* Wes *>

[tiggerypum]

it would be nice if we could get a better set of 'extended edit' tools as demon hasn't seemed to be around (or around frequently) for some time. We had some requests for being able to copy entire sets of values and pasting them (instead of copying each individual value by hand for x, y, and z, for instance). If we're doing a wish list, lol :D

[WesHowe]

I don't know if a wish list is viable for the next release. MilkShape customers are welcome to expose their thoughts at the chumba site. Answers don't alwyas come as often as in your forums.

I do wish Mr. demon had posted the source for his work. His extended manual edit is much better than the one that comes with MilkShape, and would probably be a candidate for inclusion with the regular plugins if he had ever posted it there. If he no longer wanted to support it, I might be able to rustle up a new caretaker for it.

It would not be hard for me to expose the items for editing, but rewriting the nice tabular user interface he made for his editor is beyond what I am prepared to take on.

<* Wes *>

[nikisatez]

does this work with Wings 3d?

[Warlokk]

No, these are plugins for Milkshape only.

[lolocka]

Hi all, I am working on new mesh and I have problem with bone assigment. I use UniMeshExporter407A and Milkshape
When I assign all 100% head everything is o.k. but as soon as I assign some part for example 80%head 20% r_hair, my hair doesnt look correctly. Please see attached pictures because I cant say it in english :rolleyes:

[WesHowe]

4.07 should not be doing that.
Your pictures did not show up.

<* Wes *>

[lolocka]

I dont understand it too. I made 2 hair using 4.07 plugin version and I have no problems with it. Today I tried to make new assigment, hoping that everything will be ok again, but not. Now my hair looks following (see the picture)
I attached mesh, so that you can look at it. Thanks for any suggestions

[tiggerypum]

Have we determined that all the hair meshes use the same bone locations (I had been wondering about that, if they really use the same animation points for 'long' hair and 'short' hair animating). And 20%, is that the sort of numbers that maxis hair of a similar sort had on those assignments?? Soon I will experiment with hair animation myself and maybe have more answers than questions.

[Nouk]

have the same problems with animated hair acting strangely after installing 4.07. I think the skeleton gets damaged somehow. I don't know how though :(

I reverted to 4.06, replaced the skeleton, and only then did it work again.

[WesHowe]

I dont understand it too. I made 2 hair using 4.07 plugin version and I have no problems with it.

I attached mesh, so that you can look at it. Thanks for any suggestions

I have looked at it. It is not suffering from moved joint locations, as Nouk's recent problem was.

I looked at the screenshots and this does not look like the old animation issues, where pieces were in front that belonged behind, etc.

I have not made enough hair meshes to qualify as an expert. But some of your vertices were assigned 25% to the r_hair bone. I did notice that on some work I did, the hair animated well with 10% _hair assignments, and that increasing the amount assigned to the _hair bones did make the hair position move from the original position.

But in that case, the hair was pulling in, not pushing out.

I will try to make time to experiment with it, but I am not sure it is a plugin issue but rather a construction issue, related to whiich parts are assigned and by how much.

Sorry I haven't been more help.

<* Wes *>

[lolocka]

wes_h, Nouk, tiggerypum, thanks for your replies. I appreciate your effort. wes_h could you please send me v.4.06? I will PM you my mail address. Thanks

[callum91]

I had this problem too!!
I exported my mesh from milkshape,as .obj.
Then imported the orignal 5gd (gmdc)(mesh) into milkshape and renamed the groups: hair, and alphas,to different names.Then import Obj. Then rename all comments and group names to the right ones,then assign the required parts to the required bones
Worked for me (NewPixie uploaded yesterday)

[lolocka]

I had this problem too!!
I exported my mesh from milkshape,as .obj.
Then imported the orignal 5gd (gmdc)(mesh) into milkshape and renamed the groups: hair, and alphas,to different names.Then import Obj. Then rename all comments and group names to the right ones,then assign the required parts to the required bones
Worked for me (NewPixie uploaded yesterday)

Works for me too :D It was a really good piece of advice - thanks a million!!!

[WesHowe]

Well, I am not sure the problem is in the plugins. But I have made a band-aid that might help in the future.

I realized that the easiest way to repair a broken skeleton would be by using the importer. But the code I had for recognizing an import overtop an existing one did not recognize a set of bones with no mesh groups. So I changed that.

Now, to fix a suspected broken skeleton, you would backup your work (export as GMDC), perform a file/new from the menu and then import a GMDC with a known good skeleton (such as the original hair or body mesh you started with). You can then delete all the groups from the groups tab and then import your backup GMDC. When the importer warns of importing over another model, click OK to continue, and then answer No when asked about importing additional bones. Your bone assignments and skin weights should all remain in place, but all the joint data will be replaced.

Another change I made relates both to the look and function of the skeleton for body meshes and the ability to export moved bones. The newest importer builds the joints for body meshes only as a linked skeleton, rather than the set of circles like before. The joints are in the same positions, but are now defined as a set. So the imported models can be posed using MilkShape's animation tools. I have attached a couple screenshots of a posed and textured Sim model.

I don't want to write a tutorial on animating models in MilkShape wehn there is a perfectly good one available by selecting the Help menu from within MilkShape. If you never downloaded the help files, it will help you get that done.

The linked skeletons cannot be exported that way, so I have made the new exporter recognize that and just export the bones in their original positions. While moving joints will still work for object meshes, for body meshes it has done nothing but create problems and heartache.

If you pose a model with the animation tools and then export it with UniMesh in the altered pose, the GMDC will be out-of-whack because the mesh will be moved but the original joint positions will stay the same. This may be good for laughs, but it is not any use for mesh-making.

But, you can export as a Wavefront .OBJ file and the mesh MilkShape exports will have the shape you posed. So, you could use this as the base for a Sim statue, for example.

The animation is somewhat blocky because the current release of MilkShape only animates using the first bone assignment. The next MilkShape release is supposed to use the additional assignments and weights, and should provide smoother bends.

<* Wes *>

[callum91]

Wes, the new plug looks great! hopefully there might be a tonne of new objects coming soon with new animations,huh?
anyway,the thing that i said seems like a fix.Nouk originally said it could be:PetsEp,the newer plugins or ruined skeleton.
So I did what I mentioned above and it works!
:D

[Warlokk]

Hi Wes--

I may have found a problem with the Unimesh Importer I thought you should be aware of, which I haven't seen before. When I create a mesh and export it as a .simpe file, the re-import that file, there seems to be some corruption of the mesh in places. If I save the same file as an .ms3d file and reload it, it works fine, and the .simpe files also look fine in SimPE and in-game... it only screws up when I re-import the .simpe file into Milkshape,which is why I think it may be the importer. Strangely, it only seems to be affecting the Fat morph too.

I've attached some screenshots to illustrate what I'm seeing, this is my new PowerGirl mesh, which I've already released over at InSIM. Since I can just save and reload .ms3d files I can work around the problem, but I wanted to let you know.

*edit* I added a file containing the .ms3d, .simpe and a MESH package file, if anyone wants to take a look.

[WesHowe]

I will look at it, and reply soon. Curious looking problem.
Thank you for the report.
<* Wes *>

[WesHowe]

Strangely, it only seems to be affecting the Fat morph too.

I've attached some screenshots to illustrate what I'm seeing, this is my new PowerGirl mesh, which I've already released over at InSIM. Since I can just save and reload .ms3d files I can work around the problem, but I wanted to let you know.


OK. I have this one nailed, although like most jello it will fall off the tree soon. You remember when we used to make meshes with ~00MORPHMOD.1 and ~00MORPHMOD.2?

To try to capture more compatibility with object meshes and Nightlife meshes I had to expand the range of allowable last digits (the target index value) to include zero as a valid value.

Some MorphMaps use zeroes for a no change flag. So now, which zero is a morph and which is a non-morph? Well, the answer is supposed to be in the Morph Vertex Deltas, where offsets of 0.0,0.0,0.0 would indicate no change and other values would indicate a change (morph delta).

I think what has happened is we were mixing old morph deltas with new flag values.

What I did with your file was to change ~00MORPHMOD.0 to ~00MORPHMOD.1 and the old ~00MORPHMOD.1 to ~00MORPHMOD.2. I did this in the .ms3d file, saved, exported to a testfile, did a file/new, reimported my test and it's perfect (and yes, the problem happened here, too).

If you don't mind, I will keep that file here a while and see if I can determine a way to make that change more transparent, either at import or export. Until then, I think the morph name changes will stabilize you work.

<* Wes *>

[WesHowe]

I wanted y'all to know that I will be offline for some undetermined number of days starting tonight.

I am moving and I will have to get my satelite internet dish relocated. It took me quite a while to get it instaled last year, so if they are equally as inept at arriving for appointments as then, it could be a couple weeks even.

The good thing is I will still be able to play with all the ideas I have while I am offline. I know that Dr. Pixel and Tiggerypum can help answer most of the questions that come up anyway.

<* Wes *>

[BlackIsPink]

I just wan't to say this is a great plug in. Well done and thanks for uploading it.

[DOEreoh]

hi!!!

i have a problem using this plugin!!!


when i check bone asignments a few times in a row eventually milkshape will close on its own without giving me a chance to save or anything!!!!

also....when checking bone asignments, if i click to view one vertice or the next the prog will close immediately!!!!

am i the only one with this problem???

what can i do....if anything???


thanks

[tiggerypum]

Go to the milkshape site and look for the open gl or whatever it is they have there for you if your milkshape tends to crash. Install that also.

[cwurts00]

OK. I have this one nailed, although like most jello it will fall off the tree soon. You remember when we used to make meshes with ~00MORPHMOD.1 and ~00MORPHMOD.2?

To try to capture more compatibility with object meshes and Nightlife meshes I had to expand the range of allowable last digits (the target index value) to include zero as a valid value.

Some MorphMaps use zeroes for a no change flag. So now, which zero is a morph and which is a non-morph? Well, the answer is supposed to be in the Morph Vertex Deltas, where offsets of 0.0,0.0,0.0 would indicate no change and other values would indicate a change (morph delta).

I think what has happened is we were mixing old morph deltas with new flag values.

What I did with your file was to change ~00MORPHMOD.0 to ~00MORPHMOD.1 and the old ~00MORPHMOD.1 to ~00MORPHMOD.2. I did this in the .ms3d file, saved, exported to a testfile, did a file/new, reimported my test and it's perfect (and yes, the problem happened here, too).

If you don't mind, I will keep that file here a while and see if I can determine a way to make that change more transparent, either at import or export. Until then, I think the morph name changes will stabilize you work.

<* Wes *>

I find this information interesting. I notice in Simpe that the flags for body flags values for fat and pregnant correspond to the MORPHMOD values in Milkshape. Do you know if there's a way to add a MORPH.4 in Milkshape to represent the fit state at body flag 4? I tried this and it didn't work.

[EnvySim]

many thanks...

[JunLover2150]

I can download both files...HOWEVER...when I try to open them I'm getting an error, like DogLover is also. Did the files expire?

[JunLover2150]

"The archive is either in unknown format or damaged"

I use winrar. So I tried opening in compressed zip, and still get a very similar message.

I hope you can help me out, but I do understand that you may be busy as well. I hope to hear from you soon.

- Rachel

[JunLover2150]

AH! I was able to repair the zip file. There were problems with it though, so you might want to check that out??

[tiggerypum]

JunLover, you should have simply downloaded again. When the site load is high sometimes downloads still get damaged during the _download_ process. I downloaded and installed these very files without any errors whatsoever.

Also, use the EDIT button, do not post 3 times in a row about the same topic.

[kavar]

hi!!!

i have a problem using this plugin!!!


when i check bone asignments a few times in a row eventually milkshape will close on its own without giving me a chance to save or anything!!!!

also....when checking bone asignments, if i click to view one vertice or the next the prog will close immediately!!!!

am i the only one with this problem???

what can i do....if anything???


thanks


I am having the same problem with milkshape currently after trying to install it on two new systems I've not had it on before, I have downloaded and installed 1.7 10 mulitple times , after each install updated all the plugins I use, wes's and demon's, put the mesa 641 dlls in milkshapes directory and check to make sure the systems have the latest version of direct x, and the video cards have updated drivers on top of that, and still they are both crashing at random when accessing the file manager to export or import or to apply textures. Anyone have any other ideas? This is becoming very frustrating. it seems like an open gl issue but the mesa files aren't correcting it for some reason and I'm not sure what else to do.

[tiggerypum]

I just did a marathon session with 7 meshes, I used extended edit more often than the bone tool (are your results any different with that tool?) and I didn't have crashing at all. Just installed the new milkshape and new plugins. I am not sure if I'm using the mesa dlls. I am using win XP.

[kavar]

I just did a marathon session with 7 meshes, I used extended edit more often than the bone tool (are your results any different with that tool?) and I didn't have crashing at all. Just installed the new milkshape and new plugins. I am not sure if I'm using the mesa dlls. I am using win XP.

for me it is less about what tools I am using and more a random action on the file manager, sometimes loading a texture, often when trying to save, export or import, sometimes while using the bone tool, align normals and extended edit. there is no one combination that does it.. its just a random happening with the file manager, I have since tried 1.7 9 and 1.7 8 with different settings, with and without the mesa dlls, and the results are the same, like something about the systems I am trying to use them on is configured wrong but the direct x is updated so I'm not sure what else would be the issue, both the systems I'm running it on are also running windows xp.

I'm not sure what else could be wrong.

[Nouk]

When I import a certain hairmesh I made, I get this error:
http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=478844

I need to import that hair and edit it for different ages, all assignments intact, or it will take me ages to assign everything seperately. I always do this for age conversions.

Any way to fix this, or should I just forget about it?

Thanks,

xxx Nouk

[Nouk]

Sorry for double posting, but is the last message visible for everyone? I'm wondering because from the forum view, Kavar made the last post...

[callum91]

Nouk,Ive never had that error,but by what you say (edit it for other ages) , how do you do it?
I export my adult.gmdc as obj, then import my basemesh for teen,then rename the groups to like hairalpha55/33/etc....then when Im done with teen,i export for child as obj,and so on...a bit tedious,but thats the only way I know,lol!

[tiggerypum]

Obj would lose all the bone assignments, and I never do it that way. I'll look Nouk to see if I can track down any tidbits about that error.

I give up for now.. Maybe someone else can find it or remember more about it. Wes hasn't been on site since he let us know he's moving, hopefully he'll be back soon, that was 2 weeks ago I think. :cry:

[callum91]

But losing assignments isnt all that bad, just open up your mesh (adult,or 1st one for example)in another Milkshape and look where your assignments & weights/%s are.....its not that bad...

[cevic]

When I import a certain hairmesh I made, I get this error:
http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=478844

I need to import that hair and edit it for different ages, all assignments intact, or it will take me ages to assign everything seperately. I always do this for age conversions.

Any way to fix this, or should I just forget about it?

Thanks,

xxx Nouk


The importer will notify you when your mesh that you import have to many subsets (may be 7 and above, you might try by your self for the exact value), to solve the problem is by deleting some subsets in SimPE (never save, just commit and extract) and import in Milkshape step by step.

Wes,
I know you're limiting the feature for some reasons, but it is quite annoying when it is in working process... In my suggestion U prompt to import or just cancel.

[WesHowe]

I find this information interesting. I notice in Simpe that the flags for body flags values for fat and pregnant correspond to the MORPHMOD values in Milkshape. Do you know if there's a way to add a MORPH.4 in Milkshape to represent the fit state at body flag 4? I tried this and it didn't work.

The game does use the morph names (in the comment section) to locate the morph. The numbering is usually the same across meshes because the same people created them.

It would be possible to make a new and addtitional morph. The plugins will allow four per group (the game allows four per vertex, but I have no place to save per-vertex data). The issue as I know it would be in getting the game to change the state to your new one.

I spent some time working on this, and then got sidetracked, but the state change happens within an animation. But there may also be something else that needs done. At any rate, I have made meshes with new custom morphs, as opposed to mdoified existing ones, but have not yet made them work in game. I believe what you are trying to do is feasible, but I don't think anyone has succeeded in doing this yet.

<* Wes *>

[WesHowe]

The importer will notify you when your mesh that you import have to many subsets (may be 7 and above, you might try by your self for the exact value), to solve the problem is by deleting some subsets in SimPE (never save, just commit and extract) and import in Milkshape step by step.

Wes,
I know you're limiting the feature for some reasons, but it is quite annoying when it is in working process... In my suggestion U prompt to import or just cancel.

I'll try to answer all these comments at once.

The P1 is the basic data holding block in the mesh format. There is one for each vertex, normal, UV, bone assignment, sking weight, morphmod, etc. times the number of groups in the mesh (plus about a dozen extra).

The limit (currently 128) is mainly there because of memory usage purposes (pointer array size), and I was unaware that any game meshes actually used more than that many mesh parts. It is also possible the file is corrupt or there is a format difference I have never seen. I would like to see what is actually in this mesh, and I will make an update if needed that will handle it.

So either a name, instance or PM me for my email so I can look at the offending mesh, please.

<* Wes *>

[play girl]

hi i'm sorry to bother lol but i'm having problems with the unimesh bone tool i was doing the tut on bodymeshing p.3 and i selected some vertices and it crashed it just thought it was a coincidence and then it crashed again i wasn't having problems before though
i think it's the same probl Kavar's having i am running XP as well :(

[tiggerypum]

play_girl - did you try getting and installing the open gl stuff from milkshape's site, it has helped some folks stop crashing. (instructions for installation are in the infocenter)
Also if the unimesh bone tool crashes, but extended edit does NOT, use extended edit. It has a bone mode. Just make sure your assignments add up to 100%

[Nouk]

Thank you, Callum and cevic!

Cevic, I did as you told and just removed the hair part. It then worked.

Callum, what I do is finish up the adult mesh, assign all parts to bones, animate, etc.
Then test in game to see how animations are, see if all is well.

Then to convert to other ages without having to do all asssignments over and over again:

Use any age with a different skeleton, here it's teen.
*New project: Import a teen hairdo.
*Import the exported adult hair over it, choose to exclude the skeleton.
*Now delete teen parts.
*Import teen face obj. file for reference on how to fit the hair.
*Now resize the adult hair to fit the teen face/neck.
*Save export as teen, and it should work perfectly, done within a few minutes.

Huzzah you're done! Animated and all :)

[callum91]

Nouk,Im glad to hear-and see-that it worked :) I dont get it when some people question my method,keep that in mind for next time,and Ill keep that what you mentioned in mind for next time too :)

[Szynszyl]

Now Milkshape 1.8 is released :D So i have question about compatibility ;)
Do the plugins V4.08 work properly with it (won't there be any "hidden", unexcepted bugs) ?

[WesHowe]

Now Milkshape 1.8 is released :D So i have question about compatibility ;)
Do the plugins V4.08 work properly with it (won't there be any "hidden", unexcepted bugs) ?

I don't know that there aren't any hidden bugs in the plugins with older versions. If they weren't hidden, I could then fix them for y'all. :)

But I tested 4.08 (and 4.07) with a prerelease version of MilkShape (it was originally going to be 1.7.11 but then the feature list grew). I have used 4.08 with 1.8.0 and all the main things worked here.

There were several bugs in the original MilkShape 1.8.0 release that were fixed. If the message on the MilkShape downloads page said it was the fixed version, you're good to go. If it didn't, hightail it back there and get the newer copy.

I have found the 4.08 skeletal changes allow some very nice body mesh posing to be done using MilkShape's Anim mode.

<* Wes *>

[Nouk]

Nouk,Im glad to hear-and see-that it worked :) I dont get it when some people question my method,keep that in mind for next time,and Ill keep that what you mentioned in mind for next time too :)

I switched you and Cevic around in my answer, lol. However i did not question your method..?

[callum91]

Nouk,lol....no I ment that tig sort of did,and Ive had my method questioned my others,but cant remeber who,lol >.< 'Obj would lose all the bone assignments, and I never do it that way' thats sort of questioning it,but hey,it works for me and thats what im used to,lol! i didnt mean you :)

[tiggerypum]

Callum, it's not so much questioning as pointing out the drawbacks to that method. If a hair mesh has complex assignments, a person might not want to do them over for no reason. So yes, if someone is having a problem and you suggest obj format, I'm going to say 'hey, that isn't _necessary_ with these newer plugins', rather than having them think that obj is the only solution

[callum91]

Callum, it's not so much questioning as pointing out the drawbacks to that method. If a hair mesh has complex assignments, a person might not want to do them over for no reason. So yes, if someone is having a problem and you suggest obj format, I'm going to say 'hey, that isn't _necessary_ with these newer plugins', rather than having them think that obj is the only solution

YEah,sorry for accusing you,but its just how I see things...I see things differently,lol!
I think I might try ditch my method,and try it how Nouk said,it sounds better :)

[WesHowe]

I switched you and Cevic around in my answer, lol. However i did not question your method..?

I never did see an example of a hair mesh with too many P1s.
Is this a pressing open issue? Or is it one to look at for next release?

<* Wes *>

[Nouk]

I've never seen it before, I don't know if it really is a problem. I didn't completely understand what it means yet, even after an explanation that everyone else gets, lol. Does it mean I have too many groups with the same name?

[WesHowe]

So this is one you made?
If so, OK. I will rework this limit for the next release.

What it means is that each group has a set of vertices, normals, UV coordinates, bone assignments, skin weights and maybe morphs. So the data for each of these kind of things is stored in a part of the file we called "P1" (for part one). So each group has five or more 'slots' used, plus about a dozen always.

Right now, the importer only set aside 128 slots, mainly due to the way the code is written and because that was way more than any mesh I had seen. And it has been this way for a long time (starting with my plugins long before UniMesh).

So it is more complex than the number of groups (of any name), but it is kind of like the number of groups times 5 plus 12 being limited to 128 or less.

But there is no longer any reason that the limit can't be larger. So unless this is an emergency, I will add that to the list for next release. Until then, just combine a couple of groups together.

<* Wes *>

[Nouk]

Ok thank you :)
I wonder, did you get any bodymesh to work made with the current simpe and Seasons installed?

[WesHowe]

Myself, I have not created any new body meshes with seasons. The body meshes did work with the BodyShop that shipped with seasons.
Right now I have my game set back to the base game (to do some R&D).

<* Wes *>

[marvine]

Nouk, all my body meshes made with SimPE 0.58 and Seasons work fine. I also helped a friend with a complicated accessory and it's ok. :)

[Nouk]

Thanks guys!

I also got my mesh to work fine :) A new outerwear mesh. Would have been awful to wait even a week for stuff to start working again with new updates XD I'm too impatient.

This is the mesh:
http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=488418

[Warlokk]

Wow what a great idea for the Rave outfit, nice work!

[marvine]

Great job, it's lovely!! :D

[WesHowe]

A new outerwear mesh.


Nouk:

All I can say is you are very talented. That is quite a nice piece of work.

<* Wes *>

[tifferz]

some one pleez help me im addicted to the sims and now i wana make my own clothes and i wana make a sim that looks like chris brown or bow wow but i have no clue how to use sim body shop and i read like a million tatoriuls

[WesHowe]

some one pleez help me im addicted to the sims and now i wana make my own clothes and i wana make a sim that looks like chris brown or bow wow but i have no clue how to use sim body shop and i read like a million tatoriuls

I want to memorialize this message, in case the poster gets embarrassed and comes back to delete it. I particularly liked the dyslexic spelling of "tatoriuls". I also wonder where the other 999,000 or so BodyShop tutorials they read are posted at.

Certainly, someone addicted to The Sims 2 would be hard pressed to spend 10 minutes each reading a million tutorials. That would take about 19 continuous years to accomplish, and since The Sims 2 has only been out two years and change, I would guess you would have made Evelyn Wood jealous for your speed reading ability.

Or maybe you exaggerated a bit?

Gosh, why would anyone want to project such a poor image of themselves on their first post?

<* Wes *>

[Dr Pixel]

I'm not sure if this is really a bug in UniMesh, or in the way MilkShape is passing the data to you for exporting, Wes - but I finally have realized what is causing this problem.

I myself have only had this happen with object meshes, but it also would explain some of the odd problems people have occasionally had with hair and body meshes -

See the pics - the first is the mesh in MilkShape before export, the second is how it looks when put back in the SimPE file, and in the game. The pic is actually the same GMDC I just exported, imported again with UniMesh just to show you, but it would look the same in SimPE and in game, with all the dark blotches.

This does not happen if I export as a .ms3dascii file - nor as an .obj file for that matter.

Anyway, I have finally realized that the vertices that are affected by this darkening are ones that a exact duplicates - for example, I made the inside of the top of the truck by duplicating the outside top faces, then reversing the vertex order and re-aligning the normals.

So, the blackened vertices are two (or more) vertices that share:

exact same 3d co-ordinates
exact same uv_mapping co-ordinates
exact same bone assignments (if any)
are in the same mesh group

In other words, exactly identical duplicates of each other EXCEPT for the normals.

I think either MilkShape's export handler, or else UniMesh, is mistaking these for useless duplicate vertices and combining them into one, thereby ruining the normals.

I hope this sheds some light...

[WesHowe]

I have sent a request for a copy of this file.

The UniMesh exporter has a function that hunts down all welded vertices that have different UV coordinates and unwelds (duplicates) these. But that is about the opposite of what you suspect is wrong.

I want to see if the problem is vertices, normals, or if the ordering of the faces just gets changed such that the reversed faces are viewed above the non-reversed ones. I don't think the face order is changed from the order MilkShape gives it to me in, but I don't know that MilkShape internally doesn't look at the file differently when rendering the faces, or load the list in a different order from the way it passes them to the exporter.

I seem to recall when I made the insides of some things before I used the Scale function set to about 0.99 to make the inside part just a little bit smaller than the outer part.

When I look carefully at the roof, I see the faces gradually change from grey to black, rather than a sharp transition at what should be face boundaries, so I suspect ordering and rendering differences are involved here. But until I look at the file I am just guessing.

<* Wes *>

[marvine]

As a long-time user of single-group alphas (same method: duplicate, reverse vertex order, align normals), I think there's something weird in the way these two-sided parts are treated.
Usually everything goes well on export, but if you use the "sel poly count" tool after this you'll see that it finds only one set of vertices for both sides when it sees two before exporting, while the extended manual edit still finds two. "Partial welding" is of course excluded, but there's something off in the way the mesh is read.
Now, in a way that seems random to me, sometimes the vertices are really welded on export and then the normals get messed-up - Dr Pixel's pics are a perfect example of this.

[Warlokk]

Same here actually, I was using Marvine's single-group technique but found the results were a bit erratic... I had better success using separate groups for the inner layer, but it seems to need the inner layer above the outer in the group listing for the transparency to work properly. That's how it seems on clothing anyway, I imagine objects would be similar.

[WesHowe]

First, I replicated Dr. Pixel's prior screenshots here on both 1.7.10 and 1.8.0 versions on a copy of the .ms3d file he provided.

Since I didn't make the mesh, and have yet to make one like this to work on, I don't know for sure where the problem starts at. But I believe it is in MilkShape, either intentional or otherwise. And here is why I think this:

I dissected, to the best of my tools, Dr. Pixel's mesh. After looking at a lot of the mesh parts, I focussed on one area, which was his windshield group. I am attaching a couple screenshots, taken by loading the .ms3d file (before export and import).

One shot shows the entire group selected and then shown in the extended manual editor. This shows in the ms3d.log file as:

Passing group: "vehiclepickupnewblue_glassfront"...
42 triangles, 23 vertices.

The other screenshot is the windshield, with the front faces selected (ignore backfaces checked). You can count and verify there are 21 triangles on each side.

As you can see, either MilkShape is passing both UniMesh and ExtendedManualEdit this group with all the vertices welded (front to back) or MilkShape itself is welding them, and displaying them in a different sort order on the import versus the .ms3d file load.

Now, there is likely a way to determine if the .ms3d file Dr.Pixel sent me has seperate vertices or welded ones by examining the binary file itself. But either way, there is nothing I can do to change the outcome, because what UniMesh and ExtendedManualEdit get already have all of the vertices combined, one way or the other.

Now, with Dr.Pixel's permission, I can pass the file to Mete, who is on vacation for a few more days, I think. Or Dr.Pixel himself can pass the example (complete or partially stripped) to Mete. Besides the forums, Mete can be contacted by email.

I suspect there will be no quick fix (prior to 1.8.1) either way. The only short term suggestion I have is to use the Scale or Move functions after you Duplicate Selection to make sure that the vertices are at slightly different coordinates. As you can see in the screenshot, even before export/import the rendering is odd because the two sets of faces are co-planar.

<* Wes *>

[Dr Pixel]

Yes, it is certainly OK to pass the mesh along to Mete -

BTW, the odd look your are seeing in MilkShape will be gone if you uncheck "draw backfaces" in the 3d window.

The finished truck can be also be downloaded here: http://www.modthesims2.com/member/showthread.php?t=220530

What I did to eliminate the darkening for the final version was to export the version you have as a GMDC. I also exported it as an .obj file

I replaced the GMDC into the .package file in SimPE, them exported it again as a .ms3dascii file

This went back into MilkShape, and I replaced all the mesh groups with the ones from the .obj file and re-assigned the bones and exported as .ms3dascii again.

This worked fine since no multiple assignments are needed.

I do realize that the darkening could be avoided if I had moved the vertices a bit. I just used this as an example because it was such an extremely visible one.

Here is another one where this happened un-predictably.

The blackening of the exhaust pipes was expected, since I used the same method of duplicating and reversing the faces.

But the darkening on the lower panel was not expected at all. It seems to be only one vertex being affected - if I rotate the mesh to look from a front angle, that same area looks too bright. It is as if the normals are being rotated 180 degrees off?

These are the kind that are really the main problem - since they can't be predicted, there is no way to avoid them.

I did eliminate this also using the same double export/import method as above.

[WesHowe]

I don't have any good answers. The truck picture looks like one face is off. The fact that it is where a corner is formed makes me curious.

One of the old problems we had with body meshes was at the skirt hem, which is where a ninety degree turn is made. The Maxis meshes leave the seam at the hem unwelded, and thus there are two normals, one pointing more or less horizontally, for the vertex belonging to the dress face, and one pointing at the ground, for the face that was parts of the skirt inside.

When the hem gets welded, you end up with one normal midway between, which gives a shadowing reminiscent of the problem on the truck.

You can view the normals with the "MilkShape 3D Selection Editor" found in the Tools menu. While there is a better tool that is part of the DirectX SDK, I don't think I can redistribute that one, or that it is available for download. I took a look at the truck windshield mesh part (the same one I posted about yesterday) with this tool, and I am sharing an interesting screenshot.

What you are looking at is the top edge of the windshield, which has been rotated and zoomed to show the normals display (yellow lines). What you see is some normals pointing inward (reversed), some pointing outward (downward in the screenshot) and one pointing upward (totally wrong).

This definitely befuddles me. One, the mesh should not be welded while making the inner faces, and mixing the normals up, and particularly the one that lies on the same plane as the faces is not the way to make a good mesh.

While I will pass along the mystery (because I have no tools but a hex editor to look at .ms3d files), I don't know how fast anything will get done. If the welding and mixing is being done during preparation for export, then when MilkShape is fixed the problem should be corrected. If it is getting messed up during manufacture inside MilkShape, then I don't know if it can be fixed without being remade.

<* Wes *>

[WesHowe]

I am withdrawing the analysis I had posted in this message space. Because I used an old tool (Model Information 1.7) that uses the older MilkShape interface, I drew an inaccurate conclusion about the regroup behavior.
Regroup does not appear to weld vertices.
<* Wes *>

[XTS]

Thank you for the update!! Much appreciated :)
Xts

[tish85]

awesome!thanx 4 all hard work!

[WesHowe]

Is that a request?
Someone, call the police.

Anyone that is interested, there is a beta version of MilkShape 1.8.1 posted at the MilkShape site. It works here, and even retained my previously added shortcut definitions, and the joint size defaults, and all my other setting across the install. I used to have to reset all those every update.

The main item I saw of interest for Sims2 is that you can now use the "skin and cloth" method the game uses to texture your mesh. By this I mean you can load a Sims2 skin texture file and also load a clothing texture file and set the material to combine alphas, meaning that the transparent parts of the clothing texture show the underlying skin texture.

I posted a little more on this in the Modding Discussion forum, but though some might be interested in it and not see my post there (I have a screenshot posted there).

<* Wes *>

[Numbuh 826,664]

Ain't there any versions of Milkshape that can work on Windows Vista?

[HystearicalParoxysm]

This is just a plugin. Whether or not Milkshape works on Vista has nothing to do with this particular plugin. Besides, I wouldn't have Vista this early anyway - or, well, at all, personally, but considering its compatability issues and the HUGE amount of resources it takes, it's really not worth it.

[Morague]

Hi Wes,

I'm not quite sure if this is the right place to post this or not :/ I am having the problem with the Model groups getting mixed up. I have updated MilkShape to the latest beta & have installed your latest plug-in 4.08 as well as the latest QA version of SimPe, so it's not because I'm using old files.

Using OW to clone the Salmon results in a missing Morph - well, it isn't exactly missing, somehow it's duplicating the "half" morph & replacing the "none" with a second copy of the "half". But, I think the problem is actually with OW & not UniMesh. If I look at the original GMDC (foodeatsalmon_root_rot_gmdc) in SimPe it shows the correct 0,1 & 2 morph blending groups. Looking at the GMDC in the file that OW creates I only have groups 1 & 2. Importing this into MilkShap I get cookstate, Morphmod0 & Morphmod1 - but - these Mophmods are identical except for the comments. One of them should be the "none" state morph but they are both the "half" state morph.

I'm having other problems with OW, which is why I hesitated to post here. For some reason none of the base foods export anything but the CRES with the exception of the salmon. All of the new fish dishes export all of the parts but then there's this morph blend thing :/

I think perhaps I should just go to bed!

[WesHowe]

Having a morph numbered zero that is active seems to have started with EP1 or EP2. Most of the base game meshes had an empty slot in the morph name pairs section for morph zero, and then whatever numbers were needed for the morphs.

There is one morph I remember, maybe the buffet table, that has nine name slots, but actually only six morphs. Each set of three morphs was a non-name, a half and then a full for a different food item group.

Now, the latest plugins number the morphmods according to their original positions, such that on the buffet table, there would be a ~00MORPHMOD.1 & .2, a ~01MORPHMOD.4 and .5, and a ~02MORPHMOD.7 and .8.

If left this way, the exporter will recreate the empty slots. But, the game does not seem to care about them, and would be just as happy with them if they were numbered from 0 to 5, because the names is what it uses to locate them with.

Having said all that, I used SimPE to extract the original GMDC (0x1c0532fa - 0x03d44ec1 - 0xffaa9818) from the Objects03.package file and loaded it into MilkShape via UniMesh. I have a base mesh, with two morphs:

~00MORPHMOD.1 foodeatblend foodeatflatfoodnone
~00MORPHMOD.2 foodeatblend foodeatflatfoodhalf

The first one has all the vertices collapsed to a single point, the second has about half of the fish left.

I did not try exporting this and testing in the game. You could try using 'extract' and then 'replace' in your OW generated package and see if you can make a workaround to get you back in business.

And don't go about thinking it is too much bother to me for you to report and post about something that doesn't go right. While I can't directly do anything about SimPE and OW issues, if they affect your meshing, they are affecting other people's work, too. I am only too happy to try and get the issues figured out, even when they turn out to be related to some factor other than the plugins themselves.

Having said that, I wonder why OW would CHANGE anything in the GMDC except the name and TGI values? That is not needed for cloning.

<* Wes *>

[Morague]

Hi Wes,

Bless you! That's just what I needed to hear :) I do worry about posting in the wrong places.

Thank you for the suggestion, this will be a good work around until they can figure out what's happening with the OW. I was too tired & frustrated last night to think about doing that. LOL. I did extract the original from Objects3 - I just didn't think about replacing the one in the cloned package with it :)

Hopefully I'll be able to complete my package this weekend.

Thank you!

Morague

[bsett]

I was working on a mesh with Milkshape 1.7.10 and decieded to check out the new versions. While on the site I saw there was a 1.8 and a 1.8.1 beta. I DLed the beta because it said there were some additonal Sims2 features. To make a long story shorter after several attempts of getting the bones all scambled while exporting with Unimesh I reverted back to 1.7.10 where everything seems to be okay. Has anyone else expericenced this? Does 1.8 work okay?

[WesHowe]

I have been using 1.8.1 since it was released. The only real problem I have noted is related to long texture filenames, and mainly affected files I was playing with from a different game.

Mete always seems to be about one version behind on the UniMesh plugins he ships with each version. I can't remember for sure what version shipped with 1.8.1, but they aren't the latest.

The latest are posted in message #1 in this thread. Download them and put them into your 1.8.1 directory and retest, please. Although I am not entirely sure that is the issue, it is the place to start. Besides myself, I know TiggeryPum has made body meshes with 1.8.1. But, since your 1.7.10 setup works, leave the plugins you have there alone until we are sure that is the issue.

You should be able to see the version of any of the UniMesh plugins right in the MilkShape menus, like "Sims2 UniMesh Import V4.08". I am careful to make every pluing in the set have the latest version number, even if there were no other changes made to it. This is so people don't have to remember to update this now and that later.

<* Wes *>

[bsett]

Thanks I'll make sure to get the latest plugins and give it another try. Since 1.7.10 was working fine it seemed like the easiest route to go at the the time.

[tiggerypum]

bsett, with some of the changes, you might need to import your simpe file, not open the old ms3d file (if that is what you were doing).

[bsett]

tiggerypum you hit the nail on the head. The problem was that I tried to do a Unimesh export from 1.8.1 on a older 1.7.10 saved ms3d. Got evening thing up to date and all is working fine now. Thanks for the respnses.

[unicorngurl180]

The new plugins work fine for me, with one exception. I am using the newest Milkshape, besides the beta. Whenever I select a vertex and then try to use the unimesh bone tool to check it out, Milkshape just stops working. I get the pop up of doom saying this program is no longer working, windows is checking for a solution and then it closes itself. I am on Windows Vista, unfortunately. :wtf: But it allows milkshape to run fine, so I don't think that is why. Any suggestions?

[tiggerypum]

Try using extended edit (the one by demon) instead - but you might need the open gl stuff and I have no idea if that works on vista or not.

If the problem is opening popup windows, then there are several things you won't be easily accomplish, if at all. The bone tool brings up a window - can you bring up other input windows in milkshape?

[WesHowe]

The new plugins work fine for me, with one exception. I am using the newest Milkshape, besides the beta. Whenever I select a vertex and then try to use the unimesh bone tool to check it out, Milkshape just stops working. I get the pop up of doom saying this program is no longer working, windows is checking for a solution and then it closes itself. I am on Windows Vista, unfortunately. :wtf: But it allows milkshape to run fine, so I don't think that is why. Any suggestions?

The BoneTool seems to be my most troublesome plugin, from the standpoint of everything else works but this. It is the only plugin I made that opens an input window. But as best I can tell, the problems are just scattered in small, random lots, and I have never been able to reproduce them here.

There are two known causes for BoneTool related freeze or crash-type errors. One is, believe it or not, a video-card driver related issue (OpenGL). Read the message from this thread where I talk about getting the drivers that may help:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?p=1555752#post1555752

The other crash happens when you load a second model into the program, bones and all. MilkShape has a limit of 128 bones, and loading the skeleton twice exceeds this. But the crash doesn't happen right away, instead it seems to happem when MilkShape is packaging up all the data for passing to a plugin.

<* Wes *>

[bsett]

I'm just curious on one point regarding the option to allow a second skeleton to import. When would you wnat to do this? I know there must be cases but as I haven't had the need I just wondered what they were. Maybe animation or if you moved some joints by mistake?

[WesHowe]

The second set of joints would be of more use to making objects, because they do not have the standard names/locations like body/clothing meshes do.

At any rate, I made an update to V4.09 and posted it. The importer no longer even asks about a second skeleton on a body mesh, it just excludes it. There are also 4 other plugins added, the AutoJoint, the Automatic Smoothing group splitter, the Vertex Data Merge and the Normal Data Merge. The last four were more recent inventions, and were posted in three different testing threads.

<* Wes *>

[bsett]

Thanks for the update. I'm off the give it a work out. :)

[bLURR]

Thank you for the update wes h, couldn't do it without them.

[Legolasgurl]

Can you make a hunchback with this?

[HystearicalParoxysm]

Legolasgurl, you could potentially make a hump on a sim's back for a clothing mesh. However, you cannot really change the way they walk or lower the head to make them hunch over, so you'd be pretty limited. You could possibly use the zombie walk from University as that's kind of shuffling and odd but that and a bit of a hump is about the best you could do, I think.

[Morague]

Hi Wes &/or anyone else that may care to assist.

I am running into a problem with this mesh. Please see attached. I have enclosed both the .msd & the resulting GMDC (simpe) file from it.

As you can see, in the msd file all of the morphs are correct - there is the full food, half & none. Every time I export t from Milkshape & then reimport it I am getting the full food & 2 half morphs. I have the latest Beta Milkshape, I'm using Unimesh 4.09

I am totally baffled - I have completely redone this thing 3 different times, thinking that I had miscopied something somewhere along the way. I am positive I didn't make any errors. I copied the full food to make the half & the none morphs so I am certain the number of vertices match.

Anyone have any idea why it keeps adding a half morph back into the none morph?

Thanks!!

Morague

[WesHowe]

I can confirm that UniMesh behaves badly on your file. This is a quirk related to the use of ~xxMORPHMOD.0. Of course, that is supposed to be legal, and it is supposed to work, but I guess I still didn't get the coding of it right.

Besides "buckets" for the morph data (vertex offsets) there is a morph map for each base group. The default value for every block in there is a zero. When you use a zero for the last digit of a MORPHMOD name, that is the value used in the morph map. Maxis didn't start doing this until EP1 or EP2, before that, the first active morph was always numbered 1 or higher. So it is confusing the exporter somehow going through the morphmap to tell a zero for the first morph from a zero for the unused morph locations (delta values 0,0,0).

I think I fixed your .ms3d file (attached with a different name) by changing the MORPHMOD numbers to 1 and 2. But since I didn't have the rest of the package, I didn't test in game. But it imports back looking like what was exported, this did not happen with your uploaded file.

[Morague]

Hi Wes,

Thank you! I am going to try it right now - I should be ale to report back shortly.

Morague

Ok - I was able to import your msd file & then export that to the gmdc & replace the one in the package & that part works - it still shows full, half & none if I reimport it to Milkshape. But, in the game when they eat it, it doesn't clear the plate until after you click on "clean up" even though the plate is supposed to be empty. After eating the whole thing, the sim was only about 3/4 full & there was still the half eaten model on the plate, so it's not a matter of them just not being hungry enough. But, when I clicked on Clean Up, then it updated the plate to be empty.

What I noticed was that in the new gmdc "state" under the Model tab it shows:

0: ,
1: foodeatramenblend, foodeatrammennone
2: foodeatramenblend, foodeatrammenhalf

while the original file it was cloned from shows:

0: foodeatramenblend, foodeatrammennone
1: foodeatramenblend, foodeatrammenhalf

I can't figure out how to get rid of that extra line.

I was also wondering if there was something else I could edit? I've looked through the package but I don't see where the Model - Mesh Group (in this case - state) gets tied to the specific Anims - Object text listing (0x0001 is o-foodEatRamen-full, 0x0002 is o-foodEatRamen-half & 0x0003 is o-foodEatRamen-none) Obviously these are tied together but I don't see anyway to edit the connections. Do you think moving them up one line would make it work (0x0000 line is blank)? I don't really think it will as I think the BHAV just references those lines to call for the animation & somewhere in there something is matching o-foodEatRamen-half animation to the State 1: foodeatramenblend, foodeatrammenhalf

Well, I'm going to play some more tonight. Perhaps I just need to try a different food to clone. The strange thing is, the muffin I did which was cloned from the ramen, too, works perfectly.

I've tried cloning the muffin & the ramen to make the pizza but it's just not working :/

[WesHowe]

The link between the animations and the gmdc is the names, not the slot. The fact that two short lists would both have 0, 1 and 2 on them is merely because short lists will always have small numbers for indices.

The first (empty) line would have come from MORPHMOD.0. Since there isn't one numbered that way, the slot is empty. This is the way things were in the base game, and didn't change until the EPs (and even then not consistently).

Look at the buffettable mesh. It has slots 0, 3 and 6 (out of nine name slots) empty (there are three food animations in that). The afBodyNaked mesh has an empty slot zero, and fat and pregnant morphs in slots 1 and 2.

While I will work on trying to make the 0 work right, it is broken right now, and the game does not seem to care whether that slot is used or not. It finds the morphs by the names, not a number (the number does tie the name to the value to look for in the morphmap).

If the morph shows up at all, like it does for cleanup, then the issue is not in the mesh, but something in the bhav. Perhaps one of the values used is large enough that the sims fill up before whatever value decides how many bites can be taken is exhausted. From my game playing, I can see some foods disappear sooner than others, and leave the sims less filled, but I do not know which values govern that behavior, but there has to be something that does.

<* Wes *>

[Morague]

Hi Wes,

Ok - thank you for this information & for everything you do for all of us!

I have attached a package file for you in hopes that it will help. It has the GMDCs of the salmon extracted from the base game Objects03.package as well as the "same" GMDCs created by OW - something is happening in OW that is changing these. I can't understand it. i searched through every Objects03.package of every EP but the only GMDCs for salmon are in the base game. Why would it be changing them?

I simply used OW to clone the salmon & the enclosed GMDCs are what it gave me, but as you can see they are different than the GMDCs that are actually in the base package.

Very strange!

Morague

[WesHowe]

Outside of using it, and passing some advice 'way back, I do not have a lot of answers to give on Object Workshop issues, as I did not write it.

I looked at your files, and they seem to be the same files, but with different names (Morague) added to them.

So I missed understanding what the issue was. I do know sometimes the OW output is just the start of what needs done to finish the project.

Let me know what I am supposed to see in these five files?

<* Wes *>

[Morague]

Hi Wes,

Sorry - I didn't explain very well :/ Have a look at the Model tab of the GMDC in SimPe - for the original meshes it shows the 3 lines - the 0 line with nothing in it, then lines 1 & 2 with the morphs. In the GMDCs (the one's with Morague in them) that came out of OW that first line 0 is missing & liines 2 & 3 are renamed 1 & 2.

After much investingating this afternoon I have figured out what the problem is with the food not disappearing. Because it's pizza I thought the sims should eat it with their hands. When I do this the food does not all disappear. If I let them eat it with a fork it does. So - I have to keep digging to see if I can get t figured out. I was also able to get the GMDC imported back into the game thanks to your file. So everything is actua;;y working - i just need to see why it's not disappearing when they eat with their hands rather than the fork. I thought I had caught all of the commands for it but.... I must have missed something!

Thanks again,

Morague

I'm not sure if it's worth your time to try to sort this out! If all we need to do is renumber the morph lines from 0 & 1 to 1 & 2 - that seems like a very easy solution.

I appreciate all of your assistance with this

[WesHowe]

Because there is a simple workaround, I am going to defer the fix for a later release. I don't like to leave problems lay around, but I am working hard on another new Sims2 modding project thingamabobby, and this way, I don't have to 'shift gears' in my head away from that back to the importer/exporter. I am not sure which of these is actually wrong, although I suspect the exporter first, because it showed in your game problem.

I know you will figure out the hand/fork differences... it sounds like you are hot on the trail.

<* Wes *>

[Morague]

Hi Wes,

Thanks for that vote of confidence :)

I have figured out what is going on with the hand vs fork thing, but, i'm not going to be able to fix it in this project. Foods are very tedious to do - almost every single one of them is different! cloning them to make new foods is fine as long as you can stick with the same basic prep/cook/eat types but that's not what I wanted to do (of course!) In any event i have managed to make a very respectable slice of pizza that gets microwaved. The sims have to eat it with a fork - oh well. The anims look ok & the food disappears correctly. I spent most of the day trying to get the hand anims imported & workng for it, but enough is enough. already. It's fine the way it is.

I agree with you completely - there isn't any point in you spending time trying to sort the morph thingy out when the solution is so simple. You time is better spent on doing other great stuff!

Morague

P.S. - well, never say never! I figured it out & it's wroking perfectly :) Wes - thank you so much for all you do for this community!

[rosesims_free]

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone could help me figure out why I'm getting an error.

Sometimes when I try and open certain meshes in Milkshape with the Unimesh plugin (I have the latest versions of Milkshape and Unimesh), I get an error saying something like "Too many P1 sections for this implementation". I think it mainly happens with some older meshes, but it's getting really frustrating for me.

If anyone could help me figure out this error and what I can do to fix it, I'd really appreciate it, thanks!

[WesHowe]

That message is part of some number of error checking I do to make sure the plugin is not being fed some random garbage in the file. I never thought that anyone would ever pass that limit, but it has happened before to another user.

While it is not a user-error, per se, it happens because everytime you have a group (even if it has the same name, like multiple hair-alpha3 groups) it creates a number of the "P1" parts (each has a part of the mesh, like the vertices in one, the normals in another, etc.). Hair mesh makers seem to be the ones that do this a lot.

Until I make a new version, you can fix this by combining some of the same named/same textured groups into one and reexporting it. I will have a fix in the next release, if I remember to make the change.

<* Wes *>

[revolution30]

good job wes

[SavantInamorata]

Hey I just downloaded the new Milkshape version, and I added your plugins (which I love btw), now I can't find "Align Normals" anymore. Did I miss something? I don't think I can work without that feature anymore. Please let me know, thanks.

[tiggerypum]

Go get demon's tools and reinstall them, oh yeah and be sure to turn off autosmooth, all your settings get reset with a new version.

[SavantInamorata]

Thank Tiggerypum, where might I find demon's tools? It's been a while since I've had to do any updating or changing to my Milkshape.

[WesHowe]

It is a couple of threads down on teh list from the UniMesh thread. Here:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=139859

Is that your picture in your avatar? If so, you are lovely in your bridal gown.

<* Wes *>

[rosesims_free]

Do you mean I export the mesh's GMDC from SimPE, Import using unimesh in Milkshape, click "ok" on the error I get, and I'm still able to combine parts of the mesh/groups? And from there, I export to SimPE, then just reexport from SimPE to Milkshape?

If I'm playing around with a hair mesh and get the "too many p1 sections" error, i just close Milkshape and leave the mesh alone.

I currently have no idea how to combine same name/textured groups, but the idea of it sounds kind of intimidating.

That message is part of some number of error checking I do to make sure the plugin is not being fed some random garbage in the file. I never thought that anyone would ever pass that limit, but it has happened before to another user.

While it is not a user-error, per se, it happens because everytime you have a group (even if it has the same name, like multiple hair-alpha3 groups) it creates a number of the "P1" parts (each has a part of the mesh, like the vertices in one, the normals in another, etc.). Hair mesh makers seem to be the ones that do this a lot.

Until I make a new version, you can fix this by combining some of the same named/same textured groups into one and reexporting it. I will have a fix in the next release, if I remember to make the change.

<* Wes *>

[WesHowe]

Select both, regroup and then rename the combined group.
<* Wes *>

[rosesims_free]

It doesn't seem to work. Once I try and import the mesh, I get the "too many p1 sections" error, then I can't do anything. There's nothing available for me to select, so I'm unable to "regroup" anything - there's just nothing there. No list, no mesh, nothing.

[tiggerypum]

rosesims_free

I assume this isn't a maxis mesh? You might need to extract your existing mesh one group at a time using OBJ format from simpe - to get all your pieces (I assume you made this mesh?)

Then you could import a game hair mesh as your base, and then begin to import your pieces, rename groups, make sure they have appropriate comments, etc.

You'll also have to rework the bone assignments obviously, as they will be lost with the obj saves.

[WesHowe]

There's nothing available for me to select, so I'm unable to "regroup" anything - there's just nothing there. No list, no mesh, nothing.

I believe most of the users here store all their interim work and projects in MilkShape .ms3d files. No Maxis models I know of fail to open with the curretn importer, and I am comfortable saying it is from having too many groups, likely in your case multiple instances of hairalpha3.

I put together an "Interim Update" (located in message #1) for the exporter that raises the number of P1 blocks the software has to work with. You can help prevent the issue in the future by regrouping some of the same name groups, and also you might think of saving your works in the native MilkShape save format.

<* Wes *>

[rosesims_free]

Thank you SO much, wes!!!! I will use your update, and hopefully it all works :)!

Edit: It seems to be working perfectly fine. Thank you again!

[jane94]

Hey all I'm new..by the way. I downloaded this and milkshape and I may make a few things in the future. Great download!

[katala]

Just wanted to say how much I love your plugins wes I am really learning so much in the whole meshing process and with stupendous tutorials from Tig and HP as well as Dr.Pixel I keep improving in leaps and bounds THANKYOU....
Kat :D

[Inge Jones]

I have used the GMDC extract and replace successfully (using 5gd filetype) on a previous occasion, some time ago. Today I installed this latest set, and now I find when I Replace, the GMDC is renamed and that messes up the scenegraph chain. What am I doing wrong?

[tiggerypum]

uhm, I had been using replace, it changes the name, but in terms of body meshes that has never mattered, it didn't break anything. I haven't gotten to edit anything for the last few weeks though, and likely won't for a while :S Exactly what kind of item are you working on.

[Inge Jones]

I am trying to do the soapy water for a new shape bathtub. I saw someone advised to use this importer for it due to "morphs". Perhaps it doesn't matter about the name change in this case either? But it means when you try to "fix integrity" the replacement GMDC is not updated along with the other parts.

Later: Well since it's not something I am doing wrong that the resource was renamed I decided to simply try giving it back its old name manually after replacing, and that worked fine. I now have a fully functioning water layer :)

[tiggerypum]

Thank you for the followup Inge, and I'm glad it's a simple additional step to set everything right. :)

[WesHowe]

After a lot of fiddling a long time ago, I settled on a systematic way of naming the GMDC (as opposed to retaining the group names).

From extract in SimPE the name is usually something made from the TGI converted to hex characters, and MilkShape (in the older versions where the first plugins were developed) had no place for me to save the original GMDC name.

What I did was that, if you named your saved export file as IngeJones.5gd the GMDC inside is named IngeJones_tslocator_gmdc. This allowed me to maintain different versioning as I developed things. As you discovered, changing the GMDC name back in SimPE is simple, but selecting the right export file name (afBodyNaked.5gd for afBodyNaked_tslocator_gmdc) would even make that step unnecessary.

<* Wes *>

[Ralol6]

soooooo helpful!!!! Even though, I'm new here this seems so easy! Thx wes!!!!

[Ralol6]

:anime: Oh, yheah and thx for tellin' me the name of the prog. used!

[silent-hope]

Thnx Wes. Once I register I'll use them. :)

hope :bunny:

[billielith]

Thank you for this :)

[MadMike13]

Wes, dude, I've been trying to download the Unimesh plug-in, but every time I do, a box appears saying 'The compressed (zipped) folder is invaled or corrupt'
I've just downloaded Milkshape so I need this Plug-in. Help? Anyone?

MadMike :help:

[WesHowe]

I think the latest version of MilkShape includes the V4.09 plugins already.

I downloaded the entire package just now and it is fine. The problem is related to your download, or is an MTS2 problem, perhaps related to system load. If you continue to have problems, report them on the system problems forums.

<* Wes *>

[lym]

The UniMeshManual.zip is corrupted in the second post, does anyone know of another place I can download it?

[WesHowe]

I checked this, too. The file is fine (and has been that way for a long time for a lot of downloaders).

Perhaps there is a system problem for some downloads. At any rate, you need to report this in system problems, not here.

<* Wes *>

[tiggerypum]

MadMike, Lym - I am not sure why you're having an issue getting a complete download, but perhaps you want to check this as a possible solution: http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Download_Accelerator_FAQ

[WesHowe]

For any interested, MilkShape has been updated to 1.8.2. This should be available free for all registered users at the chUmbaLum site: http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/index.html

A list of new features and fixes can be found at the above link.

I did some quick testing and it appears to work with UniMesh. The V4.09 plugins were shipped with and will be installed if you select that options.

I would recommend that you install every new version in a new directory (following the installer defaults) and retain your shortcuts to the old program until you are sure everything works as planned (version 1.8.1 did have to have fixes made to it twice).

<* Wes *>

[A Smart Idiot]

Well, the good thing is you guys are creating great content!
Keep Working hard and their isn't a limit to what you can make.

[Jessicakirby]

hey I cant seem to download the Plugins at the front page.
Jessica
xx

[trash_]

hello this may be a very stupid question but where do i put the msS2MImp.dll file? the unimesh importer. I have never tried to make a mesh before neither i know anything about it, im just getting ready installing the programs necessery to follow the tutorial on mts2, so sorry if i may be asking something too evident but right know im starting from 0.
thanks :)

[Numenor]

All the plugins, including the "msS2MImp.dll" file, must be put in the very same folder where resides the main Milkshape executable, i.e. "ms3d.exe" (usually C:\Program Files\Milkshape3D)

[WesHowe]

From the UniMeshReadMe.txt file included in the download package:

INSTALLATION:
Unzip and install the sixteen DLL components into the same directory that MilkShape is installed into. Normally, this is "C:\Program Files\MilkShape 3D 1.7.7\" (or other newer version).

[WesHowe]

For anyone interested, Wintermuteai1 found an object gmdc that could not be imported. I have updated the importer to read any gmdc files that are constructed like this (no UV hunk, but boned). I suspect that there are very few, but I know there is at leat one made this way.

It is a seperate download item in post #1 of this thread.

<* Wes *>

[ooga booga]

THANKS! I'me going to start using these right away!

[redima269]

I have tried everything but I cannot download the UniMeshPlugin! I keep getting an error saying that the file is corrupt! I was able to download the importer .dll but not the main zip file that has all the other plugins, that are needed. Please someone help, Thank you

[tiggerypum]

redima269 - you are probably having issues with your download settings or a download accelerator (which the mts2 servers are not very friendly towards) See if this article helps: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=241607

[Nouk]

Hi Wes_H,

I've been having some issues after replacing the V4.09 A versions to the V4.09 A3 versions... the skeletons get damaged on either import or export. Is there anyway I can get the older version again and see if it's really V4.09A3 causing the problem, and not something else?

Greetz from Nouk :)

EDIT:

I have tested with the ones provided with milkshape, and the same issues are there. So it's not the Unimesh plugins.

EDIT 2:

I swopped out the Simpe version I was using with the version in the QA forum, and the problem disappeared.

[mixdcrysy]

Wes, Sorry to bother you, I had a little problem with importing GMDC's. I recently upgraded milkshape to 1.8.2 and I had to redownload your plugins. I downloaded the regular file and the msS2MImpV409A3.zip. With this version, I cannot import any of my 'custom' made gmdc, only maxis ones. Milkshape crashed and I get asked to send an error report. I tried importing the last 10 gmdc's I made just to see if it was the gmdc I was using initially was corupted, but I get the same result. I uninstalled, restarted my pc, and then reinstalled milkshape but I still get the same results. The only time I didnt get the same milskhape crash was when i imported a shoe mesh I have been working on, it doesnt have any groups besided body.
For anyone interested, Wintermuteai1 found an object gmdc that could not be imported. I have updated the importer to read any gmdc files that are constructed like this (no UV hunk, but boned). I suspect that there are very few, but I know there is at leat one made this way.
It is a seperate download item in post #1 of this thread.
Are we not supposed to use that plugin? I did overwrite one dll from the other file UniMeshPlugins.zip. I do see your post regarding the extra file, but I am just a little confused.

[honeycristal]

please tell me where can i get the UniMeshPlugins to download??? i can`t find this! :cry: plsss tell me ... or give it to me the kit,to msn or yahoo messenger ... and sorry for my english :rolleyes: ... but i don`t know so well ... and i`m trying to getting on :| .... i wait for an answer :)

[WesHowe]

Look in the first message message of this thread. That's where the download button is.

[WesHowe]

mixdcrysy:

I found a file that crashes on the V409A3 importer, as you described. Thanks for the report, sorry I didn't spot it sooner.

I have "rolled back" the release to the V4.09A version. That is the smaller zip file posted there. You need only download and extract that one into your MilkShape directory and you should be back in business. Sorry for teh problem, I will try to sort it out later.

<* Wes *>

[honeycristal]

thank you wes ... i tried much to download from this page .... but i swear it dosen`t work ... i don`t know way ... anyway thank you afresh :beer:

[honeycristal]

ok ... i tried to make the new mesh and .... he dosen`t work ... i don`t know why ... let me show you ... this is step 1 ... i given import and arisen this http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/37772/2456349160102778126S500x500Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2456349160102778126yPgEpb) and then i press ok button and he show me this http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/35773/2166272140102778126S500x500Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2166272140102778126dZTcWB) and then i press ok and the final appear this http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/35463/2863500850102778126S500x500Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2863500850102778126vFRMzF) so what can i do??? why is appearing this??? those blue lines ... and if i press no button,he show me the same thing! please help :| ... thank you
!!!


honey

[mixdcrysy]

mixdcrysy:

I found a file that crashes on the V409A3 importer, as you described. Thanks for the report, sorry I didn't spot it sooner.

I have "rolled back" the release to the V4.09A version. That is the smaller zip file posted there. You need only download and extract that one into your MilkShape directory and you should be back in business. Sorry for teh problem, I will try to sort it out later.

<* Wes *>

Thanks, I re-downloaded and replaced and all is well :) No problems now, well except with what I did in milskhape ;)

honeycristal: This is covered in Tiggerpums Tutorial here (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=142305)

His tutorial is excellent, it explaines everything. You are looking for part V (Part V – Editing Your Mesh (finally!) )to adjust milkshape settings. I hope this help :)

[SupaShweet]

hey wes sorry to bug you, when i press download it downloads really fast, instantly fast and then when i go to open it i get a winzip error : ! C:\Documents and Settings\Michael\Desktop\MTS2_wes_h_286496_UniMeshPlugins.zip: Unexpected end of archive how to fix? :(
(EDIT: I got it to work just had to close all ie windows and try it in firefox :) sorry for mixup should have been using firefox any way )

[OpenHouseJack]

Hello,
I cannot open the Unimesh Manual at all . How do I open it help thanks

[WesHowe]

It's a Microsoft Word document.

[OpenHouseJack]

It's a Microsoft Word document.

what is this for.I'm new with this

[WesHowe]

Hey, there's this really cool site I found. It has an odd name, Google (http://www.google.com/), but you can look up lots of things on it. I typed in "Microsoft Word Document" and it found:
Results 1 - 20 of about 6,220,000 for Microsoft Word Document
Even more amazing, the first item it listed was
Download details: Word Viewer 2003 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=95E24C87-8732-48D5-8689-AB826E7B8FDF)
Maybe reading that would help.

<* Wes *>

[OpenHouseJack]

Hey, there's this really cool site I found. It has an odd name, Google (http://www.google.com/), but you can look up lots of things on it. I typed in "Microsoft Word Document" and it found:

Even more amazing, the first item it listed was

Maybe reading that would help.

<* Wes *>


Thanks, My Microsoft office was created for win95.I install it but it did not work. Hopefully this word viewer will let me open and read you Manual.

appreciate it

[OpenHouseJack]

the word viewer works, thanks very much. Now I hope I can learn how to mesh. I tried last night. mesh up using Milkshape

[WesHowe]

While there are a lot of details about the way the plugins work in that file, unless you already knew a lot about making meshes before, you would be better off starting with TiggeryPum's excellent UniMesh tutorials, starting with number 1.

They take you step-by-step through making some meshing changes. After you successfully complete those projects, you should know enough to start your own new project without stumbling over each new term and trying to find the right button.

<* Wes *>

[mixdcrysy]

Hi wes, I am sorry to bother you agian. I am having a huge problem exporting my meshes. On export, it removes all the fat & preg morphs.... its really wierd. I am making my morphs the same as always... I select the body and do a duplicate selection. The only thing differnet now is that I am using a newer version of milkshape (1.8.2). Could it be the plugins? I have never had a problem before.

[WesHowe]

I replied to your post on the MilkShape site. I did a test with 1.8.2 here and it worked fine.

Please post the .MS3D (MilkShape's Save) file (attach it here) so I can look at it.

<* Wes *>

[mixdcrysy]

Hi, sorry for being such a pain :) I thought it could be the milkshape program...Thats why I kept untinstalling and reinstalling milkshape. Honestly, it was fine until I went to 1.8.2. Here is the 3msd.

[WesHowe]

Here is a set of comments imported from the afBodyNaked mesh (which I used to test earlier):

ModelName: body
Opacity: -1
HasTangentArray:
NumSkinWgts: 3
MorphRefNum: 0

Look at the last item, MorphRefNum: and note the last thing on the line is a number. That number should match the first digits in the ~00MORPHMOD.x group name. The MORPHMOD always uses double digits for programming purposes, but looking in your mesh I see a ~02MORPHMOD and a ~03MORPHMOD, so one group (whoever is the base for that morph, the one you said you duplicated) should have a MorphRefNum: 2 and a second needs a MORPHREFNUM: 3 in it.

That comment is needed by the exporter to tell it to look for the morph group(s) and prepare real morphs from them. Without that comment, the morph is not getting placed in the output file.

<* Wes *>

p.s. nice modelling work.

[mixdcrysy]

Oh, I feel so silly now...I have redone this mesh many times over and did not check comments. :faceslap: I am sure I will have a laugh at myself later, once take my foot out of my behind. :) Thank you very much, words cant describe how grateful I am. :D

[Chopperchic]

I just finished reading the entire thread. I just downloaded and installed current version of Milkshape Yesterday and it included your plug in V4.09. I am a little confused if I should install your plug in on page one of this thread or the current version of Milkshape is running the version I need to get started.

Wonderful work on this plugin and the manual thank you.

[WesHowe]

You need only install the interim importer update (V4.09A) on the first page. The ones that shipped with MilkShape are the same set (Mete downloads them from here, with permission, of course).

The interim importer update was small. If you went ahead and installed everything, that will harm nothing. You should be ready to get started. There are several tutorials Tiggerypum wrote, if you have questions the best place to ask them is in the tutorial thread. General questions about how to use the plugins, and other needs can be asked right here. I try to watch this forum carefully.

<* Wes *>

[Chopperchic]

Thanks for the info the quick response and keeping the tools updated. I thought it was a good question for someone that may be just starting out.

I plan on going through the tutorials Tiggerypum wrote many times learning about it. I saved the tutes in adobe just in case I may need them when this site updates.

[Maeyung]

Help?
I Am Trying To Download Unimesh . .
But When It Finish's The Download And Goes To Installation,
It Just Pops Up As A Read Me. . ??
Pleaseah Helpsss?

[Maeyung]

Am i supposed to extract the
UniMeshManual??

[Pandie-Bear]

I can't download Unimesh! I don't get how to do it whenever I try to redownload it I always get a huge amount of random letters & stuff please help!! :help:

[Pandie-Bear]

Help?
I Am Trying To Download Unimesh . .
But When It Finish's The Download And Goes To Installation,
It Just Pops Up As A Read Me. . ??
Pleaseah Helpsss?
That is the same exact thing that happens for me!

[WesHowe]

Did any of you read the readme file?
It contains the exact instructions you need to install the plugins.

<* Wes *>

[ParsimoniousKate]

So ah, Wez, clever man you - I'm having a wee problem with Milkshape and the Unimesh - it says ERR: Too many morph targets to process. In vain I've tried several different versions of Milkshape including the newest (unstable beta) to no avail. I've Googled diligently but not found anything specifically relevant.

*whispers* I should confess that I'm using this for objects, not for Sim meshes, however it has generally behaved in a useful and spiffy way up until now for that purpose so I wondered if you had any thoughts on a possible work around for this issue? I suspect it *is* Milkshape crapness rather than specific to the unimesh but either way I'm still stuck with the problem!

[WesHowe]

It's a limitation of MilkShape.

Since I have nowhere to store the morph pointers per-vertex, I used the pseudo-mesh method. But that limits the design to four morphs per group.

In a limited number of meshes (including faces) there are many morphs. While the game engine (or at least the file format) still limits it to four per-vertex, the overall number of morphs is greater than four because they carefully designed each morph to cover less than the full mesh area, and thus no single vertex has more than four morphs attached to it.

I know you should be able to extract the basic mesh itself using .obj format, or if animated MilkShape Ascii format by using SimPE's built in exporters. Even if I got the importer to extract all the morph subsets for you, you still can't export it with UniMesh because of the per-vertex issue.

I am aware the 3DS-Max would manage the morphs, but the only person I am aware of that ever built anything for 3DS was atavera, although he never finished it, and it disappeared when he packed all his bags and left town.

If you want any more help, let me know exactly which mesh it is you are working on. Or better yet, post the GMDC file in a message, because I don't have every one of the EPs, and only the base game is installed right now.

<* Wes *>

[ParsimoniousKate]

Thank you Wez for taking the time to address my question.

I was curious to see if I could use the morph mods to replace the bedding rather than simply recycling the maxis bedding on a new frame or by complex joint assignments of the different little areas of the bed (there are so many different joints in that thing I completely marvel at the ability of anyone who makes new beddings successfully!). Nevertheless it simply wasn't that crucial that I feel its worth any extra of my time and certainly not of yours to pursue it since there isn't a straightforward answer (didn't think there would be but it seldom hurts to ask right?).

[$RaMRoM$]

Hi wes! I was working on a mesh recently and after working for a long time and when i used the Bone tool, Milkshape froze... I had a saved-copy (thanks god!) But whenever i click the Unimesh Bone Tool milkshape freezes can you please help me?

Thanks ;)

[bigbette]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent.

[WesHowe]

Hi wes! I was working on a mesh recently and after working for a long time and when i used the Bone tool, Milkshape froze...


Sorry not to answer, I didn't notice this post until now.

The two known reasons for this happening are either you have imported a second mesh and included the skeleton, or the OpenGL graphics drivers.

A second skeleton will have two of every bone. You have to delete the second bone set.

You can try the Mesa DLLs on this page if it is the drivers: http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/ms3d/download.html

<* Wes *>

[WesHowe]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful talent.

I will feign modesty on the "wonderful talent" part, but for the thanks, I give you a hearty "You're so Welcome". I am happy they are of use to so many people.

<* Wes *>

[Tori131426]

Hi wes_h, this is really cool and much appreciated! I am also looking for something that I can use for my TS1 game, does anyone know of any program that I can use with Windows Vista for TS1? I want to create some "The Sims Online" hairs, and I don't know of anywhere they would have those... o.o Anyone know?

Thanks a bunch :D

[yujix]

Well, that proble is solved already... But i have one problem whenever i try to import a GMDC using your plugin...

a message pops up that says,

Create Blend groups? ( i clicked on yes )

then...

Some Skin weights do not total 100%, do you want these corrected? (click on yes)

then BLUE SCRIBBLY LINES APPEAR EVERYWHERE AROUND THE MODEL. Please help...

[WesHowe]

The blue lines are circles that indocate where the joints are. But teh default scale in a new MilkShape installation is too large.

Change the default joint size in the preferences (found under the file menu) to 0.015.

<* Wes *>

[hewujing]

Thank you very much for this excellent work.

[Question Mark]

Whenever I attempt to use the plugin, a pop up comes up saying that this isn't a registered version of Milkshape and that I would need to buy a registration key or something to get it to work. What do I do?

[WesHowe]

The registration is required to use MilkShape, not the plugin. But the plugin is useless without a functional copy of MilkShape.

So, your choices are to go to the chumbalum software site and buy a license, or to try using the XSI mod tool (if it is still available) or Wings 3D or Blender. None of these work with this software, though. You will find tutorials for them on other parts of the website.

<* Wes *>

[Cocomama]

Thank you Wes_h for this very usefull plug-ins, don't want to mesh without them!! Sorry for asking Wes_h, but did you already checked the new Milkshape 1.8.3 version with your plug-ins. You did that when version 1.8.2 came out and I am a very happy user from Milkshape 1.8.2 with your unimesh 4.09 plug-ins and waiting for your confirmation that it is safe to switch to the new version 1.8.3
I am very curious about the new Sims PET mesh support it is mentioning and the 4 new skeletons. Could it be that we will be able to make our own new animals?? I would so much like to have real farmanimals.

Another question : I just recently started Objectmeshing and found it much easier to make the meshes and the UVmap with Milkshape and Unimesh. Right now I'm only doing stuff without any slots or animations, but can I still do animated meshes this way, or do I have to use exporting OBj and mapping in Classic following JWoods tutorial?? I've read that sometimes slots or things like that, (sorry still have to read and learn a lot more) are in the mesh itself??

[WesHowe]

I don't know why in the world Mete thought Pets importing was new... it has had that a long time, but there is no special Pets export support.

As best I can tell, UniMesh works fine with 1.8.3. I cannot say I tested everything, but I have had 1.8.3 instlled here since it came out.

One thing I do is leave the old MilkShape installed. That way, if I think something could be wrong, I can use the old version to see if that made a difference.

As far as UV Mapping, I use Ultimate Unwrap 3D Pro. But it is not free, and costs a lot more than MilkShape. I have it because it probably has the most extensive set of import/export plugins available, and I can move meshes between (almost) any two programs with it. With UU3D I can read and write MilkShape format files, and the UV mapping is more powerful.

However, I cannot say what I do is "better", and I am not recommending it above other solutions. I used to use UV Mapper Classic, but I got UU3D for another purpose, and once I had it, found it was great for Sims work, too.

<* Wes *>

[liegenschonheit]

I'm not sure where else to ask about this, but I'm also getting crashes with the bone tool. I am using Milkshape 1.8.2, and am having a strange problem. I'm working on converting a hair from one sex to another, and when I go to use the bone tool on the scalp, I have issues. If I select the entire scalp and assign it 100% to 7, it works perfectly. Then I go back and select the five vertexes on the back of the neck, click the bone tool and the program crashes to the desktop without an error.

I have updated the Mesa DLLs, and it's still happening. Any suggestions?

[WesHowe]

The two known causes for BoneTool crashes involve video card driver related issues and are fixed with the Mesa DLLs. You have to install these every time you update MilkShape if you need them.

The other problem happens when people have two skeletons. That adds up to 130 bones, and MilkShape was only designed to use 128. It crashes pretty hard, but not every time.

Other than those two, I don't know of any other reasons that the BoneTool would have issues that would not be present on other plugins. Note that none of this has been texted with anything older than Windows XP, although some people have reported success with Windows 2000.

<* Wes *>

[liegenschonheit]

Hmm. It only happens with those certain vertices in Milkshape, and the first thing I did was update the mesa dlls. I'm pretty sure there is only one skeleton in there, I don't get any strange export errors or anything.

I'm going to continue to try and figure it out. It could be something else to do with the meshes I'm trying to modify.

[Little Uchiha]

Thanks :) Even though I don't really undestand what the plugins do :p Kinda new to all this.

[Temari shippuden]

mmm...
i m having problem again... (as always...)
i'm not good at installing non instalable thingy... like these.. (hehe)
so could you help me?
the problem is:
-when i open the zip, it comes out with just (i think) un-instalable files. nothing i can install.. so what can i do??

[HystearicalParoxysm]

Temari shippuden - This is not custom content. Not something you can just plunk in your game and use. This is for making your own custom meshes using Milkshape 3D. If you can't handle opening the included readme file and reading the instructions on where to put the files, then you are not going to be able to use this for what it's for. Meshing is not exactly easy, and if you can't get as far as opening a file and reading instructions, then you will not be successful at meshing.

[Temari shippuden]

Hey, i need your help (please again...) because i'm like a freaking idiot to zips.. :)
so, i've installed the unimesh plugins, and it pops out to a lot of thingy that i dunt understand... like uh, it's not installable! but i think, you can solve these.

so, i cant install it! i cant make meshes, even if i got ideas on my brain. so could you help me to install this unimeshplugins?

thanks! :)

[Warlokk]

Temari-- These are tools for making custom content, they are not usable in the game in any way. They are tools for mesh-makers.