TUTORIAL: MESHING - Creating an Armoire Step by Step

[Grapholina]

Hi!

I've noticed some new mesh armoires and dressers here that do not work properly... like the drawers or doors not opening when a Sim goes to change clothes.

Anyway, I've created an extremely detailed step by step tutorial for an armoire that will take you from the new mesh all the way to putting the armoire in the game.

The file is a Word document and is graphics intense (hence the size).

Everything you will need to complete the tutorial is located in the file. If you find any errors, or cannot understand something, please feel free to post here or PM me.

Enjoy.





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Tutorials:MESHING_-_Creating_an_Armoire_Step_by_Step

[yvettepranger]

Hi Grapholina,

For some time I am struggeling with animations etc. Thanks to your tutoriol I know now why! I just don't know how to solve it...

In sim PE (I have the newest version) I click on "geometric data container" in the "resource tree" and also in the "Type" window. Than I go to "plugin view" and I don't have the sheet " 3D Mesh" all the pictures in your tutorial are under the sheet "geometric data container" in my "plugin view" part. When I export the armoire wood and import this in Milkshape, it is not lying down but standing straight up!

Also when I use the meshtool on several objects, the clothings are in the preview of simPE correct, and my piece is lying on his back, 1 meter in front of the clothing. I really hope you can help me!

2nd problem, I tried many times to get the baby container working, it has a rack which the mother can open and close, but mine does not move...The problem is that there is no animation file in simPE.

I hope you can help me, Best regards, Yvette.

[Grapholina]

Yvette, I think the problem with the "baby container" not working, is because once you clone, unless you re-assign the bones and joints and things, you won't have animations.

That's why taking it into the Mesh Tool solves those problems.

As to the 3D Mesh tab... you should have it. Which version of SimPe are you using? And which file did you clone? If you will upload your package, I can take a look at it to try to help you.

[yvettepranger]

Thank you for answering so fast! I have version -48 B and tried also version -48 C (the unfinished version which will be Nightlife compatible), I would like to upload my file if we can't solve the problem but I don't know how...

[Grapholina]

Yvette, try using the full version 48 of SimPe. The armoire you create will work with NL.

[IgnorantBliss]

In sim PE (I have the newest version) I click on "geometric data container" in the "resource tree" and also in the "Type" window. Than I go to "plugin view" and I don't have the sheet " 3D Mesh" all the pictures in your tutorial are under the sheet "geometric data container" in my "plugin view" part. When I export the armoire wood and import this in Milkshape, it is not lying down but standing straight up!

Also when I use the meshtool on several objects, the clothings are in the preview of simPE correct, and my piece is lying on his back, 1 meter in front of the clothing. I really hope you can help me!



I had the same problem with the armoire lying on the floor after creating one according to another tutorial. I don't know why because I created the mesh in the same position as the original, but I solved it by rotating the whole mesh in Milkshape after UV-mapping it, setting the Rotate values to Origin and X 90, Y 0, Z 180, I think.

[yvettepranger]

Thank you all, I posted my question earlier in another thread, finally I got 3 responses there also... My export order in simPE was XZY and it should have been XYZ, this solved at least the problem of positioning.

I am still busy with the baby bed, because in simPE you have to export 2 times the file "frame" and the meshtool does not seem to except the files with the same name, renaming 1 also does not work... The message I get before the meshtoll closes is: Runtime error "9"
Subscript out of range

I have seen this before but don't remember how I solved it...

[Grapholina]

I'm having the same problem at present with something else I'm working on, but my usual "fix" isn't fixing a darned thing. I will post here if I find an answer. I hope you do, too.

[Madam Doofie]

This is exactly what I've been looking for - thank you sooooo much! =D


I'm confused. I'm using Wings3d ... but I can't find the poly-thingy toolbar -.-. HELP!

[saberino]

I followed the tutorial, but skipped all the milkshape stuff. I then put the file in the downloads folder after doing the last bit of the tutorial. When i open the sims its as if i didnt put it there, there is no file. Whats gone wrong?

[Grapholina]

When you skipped "all the MilkShape stuff", you probably also skipped something important. If you'd like, you can upload your file and I'll take a look.

[ParsimoniousKate]

Wonderful tutorial Grapholina - very simply explained, thank you!
I'm very behind with learning all of this stuff so this has been a big help. Its a pitty the meshtool window wont expand properly though, that is a real nuscience, I hope they fix it in future updates!

[ParsimoniousKate]

Oh, forgot to say, I reorientated the dresser model in Milkshape and used that to rescale the thing without the Wings3D part (or the equivalent in the programs I do have) and my dresser did come out the correct way around. I've noticed some new items I've been making have been a pain to get the correct orientation and of course I never bothered to investigate why - this of course has shed some light on that too so thank you again! I'll be tackling my own new dresser now, fingers crossed it turns out as well!

[Dyamondgyrl77]

This tutorial was so much fun. I need a teaching of what the X, Y, and Z does. I was also wondering if one could use the tutorial to make an object from scratch. I have a dresser, bed (single and double) and nightstand that I would like to make. If anyone can help me with this request I would be in your debt for the foreseeable future.

[mikeyspike]

hey erm im havving a prob with the s2mt (sims 2 meshtool) and what it is, is when i try to make a new mesh and i import it in to s2mt and then expor it out in to a .simpe file but what the hell do i oppen this with ? plz help me

[Grapholina]

mikeyspike: You open it in SimPe (export it as obj file). I don't use the Mesh Tool for anything other than what I've explained in this tutorial. For meshing, I use either 3DS Max or Amapi Pro.

[MissWendy]

Hi.. I downloaded the tutorial, but what doe I use to open it? Anything I seem to choose just shows up as jibberish. I have tried Microsoft word, MS office, wordpad, winzip, adobe 6.0, Help!! :)

[tiggerypum]

MissWendy, it's a 'rar' file (a compressed file format). Go to download.com and search for 'rar' and get a free program to expand it. Rar files are like zip but they compress better, so most people are switching from zip to rar.

[MissWendy]

Oh thank you tiggerypum! I can now read the tutorial. Many thanks!

[bowbow2604]

does anybody know how to lower the poly count in wings 3D like grapholina did in milkshape? if anybody does, it would be much appriciated. :mod:

[ChamuelsWings]

Hmm... I do your tutorial but I get stuck at the part where I'm supposed to build Dxt for the texture. I right click, but the option is not highlighted so I can't get there...Any ideas?

[sstteevveenn232]

Hmm... I do your tutorial but I get stuck at the part where I'm supposed to build Dxt for the texture. I right click, but the option is not highlighted so I can't get there...Any ideas?

hey I get that too! on figure 120 i dont get the option to build DXT!

help me someone

[ChamuelsWings]

Grapholina helped me out with this..you need to download and install DDT utilites (http://developer.nvidia.com/object/dds_utilities.html) and then in Simpe go to Extra->preferences and under NVIDIA DDS tool folder find where you installed it...then it should work.

CW

[sstteevveenn232]

Grapholina helped me out with this..you need to download and install DDT utilites (http://developer.nvidia.com/object/dds_utilities.html) and then in Simpe go to Extra->preferences and under NVIDIA DDS tool folder find where you installed it...then it should work.

CW

thank you!

i finally finished my wardrobe, thanks to you.

oh yeah, this tutorial is SOOOOO detailed. THANKS Grapholina!

[amel213]

Thank you so much for this great tutorial! I was very confusing with animation part and uv mapping and with your very detailled instructions, I finally understand everything :bandit:

I'm so happy!!

here's my version: (Colors aren't very harmonious but it was just for the test)

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/6360/12jb.jpg

if you want a french translation i'm your guy :salute: (just send me a pm)

[Grapholina]

This looks great, Amel! The colors don't matter and neither do the little fine tuning things you can still do. What's important is that you understood what the whole thing was about. Door Animations! Keep up the good work.

[tweety555246]

I downloaded the tutorial....but when I went to open it, it didn't let me open it...could youplease put it in a differnt format, so i can open it like microsoft word or publisher. Thanks message me when you do.

[IgnorantBliss]

The tutorial is in DOC format and should open in Microsoft Word. There's also Open Office, a bunch of free office programs that can also read DOCs.

[taoyingying]

Very nice tutorial! I followed it and made my first animated dresser! Thank you so much :anime:

Though I do have a point not quite clear and hope someone could answer it.
In step 11 - in mesh tool, after selecting Armoire in "Models" window, you said check GMDC view and use "+" and "-" to find the main armoire part to match our part, I wonder how you could tell that Sub Group #1 is the part that matches? There is no indication shows this is the sub group we want. The "view" won't help either as it's just a messy black/white picture which does not make sense to me. Same question for DoorLeft and DoorRight. How you could tell that sub group #3 is for DoorLeft and #2 for right, not the other way?

[trezero]

*lol*s

It's almost worth it to not do the rotating in milkshape, just so you can see the outside of the armoire lying on the floor, and the doors rotating sideways.

I say "almost"

So: Is there any really stupid reason why milkshape showed me the game's armoire mesh in the upright, facing me position, so that I didn't think it was necessary to rotate it, and why wings3d showed me the original armoire lying like you said it would, ALONG WITH my new mesh?

They both lied to me, and look at what the result was!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/battleboy000/armoire.jpg
Oh, yeah! Let's see YOUR doors do that!

Anyways..I KNOW both 3d programs displayed both the original and the modified as being oriented the same way. So:...what happened?

[darren]

There is one part i dont get about this and many other tutorials over the web why do you have to clone an object i wanted to make my own custom objects can sombody please help me i am starting to get really frustrated because all the custom object tutorials i find always include cloning an object please help

[IgnorantBliss]

Yes, all custom objects need to be based on an existing object in the game. I don't know if technically it would be possible to build up an object from scratch, but it wouldn't make much sense. You can often modify the cloned object greatly, likely make a completely new mesh with its own textures, and, on a more advanced level, add new interactions and so on. But you will have to start off with a clone, preferebly a clone of an object that's as close as possible to the object you want to make. Say, if you want to make a table, it makes sense to clone a table instead of a chair. If you want to make a loveseat, which are usually 2 tiles wide, then you should start off with a loveseat that's also 2 tiles.

So, the custom objects you can download at MTS2 or elsewhere are based on clones from Maxis objects.

[darren]

Thank you your help is apreciated but some of the objects I download are nothing like a object already in the game eg. the pet bat.

Ignorantbliss is that why when you change the color of an object it has the color and another part with squares is the other one the mesh.?

1 more thing how do i recolor my object

[IgnorantBliss]

darren, for your first question, yes, even a pet bat is most likely based on an existing object, just heavily modified from it.

I'm not quite sure I understand your second question. Can you explain in more detail what you mean?

Numenor has an object recoloring tutorial in this forum that also explains how to recolor custom objects.

[Willazzi]

I followed this tutorial until I was supposed to lower the poly count, in MilkShape. Can I do this in Wings 3D??

[suceress]

I hate to be a pest, but for some reason my computer does not like .doc format. I tried all sorts of programs but the text gets messed up and the images are completely missing. I couldn't follow some of the instructions that were based solely on looking at the images because they didn't show up for me. Wings 3D didn't even have the features mentioned and I don't believe I have the meshtool. I heard it was obsolete now. I just tried making an armoire and it exported it and imported it at the right position (standing up). But I can't get the doors to open because I don't understand how to set that option. :-(

[IgnorantBliss]

As far as I know, the Mesh Tool, is not obsolete, it can still be used to retain animations. Here (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=86295) are short tutorials for retaining animations on different types of objects with the Mesh Tool.

[tiggerypum]

Mesh Tool is not obsolete, it works as it always has. We can still use it for basic body editing (which has a lot more bones than a dresser does), so I assume it can do a dresser still.

DOC format is a Word format, and there are a few free programs - including Open Office - which should be able to read them. Did you try Open Office? It's what my son uses.

[Oiche]

I followed this tutorial until I was supposed to lower the poly count, in MilkShape. Can I do this in Wings 3D??

I've got the same question. A view other members asked this question before. Could someone please give an answer to this question?
I'm stucked in this tutorial, you see. :( I can't find an option to reduce the polycount.

Bye,

Oiche

[suceress]

Ok, thank you. :-)
I am curious about something. The tutorial says that the armoire will be laying down in the mesh program, but with the current version of SimPE it doesn't seem to do that. When I export/import the mesh it is oriented properly. Does this mean that the current version of SimPE corrects whatever caused it to be laying differently? Also, even if I do not clone as stand-alone I still get the clothing mesh. Could this be another change? Or am I going about it the wrong way?

[IgnorantBliss]

Ok, thank you. :-)
I am curious about something. The tutorial says that the armoire will be laying down in the mesh program, but with the current version of SimPE it doesn't seem to do that. When I export/import the mesh it is oriented properly. Does this mean that the current version of SimPE corrects whatever caused it to be laying differently? Also, even if I do not clone as stand-alone I still get the clothing mesh. Could this be another change? Or am I going about it the wrong way?

In SimPE, which is the "order" listed in the GMDC under the list of Models: Is it XZY or XYZ? The position in the mesh program will depend on that.

I think you always get the clothing mesh, but the clothing texture is not included unless you make a stand-alone clone.

[suceress]

In SimPE, which is the "order" listed in the GMDC under the list of Models: Is it XZY or XYZ? The position in the mesh program will depend on that.

I think you always get the clothing mesh, but the clothing texture is not included unless you make a stand-alone clone.
ah. ok. it is XZY I think. And I'm supposed to have XYZ? sometimes my eyes don't focus that well so I miss things.
Thanks.

[IgnorantBliss]

Yes, it should be XYZ, otherwise, after taking the mesh through the Mesh Tool, the armoire will eventually be laying down on the ground.

[Oiche]

I've got the same question. A view other members asked this question before. Could someone please give an answer to this question?
I'm stucked in this tutorial, you see. :( I can't find an option to reduce the polycount.

Bye,

Oiche

:alarm: Hello! :alarm:

I'm very curious why nobody answers this question. A view members asked this question before and I see no answer on it anywhere in this topic. Now I've asked the question and again nobody answers.
Doesn't anyone know a way to reduce the polycount in Wings 3D?!

[suceress]

:alarm: Hello! :alarm:

I'm very curious why nobody answers this question. A view members asked this question before and I see no answer on it anywhere in this topic. Now I've asked the question and again nobody answers.
Doesn't anyone know a way to reduce the polycount in Wings 3D?!

If nobody has answered then that means its likely that there either is not a way or the people reading do not know.
Maybe you could try a google search or ask.com search for something about "reducing polygon count in wings3d"?
I can't even figure out how to do anything at all in wings3d so I have no clue.

[Oiche]

If nobody has answered then that means its likely that there either is not a way or the people reading do not know.
Maybe you could try a google search or ask.com search for something about "reducing polygon count in wings3d"?
I can't even figure out how to do anything at all in wings3d so I have no clue.

Thank you very much for your help suceress! :) I will try to find something with ask.com. This is a wonderful tutorial and I really hope to find a way to reduce the polygon count.

Bye,
Oiche

[poundingheart]

Yes I have seen the light and have learnt to read and take note which way my alphabet is facing. something so simple as what order you have your xyz in, can make so much difference.

Can I be a bit cheeky and ask maybe if you could rite a tutorial on how you did the mesh for this wonderful tutorial.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f90/poundingheart63/snapshot_00000001_b210b70b.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f90/poundingheart63/snapshot_00000001_3210b740.jpg

[MissWendy]

I have a bit of a problem with the Mesh Tool....On page 52 of the tutorial it says: "We're through linking our armoire pices to the correct armoire animations, so click on the button "replace" (directly under the Commit and Add Model buttons) Here is my problem: There is no "replace" button. I have a "commit" button, but no "Replace" or "Add Model" buttons. I tried to make the meshtool windo bigger, but I can't. What do I do now?

[tiggerypum]

As of yet, no one has an answer to your question, please stop reposting it in a second place. What resolution is your screen set to, can you try setting the entire screen to a higher resolution and see if it shows up for you?

edit ---

I just went over to my pc and fired up meshtool. My monitor is set to 1024x768 and I can see the last two buttons.

If you cannot get meshtool to work for you, you might ask in the objects creation board with a new thread if there are OTHER ways to accomplish this task -- SimPE has gone through a lot of changes since this tutorial was written a year ago, and there's also the Unimesh plugins, which _might_ work, but I have not tried editing an armoire with it.

[just4friendssims]

hi,
am having a problem with the 3d mesh tap
see it does not show up
in my simpe package
am using the latest version of simpe .58 alpha
anyone know how 2 fix this

[IgnorantBliss]

I believe SimPE has been changed since this tutorial was written, and there is no more a tab called 3D Mesh. Now the tab is called cGeometryDataContainer in both normal and advanced mode. So, you have the tab there, it's just got a different name :).

[just4friendssims]

thanx...
i thought nobody would answer to this thread

[mandyonzante]

Thank you so much for this incredible tutorial, I did it and finished my armoir
How ever I do have a couple of questions.
Although I followed the tut all the way through I am not really sure which part of it had to do with the animations.
I also would like to know how the mesh was created for this tut?

[PeggyKeeper22]

This tutorial is great! I just have one question, what is the 'mesh tool' you refer tooand where can I get it?

[IgnorantBliss]

The Mesh Tool can be found here (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=45457).

[$RaMRoM$]

I have a quistion, at the end of the tutorial, when I get my "armoire_txtr_512x512"
and I choose "Build DXT" I just cant select it??
here are a couple of pics:
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t173/RaMRoM_photos/1.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t173/RaMRoM_photos/2.jpg
please help

[IgnorantBliss]

You need to have the DDS Utilities installed and your SimPE set to use them. See Numenor's object recoloring tutorial for details on how to do that.

[$RaMRoM$]

thanx IgnorantBliss

[$RaMRoM$]

im so happy, totally animated thnx :gjob:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/images12/MTS2_496137_$RaMRoM$_Screenshot.png

[lym]

Can anyone tell me where I can download a Armoire tutorial? The link in the first post is corrupted.

[Jimbo64]

I just checked it, and it was fine for me. I'd try it again :D

Jimbo-

[$RaMRoM$]

Can anyone tell me where I can download a Armoire tutorial? The link in the first post is corrupted.

Try downloading again, cause i just tried it and its as good as new! make sure that you check the "Remember Me" box before you log in. (so cookies will be saved "i guess")

[tete_853]

Thanks a lot for your tutorial; it´s really good, but I had problem.
I followed the tut step-by-step (except rotate the new mesh, next time I´ll do), but I couldn´t do that thing of "assign hash", I don´t have the option. And that´s what happened

[$RaMRoM$]

Thanks a lot for your tutorial; it´s really good, but I had problem.
I followed the tut step-by-step (except rotate the new mesh, next time I´ll do), but I couldn´t do that thing of "assign hash", I don´t have the option. And that´s what happened

First Of all, This tutorial was made in 2005, which means that SimPE, had its differences, and it was updated since that time, Second, What do you mean rotating the mesh, all the steps should be done by order, please try the tutorial again, when i did it, i failed twice, and the third time it worked :)

Don't Give Up!

[harrison1617]

I downloaded the tutorial 4 times and the folder is empty?????

[knowledgeSim]

:p silly me, I only wanted to know how to retain the animations and I spent quite some time browsing for the answer through the whole tutorial... just because I wasn't able to find this one first: http://www1.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=86295&c=1&ht=&page=1&pp=25#startcomments and it's a sticky! since jwoods tutorial is not here but in "Object Creation: Modding" I guess I was just looking in the wrong category... that, or maybe that I need to take a break :lol: anyway, do not make the same mistake I did!