HELP! Converting TS3 hair to TSM.

[redbowties]

I'm having a super difficult time with this :| I know from reading the tutorial (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=439834) that it isn't the easiest thing in the world ... but I'm about to tear my hair out!

I have a few questions, and since the tute thread seems to be a bit dead, I'm hoping we could rekindle the discussion in this new post.

My first question is: Is it just accepted fact that some TS3 hairs cannot be converted at all? Or is there a step I'm missing that isn't in the original tutorials? The comments are pretty unhelpful in their jumbled state ...

My second question is: How do I make the hairs fit TSM heads!

I admit - I'm a super beginner when it comes to meshing. But I *want* to learn, I just can't seem to find any beginner's tutorials ... and on top of that, they are really for TS3, and since all the models/tools are made for TS3 ... I can't really imagine that it would work out too well! I want the hairs to fit TSM heads, which are smaller, so how do I use the CTU? I understand it is an integral part of meshing, but if all the CTU files are for TS3 ...

Needless to say I am confused!


Here are a few photos of what I have so far. I've converted the hairs, but they are too big. Some are more glaringly obvious than others:

http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/00078bph
[Peggy Hair by Lotus (http://ageiha.livejournal.com/42495.html)] [Bigger Picture Here (http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/00072s6h)]

http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/0007b0zw
[Newsea's Elizabeth by Lotus (http://ageiha.livejournal.com/16185.html#comments)] [Bigger Picture Here (http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/0007578d)]

http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/0007cyss
[Retexure by Apollo on GoS (http://www.digitalperversion.net/gardenofshadows/index.php?topic=14014.0)] [Bigger Picture Here (http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/00076pyx)]

These are probably the best examples of TS3 :here: TSM because the forehead gaps aren't so obvious. It gets worse from here, though.

http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/0007aspd
[Skysims Hair by Lotus (http://ageiha.livejournal.com/45741.html)] [Bigger Picture Here (http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/00074q8f)]

This is a good example of what MOST conversions look like. There's a glaring gap in the forehead :| Worse though, the hair looks almost fine from the front (http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/000707pz)! But anytime the Sim turns her head ... :wtf: This one also suffers from the "accessory slot color changing the eyes" problem. I have the Flajko contacts (http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=473183) ChickieTeeta made, so I'm not super concerned ... but it's still an issue we have to contend with!

http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/0007dr1z
[Bigger Picture Here (http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/000773dd)]

http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/000796w0
[Bigger Picture Here (http://pics.livejournal.com/inkspottedtea/pic/00073afd)]

These two are the absolute WORST, imo, because they're from TS3 Store. Argh, EA! Not to mention they've got the worst problems when it comes to gaps. They make me despair the most, however, because looking at the India inspired hairs (http://store.thesims3.com/setsProductDetails.html?scategoryId=11488&index=0&productId=OFB-SIM3:49576) makes me cry with want. How great would those be in TSM? :(


Hopefully, if we can get the hairs looking a LITTLE better, we can start sharing more of them.

[ChickieTeeta]

My first question is: Is it just accepted fact that some TS3 hairs cannot be converted at all? Or is there a step I'm missing that isn't in the original tutorials? The comments are pretty unhelpful in their jumbled state ...

Some don't seem able to be, but I never bothered to try and figure out why. I know with clothes the full outfits with shoes attached should show, and the whole outfits made with the shoes left out don't show in TSM. I didn't mess around with it for too long, and don't know if that's actually the reason, but it seemed to be that way. I only tested it with about 20 files though. If that is the reason there may be a similar barrier with hair, although I can't think of any differences between hair that should prevent them showing up.


My second question is: How do I make the hairs fit TSM heads!


You need to scale it down in milkshape to fit the TSM heads. TS3 sims have large and freakish unnatural heads, it's a bit like wondering why an elephants hat won't fit you


I admit - I'm a super beginner when it comes to meshing. But I *want* to learn, I just can't seem to find any beginner's tutorials ... and on top of that, they are really for TS3, and since all the models/tools are made for TS3 ... I can't really imagine that it would work out too well! I want the hairs to fit TSM heads, which are smaller, so how do I use the CTU? I understand it is an integral part of meshing, but if all the CTU files are for TS3 ...

Go to Grims tutorial (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=457495), it was written with beginners in mind. It's very good and explains why something should be done or not done, instead of just telling you to do this and not do that, helps you get a better understanding of how it all works.
It's called 'custom clothing' tutorial which is maybe how you've overlooked it when looking for a tut, but the same method applies to hair. There is a shot somewhere in the thread of my very first meshing attempt, which was a hairstyle (I really wanted rat tails) it's not pretty, I was just so happy when it actually showed in the game. I have got a bit better since then, but I've still never produced anything I'd be happy uploading, although I do use one of my attempts in game, it admittedly needs a bit more work though.
I knew nothing about meshing, except having a very basic understanding of what some of the lingo meant. Grims tutorial was soooo helpful, so if you're interested in trying to mesh I urge you to take a look at it.
I always meant to try re-scaling some TS3 hair just to see if I could do it adequately.


Hopefully, if we can get the hairs looking a LITTLE better, we can start sharing more of them.


Not really, unless you've made the mesh yourself :(
EA doesn't allow transferring items between the games...although I'm not 100% sure if this just applies to objects but clothing and hair is fine to transfer. Does anyone know if it's ok to share EA's TS3 hair and clothing modified to fit TSM sims?
If it's creator custom content that's been rescaled, you would most definitely need the permission of the creator first if you wanted to upload it.

Speaking of transferring between games, has anyone ever tried putting a TSM character into TS3 to see what it ends up looking like? Mine went across minus feet and being completely jet black, but once I selected a skintone and put some shoes on they displayed fine. It was still freaky as only a TS3 sim can be, but I managed to get a TSM to TS3 sim looking half decent after applying a whole lot of cc shading etc to the face.
He's now the prettiest little sim in freakyville....at least in my game anyway.

[windsaver]

In terms of resizing just thought I would bring this up. The fact of the matter is that I believe the mesh has to be resized to something like 0.05 smaller as when I went 0.9 scale it was too small also with this particular hair from the Sims I noticed some texturing problems but that is probably due to the bump map I used. I' ll try again. However it does seem to fit okay.

Images:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2ljq2yw.jpg