I hope this is the right place to put this in... I was just wondering if there's anyway edit a hair mesh without using milkshape 3d because all of the tutorials I've seen require milkshape and im not willing to pay to register it.

If you are satisfied to make simple alterations to the mesh by moving the existing vertices around a bit, you can use any 3d editor that supports the .obj file format.

If you want to be able to add new parts to a hairmesh, or make other significant alterations, you will need either MilkShape or a 3d editor that supports the .smd file format.

i was wondering the same thing, i was using wings, and was told that it was incompatable for hair meshes, but could be used for other meshes using UV mapper, I was wwandering if their was another free 3d editing software i could use, i would start my own thread, but i feel that the person who started this one would be equaly as helped by an answer to my question, if you feel i am hijacking this thread, i apologise, and will remove it

i have a 3d editor that supports .obj files but all the tutorials for hair meshs ive seen have me export it as a .simpe file and use a plugin for milkshape to open that. How would i export it as a .obj file?

Eddie I've been using fragmotion to open .smd files and gmax with a special plugin to open .obj files they're both free. To download Fragmotion you can go to www.fragmotion.com and www.turbosquid.com/gmax for gmax but unfourtunantly I don't remember where I got the obj plugin for gmax... I think it might have been on this site try searching for it. If anybody else knows anything better or where to find a plugin to use .smd files on gmax or .obj files on fragmotion please tell me.

To export as .obj file, simply use the [Export] button in SimPE.

It is at the bottom of the Plugin View of a GMDC file -

To export as .smd, see the sticky thread about the newer version of the MeshTool. http://forums.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=45457

If you have a 3d program that imports/exports .smd files, that is a much better method for hair than using the .obj file format.

if you have some good amount of cash handy there is cinema 4d the new one that you can make hair with and all kinds of animations and models it has plugins for makeing other models too with ease.

Cinema4D is my modelling program of choice, too, but there are a few things about what you mention that everyone should know. Firstly, expect to pay out in four digits minimum to buy it - it IS expensive. It's a very high-end modelling and animation program used by professional movie studios and contains a lot more than is needed for meshing Sims 2 objects. It's also a lot easier and intuitive to use than Blender or Milkshape, or even 3DStudio - but I've never been able to locate any smpe or even obj file support for it. (It does do 3ds, Lightwave and Wavefront, among a lot of others, but none that seem to be importable with SimPE) If anyone knows of such a plug-in, please point me to it!

Second, the hair plug-in you mention for C4D R9 does produce extremely realistic hair (a la the Final Fantasy movies) but this comes at a price: MASSIVE polygon counts. It's realistic because each individual hair is modelled in polygons with wind and bounce kinematics for each one. Some of my advanced models run over 2 million polys just for the hair, and can take a couple of hours to render one frame! There's no way any game's going to run a model with this many polys even on a high-end machine, so mesh makers are best off sticking to the moulded-hair technique currently used in the game.

Cinema4D does contain some sample objects (the Zygote Human models for example) with very nice moulded hair suitable for use in Sims 2, but as I said, I know of no way to export the meshes in a form that can be imported with SimPE. But I'll keep looking, and if I find anything I'll let you all know.

Fragmotion no longer appears to be free as their website is asking for a $20 purchase. Gmax is still free as long as you don't want any "toy boxes" to give you models to work with.