I do not use Milkshape, and cannot help you with anything you do in that program.

I will export the clean mesh as object, AND the geom that has my custom bone paint. However, we are only making the bone reference geom. We removed the backfaces. The reason is that it is more accurate to paint a single layer mesh.

Transfer the new bones from the reference mesh to your L1 mesh with backfaces using MTK. The reason this works and using something like the hotdog hat does not, is because of proximity of the vertices of the two meshes. Cmar notes that the more similar the meshes, the better the results.

I don't have a GEOM, what do i need to do?

You can export the one from your old package with S3PE, or use an EA one, to copy the data from. Because you're only using it for bone reference, it won't really matter what one you use

I transfered the geom data, so that worked.. but i exported it as .obj and it doesnt have any bones? The ss i attached is what happened when i tried to export it as a .geom

I'm not sure if EA's own meshes always follow the same rule, but the GEOM tools doesn't like individual vertices belonging to more than 4 bones.
You may remember what areas you doubled up on assignments, otherwise @LadySmoks may have advice about how to avoid that issue in general.

I already covered this on the other page.

I took a little break because it was too overwhelming for me. What does that mean that "the GEOM tools don't like individual vertices belonging to more than 4 bones." what are individual verticles that belong to more than 4 bones? did i do that? how do i fix it? oh and I tried to 'transfer GEOM data' from a random hat hair (the hot dog one) onto the mesh, but what is that doing exactly? what am i doing by tranfering geom data? is it like bone assignment? didn't we assign our own bones to my mesh?
So, when i did that i tried to export my mesh as a geom, and still.. nothing

It basically means that the same vertex (the points on each polygon of the mesh) shouldn't be assigned to more than 4 bones. When adding bone weights, you may have overlapped the same area too many times. You can remove the bone assignments from those parts, if you can identify them.

For the second question, GEOM are a special format of mesh that can hold info about shaders and materials and such. If the mesh you started with isn't a GEOM, you need to transfer that data from one that is. This makes sure it actually functions properly, rather than just superficially changing the extension to .geom.
As for the error, it's possible you just need to press 'Recalculate IDs' as well (I can't see the end of the error log to be sure, but that's usually what it's complaining about).

Old tutorials didn't use .geom, so it's normal that these new and conflicting steps are a little confusing to get used to!
I'll have a hat hair tutorial out soon, hopefully some of the screenshots and more detailed explanations will be useful if your project still isn't quite where you want it by then

for the explanation, I see, thank you!

I did press recalculate IDs like you said i should in another reply. Oh and the thing you linked, it's for sims 2 lol!

I recreated the thing that got me the error and here's the popup window, if that helps

Thank you for being so patient

Links with the dotted line are auto-links, MTS was just trying to be helpful. It is funny that it still links to a TS2 thread though, I might bring that to the attention of the site owner.

I've not seen that specific error before, but I have a couple of guesses.
You could try a different GEOM just in case it's a strange shader from the hot dog hat causing it, but this is also the first time I caught that you're using Blender 4.0 - the GEOM tools are for 2.8 - 3.x , so it's possible there are functions that don't work in 4.

If another GEOM gives the same error, I think the file type .fbx can retain bone assignments so that you can back-port the mesh to version 3 or earlier without losing your work.

I've switched to 2.80 ever since LadysSmoks said that's what they use. Okay so first, weird thing, i tried exporting the sims 3 mesh itself and it popped up this error message. Second, i exported my mesh (yes it's a new one, i gave up on the other one lol... it took all this time and i learnt how to convert hat hairs and other stuff) somewhat successfully, but then i imported it into milkshape and first it didn't import with the Alias FBX option, but it did with Alias FBX 2010.0. The bones didn't export.

Here's a video if that helps.
https://streamable.com/awfgle

The .fbx thing was just a way for you to preserve the work you had done in 4.0, because an older version of Blender wouldn't be able to open that .blend. It doesn't have much utility other than in that specific context, so it can be disregarded if you've started over with a new mesh. You also don't need to use Milkshape at all these days.

It's still giving you the more than 4 vertices error, which does need to be fixed yourself and isn't an issue with the tool as far as I know. Maybe start with only the two bones used in the first example comment by LadySmoks and see if you can get it working with just that? Then, if all goes smoothly, you can take it back into Blender later to add more as needed.

I tried doing that with my other mesh, and same thing happened in 4.0. Also, why aren't you using milkshape anymore? isn't that, like, the tool for converting .obj into .wso to import into tsr workshop? i feel like that's way less work, how else do you do it?
And ok, ill try

Nope, didn't work even with two bones. I normalized everything too, I followed exactly what LadySmoks said https://streamable.com/rrprv3

In my post #18, I mentioned that I forgot to say that after using smooth and normalize, you may need to use Weights> Limit Totals.

I have never used Milkshape. Many that used it, have gotten away from it. And I think you are confusing yourself. Last time. I will import a geom, because it has bones. I will do my custom bone weight paint. I will export geom because it holds the bones. I will export object because the mesh is often cleaner. I will convert object to geom L1 (or L0) in MTK, using the geom (1 ref or 0 ref) as reference. Transfer bones to L0 or L1 in MTK, using geom (ref) as reference. Then convert L0 or L1 to .wso.

Using Blender to transfer bone weights WON'T WORK on your mesh with folds in it, jjust as directly using MTK to transfer weights won't work.

If you are using pigtails as your donor, it does not have morphs, and you will bbe back to cheeks clipping.

So that's why it always popped up that my verticles have more than 4 bones? If you import a .geom with bones and do the "transfer GEOM data" onto my mesh, that means it now has the bones of the .geom you imported and transfered the bones from? I don't undestand, why are we doing the weight paint thing if we know it's gonna have the bones of the imported .geom and the bones we assigned? So confused. Aren't we doing our own bone weights?

My question is, why are you using Blender bone weight transfer? I had said to remove all bones except headnew and spine2 as a starting point. Paint those bones. It looked as you did that in one of your videos. Probably the only thing you need to do with that mesh is limit totals. If you paint bones and normalize, weights are usually good. If not, limit totals. If you use smooth, you almost always must limit totals. At no point have I said to use Blender bone weight transfer. It is a tool I very rarely use, if ever. It has it's uses, but NOT for what you are trying to make.

I used blender as a bone transfer because CardinalSims in post #25 told me to do that, I can't export as .geom because it says it's not a valid sims 3 GEOM if i don't do it in blender.

There seems to be a fair bit of confusion here, partly my fault, so I'll try to clear some things up:

The Transfer GEOM Data option from SmugTomato's GEOM plugin has NOTHING to do with bones. It does not copy them, it does not touch them at all. All it does is make a mesh that isn't a GEOM into one.
LadySmoks seems to use a method that can get you a version of your mesh that is already a GEOM- exported from the package, I guess? - but both end results are theoretically the same. Began as GEOM, became one from Transfer GEOM Data, all the same difference. If you are getting a more than 4 verts error it is something to do with the manual bones, which only LadySmoks can help with for the time being.

IMO it's far less complicated to do things purely with GEOM and S3PE, but I'm not experienced enough with bone assignments specifically to give you instructions on how to do it in this context. Those're the limitations when there are only two meshers around here 90% of the time. We can only cover so much ground between us, and each do things a little differently

I understand that you two want the best for me, but it feels like i'm being pulled into two different directions, lol, it's confusing. It's okay that there are only two of you, i'm patient and i understand how stressful it sometimes can be.

I think whatever tutorial(s) you may have been following are also adding to the confusion, as with the references to Milkshape and such. GEOM Tools didn't exist for the majority of the documentation out there. It made quite a lot of steps redundant, so I'm sure it looks like we're skipping over steps when in reality it's actually that they aren't part of this workflow anymore.

Try to implement the Limit Totals thing and see how it goes. Otherwise, it may be a matter of settling for finding an imperfect mesh to copy bones from until one of us has actually put together a manual bone tutorial.
I'll look into it, especially for hair- GEOM Tools has some quirks with certain things and it would be a shame if we're going in circles because it actually has an issue with hats.

As @CardinalSims said, we have two very different approaches to many of the same things. You cannot jump from one to the other and back... At least, not in your current familiarity with various tools and procedures. What I outlined is more or less, step by step, the way I do things. What I can say, is that I know that what I showed you, works.

This is 4 painted bones... headnew, spine2 and right and left cheek.




There are some minor things, but fairly easy to fix.

Thank you for the understanding
I saw tutorials from around 9 months ago using milkshape. How do i rename the group_base and delete the materials without milkshape though? isnt milkshape a useful tool? and converting from wso to geom and obj to wso, checking if bones are assigned, i find it useful.

I still struggle with exporting it though... so how do i do it your way? CardinalSims could show me too so i could see what style suits me best. (and people who will eventually see this post in the future)
I tried limiting totals and if i try exporting it as .geom, a popup says it's not a valid sims 3 geom. I exported as .fbx but then it has no bones

here is the blender file in 2.80: ( i know it has a lot more bones, but i tried with only two bones as well and it was the same result) https://www.mediafire.com/file/fr9z...raid.blend/file
and the mesh itself with no bones since the bones dont export with .obj (a new one, i gave up on the other one): https://www.mediafire.com/file/7cy9..._braid.obj/file

First thing is to get Milkshape out of your head! You do not need it.
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=659402

Why do you need to rename groups? That is only an issue when creating or adjusting morphs in Blender. You are not up to either of those things yet.

All conversions can be done in Meshing Tool Kit. https://modthesims.info/d/481950/me...12-20-2018.html And much more!

First, work on the nun mesh. It is shorter, and easier.

Import your mesh. Remove all backfaces and edges. Remove all bones in vertex groups, except headnew and spine2. Follow my tutorial... use gradient brush in side view to paint the model headnew all red. Normalize. Next, paint spine2 from bottom until there is blending at the neck area. Normalize, then Limit Totals. Set normals to faces. Do export procedure as outlined by Smug Tomato, and export as GEOM.

At this point, do not worry about backfaces yet! You have already spent a bit of time on this, and a little more won't kill you!!! You just need to have a working mesh, and can go back to do details later. If the test works, you will add cheek bones, then finish the mesh.

Use MTK to convert the geom to .wso. I mentioned before, that you need to make a morph reference mannequin by exporting the L0 head .wsos found in face overlays in TSRW, and bra/ nude top. Put all of the .wsos together using MTK.

Use the mannequin as morph reference in MTK. Import your .wso to TSRW. At this point, only spine2 bones will morph, as you have not yet added cheek bones to the mesh. BUT, you need to see some success.

Note: At no time have I used Milkshape. MTK can convert object to geom, geom to object transfer bones, and much more.

I know i'm supposed to be doing the nun mesh, but honestly i really don't wanna do it... I know it will probably be a bit harder with this one, but i'm convinced the nun mesh is cursed lol.
I would love to know how to remove backfaces, though.

I tried following the tutorial, i got stuck at "Now open Blender with GEOM Tools installed and either go File > Import > Sims 3 GEOM as usual or switch to Scene properties and use the GEOM Tools panel there." Because when i did import it, just a little dot imported

oh, and, the shading is harsh