Step 1 – Loading TSR Workshop

Go to your Start Menu > All Programs and load the TSR Workshop.

Step 2 – Creating a New Project

Navigate to the top left of the Workshop and click on the ‘Create new Project’.

In the new window that will pop out in front of you select Makeup/Facial overlay and click the button ‘Next’ in the right bottom corner.

As I said before I’m going to make an eyeshadow so I’ll choose afMakeupEyeshadowSmoky and click ‘Next’

In the next screen you will be asked to give your project a name and some additional details. Although it is very important to give your projects a unique identifier and fill in all the other boxes, we’re actually only going to use this project to get a file we will need – we won’t be exporting anything for the game from here. So for now, just click ‘Next’.

Finally your new project will load and you will be able to see the eyeshadow on the model in the left window and project details in the right one.

When you click on the ‘Texture’ tab you will see that under ‘Textures’ there are ‘Face Overlay’ and ‘Face Specular’. The important one for us is ‘Face Overlay’, which determine where the makeup is placed on the face.

Probably by now you also noticed that at the bottom, under colors, there is only one color that can be changed. That means you won’t be able to create a multicolor makeup starting from the eyeshadow you have opened.

However, this is still a very important step – as I mentioned earlier we’re just needed to find an image file – the face overlay is the image file we needed here, so now we’re going to export it.

Programs we will be using

TSR Workshop
Adobe CS2 or higher
DDS Plugins for Adobe

BlackGarden’s Tutorial will also be very useful if you don’t know about Adobe’s pen tool:
Extracting Sims and Objects from Screenshots

Step 1

You should have already meshed your plant and have your UV map handy. Make sure your map is the size of the dds files from workshop for this tutorial. The size of the dds we will be using is 256 X 256. Then import your meshes to WS. Delete all Variation Files by choosing them and in turn hitting the red X until you only have one file.

Step 2

These are our dds files we will be working with. We will not be exporting the mask for this tutorial, we won’t need it.
In turn export Overlay, Multiplier, and Specular naming them and placing them in a file you can find easily.
Open Adobe CS2 or higher. Drag, in turn, your Overlay, Multiplier, and Specular into Adobe

Step 3

Now you will make a blank 256 X 256 file to work with. Not necessary but an easier way to make your files. Make it black.

I’m going to take my UV map and place it on the blank file Like so:

Step 4

Now we will position our plant and other non recolorable images on the map.

Step 5

Now delete the UV map, flatten image and you should have this:

Step 6

Now we have our working “Model” for the rest of our dds files.

Now we’ll work on our Overlay First

Copy this “Model” to your overlay file. Ctrl A, ctrl C this file and then ctrl V to the overlay. Your overlay now has its base.

Ah, but your overlay needs a new alpha file. So back to your “Model”. Duplicate the main layer of the model file. Using your wand tool you will select all black parts on the duplicate layer and right click select inverse. Using your pencil at the highest setting and making sure your main color swatch is white click on your selected image. You should have something that looks like this:

Step 7

Now we want to ctrl A and ctrl C to copy this layer to our Overlay Alpha. So lets do that now, ctrl V to paste and you should have an alpha layer for your overlay that looks like this:

Step 8

Flatten layer and save as a DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha. Overlay is now done.

ONWARD! Now would be the time to grab a cup of coffee or a Soda…..So I’ll wait for a minute.

Ok minute over. Now we will work on the Multiplier.

The first thing we want to do is go back to our “Model”. Make sure you deleted the Alpha File we made for our overlay. You should now be back to this for your “Model”:

Step 9

Now we want to make a multiplier file. So again duplicate your “Model” layer. Now go to Image/Adjustments/Desaturate. Now your “Model” should have a layer that looks like this:

Step 10

As before you will copy this layer and paste it over the multiplier file. Now we get into the tricky parts……Yes what makes you think it can’t get any more complicated? Hmmmm?

Take your UV map and place it on top of both the Multiplier layer then reduce visibility to 35%. You should have something that looks like this:

Step 11

Now see how we still have the pot to do? Well we are going to hand draw around the pot with a grey layer. So make a 256 X 256 Grey layer to work with and save it. Now place that saved layer over this multiplier and reduce visibility to 45% so you can see the UV map underneath. Rastersize the layer in case you didn’t know you had to do that. Right Click on the layer, Rastersize. You should now have this:

Step 12

Now we will cut around the pot using our pen tool. If you don’t know how to do this I suggest you read BlackGarden’s Tutorial first found here:

Extracting Sims and Objects from Screenshots

Now we will delete the extra layer and the UV map, then flatten so that we are left with this:

Step 13

Now we Could get into all the technical stuffs about shading in your multiplier because the pot part does need some shading, but that is not the purpose of this tutorial. So we won’t :0).

So Onward, now we need an alpha layer for the multiplier. Yes on plants the Multiplier has an alpha layer. So now we will go back to our “Model”. Select the black parts with your wand tool and then select inverse so that your parts are selected. Going to your pencil tool again we want to make white the parts to the plant. Ending up with something that looks like this again:

Step 14

Now place our UV map over top of this file. Reduce visibility to 35% so you can see underneath the UV map. Now comes the most important part or making our leaf totally invisible around the leaf in game. You are going to trace your UV map around the entire leaf surface of the mesh part with your pen tool (Again referring to BlackGardens Tutorial). Like this:

Step 15

Notice how I drew a little bit larger than my mesh map. Now we will layer via cut just that section. Delete the UV map and place a white background layer underneath the cut out. Flatten and it should look like this:

Step 16

Now you will copy and paste this to the alpha layer of the Multiplier and your channel should look like this:

Step 17

Now save to DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha. Your Multiplier is now done.

Take a break, Walk around and clear your head, the hard parts are now done. We have one more thing left to do. The Specular.

We’re going to go back to our “Model” mesh and clear off all the editing we have done thus far. So Edit/Step backwards until you get back to where our “Model” looks like this:

Step 18

Now we want to copy this to our Specular file and then place our UV map on top with a 35% visibility so we can see below. Cut out Place a white layer under your UV map and cut out your planter part like this again using the pen tool:

Step 19

Now save to DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha. Your Multiplier is now done.


Take a break, Walk around and clear your head, the hard parts are now done. We have one more thing left to do. The Specular.

We’re going to go back to our “Model” mesh and clear off all the editing we have done thus far. So Edit/Step backwards until you get back to where our “Model” looks like this:

Step 20

Add a totally black alpha layer and then save as a DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha. Now we are ready for import back into Workshop.

So in turn import each file into Workshop, Overlay, Multiplier, and Specular. Your plant should look something like this:

You'll need a few things before we begin, so please make sure you have these before you get started.

You'll need:
* A Graphics Editor capable of supporting DDS
* The TSR Workshop
* Milkshape 3D (Recommended 1.8.4 or later)

Note:
You must be familiar with your graphic editor, the DDS file format and know some basic commands in Milkshape 3D. (You must have purchased Milkshape 3D as the trial version does not allow import / export, this is vital in this tutorial).

Step 1 - Download TSR Workshop

Right, start off by downloading the Workshop software, which can be found here http://www.thesimsresource.com/workshop/ (The latest version is usually available here), and once it has downloaded make sure you install the program.

Step 2 - Installing the Milkshape Plugins

Before launching Workshop for the first time, you need to install the Milkshape Plug-ins.
Go to this directory: C:\Program Files\The Sims Resource\TSR Workshop\Extras\Milkshape plugins\ and copy the following two files to C:\Program Files\Milkshape 3D 1.8.4\.

It is vital that you don't skip this step, otherwise you won't be able to edit some files later on.

Step 3 - Load TSR Workshop

Go to your Start Menu > All Programs and load the TSR Workshop (it may take a while to load if this is your first time loading it).
You’ll be greeted with a splash screen where you can see the loading progress of Workshop, and then the main Workshop Interface after that.

We’re going to now clone an object, and load it into the Workshop ready for editing.

Step 4 - Creating a New Project

Navigate to the top left of the Workshop UI and click on the ‘Create new Project’ button which looks like this:

For future reference, 'Open project' will open up any .wrk file (The file format in which TSR Workshop saves a project, so it can easily be edited later).

'Recent projects' will list your recently opened / saved .wrk files, so you can load them quickly if need be.

Step 5 - Loading the Object List

Select ‘objects’ from the next pop-up, next you should select 'object' again like I have in the image.

Click on ‘Next’ on the bottom right, and wait for the objects to load (Again depending on your computer this could take a while).

Step 6 - Selecting an Object to Clone

Once the object list has loaded, select the item you wish to create. I’ll go through this tutorial creating a table, but feel free to explore and clone whatever you wish to.

If you're unfamiliar to the concept of object meshing, then I would strongly advise that you start off by making a table, it'll be a lot easier to follow this tutorial.

The process of loading the object list can vary depending on the speed of your computer.

I’m going to clone the Table coffee mission2x1 here, but as you can see from the picture that’s pretty much the selection process.

And once you have selected the object you wish to clone, in the bottom right corner click on ‘Next’.

I will show you how easy it is to make your very own custom painting by your favorite artist using one of the very lovely frames that already exists in your game.

What You will Need:

• TSR Workshop (8.7 or latest release)

• Graphics editing program (I will be using Photoshop CS3 (a good working knowledge is a plus) or the program of your choice.

• DDS plug-ins for Photoshop, current version (installed)
(http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.htm). Gimp and Paint Shop Pro also have plug-ins available on the internet.

• Good quality image of your choice or you can use mine. Just right click and save it. But, I do ask that you only use it for tutorial purposes as I’ve already uploaded it for publication on TSR.

I’ll be using one of my favorites, The Waterlily Pond with the Japanese Bridge, 1899 by Claude Monet.

Section 1 - Creating a New Project

We’ll start by opening Workshop (WS) and clicking on Create New Project

In the Create a new project screen select Object and then click Next

You will now find yourself on the Object Clone screen. In the Object By Category section on the left, select Décor/Wall Art. You will see workshop display all the paintings in the game. Remember the only paintings available to clone are the ones with a frame. I’ve selected the Painting still life for my painting. Click Next and you’re on your way.

At this point the Project details screen will pop up. Here you will type in your Project Name, Title and Description. When you are finished with all of your information go ahead and click Next

Your project has now been created and we are ready to customize it. As you can see from the screenshot, your project is opened on the Project tab. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with all the sections. It’s in this tab where you can change your project name and description if you find any mistakes and in game categories.

When you’re finished with the Project tab go ahead and click on the Textures tab. You will see a dropdown box called Variation. If you click on it you will see exactly that, how many frame variations (colors) this particular mesh has. There are 3 for the Painting Still Life. Make sure the first one is selected and move on to the next section.

There are several tutorials discussing how to make patterns for the Create-A-Style tool in Sims 3 that are helping many people make great patterns. However, I started out as a total beginner, and was still fumbling with issues such as ‘why channels?’ and ‘how do I add an alpha?’
when other people were seemingly outputting a pattern a minute!!!

If you too are floundering and feel like you know nothing, hopefully this tutorial will help you. After you’ve succeeded with this one, you’ll be able to move on to more advanced stuff. This tutorial is meant for people who still have no idea what they’re doing and need to know WHY they're doing this or that. So it DOES go on a bit. But that's me!

Your pattern

I’m not going to make a pattern from scratch (because that would assume you can paint stuff)! Instead, and because I can't paint stuff either, I’m going to convert an existing texture using a basic select tool to split a brick pattern across three channels (and an alpha) to make the English Victorian brick pattern shown on the right. You can use any pattern (including my brick pattern).

Whatever you use, ensure you start with a pattern that has easy sections to cut out and divide, and is sized 256 pixels wide by 256 pixels high.

Hello!

This tut will teach you how to create your own eye shadow in the simplest way that I know of. We will be editing a Maxis eye shadow (I said it was simple!) and then importing it into the game. I know it's not special, and we're not fiddling around with colors and masks, but it's the core... the basics for the beginners!

You will need:

• TSR Workshop (up-to-date, remember!)
• PhotoShop (I use 7.0)
  
• The .DDS plugin
• Sims 3 (of course!)

We'll start by opening TSR Workshop, and clicking "Create a new Project".

Then this box should come up:

We want to select "Makeup/Facial overlay".

Once it's selected, click next. This tree should come up (it may take a moment to load the info):

When the tree pops up, click Young Adult, then Female, then Everyday. We want to select "afMakeupEyeshadowSweet". This is because we will be creating an eye shadow tail (you'll see what I mean later). Now click next.

This box comes up:

The box I've highlighted is the most important part of them all. Each item you make needs a Unique Identifier. So just add the first letter of your name or any word you like - as long as it's unique (make sure it doesn't have same identifier as another item basically).

Fill out your Project Name, Title and Description in any way you like... it's totally up to you.

Click Next when you're done. When the Finished box comes up, click Ok.

Now your 3D Object preview comes up. On the navigation panel to your right, click the "Texture" tab. Like so:

Then we want to export the Face Overlay into a .dds file. We do this by hovering over the Face Overlay bar and then clicking the small "..." box that comes up. Then this box comes up:

Can you see the similarity between these white smudges and the in-game eye shadow? It's hard to think of at first, but you get the idea. We then need to click "Export". I'd recommend creating a new folder and saving it as "makeup_face_overlay" or something like that. Then just click Save.

This tutorial is a beginner's guide to changing the logos and graphics on Sims 3 clothing using the TSR Workshop and Adobe Photoshop with the DDS plugin. I will only be explaining the steps I use to accomplish this task. If you wish to learn more about the TSR Workshop as it pertains to clothing, I would highly recommend that you read through Sinastra's "In Depth Clothing Re-Texturing Tutorial for the TSR Workshop" as she goes into much more detail about all the different tabs and what they mean. I will be describing only the exact steps I use in this process, but this is a good start for the beginner to learn to create some simple custom clothing.

Begin at the beginning

Our first step is, of course, to open the TSR Workshop. You will start by clicking "Create New Project". This will bring up a new window, we will click on "clothing" and then click "next".

Choosing clothing item to clone.

The next window to appear will show us a tree view on the left with the different ages, sex and categories of clothing to choose from. For this tutorial, I will be using the girls tee with a rainbow graphic on it. As the stencils are already enabled on it, it is a good place for the beginner to start. So first click on child, then female and then everyday and scroll down until you find this shirt, if you wish to follow this tutorial exactly.

Your Project Details

In this step you will create your project name, the title for your item, a description and most importantly a unique identifier. You MUST change the unique identifier so the new item you create does not override the original item!! Do not use the default!! It's a good idea to try and make the name unique as the Sims 3 launcher will not install an item if it has the same name as something already installed. I like to add my name or initials to the project name and identifier. Once you have filled in all the information, click "next" in the bottom right corner. A new window will pop up called "Finished". Just click "OK" in the bottom right corner.

Preparing to Export

The next window to open up shows the clothing item we chose for our project and all the information pertaining to it. For this tutorial, I will not be making any changes to the shirt other than the graphic on the front and the colors of the shirt. So, first select the "Texture" tab at the top, then highlight the "Stencil A". Highlighting this will make the small box with three dots appear to the right. Click on this box.

Exporting the Image

A new window will pop up with the original image. We are now ready to export this image and make it our own. Click on the "Export" button. **The Import button located directly below the export button is what you will click to import your texture back into the workshop**

Saving the Image

Now save the image somewhere it is easy to find. I like to save directly to my desktop, but you can save it wherever it is easiest for you. Don't bother changing the name, just click save. We are now ready to edit the image in Adobe Photoshop. I just leave the TSR Workshop running while I edit the image.

In this tutorial I'll show you how to use Photoshop's pen tool to extract a Sim, or an object, from a screenshot taken with the Sims 3 in-game camera. This tutorial is aimed at intermediate Photoshop users who maybe just aren't quite sure what the pen tool does, or how or why they should use it.

Needed tools:

• Photoshop (any version, however "Elements" versions may not have the pen tool, which is required for this tutorial)

But first, why do we want to use the pen tool? Why not just put your Sim or object against a plain background?
It's a good question, it's really quick and easy to put a Sim or an object against a plain background and then use the magic wand selector in Photoshop to remove the background. However, this technique can result in a jagged edge, rather than a smooth edge, which won't look as good on previews. The pen tool allows us to create a smooth path to select our Sim or object with.
Also, for pictures of Sims, the best lighting in the Sims 3 game is in Create-A-Sim. Pictures taken in Create-A-Sim will show off your Sim and clothes in the best possible light, but of course we can't have a plain background in Create-A-Sim, so the easiest way to remove the background is using the pen tool.

The Method:

• Open up your Sims 3 game, and take any screenshots you like using the in game camera. Here's the screenshot I'll be using for this tutorial (fig 1):
  
  

    Fig 1

• Decide which part(s) of the picture you want for your screenshot. I only want the Sim, nothing else.

• Open your screenshot in PhotoShop and choose the pen tool.

• Decide where you're going to start from. I'm going to stop at the top right side of the picture, and work round clockwise.

• Now, identify two "corners" to your Sim, or object. By "corner" I mean somewhere where the edge changes sharply, rather than in a smooth curve. Click once on each of these first two corners, and anchor points will appear on them, as shown in the picture below (fig 2).
  
  

    Fig 2

• Of course, the edge of the Sim betwen these two points is not straight, so we need to adjust our line to make it match. You can add a curved anchor point anywhere on your path just by clicking. So here, I'll add an anchor point halfway between the first two points, like in this picture (fig 3):
  
  

    Fig 3

• The points are still a straight line, but now we just hold the CTRL key, and click and drag the new point into position. The line will automatically curve in between the three points (fig 4).
  
  

    Fig 4
 

• You may need to add many anchor points to make your path match the curve of your Sim or object. If you add an anchor point then decide you don't need it, click it again to remove it (fig 5).
  
  

    Fig 5

• Sometimes, you might add an anchor point which makes your path stick out a long way from the edge of the Sim or object you're trying to cut out. This isn't a problem - as you can see below it's easily fixed just by adding more points, holding CTRL and dragging them into place (fig 6).
  
  
        Fig 6
  
  

• Continue in the same way - identify the next corner, click it, then add anchor points between that and the previous corner, and drag them into place until they match the curve. When you get back round to where you started, click on your first point again to complete your path (fig 7). If you need to adjust your path after you've closed it, hold CTRL and click on it - this will 'reactivate' your path so you can continue to add more points.
  
  

    Fig 7

• Now you have the outline of your Sim or object, but what if they have some extra gaps that we need to cut out? This sim has a gap under her arm, and some between her fingers (fig 8).
  
  

    Fig 8

• Simply click on the first two corners of one of the gaps, and create a path for the gap in the same way as you did the main outline (fig 9).
  
  

    Fig 9

• Here is my finished set of paths. I've added a path in the gap under her arm, and more around the fingers (fig 10).
  
  

    Fig 10

• Now, open the "paths" panel. This is usually on a tab near the "layers" panel, but if it's not you can also select it from the Window menu.
  

• Click this button (shown by the arrow in fig 11) to turn your paths into a selection.
  
  
      Fig 11
  
  
  (Note: if this doesn't select everything you wanted it to, hold CTRL and SHIFT, and click on each of your paths in turn to "select" them all, then press the button again.)
  

• Copy and paste your Sim onto your preview picture. Check the edges to make sure you're happy with how it turned out. If they're not, go back, and CTRL + click on a path to 'reactivate' it for futher editing, and make any changes you consider necessary. This is my finished cutout (fig 12) (keep reading for more tips!):
  

      Fig 12

  You can also see my finished cutout in her preview picture by clicking here.

Additional Tips:

TIP: When you add an anchor point you'll notice a straight line with two dots on the end appearing. The line is a tangent to the curve, and these dots are called "handles". You can move the handles to change the angle of the curve at this point. The best way to find out how this works is simply to do it! Create a straight line, add an anchor point in the middle, and see what happens when you adjust the angle and length of the handles.

TIP: A unique preview that stands out will really show off your work at its best. For ideas, look through the downloads area of TSR, and study those screenshots which catch your eye. A good example of an excellent preview style is Murano. Notice how he maintains a consistent style, which means his work is instantly recognisable, but at the same time shows off his work in an interesting and eyecatching way.

Subtitles

The video tutorial comes along with English and German subtitles. It also allows you to translate one of these into your own language using the Translation feature.

Software used

• Illustrator CS3
• Photoshop CS3
• TSR Workshop
  

Installing DDS Plugin

You have to download the Photoshop DDS plug-ins here: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html

Click on Download Current Version to download the file and then install it.

If your Photoshop is in English the installer might have chosen the right destination in the Photoshop directory for the plug-ins. If it’s not then you have to translate the folders name to know where to move the plug-ins to. The correct folder should be C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CSX\plug-ins\file format

Help

Please use the TSR Forums for getting help regarding this tutorial.

You have to download the Photoshop DDS plug-ins here: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html

Click on Download Current Version to download the file and then install it.

If your Photoshop is in English the installer might have chosen the right destination in the Photoshop directory for the plug-ins. If it’s not then you have to translate the folders name to know where to move the plug-ins to. The correct folder should be C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CSX\plug-ins\file format

Concept

A pattern in The Sims 3 has four channels to hold mask information. These are Red, Green, Blue and Alpha (RGBA) where every channel can save a greyscale image. The following pattern (fig 1) is going to illustrate the concept of stencil masks, not the making of the pattern itself.

    Fig 1

Let’s break up this pattern in its colour layers (fig 2).

    Fig 2

Now we sort these layers in channels and making them greyscale, so they work like alpha masks for the colours. White is fully opaque, black is invisible and greys are transparent (fig 3).

    Fig 3

Create the RGBA Stencil Mask

Open a new 256x256 pixel RGB/8 document (fig 4).

      Fig 4

Change to the Channels tab and add an Alpha (fig 5), since there are four channels in this pattern. You don’t have to add the Alpha channel if you have only 3, 2 or 1 channel used for your pattern. Don’t delete any of the RGB channels. Photoshop won’t like that.

    Fig 5

Copy/paste each of those masks in the correct channel (fig 6).

    Fig 6

With Alpha visible the image will look something like this (fig 7).

     Fig 7

It looks odd but this doesn’t matter as long the masks in channels are correct.

Go to Save as… and choose the D3D/DDS (*.DDS) file format with Alpha channel enabled. Hit Save and the DDS plug-in dialog pops up. Choose the DDS internal format 8.8.8.8 ARGB 32 bpp | unsigned from the drop down list and click Save (fig 8).

    Fig 8

You’re done!

Now move on and import the DDs into the TSR Workshop Pattern Tool!

Note: Almost all kind of meshes in the Sims 3 do have a Stencil Mask. This time they don’t hold colours but are the mask for patterns to compose the final mesh texture.

   Fig 1

Click the folder icon to browse and open your DDS texture (fig 2). Learn how to create a DDS texture for the Pattern Tool here.

You can also import PNG and BMP files if the DDS file format is too advanced for you at this moment. Note that PNG and BMP can only save 3 channels.

  Fig 2

You should see your DDS/PNG/BMP texture appear in RGB Mask Image (fig 3).

  Fig 3

You know from your graphic program how many channels there are. In this example there are 3 channels. Therefore the Red (1), Green (2) and Blue (3) need to be ticked. Alpha (4) not (fig 4).

  Fig 4

Choose a colour for your first channel by clicking in the white square or by pasting a Hex-colour in the appropriate field.

  Fig 5

Repeat this for the other ticked channels (fig 6).

  Fig 6

You might want to choose a different Background fill if your Red (1) channel isn’t fully opaque (fig 7). Not required for this example.

  Fig 7

You can see the results of your colour changes in the preview window (fig 8).

  Fig8

Fill in the Title and Description and choose the Category and the Surface Type (fig 9).

  Fig 9

Upload Option 1

If you wish to upload your pattern directly into your Filestorage at TSR for easy publishing to the community, click Upload to TSR (fig 10).

  Fig 10

The first time you do this you’re asked to fill in your Name, Website URL (TSR profile link), TSR Email and TSR Password in CreatorDetails. Check ‘Do not ask next time’ if you don’t want to see this window again (fig 11).

  Fig 11

Log in to The Sims Resource and click Sims 3 Submissions in the top bar. Under the Filestorage tab you should find your pattern and can there submit it for publishing on the site.

Upload Option 2

If you want to create a Sims3Pack, click Export (fig 12). If you didn’t use Option 1 before, you have to fill in your CreatorDetails (See Option 1).

  Fig 12

Save your pattern to the desktop (or any other place where you will easily find it again). Double click the Sims3Pack and your pattern is installed into the game.