Help creating an alpha outfit

[telefen]

I been playing around with meshing & i wanted to make a dance outfit for my sim. A pair of pants that sit almost floating on her. I just wonder should I create two different alpha groups in milkshake or just one like marvines60's alpha? why some creators have two different layers & others just one is there a difference?. Second question: after making &commenting these extra mesh groups ,How do I add the proper files in simpe? Is there a begginer tutorial ?

[fakepeeps7]

You don't have to make two alpha groups if the inside and outside of the pants are going to use the same texture. But you do need an inside and an outside combined into one, or you'll end up with transparent areas when your Sim moves.

Alpha meshing is not a beginner project, no matter how easy the tutorial. It's a lot of work, and if you're not really good at regular meshing, it can get confusing. CatOfEvilGenius wrote a good tutorial (http://stonegod.org/sims2/tutorial/alpha%20skirt%20tutorial/index.html), but it's not easy.

Good luck!

[telefen]

You don't have to make two alpha groups if the inside and outside of the pants are going to use the same texture. But you do need an inside and an outside combined into one, or you'll end up with transparent areas when your Sim moves.

Alpha meshing is not a beginner project, no matter how easy the tutorial. It's a lot of work, and if you're not really good at regular meshing, it can get confusing. CatOfEvilGenius wrote a good tutorial (http://stonegod.org/sims2/tutorial/alpha%20skirt%20tutorial/index.html), but it's not easy. .Good luck! Hey friend thanks for reply. look,I've already made several differnt meshes&have read thru cat's tutorial. It does not deal with what I'm after. All the part about invisbility&so on is no problem for me&I understand it very well. What I wanna learn is just how do I add those files in simpe& I can't even find one tutorial on just that subject. If i don't get any help, then i'll have to ditch all my meshes. That's too bad cause, all I want is to learn something that some people knew some six years ago, so that i can share some of my work. That's all.

[fakepeeps7]

The tutorial I linked tells you how to add the files in SimPE. The section on making the recolour package (http://stonegod.org/sims2/tutorial/alpha%20skirt%20tutorial/index.html#recolPackage) has instructions on how to add the files for your alpha pieces.

[telefen]

Thanks again friend . I must have missed that section for some reason. Maybe i was too eager to get started. i see that it's basically the same as Hp's tut about hair. I'll have to read it about 2000 times i guess. It'll either make sence or i'll have to settle for meshes which already have those groups& just remove&replace with own. Have a nice day&thanks a lot for helping clear this up so,i can get some sleep& make some food for the family.

[mocha0030]

My question is sorta the opposite. How do you REMOVE alpha files from the exported recolor files? I'm editing a mesh that was originally an alpha dress, but I've changed it into a solid mesh. When I go to make recolors I have a bunch of unnecessary texture/alpha files. Is there a way to remove them so that I'm left with only the 3 files that are necessary to make the recolors (texture/alpha/bump map).

ETA: nevermind - i found the answer here (http://www.insimenator.org/index.php?topic=106395.0).