The process for changing an EA painting image and making paintings with multiple images has changed with the introduction of the new Texture Tweaker Tool by Inge Jones.

I have posted a new tutorial on the SimsWiki that uses the new tool to do both of these things as well as change default patterns on the ones with frames. This tutorial should be considered a replacement for the one below although I'm leaving this here in case it's needed for some reason I'm not thinking of. Please use the new tutorial and not this one.

The link is Tutorials:TS3_Add_Change_Object_Images^wiki

The new methods are easier and less time consuming. They can also be used on any object...not just paintings. I encourage everyone to use the new tutorial instead of this one.

Hi OM - first - great tutorial. Nice and clear, I hope many people will be able to make cool things for their game using this.

The thing is, (speaking as a bit of a download addict) this particular method means that each painting made will be a FULL clone of the original. That's heavy on the game, and it will start to clutter the catalogue.

I saw that cmomoney had made a tutorial on changing the PICTURE inside an object - adding more pictures to one mesh. That seems like a really neat idea and keeps the catalogue clutter down. Its my personal preference to do it that way, and I think that uploads to MTS should ideally be made that way.

Here is the link to Cmos tutorial http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=377737 I have to warn new users - its NOT a walk in the park, but its well explained and totally doable.

However, we all have to start somewhere (my first TS3 object was a painting made using similar techniques as those in your tutorial) and I think that this is a great tutorial for helping new creators to get an understanding of the methods used to create and recolour objects. It will definitely help to deliver that unforgettable OMG I MADE THIS and its IN MY GAME moment.

Thanks for your post Leesester

I made this tutorial because I had answered several people who were coming here asking questions about how to make a painting with a lot of confusion because of the outdated tutorial on the topic in the Wiki here. In particular one person new to S3 meshing and I spent quite awhile trying to fix her painting which had completely borked thumbnails. The problem turned out to be that she had followed an outdated MTS3 Wiki tutorial to the letter and screwed them up that way. At the end of that thread she suggested an update should be made and it's hard to argue her point...lol.

For some reason, one old tutorial has caused a few new people to end up with brown-fronted paintings (?) which they then post about trying to find answers. And lately, a couple more questions about how to easily make a painting spurred me to finally get a replacement made. If it seems to work out perhaps it could be linked in the old tutorial so people have something up to date to get started with?

This tutorial, as the title suggests, isn't meant for people who are ready to provide the forum with lots of great new uploads. It's meant for people who have just downloaded the tools and are wondering how to get started. It's also for people who have no interest in meshing at all but would like to add a few of their own personal paintings to their own game.

The thing of it is, many meshers, myself included, like to start out with something fairly easy and straight-forward to build confidence with and to get the general principles down. I think that's why a lot of people, like you, started out by making a simple painting texture replacement. People like us are heading to MTS looking for a tutorial and finding this outdated thing with lots of unnecessary steps and views of the tools which are imtimidating and obsolete. That's why I made this tutorial.

Anyway, thanks again for your post. I think for people who want to upload items to share your point is well-taken.

Which tutorial on the wiki is outdated, orangemittens?

The one linked to from Xanathon's tutorial page here:

http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=359314

recently updated to indicate that the tutorial is now outdated.

This one:

http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?...nge_the_Texture

Although now that I look at it more closely I'm confused...is this a MTS Wiki? The main page for Sims 3 modding there looks the same as the one here and the names of people posting there are familiar to me from here but other things are different...but it's linked to from Xanthon's thread here at MTS.

I apologize if I've made a mistake in thinking this is a MTS Wiki page.

eta: also, if I use the Search wiki in the navigation bar here and type in painting tutorial the list that pops up includes the Xanathon tutorial but it looks like a different page...so now I'm really confused...lol.

Oops...forgot the link:

http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...nge_the_Texture

I agree with Leesester, great tutorial. Only thing I might add would be about using the "view dds" option. It's pretty easy, and you can see your image before you export it. Your list will work too, it's just an option.

Thank you for your input Flora. If you would like to write a clear step-by-step explanation of how to use the dds viewer with pictures showing the new tools I'd be glad to add that with credit to you at the bottom of the tutorial for people who would like to try it.

I don't use that tool and it isn't necessary to the painting alteration process so I didn't include it. But it wouldn't be a bad addition if someone's willing to do the work. If not, the list I've included removes all trial and error from the process of selecting the right dds to export.

Point taken. I'm just one of those freaks that has to LOOK at everything.

Thank you for updating the tutorial and for providing the images which need to be changed.

Is it possible to clone paintings such as the Mission at Noon, Lance Ng (PaintingMission2x1) which also has another DDS underlay with a greyed-out image of the painting (paintingMission2x1__0x79656471ed323eee)? Would that greyed-out underlay image also need to be changed? And if so, how? This DDS image (paintingMission2x1__0x79656471ed323eee) does not seem to appear in either Paint.NET or GIMP.

I think that's the specular image. It determines the shine, in this case for the frame and the paint. You would need to edit this, probably by painting that area with black. If not, you'd have the original painting's shine. I don't know why they don't open right in your graphic programs.

OM: Great tutorial. I linked mine to this one

cmo is right and that IMG the one named paintingMission2x1__0x79656471ed323eee, is the Specular.

In PSP it looks like this:



To use this painting you're going to have to keep the alpha in place and you may have to change the greyscale part of the IMG where the painting is. The easiest way to do that is to select a grey from the rest of the image that is somewhere in the middle between the brightest and the darkest and just fill over the greyscale mission painting image with that. An example you could use to give you an idea of what I mean is the last IMG in that package, the greyscale one named: paintingMission2x1__0x79656471ed323ef0. If you look at that one the IMG is basically the same as the Specular except the painting image on it is solid grey. I would use a similar but lighter grey to change the Specular with.

You may not need to do that however. I would first just try cloning and changing the painting as I do any other and then if the image portion had strange shadows on it in-game I would alter the Specular. It may be that this Specular is only going to provide shadows for the frame part. Since you aren't changing the frame you don't need to worry about changing the Specular for that part of the painting.

I hope that makes sense and that you'll post again if you try it and run into problems.

Thanks for linking my tutorial cmo and for the kind words. I should have thought to do that with yours...especially once Leesester mentioned it. I'm going to do it now

I've tried to open the DDS file in Gimp but it will not work. I keep getting an error message that reads, "this is the wrong file type". I've exported the correct files and such but I'm stuck.

*DDS-plug-in for GIMP = gimp-dds-win32-2.0.7
http://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/

To install, extract these files to your GIMP plugins directory.
This directory is usually located at:
C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins

Your Step 9. isn't working for me. My S3PE looks confusingly different:



Can anyone help me?
I noticed I have a newer version.

Do you see the tickboxes near bottom right of your screenshot? Tick on Names and Tags.

I could bash myself. -.-

thx for your hint for Idiots. lol

I prefer to think of things of that sort as "tips for those new to s3 meshing"

I should have put a pic of that in the tutorial but my boxes were always ticked off so I didn't think of it. I apologize for that.

Hi, I followed the steps through this and changed 3 dds files which were the options for a painting. I have viewed the new files and they are as they should be. I have replaced the originals and loaded the package back into game, also clearing my cache files. However, imagine my surprise when I find that the painting in game still has its 3 original texture options ! I repeated the import/strike etc proceedure again, but still only the original textures are showing. What can cause this ? Thanks.

Hi Marlene I'm confused by what you mean when you say you changed 3 dds files which were the options for a painting. When you open the painting package in S3PE after cloning it with S3OC you should see a list of names. There is only 1 IMG on that list that controls the image of the painting if you have cloned one of the original EA paintings.

What painting are you cloning? Could you post the name of the three dds files you changed? What is import/strike?

Hi, Sorry I confused you ): I used a custom painting which has 3 image options, so I replaced all 3 image files. I have just gone back in to the package and this time instead of replacing the image files by importing the new ones, as per the walkthrough, I right clicked on each of the original images and chose the option replace. Back in game there is some advance ! I have one new image which I can use although the image is not centered on the painting. The other 2 new images are appearing as available and I can select them in game but as soon as I click ok, the image jumps back to the original image. Very odd. Clearly the old images are still in the package although they are not being listed. I probably should have started with just a daffodil on a single tile painting ! However, your walkthrough has helped me to understand what is involved with creating new dds files for objects, but clearly there is more to do than just replace them ! Thanks.

Did you "fix" the object after copying the package and replacing the images? There are a lot of caches and you may not have emptied them all...so if the object has the same TGI as the original the game may show you the old images.

To make a new painting using a custom mesh with multiple images you would do basically the same thing as you do for a one-image painting:


1. Copy the package of the painting you want to recolor

ETA: Change the name of the painting package to your new painting name

2. Use S3OC to "fix" the package you have renamed (ETA: instructions on that are below in this thread)

3. Open the fixed package in S3PE 4. Export each of the images you want to replace

5. Open the dds in your editor and replace the image

6. Save the dds without changing the name

7. Import the dds images back into the package using S3PE and save

8. Check out painting in-game

Thanks for the reply. s30c isnt very helpful with the fix option. The button is marked start/fix but I havent found anything directly relating to "fixing" It does make sense that the package needs old info clearing out, but there is no obvious button to click ! I am a senior citizen, so probably shouldnt be trying to do any of this and should just stick to knitting ):

Nah...don't stick to knitting...this is much more fun And don't worry about this being a "seniors" issue...this just isn't easy stuff no matter how old you are.

To fix with s3oc:

Open package with S3OC On the right hand side of the screen near the bottom is a button labeled clone or fix...click that.

Change the catalog name & description/price if you want

Then over on the left hand side near the bottom click the Start button

When the little box pops up giving you the option to click ok just click ok

That's it...the tool has taken care of everything else for you.

The left hand side of the screen should look like this:



with just those boxes checked off. Don't check off the other boxes. And of course, in the unique name slot should go the new name of your package.

I apologize for not mentioning it in my above post, but after you copy the package you should rename it to your new painting name before you open it with S3OC and fix it.

Thank you. That helps sooo much. To bad *I* didn't see it



If I maybe so forward to comment on your comment. I think its great that your doing this. My mom was was in her 60's when she went back to school to pursue an AA in Fine Arts. She showed me that I could do *ANYthing* I wanted to, age be dammed. Never give up!

OMG, you sweet thing you. A toast to Orangemittens!

That tutorial was so easy to follow and so well illustrated that it made creating a custom painting a breeze. I've never created a custom object before. Wow. Feels good. Thank you so much.

For fellow newbies to modding -- I'd like to share that I had a heck of a time trying to get Gimp to acknowledge the dds files (or the plug-ins for it for that matter--I never did get it working ). I was uninstalling/reinstalling Gimp to start all over again for the 3rd time when I decided to try Paint.net.

Wish I had done that sooner. The dds plug-ins are included in paint.net in vers. 3.5.5 that I downloaded and I was able to immediately see, work with, and save the dds file for my custom painting.

Sorry, gotta run...gotta make more paintings...