Making a Pose using the Pose Player - Posted on Sims Wiki here: http://www.simswiki.info/wiki.php?t...3_Pose_Creation

Please note that if you use Milkshape you will not be able to create poses for toddlers or pets. If you're interested in making poses for toddlers or Pets you will need to use Blender.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update for Blender Users 5/1/2012 : The tool for Blender users is posted on A's blog. It comes with a set of rigs, including adult, child, toddler, and infant which are fully textured with EA hair, eyes, skin, and clothes. It also has a rig for the adult horse, cat, and both sizes of dog. The poses and animations made with this tool are completely compatible with the Pose Player and Animation Player. Link to CLIPTool and rig set:

http://sims3cliptool.wordpress.com/

I have written a start to finish tutorial showing how to use this tool and Blender to make a toddler pose. The same instructions will work for child, adult, and animal poses. It is written for people who have never used Blender before and includes instructions for using Blender itself as well as the new tool. There are additional tutorials including a couple's pose tutorial, object pose-prop tutorial, and multiple rigs tutorial at the same link. They are all posted at A's blog at the same link.

Because CLIPTool has outdated use of AnimTool for Blender users this tutorial thread no longer supports questions about using the old tool in conjunction with Blender. If you have questions about making poses with Blender or making animal poses please ask them in the Blender tutorial thread

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This tutorial will tell you how to get a pose that you have made to show up in your game. See below for mini-tutorial on making a pose using Milkshape. Blender users please see the above message to find the right tool for your 3D editor. Below the mini-tutorial on making a pose are a few tips to help improve your poses. See this thread for the tool for packaging your poses with a Pose List:

http://dino.drealm.info/den/denforu...php?topic=948.0

If you're having problems seeing the pictures in this thread you should be able to see them if you go to the Sims Wiki link.

What you will need:

1. Pose Player by Cmo here: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=438706

2. AnimToolV05 by Wes Howe here: http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...t=375945&page=1

3. Adult rig for Milkshape users by Mesher here: http://jaue.com/om/mesher_4animrigs_male&female.rar
OR WesHowe's new female rig here http://jaue.com/om/WesHowe_1197040_afAnimRig-WH.rar

OR Mesher's child rig here : http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...t=390523&page=1 in post 7

4. S3PE Version 11-0402-0951 by Peter and Inge Jones here: http://dino.drealm.info/den/denforu...php?topic=526.0 (32 bit is the version most people will want).

5. An animation editor of your choice that can edit .smd files. This tutorial includes instructions for creating a pose with Milkshape 1.8.5 but any editor that can edit .smd files can be used as long as you have a rig and .smd import/export capability that works with the rig. If you are new to learning how to make poses/animations I would highly suggest switching to Blender right now instead of learning with Milkshape. It's easier, the tools are better, and it's free. I posted a link to the Blender information above.

A. Exporting the CLIP:

1. Open S3PE and click File. From the dropdown click Open. Navigate to Fullbuild0 which is here: Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/GameData/Shared/FullBuild0



2. Make sure you have a check in the Sort box at the bottom left corner of S3PE and then click the Tag box near the top right corner





3. Scroll down to the CLIPs and select one of the clips that starts with a_xevt_. It doesn't matter whether you select a_xevt_701 or a_xevt_702. Right click on that line and click Export and rename. Make sure you pick the Export and rename option which is at the bottom of the dropdown list.



4. Enter the name you want for your new pose in the New CLIP name line of the popup box and click Save. Navigate to your working folder and save the CLIP there.

NOTE: In order for your pose to work correctly for you and others you must name your pose beginning with "a_". After that you can name as you like. But if the a_ is not at the beginning of your pose name the tool hash will not be correct and the pose will not play correctly in your game.

NOTE: remember to make the name of your pose unique. If it is not it could cause a conflict. Often people use their creator name as part of the pose name to help keep things unique. If you do this, make sure the rest of the name is not the same as that of another pose you've created.


B. Converting the CLIP to SMD

1. Open your working folder and open the rig download. Put the adult-rigfile.txt and the rig itself (the .ms3d) in your working folder.

2. Open the AnimToolV05 download and click on the exe to open the tool. Click the Clip->SMD button and navigate to your working folder. Double click on the CLIP you have there. A text box will pop up telling you the rigfile.text is not found. Click ok and navigate to your working folder. Click on adult_rigfile.txt and click Open. The box will close and the message No Errors will appear in the AnimTool's dialogue box.



3. Now you can open your editor and open the .ms3d rig in it. Import your new smd. Create your pose. Save that to overwrite the new .smd that is in your working folder.

C. Converting the SMD to CLIP and Packaging the CLIP

1. Open the AnimTool again. Click the SMD->CLIP button. Navigate to your working folder and select the .smd. Again you should receive a No Errors message in the AnimTool's dialogue box

2. Open S3PE and Click File. From the dropdown menu select New.

3. Click Resource button (it's two over from File button) and from the dropdown menu select Import/From File. Navigate to your working folder and select your CLIP. Save without making any changes to the text or numbers. The item you want to import is the .animation.



Note: You can add multiple CLIPs to a single package. It is not necessary to make a new package for each individual CLIP.

Place the package in your Mods folder. Make sure you've also got the Pose Player in your Mods folder. Check your new pose in game.

Note: remember to tick Readonly box when attempting to open fullbuild0 or any other EA game file in s3pe



ETA: Making a Pose using Milkshape

Well I had hoped to write a mini-tutorial in a different thread with pictures to help people with the posing using MS part. But the essential process is as follows:

1. Click File button in upper left hand corner and then choose Open. Navigate to your working folder and pick the am_body_4_anim.ms3d in MS.

2. Click File button in upper left hand corner again and then choose Import Halflife SMD. Navigate to your working folder and pick your new .smd. The SMD Import box will pop up with checks in each box. Leave all checks in place and click OK. A second box will pop up asking if you want to append the animation. Since all we want is a single frame pose choose No.

3. In the lower right hand corner click the Anim button.

4. Go to the joints tab. In the upper part of the joints tab you will see a list of all the joints in your rig. Put a check mark in the Show Skeleton box in the Vertex Weights section and you will see all the joints show up on your model in the view screen.

5. Now double click on a joint in the joints list. That joint and all the joints which are connected below it will light up in green if it is a joint you can move. So, for example, if you click the b_R_Thigh_ joint you will see the entire right leg has little green dots along it. This means that if you alter the position of the right thigh joint all the joints below will follow along automatically. If you click on a joint in the list and the joint lights up red instead of green on the model this means you should not alter the position of that joint...if you try the model will become distorted. An example of this kind of joint is the b_R_Right_Bicep joint.

6. To make your pose just click on the joint you want so it lights up with green and switch to Model tab. Click on the Rotate button, put your mouse in one of the view boxes and move it. You will see the model move accordingly. Play around with this until you have the model posed how you want it.

7. When you have the model posed how you like go to the top bar and click the Animate button there. From the drop down menu choose Set Keyframe. This will save your pose. Then go to the Anim button in the lower right hand corner and click it off. Don't be alarmed that your pose is lost when the model springs back to its original position. Your pose is still there as long as you set the keyframe.

8. Now click File and Export Halflife SMD. Navigate to your working folder and Save the new pose over the .smd. A box will pop up asking if you want to replace it-click yes. Another box will pop up. You should put a dot in the bubble in front of the word Sequence and leave the other two boxes blank. Then click OK.

Now you're ready to pick up with the tutorial above by converting this .smd back to a CLIP.

NOTE: When you're working on head, neck, spine, pelvis, thighs, and upper arms it's often useful to have the settings on Rotate Options be Center of Mass and Global. When you're working on forearms, calves, hands, feet, fingers, and toes it's often useful to change those settings to Origin and Local.

Tips for Better Poses

Thank you to Klinn2 for this addition in his post # 237 in this thread: if the wrist bone is creased, crimped, or distorted you can select the wrist bone (a red joint) and give it a slight rotation on one axis to untwist the polys in that area. Klinn has posted before and after pictures of this problem along with his solution in post #237 in this thread.

Don't try to rotate a joint too far. If you're seeing distortion on your model in the editor consider undoing that rotation and rotating the joint above that one instead. For example, to create a pose with an arm so it is raised above the model's head consider how your own arm works. Try rotating the clavicle, which is the joint directly above the upper arm, a little bit first. Then rotate the upper arm. The model behaves in a way that is similar to how real bodies work. Try watching yourself do the same movement in a mirror to see how it works or watch someone else performing the joint motion you're trying to duplicate with animation.

Remember to change your rotation settings to Origin and Local when working on joints from the upper arms down and on feet/toes in Milkshape. You will get distortion if you don't. Blender doesn't have the same issue so you don't need to worry about this kind of problem if you use Blender.

Be sure to update to the current 1.8.5 version. If you're getting errors when starting you may be out of date. The update is free.

Credit and thank you to Wes Howe and Cmomoney for all their work on S3 animation and for teaching me about it. Credit also to Atavera for help & to mesher for the rig. Thank you to Wes Howe, Mesher, and Cmo for allowing their rigs to be shared in this tutorial

Thnx, this method also works for a animation or only a pose?

The process is the same for animations except:
1. I would start with the a_idle_JazzUtility CLIP, and
2. before exporting it from s3pe, delete all the IK chains(in Grid)

thank you!

Hi I am trying it for the first time and when I goto S3PE and I try to open FullBuild0 it says error and alos says this and also I think my S3PE maybe be a little outdated but the download link you have will not work, here is what it says:
Could not open package:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\Packages\FullBuild0.package
Front-end Distribution: 10-1104-1243
Library Distribution: 10-1104-1243
Source: mscorlib
Assembly: mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089
Access to the path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\Packages\FullBuild0.package' is denied.
at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)

at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)

at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share)

at s3pi.Package.Package.OpenPackage(Int32 APIversion, String PackagePath, Boolean readwrite)

at S3PIDemoFE.MainForm.MainForm_PackageFilenameChanged(Object sender, EventArgs e)

and also I forgot to mention I don't knwo if this will help but I have not played the sims 3 with the pose player yet, but I have installed it and my S3PE was the one updated on november, 14 2010 so maybe it is not outdated, please help, thank you

Try this link for required S3PE version: http://dino.drealm.info/den/denforu...php?topic=526.0

Yeha I get that as well! I don't even know why im being denied acess but no matter what user im on it won't lemme.
...Somebody who it works for could always be a delightfully kind loving person and copy it all out then place it here?

All I really want is a list of all the animations.

ok that S3PE version that is on your link is the version I have, so it's not outdated, I'll try with the administartor as someone advised me and see if that helps, ok it didnt help, I'll try one last thing I have up my sleeve. I thought maybe it was because I have not played sims 3 with it and yet but I'm running it right now and I tested the pose player and it works, one plus, so I'll save and quit and then try, but I dunno if that'll do the trick. Nope still nothing, is there anything that I have not done, that you would suggest?

The first link doesn't work for me, either, and it's my site lol

So... In TS2 we can have one package with thousands anim files. Using this, do I need to create one package for every pose? Like, If I have, let's say, 30 poses = 30 packages?

Maybe I'll re-create my Cup Of Poses (both versions) to TS3, but I'm worried about putting various packages in Mods folder.

Remember to tick the Readonly box when opening an EA file. S3PE tries to protect you from accidentally editing those.

Try this link for S3PE: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sim...e/11-0402-0951/

No, you can put all 30 poses in one package. The package does not have to be named the same as the CLIP.

Where is the tutorial on how to MAKE your own poses...?

Hum... thanks. and, the last one, can I put in a more "friendly" name? Like "DJCuP_HandsOn_03", "DJCuP_Hi5_01"?
Since the object will give a list, its way better then "a_portraitPose_sad_x".

^ Lol just about to ask where you could find info on that also.... Is it basically just importing the rig & smd into milkshake and editing the bone positions? Why does that sound too easy? I'll let you know when I screw up great work btw!

Those names are fine, but the object will not give a list.

EDIT: Naming that way only works if you hash and rename the CLIP manually.

ok the clip didnt work, but thanks for trying anyway , I didn't need custom poses, I would probably screw up with my unexperience with meshing and modding, but I'll be happy with the ones you've made but I have a quick question: if someone creates custom poses for this object, how would we be able to download it and where would we put it? just curious..

OH my gosh I'd love that! lol sorry I loved using that back in the ole' sims 2 days, but i won't intimidate you to do it, but great idea! I hope maybe other creators would convert their TS2 Poseboxes and also that hack which I never found out the name or something that makes the mouths move like overlaying a pose, those both were so cool :D

Lilly, that CLIP will work but it would need to be renamed in order to not overwrite the EA original. I highly suggest that people use the new S3PE version I've linked above which will rename the CLIP for you.

When people start making custom poses for download you will be able to download them and install them in your Mods folder the same way you install any custom content.

I hope this helps

I LOVE YOU! I have been trying to get the regular animations to work for months! You just solved the problem! <3!

To animate with MS you need to open the rig and then import the smd.

Either you don't have rights to access the file/path, or the file is being used by another process.

I'm not sure if this will help you or not, but i was getting that same error message and so what i did was Copied the FullBuild0 to my desktop (COPIED IT) and was able to open it from there. . . it has something to do with the permissions for that folder i have discovered, once i find a way to work around that i'll post again :-)