Here you go.

I've seen a lot of threads lately, asking for good free 3d programs,
and encountered some people who found Blender confusing.
So this seemed like a good idea

JWoods was kind enough to convert the word document to PDF format. So choose your poison.
Thank you! :howdy:

Update: There now exists a Blender version of JWoods' Start to Finish tutorial. It's a lot simpler than this one, so if you're new at object making, try that one


I'm going to consider this tutorial as an 'advanced course' from now on
This is NOT a beginner's tutorial. I only explain how to make a mesh in Blender, not how to clone the object and make it work in the Sims2.
So if you've already tried your hand at making objects, and want to try Blender, then this is the tut for you.
If you've tried the JWoods tut and want to learn more, it should help you further on your way.


It's my first stab at a tutorial, so feel free to tell me what I've done wrong. I tried to be as clear as possible, without treating you people like small children, but I undoubtedly failed here and there. :naughty:
So any unclear bits, questions, etc, can be asked, and I'll try my very best to help you.




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Tutorials:Object_Making_with_Blender^wiki

Thanks. I recently started messing around with Blender, after getting a little frustrated with Milkshape's shortcomings. This will help a lot.

dano

Thank You

Thank you!!! This will be most helpful.

Could you make the file into a zip file? Please=) I really want to learn blender so please=)

since the download already takes quite a bit of space,
I'm gonna have to pass on that
but there is a very helpful thread here: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=78295
it has a ton of links to all sorts of rar extraction programs
I'm sure you'll find one that suits you

But let me ask....wear did yuo learn Blender 3D?

*@nn@*-The swedich girl

messing around with it
and there's a lot of tuts on http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Tutorials.243.0.html
the noob to pro one is very good
but you have to sift through the parts that don't apply to sim modding

Okay....but I just don´t get it....But please can´t you make it to a zip file. But if it´s still no do you now weare I can learn?

come now, anna,
just get an extractor, something simple like Filemaid will do
trust me, it's easier and faster than asking for zips all the time and waiting for people to say no

as to where you can learn,
the link I gave you really does have an awful lot of tutorials, just click around a bit
or google for a blender tutorial
there's no cut-and-paste answer to anyone's specific needs in this
and if you're very new, go for milkshape that's a lot easier
JWoods does a very good tutorial on that one, it's in this forum

Okay ill check around a little=) Thanks

Okay I download this program http://www.izarc.org/download.html I am going to TRY to extract it=)

Yes it worked! Thanks!

very nice,
welcome to rar-dom

Thanks but how do I do if i´m going do change a mesh on a object what file do I open? Or can I only do New meshes?

Thank you, Lethe!
I just downloaded your tutorial and had a first short look at it, well done :thumb:

So far I couldn't find a working sollution to model a mesh in 3ds Max or Maya before finishing in Milkshape which can be imported into TS2 (the files were corrupted or Milkshape just crashed during importing several possibilities of fileformats) and it seems to me that I'll model with Blender instead :laugh:

Your tutorial was just right as a "how to create meshes in a 3D program except Milkshape in a working way to import your mesh into the game - tutorial" seems to be too simple when you already know how it works. Your tutorial was so needed by me. It is not easy to know how to convert your mesh into the specific .obj file format which is working in SimPE and TS2 when you just start modeling for the game (the 3D-program specific help is not helpful in this case when you don't know what exactly is needed in this sort of .obj and the program's help is orientated on it's GUI and creating).
Here are lots of great tutorials for mesh extracting, beginner's guides for Milkshape and tutorials for advanteced creators etc. but when you start modeling you can have troubles with 'simple things' like file formats. I really appreciate every single tutorial a lot - big thanks to everyone who takes the time to write a tutorial for the community... stupid me just couldn't make any progress on most of them without fixing my .obj problem first :argh:
If someone could write a tutorial about "exporting your meshes from (the 3d progam you are creating with except Milkshape and Blender) into the right .obj format" every beginner who works with the same program could find out how 'these simple things' work - if I'll ever find out how it works for 3ds or Maya I'll write one to prevent beginners from hours/days/month/give up of trying around without making any progress on this problem. Maybe this is really too simple but for me it's in Maya and 3ds a problem without a sollution for now :weep:

I don't want to offend anybody, I don't want to sound like I'm ungrateful to those who share their knowledge with others (the opposite!) but I mentioned this because I know that you just don't think about 'little things' when you know how 'the whole thing' works.

Thanks again, Lethe. Your tutorial was really a good idea (and thanks for the PDF, Jack!)

Anna,
not sure what you mean, could you give an example?
if you're going to tweak a maxis mesh, you can always export it from SimPE and import it in Blender (page 16, I think ). Once imported, just choose that mesh and go to edit mode.

Khaibit,
if you're working with the free versions of 3ds and maya, then you are right, there is no way to export obj files from them. They were disabled, so you'd spend a fortune on buying the program
I had trouble with that, too, and ended with just giving up on them and moving to Blender
but I'm glad this helps you out

Err, no, not the free versions. My friend bought bouth programs. He can work with them on the stuff he does at least but we both don't know how to get a SimPE compatible .obj file into Milkshape (direkt export from Maya and export from 3ds with Max2Obj6 plug in seems to fail). He's too busy with his stuff (thanks, Unkluth :taekwondo ) and I just don't know how. After I got quite used to both programs it's hard to work only with Milkshape (I got well along with it within 15 mins while I'm still working on the right handling of the 2 other programs) so hopefully Blender will offer a 'compareable' amount of opportunitys for mesh creation.
Can someone help me to fix my obj troubles, please?

Anyway, yepp, Blender and your tutorial seem to help me out (can finally start with my set )

Anne, I don't know what you mean neither - maybe you should work on JWood's Sims 2 start to finish Object Creation Tutorial V 2.0 which is easy to follow and explains the steps Lethe left out - Jack uses Milkshape but export and import of your mesh is well explained (for further explanations look for Numenor's tutorials).

I got the blender program, but when I installed, and tried to use it, it tells me "No installed Python found. Only built in modules are available. Some scripts may not run."
I am missing a program? And where might I find this? Will search this site, while I wait with bated breath, for your answer. (I'm such a ditz, LOL)

great, I tried Blender before but i couldn't figure it out. Thanks

skye,
for making sims objects, you really only need two python scripts and these usually come with the new version (2.37)
in the File menu, check the Import and Export submenus
if you can import and export Wavefront objects, you're home free
It says that with me too, adding 'Continuing happily' (I love that )
I don't remember ever installing a python environment, and everything works fine for me

Lethe_s,
thank you so much! I will try that!! This would be soo cool if I get it to work!!!
Hugs,
Skye

It's a bit tricky to get Blender to run when you don't have already Python installed - like I did.
Look for the Python site and download version Python 2.3.5 (final) (this version is required for Blender to run, version 2.4 does NOT work!). You can directly open this site if you prefer. Look for the Python-2.3.5.exe if you use Windows XP and take the "win32all" if Python asks for it (didn't ask when I installed it as it should already exist on your PC). Don't install it without the request of Python as this is not recommaned.

Install notes:
Install Python where it wants to go, which should be C:\PYTHON23

Open "Systemeigenschaften", should be Control Center in English.
Open "System", My Computer in English? (= the symbol of a PC)
Click the Advanced Tab ("Erweitet").
Click Environment Variables ("Umgebungsvariablen").
Under the System Variables, click New.

Enter in the "Variable Name" box: PYTHONPATH
and in the "Variable Value" box: C:\PYTHON23;C:\PYTHON23\DLLS;C:\PYTHON23\LIB;C:\PYTHON23\LIB\LIB-TK

Type or copy both exactly! After that press OK and reboot.

That's it, hope this helps you out


And now for something completely different... :D

I followd your tutorial after I got Blender to run, Lethe. Though I'm not yet 'used' to the GUI I could repeat your steps without problems, well written and good explained. Thank you!
I'll go on working with Blender.

the tutorials great thank you but i apparently dont get blender lol when ever i go to import th emaxis object i cloned into blender to make sure th escale is proper on what i made my object just turns into a rectangle...which it wasnt... obviously...also i noticed that after a while of editing my objects and i go to look at it in object mode it also turns into a rectangle anyone know what i did? or a place that could tell me were i messed up?

hmmm,
if you mean a cube, Blender always starts with one
make sure you delete it before you import anything
also, one of the 'views' is called 'bounding box', that one always puts a big cube round your object, make sure you're in 'wireframe'
that's all I can think of right now...
maybe you could get a screenie?