So any fans of @kikovanitysimmer ‘s renders know that she adds a lot of extra detail to her sim’s skin. Her process has changed since then, but she still hosts her old tutorials on her discord!
We’ve been getting a lot of talk about how hard it can be to follow so I’m providing a text-based step by step tutorial!
Requirements
TheSims4Ripper
Blender 2.9+ (I’ll be using 4.0.0)
Any photo editing software (I’ll be using Ibis Paint) that has these features:
Multiple layers
Adding noise
Changing brightness/contrast and Hue/Saturation/Value
Inverting colours
Sims4studio (optional)
First things first:
You do not need to export a custom skin. Using the _diffuse.png you got from exporting your sim works just fine!
It’s preferable that you export your sim naked. Not a requirement, but makes it a lot easier. Here’s a video tutorial about dressing your sim in blender.
Onto the tutorial!
Displacement Map (Pores and the like)
Import your texture. Here, I’m using Kiegross’s Kiera Skin, edited for personal use.
2. Change the texture to black and white
3. Duplicate the layer
4. Edit the Brightness and Contrast to your liking
5. Add noise. Pictured here are my personal settings
6. Erase parts that realistically would not have a lot of pores, ex. Lips, hands and feet. Kiko suggests putting your eraser hardness or opacity lower as these areas still have texture to them.
7. Save picture as is! You can delete the noisy layer if you wish, but we will need the original black and white layer for everything else.
Specular and Roughness Map (Shine)
Creating a new layer is highly recommended so you can backtrack
Using the original layer, edit the brightness and contrast. Pictured here are my preferred settings
2. Take a black brush and colour in areas you don’t want to shine. Realistically, these are the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet and their respective nails. You may also want to take a white brush to the areas you do want to shine, like lips, chest or thighs.
3. Save as is!
Adding to Blender
First things first: Go into the Shading tab. Link your sim's materials using Ctrl+L to make it easier on yourself!
Add your new Displacement and Roughness Map to your material
2. Add a Displacement Node
3. Plug the Displacement Map's colour into the Height. Change the scale to whatever you like (I chose 0.0005)
4. Add two Color Ramp Nodes to your material
5. Plug the Spec + Roughness Map's colour into each Color Ramps' Fac
6. Plug one Color Ramp into the Roughness and another into the Specular/IQR (you may need to roll out the Specular tab to find it)
7. Drag tabs on the Color Ramp to change the strength of them. For the Roughness Color Ramp, you'll need to swap them around to have the desired effect.
And that's how you get the details! There are other ways to get the details, but for beginner renderers, you can start with this!
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hi thank you so so much for this account! it has honestly been so helpful and I am learning a lot. I was wondering if you maybe had a tutorial on how to use blender jewelry? and how to go about using them on the sim in blender? sorry if this is a little confusing, but I really appreciate it!
Hi Hi! Thank you for visiting!
As for blender only jewelry, the process is similar to adding any other blend file to a project, but I’ll show a quick demonstration in case it helps others!
Here, I’ll be using @cocoelleansims’ Dior Necklace, available on her Patreon!
First, you’ll need to append the item. Go into File > Append, then double click the item. You’ll be brought to a bunch of folders. Select the Object folder and double click the mesh.
Most blender creators are nice enough to name the item(s) as what you’ll be looking for, or make it the only item in the file. If you’re confused on what the item is, I personally just select all of the items and delete the ones that aren’t what I’m looking for ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When the object appears, click the name in your menu, and in Object Modifiers (wrench icon), you should find the armature modifier already added. Change the “Object” location to the name of your rig (in my case, BiaRig)
After that, you can do whatever you need to do to fit it to your sim. It’s important to note that with .blend file exclusive items, symmetry is not guaranteed, so using elastic deform to symmetrically sculpt may not come out the way you intend. Here, I’m scaling and rotating the necklace in edit mode
And TADA! You’re done!
Troubleshooting under the cut
Problem 1: Item doesn’t move with sim
Check your weights in Object Data Properties. If it’s blank, that means none were assigned. For items like jewelry, this is a minor setback. You’ll instead have to move the item into the posed position using G. For items like nails and clothing, that will be a different matter that I will have to address separately. In the meantime, contact the creator if possible.
Problem 2: Item is weirdly deformed
There are two causes to this problem:
1. The way it was weighted.
For items like jewelry, this is a minor setback. You’ll instead have to move the item into the posed position using G. For items like nails and clothing, I have yet to figure out a fix, so I’d advise contacting the creator if possible about the issue.
2. Your object is in a different position than your rig. (Most common)
If you’ve moved your rig in object mode at all, any objects not parented to the rig object must match the EXACT location, rotation, and/or scale of the rig. To prevent this in the future, I recommend dressing your sim first, parenting it to your rig and THEN add/create the pose.
Hi! I was wondering how you add textures on specific parts of the body in blender? So far my textures are showing up on my clothing items and I am not sure what to do.
Good afternoon! (Or whenever you're reading this)
When I want to add or change the texture to items, I duplicate the texture the current texture and give it a new name!
Then I assign it to the part I want in edit mode! I have a video demonstrating that here (tumblr's lack of zoom in 😖)
After that, any edits I make to the new material will only affect that area!
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