Sims 4 CC TUTORIAL: How to make Glowing-Edge Body Parts and Glowing Edges on CAS Items and Accessories
I deleted the old post for this tutorial (although the link on the old post is still the same, whoops) because I needed to rewrite it.
Thank you to the friend that helped me with this.
The tutorial is linked on both the title of this post and the image.
You know Valhallansim made those cool glowing-edge horns back in 2017? I dug around the files and Blender to figure out how it was done. I have combined everything I learned in this tutorial. What I learned from Valhallan's files I used to make a guide on how to make glowing edges for body parts as well as glowing CAS items.
It will show you how to give glowing edges to body parts and to CAS items and accessories. It also has explanations of possible issues, causes and fixes if something goes wrong in your process.
Photoshop can be used for all of the steps involving GIMP if you prefer Photoshop.
Last Updated: 12/05/26
Have fun! and PLEASE reblog! Especially if it helped you!
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hello! ever since we dropped our cc making resource pack, i've been wanting to do a mini tutorial on how to use our plus size bases. in this video, you'll see me creating a standard pose and converting it to a plus size base. hope this is helpful to new and current pose makers :)
Note: Make sure the blender path is set up in your S4Studio settings
*This tutorial assumes you know your way around blender*
Step 1: Open S4Studio
Step 2: Under Object, select Create 3D Mesh
Step 3: Check 'Show Debug Items', change 'Mesh Groups' to 1 and search for arch. Choose the following object:
Step 3: Click next, name your package and hit save.
Step 4: Name your object. I suggest adding your creator name or initials in the front so that you can search for it in the catalog faster (ex. creatorname_objectname)
Step 5: Import your textures. The diffuse will be the main texture and the material_lighttex will be what will be illuminated on the mesh. If you don't want an illumination map, just import a plain black image or choose a different object to clone that doesn't have one (eg. the wooden slab/pole??) Ex:
Step 6: Go to the meshes tab and export LOD 0.
Step 7: Open the LODs .blend file.
Step 8: Tab into edit mode and delete the object. Do not delete it in object mode or else you'll lose all the mesh data and S4Studio will throw you an error. Tab out of edit mode.
Step 9: Import your object.
Step 10: Under the object's scene properties, you will see a tab that reads 'S4Studio Mesh Tools'. Add the number 0 to the blank space beside 'Cut'.
Step 11: Go to the data properties and change the UVMap's name to uv_0
Step 12: In the side panel where it displays the name of the objects in your scene, click on the object and then ctrl click on 's4studio_mesh_0'. Make sure your mouse is hovering over the 3D viewport window and hold ctrl+j to join the objects together. The name of your object should now be s4studio_mesh_0.
Step 13: In the modifiers tab add the 'Edge Split' modifier and then apply it. Before I do this, I tend to go into edit mode, select all vertices, click m and merge by distance just to make sure there are no double vertices. Note: If you do not add the modifier, the object will look weird in game, trust me.
Step 14: Save your blend file as 'objectname'_mesh
Step 15: Once you have saved it, go to the data properties again and change the UV from uv_0 to uv_1, this will be the shadow mesh.
Step 16: Save file as 'objectname'_shadowmesh. Choose save as and not save because it will overwrite your main mesh blend file.
Step 17: Back in S4Studio import your main mesh into LOD 0. Once that has loaded in, click on the dropdown and choose the Shadow LOD 0. Import your shadow mesh.
Step 18: Under the tags tab you can change where you'd like your object to show up in the catalog. If you leave it as is, your object will show up in the debug menu, which will have to have the debug/live edit cheat to be able to see. If you'd like it to show up as a decor object instead, uncheck world object, scroll down until you see the 'Decorative' drop down menu and choose where you'd like it to show up. I suggest the Decoration (misc) option.
Step 19: Save your package and test in game
I use this same process for all world/decor objects I make/convert. Let me know if you have any questions.
For this tutorial, you will need Sims4Studio (S4S).
Unlike adding object deco slots to counters, you need to add the wall deco slots in two different locations in S4S in order for them to work. Step 1 details the first location to enter the deco slots. Step 2 details the second location to enter the deco slots as well as additional information that needs to be changed. Step 3 details how to check if your changes went through.
Step 1:
Create/Clone your sign object
In S4S, under the Studio Tab, go to the Rigs/Slots Tab on the right side.
Hit the Add button.
Choose whether you want the deco slot to hold large wall deco or just small wall deco. Large wall deco slots will also hold small decor. Depending on the slot type, enter one of the following in the Name section.
_ctnm_signDeco_1
_ctnm_signDecoLarge_1
Enter your X, Y, and Z coordinates for the slot. A purple cone will appear on your mesh to indicate where your slot is.
Repeat for as many slots as you want to add.
Save your file.
Step 2:
Go to the Warehouse tab.
Click on the Slot field.
On the right side, click on the “Edit Items” button next to the ContainerSlots line item. A new window will open.
Click the Add button on the bottom left side of the window
The following information will need to be changed:
BoneNameHash, LegacyHash, and NameHash
SlotDirectionLocked and UnknownFlag
SlotTypeSetName
Transform
Leaving the window open, go back to the Warehouse tab and now click on the Rig field. On the right side, click on the text tab.
You will copy and paste information from this section into specific fields in the “Editing ContainerSlots” window.
Find the appropriate slot you added in the text tab.
Copy the information from the NameHash line and paste it into the following fields in the Editing ContainerSlots window: BoneNameHash, LegacyHash, and NameHash
Copy the coordinates from the Absolute Transform line and paste it into the Transform field in the Editing ContainerSlots window. By default, that field will have the term Identity in it. You want to replace that with the actual coordinates.
In the Editing ContainerSlots window:
Change the following fields from a value of 0 to a value of 1
SlotDirectionLocked
UnknownFlag
In the SlotTypeSetName field, there is a drop-down box. Scroll down and select either SlotSet_signDeco or SlotSet_signDecoLarge
Repeat for all of the deco slots you added. If you navigate to the Rigs/Slots tab, all of the new slots you added will still appear as purple cones. This is normal. You need to save and close the package file and then re-open it to see that the changes took place.
Step 3:
Save the package. Close the package and then re-open it. Now when you navigate to the Rigs/Slots tab, you should see blue cylinders instead of purple cones.
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This took me way longer than i would have liked but anyway its done now lol. I don't really have anything to say here because my video is pretty clear on what i wanted to say. Has closed captions so you can follow along with the transcript. Links in the description linked here but clickable:
Gimp
G'MIC
G'MICol (online version)
ooo heres under the cut just in case i need to add something! have a cookie 🍪.
24-06-18: I DID forget to add something to the video omg! What i also do is i make a copy of the denoised or the rgb noise layer and put that ABOVE the color layer and set the layer mode to usually soft light and sometimes overlay mode. See what mode works best for you! This makes the texture look Less Flat haha.
i didn't have a tutorial yet... so i made one lol. its longer than i wanted it to be, but i wanted to make sure it's easy to follow for people who've never made cc or have no experience with photo editing software, and fully explain my process. it's by no means hard at all though lol, i guarantee you making skin details is the easiest thing aside from recolors and if you want to learn this is a good place to start :-)
for people who are more experienced than that, and want to know specific things-- i've sectioned everything so it should be easy to skim through until you find what you need!
requirements.
this tutorial will only require sims 4 studio (free) and photoshop (not free) or gimp (free). i pirated photoshop 2022 myself. any version will do but i think 2022 just has nice new features for making content! if you don't want to buy or pirate, gimp is a similar alternative.
1.1 how to find skins to use as a base.
in case you don't have (a) skin(s) in mind to use for your skinblend, my tip is to download as much random ones as you can find. this way you have a lot to choose from and it's easier to get an idea of what you want.
go-to creators for maxis match skins: heihu, madmono, pyxiidis, faaeish, miikocc, emmibouquet and stretchskeleton.
creators for maxis mix/alpha skins: sims3melancholic, obscurus, ddarkstonee and pralinesims.
creators for maxis mix/alpha skins that only allow editing for private use: northernsiberiawinds, remussirrion and thisisthem.
go into cas and try them all out. if you like a part of a skin, write down which skin it is and what part(s) you want to use of it from which swatch if it has multiple.
for example, i almost always use one or two skins for just the nose shape, one for the eyebags, one to three for the lips and one for the basic shading of the face. don't be afraid to use the opposite style skins of what you're going for, you can always add or erase details.
1.2 exporting the skins.
now we're gonna export the skins with sims 4 studio. click on "my projects" (1) and navigate to whereever you have the skins you want to use, and select one and click "open" (2).
the colored little boxes in the top right are the swatches. click whichever swatch you wanted to use something from (1), then click the "export" button (2). you'll get a window to save the exported skin now.
tip: i highly recommend making an organized folder for your skinblend, to have all your files together and easy to find. if you haven't made it already you can easily do so within this window.
i put mine in a folder called "resources" in a folder named "unnamed skin" for example.
name the exported skin file (3) and make sure the "save as type" is set to .png (4).
after saving the file, you can just click "cancel" on the bottom right to go back to sims4studio's starting screen. if you have multiple skins you want to use, repeat the above process for all the other skins to export them too.
2.1 opening the exported files in photoshop/gimp.
open your program of choice and click on "file" from the top bar (1) and then "open..." and navigate to the skin files. you can left click and hold down your CTRL key to select multiple at once to open.
we have to layer them all in one file, but before we do that we have to check if they're all the same size.
note: some skindetails might be 2048x4096, others may be 1024x2048. unless you want your skin to be compatible with the HQ mod, you should just opt for 1024x2048, as without the mod both resolutions look identical. the bigger one will just make your fize unnecessarily large.
click "image" at the top bar (2), then "image size". it'll say the size at dimensions. if it's at the size you want it to be at, just exit the window.
if you need to edit it, select "pixels" from the dropdown menu (3), and put in 1024 for width and 2048 for height OR 2048 for width and 4096 for height. if you're sizing up select "bicubic smoother (enlargement)" under resample (5).
repeat this for every skin you opened.
2.2 layering the skins together.
copy and paste all the skins individually onto one by selecting them with CTRL + A and CTRL + C on your keyboard, and pasting them into one of the other opened skins with CTRL + SHIFT + V. you can then close all the other tabs.
the file now has multiple layers. you can rename them by double clicking the layer name. this makes it easier to keep track of whats what. you can reorder them as well by dragging them with your mouse. put the skin you want to use as base (for the general facial shading, highlighting) at the bottom.
tip: i recommend making all white and all black background layers to see the skins better. you can do so by pressing D, then CTRL + SHIFT + N. for the white layer then press CTRL + BACKSPACE and for the black layer repeat the first two steps and then press ALT + BACKSPACE. now there should be two new layers in black and white. drag them to the bottom of the list. i prefer using white so i put black last.
2.3 changing the opacity in parts of the base skin layer.
to make ea's preset details (cheek/nose bridge sharpness, dimples) come through your skinblend, you need to change the opacity of the base skin sometimes. alpha skins tend to be fully opaque but maxis match skins are usually already transparant enough.
hide all the layers aside from this base layer by clicking the eye icon next to the layer names. you can see the transparancy with the visibility of the grey-white blocks or if you find it easier you can also unhide the black background to see it instead.
to change the opacity, you can either edit the entire layer's opacity (1) or use the eraser tool (E key) to add transparancy at specific parts.
if you have photoshop 2022, turn on vertical symmetry (+). if you don't have it, you can choose to edit only one side of the skin and mirror it later or do both sides and embrace some asymmetry.
i selected the eraser (2) and set the brush size to about 200px and 0% hardness. the opacity of the brush i set to about 10% (3). i used the eraser on the lower cheeks, the nose bridge and tip and the bottom of the chin. i also erase the upper eyelid 100%, cause i prefer to have eyelid freedom :p. it then looks like the above! this will very subtly let through details, if you want more you should make it more transparant.
2.4 optionally: editing out freckles, pores and/or eyelashes.
your base may have pores, freckles or moles you want to get rid of. to smoothen everything at once, click "filter" at the top bar (1), "noise" and then "reduce noise". i only edit the strength and sharpen details setting (2), this setting erased the pores and most of the freckles for me while keeping the details looking sharp, but you likely have to adjust it a little cause it depends on how large/fine the details are.
the remaining freckles, pores and eyelashes i remove by using the smudge tool, with 0% brush hardness and at 25% strength. (3) brush size depends on the size of the details. i just go over it in circular motions until the freckle or whatever it is has been blended away without pixelation.
for this part i'm going to only show how i do the nose as an example, however it works the same for editing in eyebags, lips, jaw lines or whatever you want to add in too.
unhide the layer of the skin you want to use a part of, and hide the base layer.
if you are going to use multiple parts of that skin (for example, you want both the nose and the lips of that skin), duplicate the layer by right clicking the layer name and choosing "duplicate layer...". then hide the duplicated layer. it's easier to edit one part at a time.
use the selection tool (M) to select the part. press CTRL + SHIFT + I and then DELETE. press CTRL + D to unselect. should look something like the above.
use the eraser tool (E) at a moderately small size like 30px~ with about 30% hardness and 100% opacity to erase around "hard lines", like the nostrils in this case and the bottom of the nose. the nose bridge has "soft lines", so if you were to use a hard brush for that, the shading of the nose bridge would look far too harsh and unblended.
for the soft lines, set the eraser tool at a bigger size like 100px~ with 0% hardness and a lowered opacity between 15-45%. erase soft lines "gradually", so the shadows blend in with the layers underneath it. should look something like the picture above.
always look at the newly added part with both a black and white background to see if there's anything you need to erase more. then look if it blends in properly with the layers underneath. if it's too dark or light, you can click on "image" on the top bar, then "adjustments" and "brightness/contrast", and lower or raise the brightness until it blends in better.
i'm using two separate skins to make the nose, so i've repeated the process above for the second nose skin, then used the method of step 2.3 to erase certain parts and make other parts more transparant / blended in. as you can see above, it's now the perfect offspring between the two noses i used.
note: for a maxis match nose, you'll want to avoid a completely opaque nose, mainly at the nose bridge it should be more transparant. i always make sure the lips and eyebags are fully opaque though, unless you're going for a vanilla type of skin it doesn't look good transparant.
at this point, i like to save the file with the white background layer on and see what it looks like in sims 4 studio. this gives you a better idea of what it looks like on sims and what you may want to change or add. press CTRL + SHIFT + S and name your file, and set the file type to .png.
open any skin or skin detail cc file just like in step 1.2, and instead of exporting anything, click "import". now navigate to the file you just saved, and open it. the sim model now displays what your skin looks like. should look something like the above! you can click cancel after you've looked enough, so you don't have to worry about ruining the original cc file.
maybe you're happy with the skins current state... but in case you want to add or change some things, here's a step by step how i do it.
5.1 drawing shadows & highlights.
as you probably have noticed, everything needs to be done in greyscale, so select black (for shadows) or white (for highlights) in the top right colored box. make a new layer (CTRL + SHIFT + N). select the brush tool (B) and set the brush at about 0px with 100% opacity. draw the shape of the shadow or highlight where you want it. make sure to make a new layer for every shadow and highlight!
now you can either use the smudge tool to blend it out, but i prefer using "filter" from the top bar, "blur" > "gaussian blur". i just play around with the radius until it's blended out but still has some shape to it. it depends on how small or wide and blended you want it to be.
then i use the eraser to shape the shadow/highlight further. for example, i want the shadow in this case more blended out towards the eye, but harder towards the forehead and nose, so i use the eraser on that side. lastly i change the layer opacity to make the shadow/highlight less dark/light. my preference lays with subtle details, but of course you can make it as contrasted as you like!
5.2 drawing small details.
to draw your own details, use the brush in 1-3px brush size, 100% opacity in black. i can't help you here cause it's just drawing where you want and then blending it out with the smudging or blurring tool where needed, and using the eraser at lower opacity to blend it in.
to give you some ideas, i usually draw some details on the nose like sharper nostrils or a nose wall, some texture on the lips and the eyebags. i like using reference pictures of real peoples skins to see where and how to draw things. before and after pictured above! (i'm so proud of these eyebags yall T-T)
5.3 adding other creators cc skin details.
if you don't like drawing things yourself or know just the right cc skin detail your skin needs, you can also use other creators' skin details on yours.
maxis match + mix details: pyxidis about face, miikocc face kits, okruee face details, sammi-xox face details, lamingtonsims face details.
like in step 1.2, just open the file in s4s and export whatever swatches you want to use. remember to make sure the resolution of the file is the same as your skin's before copy and pasting it on your skinblend! and remember you can lower the opacity layer for these too.
5.4 mirroring your skin.
if your skin isn't mirrored/symmetrical yet, save your file as a .psd and then right click the layers, click "merge visible", press CTRL + ALT + C, and set the canvas width to half what it is now (either 1024 or 512). (1) click the arrow in the left middle if you want to mirror the left side, or the arrow on the right middle for the right side. (2) press "ok".
press CTRL + A, then CTRL + X, then CTRL + SHIFT + V. delete the layer beneath the active one (it's empty). then press CTRL + ALT + C again, and put the canvas width back to the original (2048 or 1024). select the same arrow you selected before, and click "ok".
press CTRL + A again, then CTRL + C. now click "image" from the top bar, "image rotation" and then "flip canvas horizontal". now press CTRL + SHIFT + V .... and voila, your skin should now be mirrored.
note: ik there's a ridiculous amount of steps for such a simple thing so i feel like there's probably a much faster way to do this, but i hate following tutorials and guides (the irony) so this is just the way i taught myself lmao
5.5 last test & optional last touches.
at this point, i'm done with the skin. i erase everything aside from the face if the skin still has a full body texture cause i prefer face-only skinoverlays. i always save as .psd and .png, .psd is to edit it later on if need be. once again import your skin into s4s like in step 4, and see if you're happy with the skin. if not, just keep editing whatever you need!
i also like to add alternate versions of the skin lastly here. some examples: a soft nose or hard nose bridge (justice for flat soft noses, simblr loves to erase them lol), different eyebags, lighter or darker lip option, version with eyelid overlay or without.
6.1 creating the package file.
to make the package file for your skinblend, open s4s and select "create cas standalone" and then click "cas". (2) now select "skin detail forehead" from part type (3), click the most left forehead wrinkle and click "next" (4). name the skin file whatever you want, you can always change it later!
click "import" and open your skin file. and voila! you're pretty much done!
6.2 editing the age, gender & occult flags and category.
right now your skinblend is only available for young adult to elder sims, and not for aliens and werewolves, so you probably want to change this. go to "categories" (1) and check the boxes you want under "age & gender flags" and "occult" (2). you don't need to change any of the other things.
if you wish to change the skin detail slot it's in, you can change it at "outfit type". most people use either forehead or mouth crease, but you can use any of the ones that start with 'skindetail'.
6.3 adding swatch colors, thumbnails or additional swatches.
if you want, you can add multiple swatches (1). you can also edit the color of the swatches (2) and upload a custom thumbail with 104x148px resolution (3), make sure to upload for both male and female frames.
6.4 editing the sorting layer.
it's not the end of the world if you don't do this, but you may run into some skin details or freckles/moles that won't display on top of your skinblend if you don't edit it :).
click on the "warehouse" tab (1), select the first "cas part" (2). scroll down on the right to find "sort layer" (3) and put in 2100. you're gonna want to change this for each cas part individually.
now just save your file... and try it out in game!
if you need any help or have any questions please comment below <3 feel free to tag me in the end result if you want too.
Have you ever thought that the black hair colour just wasn't black enough?
If so, I've got an easy solution for you!
DISCLAIMER! I don't mean to be hateful or rude towards anyone. Everyone is free to do as they please with their own content (as long as it complies with EA:s TOS). The original black colour just doesn't fit my taste, that's all. I made this tutorial because I thought that there might be others who share my opinion but who might not know how to change the colour. With that said, I'd like to apologise in advance if this hurts or offends anyone.
Art by Alex Espino.
The hair shown above was made by Kiara Zurk.
Let's begin!
You'll need:
- Sims 4 Studio
- A photo editing program (e.g. Photoshop, Photopea, Gimp)
1) Open the hair you want to edit in Sims 4 Studio (double click on the package file).
2) Export the blue-black texture as a PNG and save it somewhere that's easy to access.
3) Open the PNG you just saved in your editing program of choice. I'll be using Photopea for this tutorial.
4) Add a 'Black & White' adjustment layer.
5) Add a 'Brightness/Contrast' adjustment layer and bring it all the way down to -150 or whatever you prefer.
6) Optional! You can flatten the image into one layer by right-clicking on any of the layers and then click on 'Flatten Image'. I personally don't bother though.
7) Save as a PNG and import it back into Sims 4 Studio. Save the package file.
That's it! Now you've got yourself a true black hair colour.
Important! If you use a Reshade preset, you need to take into account the way that preset changes colours, lighting etc. in the game. If you use a preset that darkens the colours, the hair colour might look odd if you adjusted the brightness exactly the way I did in this tutorial.
