Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5 Next   Go Down
Print
Author Topic: February Tutorial Challenge: Wallpaper  (Read 15973 times)
0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.
SpaceDoll
sweet, sweet lamination
Gloom Cookie
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 165


« on: February 10, 2013, 01:50:03 AM »

Welcome to our second Tutorial Challenge!
Our goal in these challenges is to learn more about the custom content creation process, from the simplest photoshop projects, to more complex creations later on down the line.  I want to keep these challenges pretty casual, so that anyone can participate, regardless of their schedule or ability.
So how does it work? A 'theme' is picked for the month, the tutorial is posted, tips and tricks are shared in this thread, and you share your creations made from following the tutorials. These challenges are about learning, and the more members who share, the more we can learn together. Also, the only participation prizes are what we make and share together, so the more activity in the challenge, the better our prize will be!







Last month, we learned a simple method for making repeating patterns. This month, we will use those patterns to create something simple for the game: wallpaper. This is an easy way to begin creating for the game, yet it also offers the freedom to choose colors and patterns to suit your own game play style and taste.
We will use HomeCrafter to create our custom content; it is one of the easiest and most self-explanatory tools for Sims 2 creating. I don't want to dwell too long on the HomeCrafter portion of the tutorial, though. I will focus more on preparing your textures for HomeCrafter, but the program is pretty simple to use, so I don't think anyone will have any problems. There are also a lot of great tutorials out there, . Don't be afraid to ask any specific questions, though!  

The tutorial will begin at the end of this post. You are encouraged to add your own tips, tricks, and chatter to this thread. We all use different programs (Photoshop, PaintShop Pro, Gimp), and so have different knowledge to share. The more tips that are shared, then the more people can learn! Remember you can post questions and any difficulties you have in this thread. And when you've got a wallpaper you're satisfied with, share that, too!






Now, for our challenge!
As I mentioned before, the main focus of my tutorial this month is crafting the texture  for your walls. I have created a PhotoShop file (.psd) that I think of as my "Wall Factory". It has transparent layers, or overlays, for each of what I consider the basic Maxis wood trim walls, plus layers for creating a shadow over your wallpaper texture. A picture, I think, will help explain this:




You can see the plain Maxis crown molding and baseboard wall trim in the main window, and on the right, under the layers menu, you can see many of the available trims. There are too many to show without scrolling! You can download it HERE. Get the ceiling compatible version HERE.

If you open the "Wall Factory" psd, you will find the Maxis trims categorized into three groups, plus two basic layers: Pattern Fill and Background. These are the layers where you will use your pattern to create your wallpaper texture. All the other layers can remain locked, and only "switched on" as you need them.
To begin, choose your pattern, and fill the "Pattern Fill" layer.




If your pattern size is some multiple of 64 pixels, this may be all you need to do on this layer. Otherwise, you will have to scale your pattern horizontally to get the repeat just right. Make sure to constrain proportions, either by clicking the little link icon, or by holding shift as you drag the corner handle of your layer. What you want to do is to increase the size of your pattern until the same part of the image lines up on either side of your wall panel.




Once you are in HomeCrafter, you will be able to check the repeat, so don't erase these layers, even after you save the needed textures, just in case you need to edit them later. It is easier to tweak a little and then save over your incorrect image, than to start from scratch!
After getting your pattern just right, you can fill the background. You can experiment with any color without affecting your pattern or trim layers. You might also try filling with another repeating pattern or texture.




Use SaveAs to save a copy of your file for each of the trims you want in your wallpaper collection. Just turn on the layers you want, save as, then switch to another trim. The layers labelled "TOP" are the shadow overlays (set to multiply mode), and each style of trim has its own "top". HomeCrafter likes bmp's, so be sure to save in that format!




HomeCrafter is so simple to use, it is almost self-explanatory. If you don't have it, you can download it at SimsGraveyard, under "EA Stuff". The first time you open it, it may take a little longer, and like the game and BodyShop both, it will probably take a long time to load every time. The first time I ran it, it took about 15 minutes to load, so be patient! When it opens, you'll want to click on "Create Wall Coverings", then "Wallpaper", and finally "Create New Content"(the big + sign). The first time you do this, a new folder will be created in your Documents\EA folders. Under Projects you will find a HomeCrafter folder, and inside that, a Walls folder. Press cancel in HomeCrafter, and you can drag your bmp's from the previous portion of the tutorial directly into this folder, and HomeCrafter will find them.



Just push the + button again, and choose your texture. It will load into the preview screen, and at this point you can check to make sure your repeat is perfect. You can edit the name, cost, etc. on this screen, too. When you are satisfied with your wall, "Import to Game" and you're done! One problem with HomeCrafter is that it likes to name your walls a bunch of garbage, so when you have exited the program, it is a good idea to find the walls and rename them. They are saved directly in the Downloads folder, so be prepared to look for your file there. It will be named wall_gobbledygook.package; sorting by modified date can help.

You can just as easily use this tutorial to create wallpapers in Gimp and PaintShop Pro; both programs will open a psd and conserve the layers. I'm not 100% sure that either program will preserve my layer group set-up, though, so you may have all the layers in one "group", or rather no group at all, instead of the folders I have them arranged in. I also have the layers all saved as individual png's, if that would suit anyone. Get the standard wall overlays HERE and the ceiling compatible HERE.

We can share our wallpapers as we go along, and if anyone has any wall templates or overlays to share, I will link those in the Tips and Tricks section, along with any other helpful - well - tips and tricks!
« Last Edit: February 17, 2013, 09:57:14 PM by SpaceDoll » Logged

I've massacred my manicure,
(am I poisoned flesh?)
And made a mess
(a sweet caress)
of morning light to midnight.
miros
Face Collector
Macabre Miscreant
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 3003


Face Collector


WWW
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2013, 01:57:42 AM »

Yes, I'm blowing my own horn -- but my SimText program is great for renaming your wallpapers if you put in a good "Text Tip" when you created them.  Renaming wallpaper was one of the reasons I wrote it!
Logged

What doesn't kill you gives you unhealthy coping mechanisms and a morbid sense of humor.

Dragons are incubating
ZeroDark
I have made my way here...
High Priestess
Macabre Miscreant
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 3245



WWW
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2013, 02:44:38 AM »

May I also blow my horn? If you would like to use more realistic wood grains instead of SpaceDoll's frankly amazing PSD of Maxis trims I created a collection of wallpaper trims also - available here.

I can't wait to explore your PSD some more and try out a few of the patterns I made. Cheesy
« Last Edit: February 10, 2013, 11:59:28 AM by ZeroDark » Logged

My Dreamwidth: Zero Talent - includes TOU
My Tumblr - I Have Made My Way Here - includes Sims (gifts and reblogs), fandom, and political views (Caveat Emptor!)
celebkiriedhel
Gutter Punk
**
Offline Offline

Posts: 59



WWW
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2013, 11:01:30 PM »

Miros - thanks for blowing your own horn - I currently rename my files by hand and this will save me a lot of work.

I use PSP7 so I'll try this out  - OK Back.

OK - Opened up the Spacedoll Wall Factory - AL.psd

It comes up with a number of layers - most of them normal. There are a couple of layers called '</layer group>. They don't have anything in them.

The layers that are set as multiply (that is they overlay an existing background, with a multiply (that is the colours and so on add onto the background, rather than adapt the background) - have white boxes in them, that I'm assuming are meant to change the colour/pattern of the underlying trim.

It has one that I'm not sure about called egg & dart, where it is completely transparent, and the transparency is locked.

So basically, Yeah - PSD works ok for Paint Shop Pro. If it's not working for others with PSP, let me know and I will convert it to a PSP file for you.

These appear to be all interior trims. Do you have one for Maxis Exterior Trims? I do and will be willing to post it up if you like, and if you don't have them. (Although I have them separated out into two walls - the quoining, and the panelling)

ZeroDark's PSD opens fine as well - although yours seems to be single layers?
There's the 2 versions - one with shadow and one without.

I notice that Volatile 1-4 Plain Panel Crown AN Frame and Volatile 1-4 Carved Panel Crown AN Frame seem to have the same thing in it, although the wood in the carved one is very slightly darker. Is that how it's meant to be?

I can also share the Maxis Arts & Craft Trim for Wallpapers if you want.

EDIT: I do have one question! What's the difference between normal wallpapers and ceiling compatible wallpapers? (I dropped out of creating back in 2008 and hadn't really played with ceilings again - I'm back creating since late 2012).

Logged

pieridae
Grimly Fiendish
Macabre Miscreant
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 859


I'm gonna see if I can turn him into a frog.


WWW
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2013, 11:40:56 PM »

Oh, I'm so excited! I've made walls before and am very familiar with homecrafter, but I could never get the trim right.  Awesome! Can't wait to download and see if they'll work in GImp.
Logged

SpaceDoll
sweet, sweet lamination
Gloom Cookie
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 165


« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2013, 09:13:10 AM »

Miros - Awesome! I've been wondering if there was some tool to do this. I will download it as soon as I get a chance!
ZeroDark - I was hoping you would post a link to your beautiful wall files. I tend to stick to a sort of Maxis match build mode, so I haven't used them yet, but they are so gorgeous that I constantly debate myself over them. I actually thought about linking them in the first post, but thought you just might, because of your participation in the challenge last month. Thanks!
Celebkiriedhel - Thank you so much for reporting back on my files in PSP! The multiply layers look like white boxes because for many of the trims the shadow consists of one or two tiny grey horizontal line just a few pixels tall with that white space between them, so that is all right. The "egg & dart" folder, along with one called "fancy" and one "simple" are folders that I had the different layers categorized into so that there was a little more organization instead of one great heap of layers.  Grin  If they didn't translate quite right (as I suspected they wouldn't), it should still work okay. As far as other overlays you have created, I would LOVE for you to share them! That is what this challenge is all about; and  -- I want them for myself, too! --   Cheesy
The difference between ceiling compatible and regular trim is the height of the crown moldings. With the ceiling on, the standard Maxis crown moldings are partially or completely covered by the ceiling tile. With the AL overlays, I lowered the Maxis ceiling trims and filled in the upper gap with portions of the trim to make it look okay when the ceilings are off, too. You can see the difference here:
 
I hope that helps!
Pieridae - I'm so glad you're excited! I hope we have as good a month as last! Let us know how it works out in Gimp.
Logged

I've massacred my manicure,
(am I poisoned flesh?)
And made a mess
(a sweet caress)
of morning light to midnight.
shastakiss
Overseer
Macabre Miscreant
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 3443



WWW
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2013, 02:36:41 PM »

EDIT: I do have one question! What's the difference between normal wallpapers and ceiling compatible wallpapers?

I think SpaceDoll has already answered your question but I'll add that as far as I can tell, the ceiling tile eats about 24 pixels worth of wall height. You'll still need it 512 tall but shift any trim or moulding down 24 if you want it to show. Wink
Logged
strange_tomato
Gutter Punk
**
Offline Offline

Posts: 67


WWW
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2013, 03:57:52 PM »

I decided to give this a try and have created my first ever wallpaper from my first ever original pattern. Cheesy The comic style woohoo heart drawing is by my significant other, who kindly made it at my request. Thank you for hosting these tutorial challenges and for providing the "Wall Factory" file, SpaceDoll. That made this whole process very simple. You rock! And thank you to Miros and ZeroDark for sharing their resources, too.

This was a lot of fun, and I look forward to seeing what everyone else creates for this month.




(Edited to update download file with a desmushed version. Thanks, SpaceDoll!)
« Last Edit: February 12, 2013, 03:08:27 PM by strange_tomato » Logged

Whispers
Macabre Miscreant
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 2497



« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2013, 04:49:09 PM »

OOOH!! Cute wallpapers galore! Cheesy
Logged

pieridae
Grimly Fiendish
Macabre Miscreant
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 859


I'm gonna see if I can turn him into a frog.


WWW
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2013, 09:50:14 PM »

Very cute, tomato! I have no idea what I will do with them, but I will find something! They are adorable - tell your sig other the drawing is very cute.
Logged

SpaceDoll
sweet, sweet lamination
Gloom Cookie
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 165


« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2013, 12:50:29 AM »

Thank you so much, StrangeTomato, and your wallpapers are SO CUTE!
Logged

I've massacred my manicure,
(am I poisoned flesh?)
And made a mess
(a sweet caress)
of morning light to midnight.
celebkiriedhel
Gutter Punk
**
Offline Offline

Posts: 59



WWW
« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2013, 03:44:58 AM »

Thankyou so much for the explanation SpaceDark and Shastakiss regarding the Ceiling compatible versions.
I think I will amend some of my templates to allow for that.

Strange Tomato - I love that pattern! The wallpaper is great, and you know that texture would look great on pyjamas! I can see them on a Romance sim! Cheesy

A Tip - You may or may not be aware, that the in-game wallpaper is actually 256x778, even though it is stored as a 256x512. What that means is that it elongates the pattern. Generally this doesn't matter at all, except when you're doing tiles because the tiles tend to squash from squares to rectangles.

The simplest way to deal with this is to make your tiled wall at 256x778, and then shrink it back to 256x512 before you put it into homecrafter.

Templates

OK - I've read the images rules, and I hope that I'm obeying them. Also I'm hosting these on my own server.

3 templates based on Maxis/EA wallpapers.
Barn Panelling


Quoining


Arts and Craft Panelling


I've made both PSP and PSD Templates of these (and tidied them up a bit)

Notes:
1. Overlays are the colour multipliers. And I've paired them with the layer that they amend.
2. Layers with 4 *, are just comment layers there is nothing on them.

3. For Quoining, the background texture alternatives, The Greyscale layer will cause the prior layer to be without colour, which is useful for more accurate colours, if you don't want a huge range of them. Otherwise leave it off.

4. The Arts and Craft Panelling is a little different to the others in that you put your own wood grain into the 'Wood- ' layers, and then  add  the overlay layers to add the details. Depending on the colour of the wood, you may need to change the layer type.
5. I've added a couple of embellishments because I wanted to create a bit of a stencilled look (I was using these for church wallpapers) Feel free to use them or not as you choose.
6. The overlays, if you swap them back to normal, are the actual Maxis/EA elements.

I've converted them to PSD, Could someone confirm that they're ok? Thanks.

Download includes all 3 templates - in either PSP or PSD format.

Download PSD Templates
Download PSP Templates
Logged

SpaceDoll
sweet, sweet lamination
Gloom Cookie
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 165


« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2013, 08:22:58 AM »

Thank you for sharing, Celebkiriedhel! I've actually never made exterior walls, so these are going to be fun to play with.
Also, thanks for mentioning the pattern stretching. Here is a separate psd I use to de-smush my patterns. It's simply a blank image at 256 x 768 with a guide at 512 pixels. I find it easier to resize my pattern in a separate file, then drag the resized image into the wall factory. Just fill the image, then drag the top of the pattern down to the guide line, without constraining proportions. It smushes it down, so that when the game stretches it out, it is desmushed.  Big Grin
« Last Edit: February 13, 2013, 11:31:17 AM by SpaceDoll » Logged

I've massacred my manicure,
(am I poisoned flesh?)
And made a mess
(a sweet caress)
of morning light to midnight.
celebkiriedhel
Gutter Punk
**
Offline Offline

Posts: 59



WWW
« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2013, 08:35:25 AM »

Oo thanks for that! That sounds like a great idea!
You're welcome with the templates - I look forward to seeing you play with them!

I think decent looking exteriors really make a building and Maxis/EA while they have some good ideas, have lousy colour-sense.

I'm kind of addicted to making siding at the moment.  I've got a template I can't share - but I'm going to make a template that I can share for this one as well.

I don't know whether we want to talk about how to make templates? Or making trims? I'd be very interested in hearing how others make their trims (esp. Shastakiss as I've looked through hers and just love them!)
Logged

shastakiss
Overseer
Macabre Miscreant
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 3443



WWW
« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2013, 09:01:54 AM »

A Tip - You may or may not be aware, that the in-game wallpaper is actually 256x778, even though it is stored as a 256x512. What that means is that it elongates the pattern. Generally this doesn't matter at all, except when you're doing tiles because the tiles tend to squash from squares to rectangles.

The simplest way to deal with this is to make your tiled wall at 256x778, and then shrink it back to 256x512 before you put it into homecrafter.

AAAH! This is the information I've been needing my whole entire life, from babyhood on! I thought some polka dot walls I made were looking like polka ovals in game AND THIS IS WHY! Thank you - best monthly tutorial challenge EVER. I was on a mac for years and got so frustrated by all the walls that didn't show because they weren't 256x512, so I immediately denied the possibility there was anything good about 778.

I am kissing you like Pepe Le Pew! mwah mwah mwah

I am going to dive into the templates that have been shared when I'm done with my blind date gifts, I'm very excited about all of this Cheesy
ST, your temporary absence from the community did make the heart grow fonder but your return made the heart go woohoo?!? Those are hilarious.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5 Next   Go Up
Print
 
Jump to: