Milkshape 3D Tour for the Sims

Why use SKN2OBJ if the new Milkshape can handle .skn files now? Isn't that a bit redundant? I don't agree.

True MS3D can handle .skn files. But have you noticed the odd positions it puts the body and head into? It's a nightmare to work with scaling out arms for beefy sims and sometimes it's easier to mesh the head when it's not looking up at the sky. I use them both. Sometimes you cant always finish a painting with just one kind of brush, you know?

SKN2OBJ is a great program that is a must have for all meshers that don't want to use Bodywarp. What it does, is convert a .skn file, like a head, body, hat, glasses, or whatever into 3 new workable files: an .spj file, .mat file, and an .obj file. The .obj is the file that you can edit in a 3D program like Milkshape 3D or 3D Studio Max, if you've got the big bucks for that one. Once you've edited the file, you can convert it back into .skn format as well, making a new mesh.

This is what it looks like when you bring it up. I'm going to show you how to convert a mesh into the project files. Then I'll show you how to convert them all back, bodies, heads, remade heads, and acessories.

I'm going to convert the C001fa head. You can get it out of the game files or out of SimShow, whichever has the mesh you want. I'm going to snag it out of Simshow, so I go up to "File" and select "open". Then I use the explorer box to locate the .skn file I want to convert. It tells you it's processing the files.

Then I go back into "File" and save it in a folder I made for whatever I'm going to mesh out of this. It's easier to find this way. I can name it whatever I want, it doesn't really matter. I'm just going to call it "Mercedes" since that was the name of it in the first place, and make sure it saveds it as an .SPJ file. And then you can see the files you end up with here:

From here you can fire up your 3D program and edit away. You don't need SKN2OBJ anymore for now.

Converting Bodies and Basic Heads (No add-ons for the heads)

Once you are ready to convert a body or a basic head back, this is what you do. I'll use a body for this one since I used a head earlier.

Open up SKN2OBJ again. Locate the project files. I alterred the female bwar body, so that is what I will locate. Make sure all 3 files are there, with the same file name, such as "body" because this is what the program needs to put it back together bug-free. The explorer box is only going to look for the .spj file, though.

Now, when you save it, you need to have a filename for it. This is the part where you can make a female body into a male body, a male head into a female head. Since their skeletal structure is the same, it's interchangeable. I'm just going to leave it as a female, though. The file name will be "x-skin-bXXXXXXXX_XXX-PELVIS-BODY" You can use any 3 numbers you like, any body type any gender and any file name. The only things that will be the same are the "x-skin" parts and the "PELVIS-BODY" parts.

This is what I did.

I saved it here as the xskin- b580fafit_minnie-PELVIS-BODY.

From this point, the .skn file is now done. It only needs a .cmx file for it. Continue on to the next page to learn how to do acessories.