- install Blender 4.2 in the recommended location or on the d drive;
- in s4s settings change the Blender path to blender.exe in Blender 4.2 installation folder specifically;
- in s4s main menu, with Create CAS standalone selected, click on CAS;
- filter the catalog by Male and Clothing body, choose one swimsuit, click Next, name it something, save somewhere;
- open this blend file in 4.2, switch to the orthographic (NUM5) front (NUM1) view;
- double-click on s4studio_mesh_1 and rename it to Reference;
- if you were to toggle the eye icon next to it, you'd see that this item starts from the neck and ends at the ankles while your item contains the whole body, so you need to add the feet and the head to it. For this, expand the rig and toggle the eye icon next to head and head_2 to see which one is the mouth cavity and which is the real head, it differs from frame to frame. Click on Filter and enable the cursor, then toggle the cursor icon next to the real head and feet to make them selectale;
- select the feet, Ctrl-select the head, in 3d view press Shift D to duplicate, then Esc to confirm;
- in this order: select feet.001, then Ctrl-select head.001, then Reference, in 3d view press Ctrl J to join;
- import or append your mesh;
- in the outliner select untitled, in 3d view change the pivot to 3d cursor, press S, and resize the whole thing until it matches ts4 body. Switch to the side view (NUM3), press G, move forward until shoulders somewhat match;
- as you see, the pose does not quite match, so here comes the worst part of this process. Unfortunately, the rig is set up in a way that you cant really adjust it symmetrically using
the traditional method.
The fix that exists for this issue does not seem to work either, so I suppose you have to do twice the amount of work;
- so expand the rig and click on Pose. Change the pivot back to Median point, enable X-ray, select one hip bone, press R, align it with the leg. Do the same with the other side;
- switch to the top view (NUM7), align arms on both sides. In the front view do that further. To make hands smaller you can select the hand bone and press S;
- once you have everything finally aligned, select one object under untitled, Ctrl-select another, join them with Ctrl J;
- apply the Armature modifier;
- in 3d view press Alt P, choose Clear parent;
- RMB-click on untitled and choose Delete;
- select your object, rename the uv map to uv_0;
- delete all vertex groups;
- select uv_0, select everything with A, in the uv editor assign
this template as the background. You will see all uvs stretch, so bring them back to the original size with S Y 0.5;
- deselect everything with Alt A;
- In the Material tab choose the hair material and click on Select;
- in the uv editor press S 0.5 and put it in the space meant for hair;
- select the head material, shrink it with S Y 0.5, put in the head space;
- put the outfit in the bottom part of the image;
- with all uvs selected, UV - Export uv layout, change Fill opacity to 1. Later you can use this image to create a diffuse map;
- now you can finally transfer all data. Select your item, add Data transfer, choose Reference as Source, set the rest as explained below, Limit total;
How to make an item move and morph by transferring weights, uv_1 and vertex paint
Transfer weights, uv_1 and vertex paint with Data transfer. The result may not always be perfect, but it is best to solve problems as they come:
- Unhide the reference. It must be visible* ( eye icon ) and selectable* ( cursor icon );
- Select your hair;
- In Modifiers tab add Data transfer modifier;
- Choose Reference as Source object;
- Enable Vertex data and expand it;
- Enable Vertex groups*;
- In Mapping choose Nearest face interpolated;
- Enable and expand Face corner data;
- Enable Colors*;
- Shift*-click to enable UVs as well;
- In Mapping choose Nearest face interpolated;
- Expand UVs, choose uv_1 in Layer selection ( don't forget, otherwise uv_0 will be overwritten as well);
- Click on Generate data layers*;
- Apply the modifier;
- In Data tab expand UV maps. Double-click on UVmap, rename it to uv_0;
- If uv_1 appeared, it most likely transferred successfully;
- Expand Color attributes. If you see color0, it transferred;
- Expand Vertex groups. If you see names of vertex groups, they most likely transferred successfully. However, there is one ( or two ) more thing(s) you need to do;
- If you're using Blender 2.76 - 2.79, 3.6.1, switch to Edit mode, select everything with A, Mesh - Weights - Clean with Subset set to All groups to fix the result of a bug that exists in these versions;
- Regardless of your version of Blender, in Edit mode, with everything still selected, do Mesh - Weights - Limit total.
* Data will not transfer if you will forget to do these steps!!! | |
- the head is affected by many bones responsible for moving and morphing. Your mesh does not need them because it is covered with a mask, so you can delete them. Selecting the whole head and the face, assigning it to the head bone. Select everything with A, Mesh - Weights - Normalize all. This will delete all other bones in that area;
- give your item cut 0, delete the reference, save;
- in s4s main menu click on CAS, in the search bar type in Noctis, clone this outfit, import your blend;
- use the exported uv layout to combine your diffuse maps, then import it;
- make other maps blank;
- find a maxis item that hides the head and the shoes, copy what is its Excludepartflags, paste in your package;
- test in-game;
- make lod.