Does anyone know what software is out there that you can make your own sims skins etc? I know there is one and I have been searching but I can't find the name of any of them. thanks--Essie

Attached Link: http://www.milkshape3d.com

Milkshape is one modeler that can export in SKN, Sims format.

Attached Link: http://www.simprograms.com

Best place to look is www.simprograms.com... they've got links or downloads for pretty much everything as far as tools for The Sims.

Oh man... make sure you've got a good pop-up blocker though, apparently they've added some nasty crap to their site... Haven't been there in a while, it used to be an excellent site. Too bad.

thanks for the warning Warlokk :O) I have a pretty good pop up blocker, at least I think. Oh well I guess I'll put it to the test now lol thanks for the links all.--Essie

Attached Link: http://www.thesimsresource.com

Try the attached link. This place has everything, including base skins that you can use to make your own and links to a LOT of other Sims sites on the net.

Oops, forgot to say, the software you're probably looking for is Art Studio (which you can get at the above site - requires membership)

There is no actual program that makes skins for you, you have to do it yourself in an art program like Photoshop. In Milkshape you can make and alter meshes. I make sims skins and meshes, i have been doing this for quite sometime. So if you need any advice please feel free to ask. I recently made my own Sims body, which took AGES! Its alot smoother than a normal mesh... also for fun and too see if i could do it, i made this head (see pic) Hmmm now where have i seen her before.... Believe me the head took an age, i pulled the mesh apart, remapped it and reshaped it... its now only 200k!! -SimderZ- xXx *before you all say anything, the head mesh is purely for fun and personal use, just to see if i could do it!!*

btw... Art Studio just makes pictures, for hanging in ur sims houses, and not that great ones at that!! ;)

lol thanks Simsderella. the woman you've posted is very nicely done! Beatiful work!

If I'm not mistaken JimBurton made some Sims meshes, you might want to ask him about programs and such

thanks all!

Attached Link: Simfreaks

I warn you it is addicting. I am doing heads for Simfreaks and it is not that different than Poser really. I just did some body skins to go with my Mr. and Mrs. Clause heads and this is what I can tell ya. Things you need: 1)MilkSHape 2)PaintProgram 3)UV Mapper(Uvmapper.com) You need a template like you would for poser stuff so you need Milshape to open the skn file. Once you have you have to export it as an obj file. Once you have the obj file open it in UV mapper and save a square template. Skins are 256by256 bmp format. Have fun, Anton aka Simcraft Simderella, Cute cute figure. Beautiful detail. Love the hair. hehe

awwww thanks! Anton.. Yep its is very addictive, i've been involved in the sims community for about 3 years now, bought my own sims site a year ago, totally gave up on freesites, the bandwidth prob. I saw ur new heads over at Sim Freaks, very kewl!! Meshing is lots of fun, but very fiddley work. Milkshape can be a little limiting, but its a great program non-the-less.. I use photoshop 7 mainly to make my skins. I usually work on 512x512 skins to start with, the shrink them. It does make drawing the detail (i'm a stickler for detail) alot easier. Basically if you just want to make some 'skins' thats what we call 'textures' you will need some base nudes and a paint program, If you want to also make meshes or alter existing ones which you have permission to alter or add to, then you may need uvmapper, i use milkshapes texture mapper, its not that great but you get used to it. I have been using milkshape for about 2 or so years now. Also, its a good idea to get involved with the Sims forums, over at The Sims resource, they are a good bunch of people and can offer lots of help. There a Skinning forum over there, full of people of varying levels of skill and experience. Good Luck & as we say 'Happy Simming!!' -SimderZ- xXx

Ever since I first visited Simderella's magnificent website about the Sims some months ago, I have been crazy to get the game. But...is it really true that you cannot use it with Win 2K? And, if so...what about XP? Ok...I am braced to hear the worst. Shoot. ;-) Kimberly

Your new character looks amazing, Simderella. Worlds beyond what I have seen in Sims screenshots.

Sparrowheart, no. That's EA's "we don't officially support this" junk. Works fine. I just hope if you get it that you stick to it longer. I can only stomach the game for about 2 or 3 days (admittedly, it's 2 or 3 days of feverish, almost non-stop playing) before I'm bored of it. Very repetetive, unfortunately, but a hell of a good time until you reach the breaking point. On a side note, for those of you hating popups on the various sites, consider getting mozilla (or phoenix) (mozilla.org). Great free browser, far, far fewer security holes/problems than IE, built-in popup blocking, etc. I love it! And if you've never used tabbed browsing, you don't know what you're missing. :)

Oooooh! Thank you, Whoopdat! rubbing hands together

Attached Link: http://www.poserpros.com/store/viewitem.php?selitem=1309&start=0&selcat=0&selsub=0

As has been mentioned, I built and sell a set of original figures for the Sims, you can take a gander at it per the link. Mine aren't converted Maxis mesh, incidently, it is all original. What did I use? Max to do the modeling, I wouldn't want to actually model in Milkshape, but you will need that for file conversion and assigning parts if you model in another program. You also will need SimBlender, plus (probably) Sim Pose for doing pics, you can find them at the various Sim's sites. Plus you will need some good programs to paint the textures, Seamer did an excellent job onthat part on the set we sell. With the Sims, good textures are excedingly important.

Anton, Simderella:

It might interest you both to know that Ultimate Unwrap3D (and the older freeware version, LithUnwrap) have Sims skin support; they can directly read the files. The new one even supports bones and animation.

Cool Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.