Hello, I'm very new to meshing. I've been trying to learn how to do S4 conversions. I managed to convert my 1st S4 to S3 Shirt.. I was very happy with it except once testing in game, there's a small gap between the upper body and lower. I'm not sure how far I would have to go back into my project to try and fix it. I have all s3 body part references including full body. I used upper body oc. But it looks like it doesn't want to fit on the in game lower body properly.

I attached images:

Does the seam disappear at any point if you change the weight of the sim with the fat slider? It looks a bit like the shirt doesn't have morphs.

I’ll check that for the weight slider. These are the steps I took in the mesh toolkit. I imported the hlod, mlod and llod. Used the af athletic jacket for bones and morph reference. Did the bones first and then the morphs for each lod. When exporting the final mesh from blender do you need the body template with it? I did try a full body too and deleted the lower and head but it still showed up the same in game.

Edit: exactly right no morph. I must be doing something wrong in the mesh tool

You only need to include the body parts that belong to the garment (arms and torso with a top, legs with a skirt, ankles with shoes and so on).

If you're using TSRW, you can make the morphs all at once by exporting as .wso and using the 'Auto Tools for WSO' tab in MeshToolKit. Then import back into TSRW- there is a slider at the bottom of the preview to check the results.
If you made .geom morphs like I described for hairs, those are slightly different and need to be added to the final .package in the Package Tools section.

Just one thing in here. Don't use EA full body swimsuits as bones or morphs for tops and bottoms. There are slight differences that can cause a visible waist seam, even if the top or bottom does morph.

And an FYI, MTK can add geom morphs to the base mesh and convert to TSRW .wso format.

I made separate files of bones for each level of detail with meshkit and then did the exact same but for morphs. It is morphing now in TSRW thank god, thank you! But in game there is still a very faint line on the right side only.

I did use a different reference this time, not sure if that matters but yes only for top.

Okay thank you. I'm not educated enough to know about geom morphs yet, still so very new. I actually can't remember if I used a full body template but I'm thinking I should import a different top body template if I can find one and try again. I did get it to morph now so that's a huge relief but there is still a very faint seam line on the right side in game.

I don't see the seam you mention in the last pic? I recently went thru this waist seam issue, and it turned out to be the reference mesh that I used. In TSRW, I use the af or tf buttons skirt when checking tops because I know the seams in that are good for comparing a new top mesh to, and it has skin at the waist seam. For bottoms, I always use the EA nude feet to check ankle seams, and the EP5 flannel shirt, again, because it has a bare midriff, and easy for checking seams.

Faint seams can be caused by many things. Did you make a new normals map and specular map? Common for beginners to miss those... I did!

I attached the reference I used and an image of the seam in tsrw. It's very faint but noticeable in game. I did try another reference as well but same thing. I also re did the whole project. I'll have to try the flannel shirt for a reference to see. I really love how the mesh itself turned out but that seam bugs the hell out of me. I wonder if it's the TS4 mesh itself because its a mid nude and perhaps not a good one to start with when new.

I did use new normals map, that's the grey box image? and yes also the specular map. I imported both for hlod and mlod as well as the specular for the textures

If you attach the package, I can take a look at it. So many different things can cause seams, it'd probably be easier to check than give you half a dozen suggestions

Okay, really appreciate it. I've been ready to give up on this one tbh and start a new one with hopefully a better mesh from TS4. This mesh is a bit baggy, I did read somewhere that if the original mesh is baggy then choose a baggy reference but can't find anything. I couldn't find the flannel reference that was suggested. Also something about TS4 converting to TS3 with bare mid sections can be an issue too but I didn't understand all the techy talk.

Edit: Also I did notice on this one I deleted a vert under the right sleeve on the arm as well a tiny bit of transparency on the mesh in one spot. I didn't notice

I see the seam in the new pics. That still looks like a bone/ morph seam. Even though it's not swimwear, you can use the L1, 2 and 3 .wsos from bikini tie top for both bones and morphs (no pregnant morph). Or, nude top, has pregnant morph. Always use the matching reference, example, EA L1 to your L1, etc. Just watch that fabric overhang to be sure it doesn't get swallowed. MTK projects the bones and estimates morphs using the reference.

As for TSRW textures... In the mesh tab, where you import/ export .wsos... click below the box with vertices/ face count. 3 dots show. Click the dots and a new box opens. Click next to the texture, then click edit. Here, you would import the new normals map. When you do L2 and 3, that map will be in the next part. In L2, repeat the steps to get to the browse, export, import screen. This time, click browse. All of the textures that you have added so far are here. Just reuse them instead of importing again. Importing the same textures several times only bloats the package size.





Also take note that the diffuse and alpha are the same as the multipier. You only need to open the browse box and replace one of these textures, as TSRW automatically replaces the other with the same image.

If all else fails, then yes, upload what you have as @CardinalSims said.

You've done a really good job on the mesh itself, it all looks fine in that regard. Nothing seems to be unaligned or at fault there.

The seam is very subtle, but I do see it. MeshToolKit was able to fix it- I exported the highest mesh from your package, ran it through Auto Tools for GEOM > Seam Fixer, and Replace'd it back into the package. This fixes specifically seam issues from normals or bone assignments.
Minor flaws are to be expected whenever using auto-bones and auto-morphs, as they're only approximations there are limits.

Half of the process is learning and redoing, so don't worry too much if certain projects run you in circles. Every time I learn a new technique, I end up going back to everything I've finished and pulling them apart again...
It all helps you get more familiar with the tools.

oh wow nice! Okay tsm! how can I do what you did, what file do I export and can I use s3pe? I do have the seam fixer I think. it's a plugin for milkshake if I'm not mistaking? I could be wrong there. Yes I've working on this almost non stop but I've learned so much and I appreciate your help! I'm definitely becoming much more familiar with these tools

Edit: not milkshake I meant MTK

Okay I'll go through your instructions and I think I might have to start a new tsrw project to refresh because I think I definitely bloated. Tsm for this extensive info! I really admire the expertise and the creators like yourself that does these conversions. They're not easy, wow! I really hope I can fix this and learn, it's an exciting endeavor

Sorry for not elaborating!
Yes, the steps are just:

• Select the GEOM resource for LOD0 in S3PE and right click > Export.
• In MeshToolKit, the Auto Tools for GEOM section, there is a tab called Seam Fixer. Select the file that was just exported and click Match Seams.
• Select the same GEOM in S3PE and right click > Replace with the fixed file.

Milkshape is quite an old modding relic- a necessary evil when making objects, but entirely redundant for CAS items in this era. Which is good, because it's not very intuitive to use. Whenever it comes up in old tutorials, there are modern alternatives.

Thank you! I’m going to give this a try and report back. I remember milkshake coming up quite a bit years ago and I was always so interested in it but I wasn’t ready to learn about messing with meshes. But I see how old it is and I’m glad to know there’s alternatives. Once I get my ducks in a row and actually have a work flow I’ll be wanting to discover better programs. Tbh Blender is overwhelming me the most rn but Ik it takes time

I have a beginner friendly Blender tutorial that may help you become more familiar with the program. It's very powerful software that may become less intimidating if you know which features are relevant and which you can safely ignore

There will be more on specific subjects, they're just a bit time consuming to make...

Thank you so much for the blender tutorial, it looks like something I really need. I'll be sitting down with it soon. After I sent you the file to check I had made a new project and noticed this weird shadow on the arm in CAS but you can't see it in game. But with the file I sent you, there wasn't that shadow on the arm so I'll take that one and do what you instructed with MTK. I was wondering if it fixes the seam, how can I reopen the mesh in blender to fix the face that's missing on the arm? Would I just open the package file in tsrw and export the LOD0 as a obj? I was curious about the shadow arm in case it comes up again. For that particular file, I took it through the fix seam like you suggested and it fixed the waist but the shadow remains. Sorry if this is confusing. For the one that you fixed, I'm going to try and fix the seam and report back

CAS lighting can reveal some oddities, which as you noted aren't always a cause for concern because the world lighting isn't as advanced. Potentially the normal map? I noticed it's a pure grey in your package, which can cause weird mesh lighting.

If you have SmugTomato's GEOM plugin for Blender (hosted here on MTS), you can import .geom files that you've exported with S3PE.
.obj would also work, but the bones will have to be reassigned or perhaps converted to .wso? Not 100% sure, as I don't use TSRW.

I noticed that the one vertex face looks off in blender, this is the face I added after deleting it by mistake. It looks like this is exactly where the shadow starts in CAS on the arm. This must be the issue and I've been trying to figure out how to fix it. I haven't read your blender guide as of yet. Everything else with this mesh is looking fine now except that one thing.

Edit: I managed to fix the vertex face an the shadow but after re doing the LOD's the seam is back, sooo idk
I appreciate your help. I will have to live with the shadow for now I guess until I learn enough about all this and study your blender guide. I need to walk away from this one though tbh because it's been days and my head hurts

It would probably be the simpler to delete the arm and replace it than to add faces back to it.
Brand new geometry, even a single face, needs additional steps like UV unwrapping and such. It looks strange because the vector normals (a different thing from the normal map) aren't connected to the rest yet and need to be reset. Not necessarily difficult steps, but unnecessary when the original mesh is available.

Make sure to reassign bones and remake the morphs after modifying the mesh, as well.

Okay tsm I just seen this after I edited my last reply.. I'll try that as well. maybe that's why the seam break came back. Hopefully I can get this right and thanks again for all your help as well as @LadySmoks

If either of the things that can cause the seam (normals and bones) were modified since it was fixed, it's not unusual that it would reappear. Run it through Seam Fixer again as your last step and it should patch it up as before

Repeating steps can get a bit dizzying, but that's the nature of delicately connected parts. Knock one domino over, gotta reset them all :p

It’s definitely not something anyone can learn overnight. For this being my first attempt I can’t count now how many times I’ve had to re do things lol! I did manage to convert another mesh with less issues but now I get how important it is to take care of the seams. Vertex alignments on the body edges. Getting the right plug ins.

I’ve been wanting to learn this stuff for years though so I’m actually happy with what I’ve learned so far.