P.S. Arica, I finally downloaded your simself and tested it out, sims do indeed seem to be extra blurry when photographed fully. I never noticed this before, probably because most of my photos of humans are either a portrait or a bust or a snap from head to waist. The blurry photo still looks good when zoomed out though.
I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for doing that, Jools!
I have recommended this thread to my entire Request Team and also to everyone I know. It just keeps getting better and better and I will definitely see if I can try that new trick with the Fog Emitter codes to see if I can get insects to be still for me. THANK YOU!!!
I have used your ideas and they led me to new ideas of my own and I have some photographs I am really anxious to use in my builds.
I was thinking I might make a lot and put the photos in it as a gallery so that anyone who wished to use them could have a Sim go in and load up the inventory with all the photos.
Some of my favorites are using CAP patterns and photographing them. I made a poster of my Walt Simney World Fabulous Fairyland lot using this method. So now my lots can have a souvenir poster from their Sim's visit to the amusement park I made. So fun!
Zoo, I'd love to see your photos, feel free to post some screenies here, I'm sure they're wonderful! I've been super busy this week but I'm hoping to add one or two more methods this weekend.
Silhouette art already exists on some wall decor in the game if you have Supernatural, but this is a nifty trick to being able to create your own.
You'll have to decide what to use as your silhouette beforehand, it can be anything from an object, to a pet, to single sim doing a crazy club dance, a mother tossing a toddler into the air or a sim couple kissing.
For my main example I'll be snapping a sim couple slow-dancing.
I have prepared my wallpaper backdrop and chose sims - the only things that matter on your sims (if you're using sims) is anything on them that makes a silhouette: their facial features, the shape of their clothing, the hair. Colours do not matter at all, but be sure to choose the kind of clothing that has all channels recolourable, or atleast the ones that aren't recolourable be black or a dark colour.
You want to get rid of any lighting in the room and only have a few invisible lights illuminating the wallpaper. Fetch the invisible lights from BuyDebug menu. ("TestingCheatsEnabled on"->"BuyDebug", Misc. section) I'm using the horizontal lights as opposed to the ceiling ones.
Now, chances are even with no light directed at your sims, they are still relatively lit-up with all of their features visible. This is where we "turn" our sims into silhouettes. Power up the "TestingCheatsEnabled on" cheat if you haven't already and shift+click on your sim(s) and choose "Edit in CAS". Make their skin black (grey colour slider to the max) and also make their clothing black all over and if their hair is a light colour make it black as well. If your female sim had bright or light-coloured makeup on, remove that or make it black.
I've decided to spice things up a little for my photo and left certain elements red - the rose in the lady's hair, her dress and the flames on the male's clothing.
Don't worry if you see tiny things that are still not black - buttons on clothing, slight light reflection on the skin, the whites of the eyes. Photographs are always a little bit darker once they're taken, so those elements should be dark enough on the actual photograph.
Don't feel like snapping sims dancing? How about good old Victorian profiles?
Or a dancing sim?
In terms of objects and furniture, the darkness of the room normally makes them dark enough so you shouldn't even have to change the colours of the object (unless they're crisp white). This also enables you to photograph objects that aren't really recolourable, such as these potted palms:
I just came across this thread by chance and i must say you are very talented. I might give photography a go. I wasn't too sure about it when i tried to take a few pictures in World Adventures but this has given me some inspiration.
I just came across this thread by chance and i must say you are very talented. I might give photography a go. I wasn't too sure about it when i tried to take a few pictures in World Adventures but this has given me some inspiration.
Glad you're enjoyed it. I've had WA for a long time before I touched the camera and at first I didn't enjoy it much, but then gradually learned to appreciate it.
I'm sure you've noticed neat little graphics on sims' speech and thought bubbles. Why not photograph them?
You will obviously need a sim or two in your household to do this, unless you fancy stalking random sims on the streets. Make sure you're not using the "HideHeadlineEffects on" cheat for this method. Have your sims chat, or daydream on the bed, basically do anything that would produce a speech bubble.
The lighting, wallpaper or floor really doesn't matter with this method, you'll be solely focusing on what's inside the speech bubble.
Various traits and likes will enable you to get a wide range of different bubbles.
As soon as you see a speech bubble you'd like to snap, grab your camera and press pause ("P") as soon as your camera interface window loaded, otherwise you might miss it.
Utilize "Z" and "X" when photographing the bubbles for a more sensitive and gradual way of zooming in and out, to capture the image close enough so the bubble borders aren't visible, yet far away enough so it's less pixelated as possible.
Here's Kathryn enthusing Dara about...garlic..? (She's a Supernatural Skeptic)
The images may look a little bit too pixelated when zoomed into the bubbles, but they don't look as bad on actual photographs.
You could photograph thought bubbles too, but they seem to decrease in size the more you zoom into them, making it impossible to capture the image only without the borders.
If you still want to photograph thought bubbles, be sure to have the background a solid colour, white probably looks the best. Also if your sim has big hair, it might block the thought bubble.
This thread just keeps getting better and better! Have you thought any more about a Zoo U course? In my current course I have quoted your thread and given students the link.
We built a walk-out basement structure and a basement garage structure and I was explaining to students why MY version was going to be an art museum and gallery.
Here is a peek at the inside of my gallery (which I am still working on).
Hey Zoo, I skimmed through some of your course threads but I'm not still entirely sure how it works or how it would work with me.
I understand that I prepare a step by step learning plan and then stay online for 2 hours to answer any questions and see how people are doing, or do I unveil the step by step in those 2 hours? Also, given the nature of my thread, how would I do it, choose a specific method I haven't yet covered?
Hey Zoo, I skimmed through some of your course threads but I'm not still entirely sure how it works or how it would work with me.
I understand that I prepare a step by step learning plan and then stay online for 2 hours to answer any questions and see how people are doing, or do I unveil the step by step in those 2 hours? Also, given the nature of my thread, how would I do it, choose a specific method I haven't yet covered?
You can do it any way you want, but generally when it is my own class I like to show examples AND have students create a specific project that I make a step-by-step guide for.
So, if I were you, I would start by showing some of your (amazing) examples of your work, then I would give students some step-by-step directions for creating some particular photographs or sets of photographs. When I do it, I got to the thread about a half hour before class starts and reserve as many posts in the class thread as you think you might need for your entire lesson. Then I post my lesson (I do it all at once, but some guest professors do some steps and then wait as students are working on those and then post more).
After my entire lesson is posted it is generally class time and I stick around to answer questions while the class is in session (generally two hours). It is USUALLY pretty quiet during the lesson (unless something is really tricky or confusing, then I get questions).
Finally, if I were you, I would give students the link for this thread and assign them to read it for homework and maybe even have them do a specific set of photographs as homework.
Arica directed me here and I'm glad she did, just wow!
Jools this is all amazing and I would have never have thought of the things you have done! You're really creative and I'll definitely be putting these tutorials to good use
:shock: WOW! Just... WOW! I love randomly finding awesome stuff like this thread! I've learned a ton of good ideas from here and I haven't even read the whole thread yet. I am bookmarking this thread immediately!
If you don't mind, I have an add-on to one of the suggestions you gave:
"MoviemakerCheatsEnabled on" - allows you to loop animations for your sims. (Shift+click a sim, choose "Animation" and then choose any category/animation your heart desires)
If you don't mind cc and you have cmomoney's pose player (and any number of pose packs that abound), you could use that to pose your sims vice the moviemaker cheat. And if you have the Pose Player Add-on from Misyukisu, that would extend the capability even further.
(You may have already mentioned this somewhere in your thread, and if I'm repeating stuff... sorry!)
Joolster, your photographs are just amazing!! I bookmarked this thread Thank you for the tips!
btw Joolster, did you know it is really easy to get your sim to level 10 of photography by using the MultiTab6000? Each level takes only 2 hours or so to learn.
A while back I made photographs of autumn trees and other objects in the garden. For some I´d soom in really close to make pictures of the leaves. Here are some of the pictures:
I took this before looking at your thread, but I just wanted to share it as seasons in game can make for some really interesting photos with colour! (As you've pointed out!)
I've always loved the photography skill and have some nice panaramic(sp) shots from China, France and Egypt but who knew that random, mundane stuff could produce such beautiful pictures. Thank you so much for your amazing ideas.
Bookmarking this thread!
In my house, dog hair sticks to everything but the dog.
Comments
I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for doing that, Jools!
I have used your ideas and they led me to new ideas of my own and I have some photographs I am really anxious to use in my builds.
I was thinking I might make a lot and put the photos in it as a gallery so that anyone who wished to use them could have a Sim go in and load up the inventory with all the photos.
Some of my favorites are using CAP patterns and photographing them. I made a poster of my Walt Simney World Fabulous Fairyland lot using this method. So now my lots can have a souvenir poster from their Sim's visit to the amusement park I made. So fun!
Silhouette art already exists on some wall decor in the game if you have Supernatural, but this is a nifty trick to being able to create your own.
You'll have to decide what to use as your silhouette beforehand, it can be anything from an object, to a pet, to single sim doing a crazy club dance, a mother tossing a toddler into the air or a sim couple kissing.
For my main example I'll be snapping a sim couple slow-dancing.
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img11/6528/screenshot51m.jpg "width=640" "height=480"[/img]
I have prepared my wallpaper backdrop and chose sims - the only things that matter on your sims (if you're using sims) is anything on them that makes a silhouette: their facial features, the shape of their clothing, the hair. Colours do not matter at all, but be sure to choose the kind of clothing that has all channels recolourable, or atleast the ones that aren't recolourable be black or a dark colour.
You want to get rid of any lighting in the room and only have a few invisible lights illuminating the wallpaper. Fetch the invisible lights from BuyDebug menu. ("TestingCheatsEnabled on"->"BuyDebug", Misc. section) I'm using the horizontal lights as opposed to the ceiling ones.
Now, chances are even with no light directed at your sims, they are still relatively lit-up with all of their features visible. This is where we "turn" our sims into silhouettes. Power up the "TestingCheatsEnabled on" cheat if you haven't already and shift+click on your sim(s) and choose "Edit in CAS". Make their skin black (grey colour slider to the max) and also make their clothing black all over and if their hair is a light colour make it black as well. If your female sim had bright or light-coloured makeup on, remove that or make it black.
I've decided to spice things up a little for my photo and left certain elements red - the rose in the lady's hair, her dress and the flames on the male's clothing.
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img217/5593/screenshot52y.jpg "width=640" "height=480"[/img]
Don't worry if you see tiny things that are still not black - buttons on clothing, slight light reflection on the skin, the whites of the eyes. Photographs are always a little bit darker once they're taken, so those elements should be dark enough on the actual photograph.
Don't feel like snapping sims dancing? How about good old Victorian profiles?
Or a dancing sim?
In terms of objects and furniture, the darkness of the room normally makes them dark enough so you shouldn't even have to change the colours of the object (unless they're crisp white). This also enables you to photograph objects that aren't really recolourable, such as these potted palms:
~
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img546/766/screenshot56t.jpg "width=640" "height=480"[/img]
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img607/2157/screenshot57x.jpg "width=640" "height=480"[/img]
Glad you're enjoyed it. I've had WA for a long time before I touched the camera and at first I didn't enjoy it much, but then gradually learned to appreciate it.
I've only ever done a sunset series to decorate an island home.
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
I love the photography skill, I think it may even be my favourite, and you've given me some wonderful ideas, thank you
*Bookmarked*
I'm sure you've noticed neat little graphics on sims' speech and thought bubbles. Why not photograph them?
You will obviously need a sim or two in your household to do this, unless you fancy stalking random sims on the streets. Make sure you're not using the "HideHeadlineEffects on" cheat for this method. Have your sims chat, or daydream on the bed, basically do anything that would produce a speech bubble.
The lighting, wallpaper or floor really doesn't matter with this method, you'll be solely focusing on what's inside the speech bubble.
Various traits and likes will enable you to get a wide range of different bubbles.
As soon as you see a speech bubble you'd like to snap, grab your camera and press pause ("P") as soon as your camera interface window loaded, otherwise you might miss it.
Utilize "Z" and "X" when photographing the bubbles for a more sensitive and gradual way of zooming in and out, to capture the image close enough so the bubble borders aren't visible, yet far away enough so it's less pixelated as possible.
Here's Kathryn enthusing Dara about...garlic..?
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img266/4340/screenshot7ct.jpg "width=640" "height=480"[/img]
And here's Dara enthusing Kathryn about cats. Who doesn't love cats? Kathryn looks like she doesn't.
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img842/2159/screenshot27sl.jpg "width=640" "height=480"[/img]
The images may look a little bit too pixelated when zoomed into the bubbles, but they don't look as bad on actual photographs.
You could photograph thought bubbles too, but they seem to decrease in size the more you zoom into them, making it impossible to capture the image only without the borders.
If you still want to photograph thought bubbles, be sure to have the background a solid colour, white probably looks the best. Also if your sim has big hair, it might block the thought bubble.
~
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img801/426/screenshot28l.jpg "width=640" "height=480"[/img]
We built a walk-out basement structure and a basement garage structure and I was explaining to students why MY version was going to be an art museum and gallery.
Here is a peek at the inside of my gallery (which I am still working on).
I understand that I prepare a step by step learning plan and then stay online for 2 hours to answer any questions and see how people are doing, or do I unveil the step by step in those 2 hours? Also, given the nature of my thread, how would I do it, choose a specific method I haven't yet covered?
You can do it any way you want, but generally when it is my own class I like to show examples AND have students create a specific project that I make a step-by-step guide for.
So, if I were you, I would start by showing some of your (amazing) examples of your work, then I would give students some step-by-step directions for creating some particular photographs or sets of photographs. When I do it, I got to the thread about a half hour before class starts and reserve as many posts in the class thread as you think you might need for your entire lesson. Then I post my lesson (I do it all at once, but some guest professors do some steps and then wait as students are working on those and then post more).
After my entire lesson is posted it is generally class time and I stick around to answer questions while the class is in session (generally two hours). It is USUALLY pretty quiet during the lesson (unless something is really tricky or confusing, then I get questions).
Finally, if I were you, I would give students the link for this thread and assign them to read it for homework and maybe even have them do a specific set of photographs as homework.
Jools this is all amazing and I would have never have thought of the things you have done! You're really creative and I'll definitely be putting these tutorials to good use
Thanks!
If you don't mind, I have an add-on to one of the suggestions you gave:
If you don't mind cc and you have cmomoney's pose player (and any number of pose packs that abound), you could use that to pose your sims vice the moviemaker cheat. And if you have the Pose Player Add-on from Misyukisu, that would extend the capability even further.
(You may have already mentioned this somewhere in your thread, and if I'm repeating stuff... sorry!)
btw Joolster, did you know it is really easy to get your sim to level 10 of photography by using the MultiTab6000? Each level takes only 2 hours or so to learn.
A while back I made photographs of autumn trees and other objects in the garden. For some I´d soom in really close to make pictures of the leaves. Here are some of the pictures:
Showcase | NSBC story
I hope you don't mind me sharing ^-^
Bookmarking this thread!