Strangetown: Ripp's new hair. I did it myself!

[strangetomato]

Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions to my hair mesh problem, and particularly those who gave me a nudge to open up Bodyshop and give it a whirl myself. music_simbol suggested this mesh, which was more or less the same basic shape as the Maxis ponytail, but about half as long. Then she insisted that switching up the textures would be super easy to do, and it really was! Recolouring isn't hard, especially when it is a basic cut and paste job like this one was (and changing the hue would be easy too, I imagine). I could do that again, no problem. Thanks, Music Simbol! You rock.

Want to see how it looks?

Ripp: Yessir! Looks about the same from the front, but how about the back?




Ripp: Yeah, that's more like it. Still slightly longer than it would be, but pretty darn close. (And it's longer than a fucking dork knob, thankyouverymuch!)




Ripp: Damn, I look good. Oh yeah... and the hair looks pretty fucking sweet too. If, you know, I actually wanted to tidy up for some reason. Pffft. Whatever.




As you can see, the mesh isn't perfect (some of the animation is a little wonky too - revealing other oddities), but I can easily work around that when taking the photos. I'm so pleased that this worked out.

But why would Ripp want or need to put his hair up? Hmmm... Is he trying to give off a good impression? But why?

The answer will be revealed in the next chapter.

Comments

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

Hee Hee! Those pics are so funny!

Nice job on the hair. I think it looks very nice. I'm still deadly afraid of creating my own custom content (it looks so difficult in the tutorials, and I'm not exactly a pro at Photoshop), but I'm so glad you were able to edit it yourself ^__^.

I did ask at a forum but sadly, I got no reply. I guess Maxis requests don't interest a large part of the Sims community *shrugs*

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

The primp interaction always amuses me, and it's so Ripp-like.

The mesh was basically an identical shape, so I just copied the Maxis one and pasted it over the altered mesh. That's all. And I was afraid that it would be hard. It just proves that we're all a lot more capable than we give ourselves credit for, most of the time.

Seriously, this is so easy to do. I can tell by your icon that you have more Photoshop skills than I do. You should try it! I'll bet you could make some great content.

That's what I expected. Those who prefer Maxis content or Maxis-match stuff seem to be in the minority, for sure. Especially with hair. But now that I know that recolouring is pretty easy, I may have to start churning out some more recolours. There are a number of great Maxis meshes that need more colour options, like that really nice strappy, striped A-line dress from H&M stuff. It's great, but few people have recoloured it. I could use that in some extra colours.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I smell an audition coming up. Yay! Glad you were able to come up with something that works.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. Maybe. Or... maybe not. But that is certainly one reason he'd want to do this.

Hooray for DIY!

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

Great job! :)
By any chance, does it involve the play that they've been talking about?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It might involve the play, eventually, but it's something else first.

[music-simbol.livejournal.com]

Hell, that was quick. I just got the comment that you were gonna try it. And I just wrote a detailed instruction. Oh well, as long as it worked.

And yeah, recoloring isn't that hard. I've been able to do it in the basic sense, mostly with clothes. For a shoot I did, I needed black and white clothes, so I recolored about ten outfits. It's not that hard, and it's worth playing around with.

Ripp actually trying to make a good impression? Did hell freeze over?! And yo Ripp, how about a SHAVE?! If you're going to go thru the trouble of of finding a scrunchie for your hair, a quick shave won't kill ya!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Sorry that you wrote out the instructions for nothing. I know I didn't sound very confident when I wrote that. Heheh.

It was super easy. It should be easy to adjust colours in Photoshop (or in my case, GIMP). Thanks for the nudge to do this. I'll have to try some clothes and maybe some other stuff too.

*snort* Do you think I would reveal the entire makeover ahead of time? Where's the fun in that? He does get a shave, and he dresses up nice too. (I know - crazy!) He has a good reason for wanting to make a good impression. It's for something that he feels is very important, and you'll see why.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Oh, and LOL at Ripp using a scrunchie!

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

Aw yeah! That mesh is so much closer than the ones I was looking at the other day. And you just used the texture from the long ponytail? Sweet! It looks great.

I'm looking forward to your future adventures in recoloring, too. :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's quite passable, isn't it? I'm so happy that Music Simbol located that mesh, since it's nearly a perfect edit of the long ponytail.

I'll definitely try my hand at making some clothing recolours, since there are a number of Maxis meshes that I use a lot and would like more options for them. maybe I'll even look into sharing them if they turn out okay.

Oh, and I'm going to be showing off your shaving cream in the next chapter too! :D

[franwi.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! I still love his scraggly-hair look, but this is nice. Hm, it does make him look a bit more presentable, though, doesn't it? And what will Gunnar have to say about it? Is there room for 2 ponytails in the band? XD

And I'm so glad to see a sims post on my FList that isn't about some Free Time problem/bug, lol. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I like the long hair on him too, and this isn't permanent, but it's nice for a change.

*snicker* I can't see Ripp wearing it this way with his band, and I'm sure the LAST thing he wants is to look like Gunnar.

I feel your pain. Everything is about Free Time, which I won't even have until all the bugs are worked out.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Pretty cute, eh? Wait 'til you see the full effect.

[muslemura.livejournal.com]

Looking good! The hair I mean...um, yeah...

As for the occasion for the clean up: I can't think too much about it, I'll just become too impatient and curious *smile*

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Careful... don't feed the ego. ;)

Well, you'll find out before too long, I hope. I'm going to try to keep the next chapter pared down to a reasonable length.

[silentsteel.livejournal.com]

Hey there Blue Eyes! Nice to see you don't have a dork knob! *giggles* :D

And the ponytail looks great! :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Isn't he cute? ;)

Thanks. It looks just like I wanted it to, and it will serve the purpose for the story, so mission accomplished!

[saunasims.livejournal.com]

I'm late to the Ripp-ogling (cold, blaaaaah), but I'm applauding with everyone else! Very nice work!
And whiny Ripp with the shaving cream on cracks me right up. XD

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Ripp doesn't mind if you're late. Just keep ogling. ;)

Thanks. I'm very encouraged by how easy it was to just make what I wanted for this.

And the poor baby had to get a shave! *snicker* See how he reacts to the cruel storyteller?

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Nice work.

Do you upload your re-colors, etc, on any of the download sites?

J and Z will get a kick out of the makeover. Unless J was the one behind it. They are trying to get somewhere with their band (that's my guess). (though he could be trying to "grow up" his look a bit in an attempt to shake his skeeve reputation and catch the eye of miss wallflower--and sex starved--Ophelia).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. This is the first time I've ever attempted to make anything, but I would like to do some recolour sets, and maybe upload them to MTS2 or something like that. I've always been interested in downloading Maxis recolours, so I'm probably not alone.

Do you have any meshes that you think would be good candidates for that? Some of the university meshes come to mind. Worthington's outfit is a one of a kind, and that would be nice in other colours.

That's a good guess about why Ripp is doing this, but it's not exactly right. It is something quite similar. J and Z would probably get a kick out of it, though (wait 'til you see what he's wearing).

And the second part... well, maybe that will be a nice bonus of getting dressed up. (And "sex-starved" Ophelia made me laugh a bit - now I'm thinking "sex-crazed". *snicker* It's always the quiet ones...)

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

You did a great job on this! :D I have no skillz whatsoever for that stuff, but I think it looks really good! :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. This really didn't require all that much skill, though, believe me. It's pretty easy to do!