14/8/2015 Fantasyrogue'sSimStuffMyDenimTutorial

Ontothetutorialpromisedinthewelcomepost.Ioriginallypostedthisthinginlate2004(omgthatwasalongtime
ago)onsomewebspaceprovidedwithmyparent'soldisp.Isubsequentlyforgotallaboutit.Comethisyearmy
parentschangedispsandIwasstillmerrilyforgettingaboutthatoldtutorialwhenIrealizedithadbeentakendown
(logically)whileIwasrecoveringotherolddatafromtheconnectedemailaccount.IrecoveredasmuchasIcould
throughthewondersofcachedinternet(sinceIlostmostofthefilesinaharddriveformatsometimethesepastfew
years)andbrieflyconsideredrehostingitwhenIfiguredthatnobodywouldbeinterestedinatutorialthisold.That
wasuntilsomesimmersmanagedtotrackmedownandaskmeaboutthisoldthing.Sinceitseemssomepeopleare
stillinterested,I'vegonebackandredonethepicturesthatweremissingandamnowputtingthisthingonhere.
Enjoy!

Fantasyrogue'sDenimTutorial
So,you'vegainedsomeskinningexperience,youmadeafewpantsorshirtsandnowyou'vedecidedyou'dliketo
createsomethingwithadenimeffect.Well,thistutorialisheretohelpyoucreatemorerealisticdenimeffectsfor
yourclothing.

Forthepurposesofthistutorial,I'llbecreatingadenimjeansjacketforteens.Ifyouwishtofollowthistutorial,
exportthepinkteenjacketshowninthepicturebelow.

Well,firstthingsfirst.IwishtocreatearegulardenimjacketthatmatchesthejeansIhavealreadymade(slightly
visibleintheabovepicture).Thismeansthisjacketisthewrongcolour.So,I'llstartbycreatingablankbluecanvas
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formetouse.Iuseablankcanvasinsteadofsimplyrecolouringthejacketbecauseitgivesmemorecontrolover
theclothes,Icanchangethebuttons,seamsandpocketseasierwhenstartingfromscratch.Openthealphafile
(that'stheimagefilethat'sonlyinblackandwhite),selectallandchoose"copy".Nowopenyourtexturefileand,on
anewlayer,pastethealphayoucopiedonthisimage.

Nowusethemagicwandselectiontooltoselectallthewhiteofthealphafile.Createanewlayerontopofthealpha
layerandfillyourselectionwithanicecolourofblue.Theresultshouldlooksomethinglikethis:

Well,let'sseehowthatlooksonourSim,shallwe?Solet'sflattenallthelayersandsavethisasabmp.Aftersaving,
makesureyouundoyourlastaction(flatteningthelayers),sothatwecancontinueonthelayeredimageinbit.Ok,
solookingatitinthe"LoadSavedProject"screen,itlookslikethis:

Hm.Well,itlooksratherflat.Andnoticehowtheshirtunderneaththejacketisalsoblue?We'llhavetochangethat.
Youmayalsonoticelittlebuttonshapedbumpsandirregularlitiesonyourskin(thisdependsonyourvideocard),

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that'stheeffectofthebumpmap,we'llgetaroundtochangingthatlater.Firstweneedtodotwothings,addshading
andchangethatshirt.So,usingourhandyerasertool,we'llerasetheshirtpartfromourbluelayer.

Noticehowyoucannowseepartoftheblackandwhitealphalayer,creatingawhiteshirt.Laterwe'llchangethe
colouroftheshirtandwe'llshadethat,butfirstlet'sgetthejackettolookright.We'llneedtoshadeitnowtomakeit
lookmorerealistic.Let'saddshadowsfirst,forthatwe'lltakealarge(aboutsize100)feathered(that'sthebrush
typewiththesoftedges)burnbrush,settoabout20%exposure.OccasionallycheckingtheoriginalMaxisshirt
(whichisonthebottomlayer,youcanmaketheotherlayersinvisiblebyclickingthelittleeyenexttothelayer)can
helptodeterminewhichpartsneedshadows,ifyou'renotsurewhatpartstoshade.Usingadodgebrushofthesame
size,typeandopacity,wecanaddhighlights,furtherenhancingthelook.

Well,thatcertainlylooksbetter,althoughImustadmit,myshadingisatadsloppyinthisimage.That'sokthough,
becausewe'renotfinishedyet.Noticealsohowtheshirtisnowwhite,becausewedeletedthatpartfromtheblue
layer.Withtheshading,thejacketlooksbetteralready,butstillratherflat.Whatweneednowarefolds.Now,this
willbecomeadenimjacket,anddenimisaverythickfabricwhichdoesn'tfoldthatheavily,sowedon'twantto
overdothefolding.Ifyou'renotsurehowafabricfolds,it'salwaysagoodideatolookupphotographsofclothes
madefromthatparticularfabric.Becausewedon'twanttooheavyfolding,we'llchangetheburnanddodgetool
settingstoanexposureof5%,andwe'llchangethesizetoaround27.Now,usingtheburntoolfirst,we'llstart
addingfolds(Again,youcanusetheMaxisjackettogetanideaoftheflowofthefolds,oryoucanstudysome
photographsofjeansjacketsandstudythefoldingonthose).

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Well,nowthatwe'vemappedoutthefoldsonthejacket,weshouldhighlightthemtomakethemactuallylooklike
folds.Sotakingthedodgebrush,wecarefullyaddhighlightsjustabovetheshadowsofthefolds.

Muchbetter.Thejacketiscomingalongnicely.Butbeforewecontinue,let'stouchitupjustatad.FirstIwantto
smoothenthefoldssomewhat,tomakethingslookatadmorenatural,andmakethefoldsblendinbetter.Takingthe
smudgetoolsetatasizeslightlybiggerthenthefoldsare(say,35),settoalowstrengthofabout20%(wewantto
blendthings,notchangetheshapecompletely),we'llcarefullybrushoverthefolds,goingwiththeflowofthefolds,
doingourbesttosmoothenoutthesmallinperfectionswecomeacross.Afterthatweneedtotackleanotherthing,
youmayhavenoticedthatthecolourdoesn'tblendnicelyeverywhereonthejacket,mostlyintransitionareas,such
asfromthesleevestotheback.

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Icouldusethestamptooltomakethetransitionbetter,butbecauseIwantasmoothtransitionandI'mnot*that*
muchofaclonestamptoolwiz,I'llusedodgeandburn.Havingthemonalowexposuresettingandwithalargesize
(100),we'lljustcarefullyverylightlydarkenandlightenpartsthatcurrentlyaren'tmakingasmoothtransition,trying
togettheminasomewhatsimilartone.

Thatlooksmuchbetter,doesn'tit?Timetomoveontothenextstep,addingdetail.

Nojacketorotherpieceofclothingiscompletewithoutsomeseams,buttonsandotherdetails,andthisiswhatwe'll
beaddingnext.First,we'llcreateanewlayerontopofalltheothers,thisissothatwhenwemessupsomedetails,
wecanalwaysremoveorchangethemeasilywithoutaffectingtheshadingandfoldsoftheunderlyinglayer.We'll
takeasmallbrush(size3)setto100%flow.Forthecolour,we'lltakeadarkerbluefortheseams,justdarkenough
tobarelyshowuponthedarkershadedbitsandabrownishcolourforthebuttons.Thenit'stimetostartdrawing(if
youreallydon'tknowwheretoplaceseamsandbuttons,lookuprealexamplesofdenimjackets,oryoucanmake
thealphalayerandblueshadedlayerinvisible,andusetheMaxisjacketasatemplate).

Thatdoesn'tlooklikemuch,doesit?Terriblyflatandunrealistic,butthat'sokfornow.Weneedthistoknowwhereto
putthefurtherdetailsinshadingandhighlighting,andwe'lltouchupthebuttonslater.First,it'stimetogettoworkon
thedenimeffect(yesyes,finally.YouprobablythoughtI'dnevergettothis).It'sreallyrelativelysimple.Whatyou
needisadenimtexture,ifyoudoasearchontheinternetfor"freetextures",yourboundtocomeacrosssome
denimtextures(Makeabsolutelysurethey'refreethough.Youcouldalsotakeadigitalcameraandmakeyourown
textureimages,justtakeareallyreallycloseupphotographofafabric,sothatyoucanreallyseethetexture
clearly).ForthistutorialI'llbeusingatexturefromMayang'sFreeTexturesite(here,[FR'snote:atthetimeofthis
repostthissiteappearstobedowntemporarily]),thetexturecanbefoundinthe"finefabrics"sectionandisnamed
"denimcloth".Aftersavingthistexturetoyourcomputer,openitwithyourpaintprogram.

Now,asyoucanseeit's(slightly)coloured,andmuchtoolarge.So,firstlet'sdesaturateitsoit'singreyscales.This
doesn'tmaketoomuchdifferencewiththisparticulartexture,butgenerallyit'sagoodideatogetridofcolour
informationbeforeapplyingthetexture.Nowwehavetoresizeit,sooursimsdon'tlooklikethey'rewearingdenim
clotheswovenbygiants.Let'sresizethistexturefiletoabout25%ofit'soriginalsize(400x300).Now,selectthe
entiretexture,hitcopy,andthenpasteit(ifitdoesn'tautomaticallypasteonanewlayer,makesureyoucreatea
newlayerbeforeyoustartpasting).You'llneedtopasteitseveraltimestocovertheentirejacket.Now,ifyou
haven'talreadygotalltexturepartsononelayer,mergeallthetexturelayerstogethersowehaveonelayer.Now,
setthislayer'smodeto"softlight"(whenworkingwithothertextures,experimentwiththedifferentlayermodes,
sometimesadifferentmodecanhaveatotallydifferentandmuchbettereffect.Inthiscasehowever,softlightworks
reallywell).

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Thatmakesalotofdifference,doesn'tit?We'renotdoneyetthough.Changetheactivelayertothe
shaded/highlightedbluelayer.Usingtheearlierdrawnseams,we'renowgoingtocreatemoredenimlikefabric
edgesandseams.Zoominniceandclose,soyoucanseewhatyou'redoing(notsoclosethatyou'relookata
terriblypixellatedimagethough)andtakeasmall(size5),stronger(30%exposure)feathereddodgebrush.And
carefullystartaddingspotsofhighlightingattheseamsandclothesedgesinanalternatingpattern(highlightno
highlighthighlightetc).Forlighterseams,justaddahighlightedlinenexttotheseam.Youmaywanttomakethe
denimtexturelayerinvisiblewhileworkingonthishighlighting.

Nextwe'lltakeasmallburnbrush(alsosize5,30%exposure)andwe'lladdshadingtotheunhighlightedpartsofthe
seams(inbetweenthehighlighteddots).We'llalsoshadeunderneaththebuttonsandattheedgesofraisedparts.
Andwe'lladdthebuttonholesandsmallfolds.

Theaboveimageshowswhatwe'vejustdone.Asyoucansee,shadinghasbeenaddedtotheseams.I'vealso
shadedthepocketssotheylookraised.I'veaddedbuttonholesandIaddedsomeshadingonthepocketitself,and
underneaththebutton.Withallthisshading,thejacketisreallylookinggood.Buttheshirtunderneathlooksrather
simpleanddoesn'treallymatch.Sowe'lltacklethatnext.

First,we'llhavetoerasepartofthedenimlayersothatthewhiteshirtpartdoesnotgetadenimpattern(unless
that'swhatyouwant,butforthepurposesofthistutorial,we'lljusterasethat).Well,we'lluseanewlayerforthe
shirt,solet'smakeanewlayerunderneath(yes,underneath)theblueshadedlayer.Now,I'mjustgoingtobeboring
andcreateawhiteshirt.Wait,Ihearyousay,theshirtisalreadywhite!Yes,it'swhite,butit'sfartoowhite,youcan't
properlyhighlight/shadeapurewhitesurface.Inreallife,typicallyanythingthat's"white"isn'treallywhiteatallbut
shadesofcreamsandgreys(thesameprinciplebutinreversegoesforblack).

So,onournewlayerwe'lltakeareallylightcreamcolour,andcolourintheshirtpartofthejacket.Ahandytipis
usingthemagicwandtooltoselectthealphafile,justlikewedidinthebeginningofthistutorial,andthenmovingto
thenewlayerandcolouringin,thiswayyou'llstaywithinthealphaarea.It'snotnecessary,butithelpskeepthings
tidyandclear.

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Nowwe'llneedtoshadeandhighlightthisshirt,soitdoesn'tlooksoflatcomparedtothejacket.We'llusethesame
methodaswedidinthebeginning,usinglargefeathereddodgeandburnbrushestoaddsomeshadingtotheshirt,
thebrushesdon'tneedtobequitesolargeasbeforethough,sincewe'reonlyshadingasmallbit.

Hmmm.Idon'tknowaboutthiscolour,it'sratheryellowish.Let'stakealargefeatheredbrushsettoabout5%flow
andpaintsomelightgreyovertheshirt.

Ok,muchbetter.We'realmostfinishednow,justsomefinalsmalltouches.Onthedenimtexturelayer,we'llneedto

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erasethebitswherebuttonsare,sotheydon'thaveadenimtexture.Also,we'regoingtohighlightunderneaththe
buttonsontheblueshadedlayer.Youmaybewonderingwhy,sincewecan'tseethat,butthat'llbecomeclearina
bit.

Done?Good,nextstep

[Fantasyrogue'snote:OriginallytherewasaparagraphhereexplaininghowtomakeanormalmapusingNvidia's
tools.However,thingshavechangedinthepastfewyearsandsimclothestendtousegreyscalebumpmapsthese
days.ThereisanexcellenttiptorialbyHystericalParoxysmherethatexplainsallyouneedtoknowaboutbumpmaps.
TobrieflygooverwhatIdidforthisjacketuponhavingtoredothispart.Ihidtheseamsandbuttonslayer(after
savingthefile,ofcourse!)anderasedtheshirtpart(soit'sallblack).Flattenedtheimageandremovedallcolour
information.Pushedupthebrightnessandloweredthecontrastthensaveditasmybumpmapfile(thegreyscale
image).It'sratherquickanddirty,butitworksforthepurposesofthistutorial.]

We'realmostthere,justateensybitmore.Gobackafewstepsinyourpaintprogramuntilyou'rebackinyour
normallayeredimage(orjustclosethefileandopenthelayeredfileyousavedearlier).Makesurethebuttonand
seamslayerisvisibleagain.Allweneedtodonowisshadethebuttonsabit,makethemlookabitmorerealistic.

Alright!Done.Nowwe'llflattenthewholeimage(savetheimageasalayeredfilefirst,ifyouwanttogobacktoit
later)andwe'llsaveitasthetexturefileinbmp(makesureyouselect"saveas"ifyou'restillworkinginthesame
fileaswhenyoumadethenormalmap,wedon'twanttoaccidentilyoverwritethenormalmap).Thenallthat'sleftis
importingthejacketintoBodyShopandwe'vegotourselvesajeansjacketforyourteengirlstouse!

Nowgopatyourselfontheback,you'veearnedit(especiallysinceyou'vereadthisentiretutorial,wootforyou!).

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