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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 2nd Mar 2016 at 10:57 PM
Default ZBrush--Can it be used to mod the Sims?
My question is simple, can the program ZBrush be used to make mods for TS4? (For those who care, I'm thinking about taking a course on ZBrush at my university and I'm wondering if such knowledge would be useful in making mods for the Sims, which I have not tried before but have been intending to learn how to do.)

Thanks.
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Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#2 Old 3rd Mar 2016 at 12:04 AM
Depends on which file formats it can export/import. If it can deal with .obj for example, it should be OK since that's commonly used for creating TS4 CC. If it exports anything else that blender or Milkshape can import/export you could also use those for conversion.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Mad Poster
#3 Old 3rd Mar 2016 at 10:35 AM
I took a look at their site and I see that Zbrush exports/imports .fbx format, which both Milkshape and Blender can import/export, so you should be good to go on that side of things. You will need to use either Milkshape or Blender to get your item into the game, because you need plugins which will export your .fbx file to TS4 format, and only Blender and Milkshape have those plugins AFAIK. Blender is free, Milkshape is not but it is cheap ($35).

The one concern you could have, though, is that from what I see of the example models depicted on their site, they look very high-poly as is usually the case with those more high-end 3D modelling programs. For instance, in TS4 an average fullbody outfit would be about 4200-4500 polys, an average object would be about 600-1000 polys, whereas the pics of example models on the Zbrush site look like they're in the tens of thousands, which would crash TS4 or cause it to run badly. You'll need to extract and examine a few TS4 meshes to get an idea of what the typical TS4 poly count is for the kind of items you want to create, and bear that in mind when you create your items. Good luck!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#4 Old 3rd Mar 2016 at 9:41 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Esmeralda
I took a look at their site and I see that Zbrush exports/imports .fbx format, which both Milkshape and Blender can import/export, so you should be good to go on that side of things. You will need to use either Milkshape or Blender to get your item into the game, because you need plugins which will export your .fbx file to TS4 format, and only Blender and Milkshape have those plugins AFAIK. Blender is free, Milkshape is not but it is cheap ($35).

The one concern you could have, though, is that from what I see of the example models depicted on their site, they look very high-poly as is usually the case with those more high-end 3D modelling programs. For instance, in TS4 an average fullbody outfit would be about 4200-4500 polys, an average object would be about 600-1000 polys, whereas the pics of example models on the Zbrush site look like they're in the tens of thousands, which would crash TS4 or cause it to run badly. You'll need to extract and examine a few TS4 meshes to get an idea of what the typical TS4 poly count is for the kind of items you want to create, and bear that in mind when you create your items. Good luck!


Thank you! I did download Blender a month or so ago, I haven't started using it yet though because I'm not exactly sure where to start. You're probably right, though, I can see how ZBrush mods would make TS4 crash if I wasn't careful. Plus, ZBrush is extremely expensive. I kind of wish I could buy a book on Blender, or take a class. But thanks for the info!
Field Researcher
#5 Old 3rd Mar 2016 at 10:55 PM
If you can bake your Zbrush project to a lower-poly model, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
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