Master Class Part 6: SimPose 2 for beginners!

Due to a large amount of requests i decided to make a wide jump and release the Workshop Series about SimPose 2 much earlier than planned.

This is a part of the “MXM Master Class of Sims Art” but instead of telling you about in-game techniques in Part 2 (though i have very interesting things to say) i quickly move over to Part 6 and describe how i work with SimPose 2…

How to set up SimPose for The Sims 2

I noticed that somebody wrote “how to set up Simpose for the Sims 2″ into the google search and found mxm-studios.com. That’s great and i hope you’re still here and find what you were looking for.

Only the search request is a little bit incorrect: You don’t have to set up SimPose for the Sims – you have to set up the Sims for SimPose!

Really, that’s the first thing you must understand…

SimPose 2 is outdated, confusing and not intuitive

Okay, SimPose is a nice program, it’s very helpful and can do lots for us. We have to thank the author for all the time and efford he spend with the development of SimPose 2.

But SimPose 2 is pretty much unfinished.

I could write down a very long list of criticism, because working with SimPose can be really really annoying! But such a list would be boring and useless.

Also, the author don’t seem to be interested in his program anymore, the current version is 2 years old already.

Don’t waste time, just accept what you got

Just let us accept reality and take SimPose 2 as is. We don’t have anything else and in fact, SimPose 2 works well – as long as you stay calm and understand a few things.

You know, i just jumped across many chapters of the MXM Master Class Workshop… So let’s slow down and think about what SimPose is and what you can do with it.

What is SimPose 2 and what can i do with it?

SimPose/SimPose 2 is a stand-alone program that you can download for free on the SimPose 2 Website.

You will find some very basic descriptions on that website as well. It’s always a good idea to read the authors own words. Please do so.

And please don’t confuse SimPose 2 with the former SimPose-ium which was made for the first sims game. You need SimPose 2.

What you can do with SimPose 2:

• You can import (up to 4) Sims figures and pose them.
• It is possible to create all kind of poses, even… you know.
• You can use dressed or undressed sims.
• You can change the face impression of a sims.
• You can also import sims objects.
• You can import a background picture as well.
• There’s a great lighting option that really can pimp up the poses.
• You do this all to create sexy screenshots/photos of the Sims.

What are you going to learn here?

Like i’ve written above you need to set up the game (its files) for SimPose. For that you need to know some about Meshes, Skins, SimPe and Milkshape.

That’s the reason i was about to release some more chapters of the workshop before it came to SimPose. Anyway, there are lots of other workshops about Meshing and Skinning and all that…

I will try to give you as much hints as possible. For now you’re going to learn:

1. Preparing Simpose (simple)
2. Importing a Sims Figure (extremely complex)
3. Creating a nice pose (complex)

SimPose alone does not make a good picture!

You can decide if you want to shoot a photo like everybody does, which is very simple (in 99% of the cases i know).

Or if you want to compose a great picture in the mxm-style, which is very complex but worth it.

I will tell you everything about it in another part of the MXM Master Class because there’s much to say.

For now let’s close her and look forward to the next post, coming soon:

How to prepare SimPose 2