Designing Bedding Double AND Single Mini-Tutorial

[tiggerypum]

All the beds in the Sims 2 share the same bedding. Maxis created the bedding designs to be made in pairs, with the design for both a single and a double bed included in one graphic. Not only are both beds on one graphic, the texture map has a section that is shared by both the single bed and the double bed. This can make designing new bedding that looks good on both a single and a double bed a bit challenging.

This mini-tutorial will show you several different ways to create bedding designs that will look nice on both single and double beds. The focus is designing your graphic, I will not cover making the recolor or using graphic tools.

If you have never made one before, there is a tutorial by Numenor that will help you get your bedding recolor started.

To start your recolor: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?p=848405

The bedding is stored in the Colonial Ironwood Bed, so follow the steps in the recoloring tutorial to find it, and then select only the bedding (not the frame) in order to make a new bedding.

If you're using an old version of simpe or simpe classic you can also follow RGile's step by step bedding tutorial (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=34399)

Once you have the bedding in a png file....

Next, you should go get a bedding template or two (I personally use both RGile's templates and Darter's template which is further down the same thread)
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=31640

Now look at the picture below, which uses RGile's templates. The left hand graphic is the bedding (which is a large flat graphic with spots for the comforter, sheets, and pillows)
The first important thing to notice is the BLUE part. The blue section of the graphic appears on both beds.

http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=116626

Whatever bedding you create, the right side of the bed will be identical on both the double and single bed. Because of this, you cannot simply put a huge graphic centered on the double bed and have it also centered on the single bed. The area that will show on the top of the single bed is marked above by the green box. There is a way to make a centered graphic, but we will start with a simpler design first.

The simplest design (aside from a small repeating pattern all over your bed) is to pick a graphic that has the important area of the design positioned on the right half of the bed. In all of the bedding I made, I created the double bed first, and then copied a specific part or parts of the double bed graphic onto the single bed's other half (red on RGile's template).

http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=116627

In this case, a picture is worth 1000 words, so here you go, eight bed designs with markings showing which part(s) were copied to the red area, complete with screenshots of the actual beds in game, so you can see the results. Click on them (below) to see the full sized images. Included are examples of how to make a centered design and other variations.

Note: My experience with the templates is that the right edge of the red area is 3-4 pixels off, and that you must shift your copied section to the left a few pixels to get things to line up perfectly - on some beddings this might not matter, but if you're doing face shots across that seam you might need to run a few tests to get things just right. If you look carefully at my beddings, you can see a narrow gap there on many of them.

I have also uploaded this text and all the example graphics in one zip file, so that you can save them to your computer and reference them any time you wish. Do NOT redistribute any of these as your own work, or repost them to other sites w/o my explicit permission. I have learned much here at mts2, and this is where I intend to keep this tutorial.

Thank you, and have lots of fun making bedding. I had fun making these examples for you :)

You can download the packaged bedding for your game at these locations

Ladybug and Rainbow: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=79342
LOTR: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=85268
Kids beddings: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=85267

Oh btw, I do use photoshop, and I keep the various parts of my beds on different layers; that makes it easy to adjust them if I go in to test and find things don't line up perfectly. Other programs that support layers are Paint Shop Pro and Gimp (free). You can create bedding with other graphics programs, including Paint, it might just require more patience with editing. To test your bed in the game and share screenshots, set your texture detail to high and learn how to use the camera to zoom in close (using the tab key, mouse and Q W and E keys) There's more information at Screenshots 101 (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?p=654025)

Good luck to you!

http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=116628
http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=116633
http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=116634
http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/getimage.php?file=116635




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Tutorials:Designing_Bedding_Double_AND_Single_Mini-Tutorial

[AlyssumCandy]

I was doing it all wrong this whole time! Thank you SO much!

[infamy]

Man! I need this yesterday for my blasted Daffodil (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=85204).

Nicely done, this will be greatly used and appreciated.

[Delenn]

Finally I can try to make beddings! Thanks A LOT!

[telynor]

Thanks so much for taking the time, this should get me started, I've been trying to figure out to recolor. Wonder if Maxis every realized what they started.

[julieb7803]

I've just started creating my own content and this makes my day! Thank you so much, I can hardly wait to start creating some fantastic bedding!

[achwub]

Hi there all
I'm new to all this creating stuff 4 the sims but have loads of ideas & would like to give it a go,.I've installed SimPe & all other progams but don't know how to use photoshop to change things on the objects.I've had a look at all the tutorials but can't find any on how to use the exported files from Simpe in photoshop. :sadpanda:
I've used potoshop for my art so I'm not new to it....................just can't figure out how to use it 4 the sims...........................can any1 help!!
Thanx
T

[tiggerypum]

First, as an overview - sims objects (and the sims themselves) consist of three things -

a 3-d shape (often called a MESH)
the TEXTURE to go on the shape (that's what you change to make new sheets for a bed, for instance)
the CODE for the object (which some people do change, but that's a whole 'nother topic)

For recoloring - you will be finding the TEXTURE file - which is just a flat graphic, sometimes broken into parts - that will be wrapped around the 3d shape once it's in the game. Like, here for the bed, there's the top spread, there's another spot for the sheet, another for the pillows. Clothing also has spots where everything goes, flattened out.

You need to actually *do* one of the tutorials, step by step - say Faylen's tutorial about how to recolor clothing, or the tutorial about the bedding (which is LINKED TO in the original message thread). You'll use either bodyshop or Simpe to extract the graphics files. But at any rate, when you follow the tutorial, you will get to a spot that tells you either to save a texture or where to find the texture. Bodyshop always saves it in a specific place for clothing (and the tutorial will tell you where). There's a specific line in RGile's bedding tutorial that says "Select Export... A Save File dialog appears. You can keep the default name that’s given to the image or choose your own name.... Save it anywhere that’s convenient to you, just know where you’re putting it and click Save." Well, that's the PNG file you need to edit with photoshop.

Then once you've made your edit, you import your changes back in (using simpe or bodyshop). Then you can view it in your game. The best way to learn is to take your time and start with a simple project - like the bedding recoloring project or Faylen's *first* tutorial and go through it step by step. As you do it, more and more understanding will come. If you get it to work but still feel a bit confused, try *another* tutorial that's marked for beginners.

Just to clarify: Recoloring means changing the colors/designs on an object or body, it does not change the *shape*. Changing the shape is also possible, but that is much harder. Start with recoloring - like making a new set of sheets for a bed or changing an outfit to have a different color shirt and pants. As it might not be obvious where the different parts of the flat graphic will end up on the 3-d shape, some people have made templates that are like a map to show where the different parts go - for example, this mini-tutorial uses RGile's template with all the parts marked in different bright colors to make it easier for you to know where on the graphic the pillows or sheet or spread is.

Good luck to you!
(and please try to avoid lots of L337, many find it hard to read)

[achwub]

I'd understood all the steps leading up to exporting the file ,I've done all that,it's once it's in photoshop...I don't understand how you split the double bed into 3 sections.......how to paste a picture onto the bed etc.....in order to copy it onto the small bed,anyway.....I'll keep looking round & trying.
Thanx
Tanya :moose:

[tiggerypum]

Sorry, the site didn't notify me of a reply to this thread :(
There is a template, did you follow the link for the pretty colorful templates? They are also just a graphic, but the differently colored areas are a map to show you what spots on your graphic will be what spots on the bed.

Put the part for the double bedding in the area shown for it, then use the rectangle selection tool to grab the part you think belongs on the single bed section (it's red in RGile's template) hit copy and then paste it and align it. That is the section that in each of the graphics I provide that I drew the box around and then put the arrow. You can see that the boxed area and the spot I'm pointing to are identical. Then save the graphic, import it with SimPe (as per the the tutorial again) and test it in game.

[XTS]

WOW, You are GOOD! :D
Thank You Very Much!!
xts

[makibird]

Thank you :D This tutorial is brilliant! Just what I needed.

[eesh]

I'm doing everything that you say, however my graphic is coming out skewed on the single bed in the game. I dont know what i'm doing wrong, I've edited it a million times using photoshop with different layers but the face is still not lining up. The image that i'm copying from the yellow portion to the blue is not meeting the image on the red portion when i test it out in the game. Maybe you can tell me if i need to adjust something so that they stay aligned cuz i'm out of ideas.

Here's a copy of my recolor, if anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx

[tiggerypum]

You're doing just fine, but the templates are not perfect. I guess I didn't specifically mention that. (fixed it now) Just nudge the part you're copying to the red area over towards the left a few pixels, and you'll be set.

[Mehrlicht]

Hi Tiggerypum,I just needed a tutorial for Bedding and I was frustrated because I thought that there was none.And suddenly...I discovered yours. I'll print it as a world document and learn it in depth.I am so happy that you made it.Thank you so much for your work!

[Living_Dead_Girl]

I was all pumped because I was making a Britney Spears bedroom for my friend and the mini bed came out all awkward. Good to know this (finally). When I redo my beddings, I'll have to reupload them so they come out better. Thanks for the tip!

[Alleykat]

Hi tiggerypum

Thanks for the tutorial, it's great :D, just one problem.... i have followed it to the letter and i still keep getting it wrong, the patterns on my single beds are always off centre, nothing ever looks right on them, i have even used the actual template as bedding just to see where everything goes, but when i try to put a picture or pattern onto it, it just goes wrong... any suggestions on how i can fix it?

thanks in advance :)

Alleykat :)

[tiggerypum]

Look carefully at the pictures -- you can't have something centered on both beds.
You can either center something small and distinct on the double bed (and not have it on the single bed at all) or you can position something *off center* on the double bed (see the GREEN BOX I outlined on the template) which will be centered on the single bed.

Maybe that's not what you're trying to do.... you could scale down your bedding by 50% and save it as a jpg (be sure NOT to save over your original work!!!) and then post it here (go advanced and use manage attachments) and I can have a look.

[Alleykat]

Hi Tiggerypum :)

These are the beds that i've done so far, as you can see from the screenshots, they're a bit messed up, i've tried to lay one picture/pattern just off centre on the double bed like you said, but it dosen't really look right on the double bed, i've even tried using the template underneath the main design as a guideline (only the opacity has been reduced just enough for me to see it) but they all just seam to overlap each other, it's been driving me nuts for a long time and your tutorial is the best one i've seen so far, i know i'm getting close to getting them done right, i just need one to work ok and i'll be happy!!

here's the screenshots... can you let me know where i'm going wrong please :)

[tiggerypum]

Let's see, I'll be as specific as I can.

First I'm not sure what you're using to make the top folded over part, but you will always need to copy the section from the LIGHT yellow part of the double bed over _on that section of your design_ for that to match up seamlessly.

The Maxis beds were not designed for 'pictures'. It's the bottom line - they were designed for repeating patterns and for being able to put a border around the outer edges, but not full 'photo' beds. So not every picture will work - they require editing and must be made to fit the layout.

Your Mickey is interesting (I can see you experimented with shrinking part of the design to try and make it fit) and that's pretty close. If you just copy the part from the light yellow part of the bed for the top border there, that will fix the one really visible seam you have.

On the Animal bed, you copied the dark yellow area instead of the light yellow area. That bed will work if you copy the light yellow area - like on legolas, like on the rainbow pattern.

On the castle pic (aside from the fact that you didn't copy the light yellow area accurately) you need to create the rest of the background for the double bed. See if you can grab that very edge of the background and stretch it until it's big enough. Maybe you could edit the little disney logo off that background and write 'Disney' on that area (like I did for Legolas)

For the princess in the pink dress... First, it looks like you had to stretch the design to cover the double bed... If I really wanted to use her, I'd edit the background totally away from her, and find some background that covers the double bed... and then put her in it towards the right side (looking from above)

Because you are using large photo-like designs, you must focus on that green box as the focal point of the design. You must copy the _light yellow_ area of the template. It's frustrating because we can't edit half of the single bed, but that's what we must do.

In order to have the dalmations show up, for instance, I had to do something creative to balance out the double bed, once I'd gotten the single bed right.

Sometimes if you find desktop backgrounds you can find something large enough to use. But even then 90+% of the designs will not be useable in this format. And some will require careful editing - on some (on my kids bedding page) I drew/created an extension of the background design to go around the edges or bottom of the bed (so that my characters could be totally on the top art of the bed, like for the purplish poogles) or like the thomas picture wasn't big enough - so I 'faded' the edges into the bed.

It's 100% the case that for a photobed to work (and many of these are kid scenes, so you want single beds) you need to pick a design that's off center - you might need to flip it to make the focal point be in the correct spot, you might need to slide it around and extend the backgrounds.

Or you might shrink/crop the pictures down like I did for my dora bed here: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=85267 and then it's a two part copy - I had the background/edge of the bed on one layer - and I had the pictures separately on another layer - so that I copied the 2nd half of those two pics to the single bed, and I also had the pink edge (you can download the bed and use simpe to extract the graphic and use it as a template if you want - matter of fact, if you can carefully edit your pictures and place them over mine, you could then color shift the bed (and give it new pillows and I'm fine with you using parts of my graphic)

It's tricky to get these bedding designs to work for both single and double. Many people were having problems doing it, which is why I created the tutorial.

[teaguevm]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I made my first bedding recolors yesterday - and I'm so excited!

Can't wait until I'm good enough to start sharing my recolors here so that I can give a little bit back. This site has been so great - nice to return the favor soon - I hope!

[teaguevm]

HELP! :)

I have been having a great time recoloring beds, cribs, changing tables, showers, etc. I have had pretty decent success and I'm learnig a lot.

On my last recolor, I had something strange happen and I'm not sure what went wrong. The material is a print and once I had the crib in the game, the material looked very different. It almost "sparkles" or "glitters" white in places. The changing table and bedding and wallpaper - from the same material - did not have that effect. I'd be more than happy to show anyone interested if you think you can help solve the riddle.

I even re-made the item, thinking I had made a mistake, and the same thing happened again.

Thanks in advance!

[IgnorantBliss]

teaguevm, sounds like your texture is getting pixellated upon import. Are you using the normal Import or the DDS Utilities? If you don't know about the DDS Utilities, Numenor's object recoloring tutorial (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=102356) has a link to where to get them and tells you how to use them :). Using them usually produces a better image quality.

[teaguevm]

Yes, I read his tutorial - which was excellent - and have followed that step by step. Everything else I have done has come out perfectly. Well - at least from the mechanics point of view. Still learning the fine points of design. ;)

Upon closer inspection, it is only the white specks in the material that are shining that way. The background is black - and there are several colored specks in the pattern. Does that help any? Is that something that others have problems with?

Thanks so much.

[tiggerypum]

Maybe the reflectivity in the crib is set a bit higher than for the changing table? Seems very odd - I assume you did do a recolor from the original maxis object.

Now generally speaking you shouldn't have pure black or pure white on anything in the game -- because both prevent the normal light reflection/shading to happen -- pure black can't have darker shadows and will look, and pure white does not do well in shading shadows or highlights -- light gray (for white) and dark gray (for black) are better choices.

We're getting a bit off topic from the _bedding_ tutorial that this is... so please post (and you can include an attachment if you wish) in the main area if you have further problems/questions :)

[amberandcarlos33]

I have no clue as to where to post this because every forum I go to has a closed "no new threads" listing at the bottom. There are so many forums on here it gets very confusing where to post things and finding out that you can't is really a bummer. So I thought I'd do it here. I found a program that creates bedding for you. You simply upload the image from the computer and it does the rest. (Well not exactly the rest) but it's pretty simple to use. Instead of having to go into a photo program this does that part of the work for you. Then you must save the image and upload it using simPE as you would normally. The only downside to this program is that you can't use an image for the sheets, only the recolor option. I like it. Here's the link: http://www.aussietopenders-sims2.com/Programs.htm There are quite a few other programs on here as well. It's called Lucas Easy Bedding Texture Creator

To the mods out there, sorry if this isn't where this belongs. I had no clue as to where to put it even after an extensive search. As I said it's confusing.

[rmschoon]

Okay, I'm having a bit of a problem. I just followed the tutorial, made the recolor and imported it. I placed the .pkg into my Downloads folder and it's not showing up.

When I open the file in SimPE it looks fine, the texture is exactly as I designed in my photo edit program, it's saving fine and the .pkg looks to be fine as well.

This is the only item I'm having issues with, I have the latest version of CEP and don't know what would cause the issue. Anyone have a suggestion? Thanks! :D

[IgnorantBliss]

amberandcarlos33, the main Object Creation & Texturing is free for everyone to post at :).

rmschoon, were you sure to check every bedding option in the game? Did you recolor the bedding for the Colonial Ironwood specifically?

[amberandcarlos33]

Thanks, IgnorantBliss. I just get a little confused from time to time as to where I go for help or to post about a certain subject. A lot of times the forums are closed and I can't find ones that are in my subject area where I can post my thoughts and questions. Thanks again.

[IgnorantBliss]

The tutorial forums are usually closed to posting new threads, but there is also usually a "root" forum for that area where anyone can post. There is a "postable" forum in all the Create subforums.

[rmschoon]

I went under "Colonial Ironwood" for the bedding recolors. I've tried all the double beds and nothing is showing up. Why I'm really confused is I have several other bed recolors (made by others) that show up just fine.

I'll check the singles and see if it's showing up there.

[tiggerypum]

amberandcarlos33, I've seen Lucas' program. It is very nice/helpful for what it does, but what I recall is that it can lose resolution if your monitor is not set above the 1024 that is needed for a bed, and still requires people to choose their textures carefully to have the focal point in the right spot, or things will just look wrong. It also does exactly *1* sort of retexture, and doesn't allow for the other creative layouts I teach here.

rmschoon, did you actually CLICK on all the little thumbnails? Because if you went in to test once, the thumbnail would have been generated with whatever color it had at that time, and it won't regenerate in your game -- the game is not designed for user-additions in terms of some of its behavior. The thumbnail will look fine in other games (or if you delete your game's thumbnails and have them all regenerate)

[rmschoon]

Okay, I've got a blank bed showing up (Maxis color I used as my base) so I'm going to delete it and go back through the tutorials again. I think I may have screwed up somewhere and I'll make sure to pay close attention to the steps.

I've chosen each double bed and all the Maxis standard singles and rotated through each of the beddings (via the swatch feature) and nothing. I know it's user error so now I need to figure out where. Thanks for all the help though. I really do appreciate it! :D

[WinkleSim]

Howdy, thanx for the tutorial tig, very cool. My little issue is that the file size of my bedding recolour is 3,419 kb. That's bad right? lol. This is about 10 times the size of anything else I have in my game and I have absolutely no idea what I've done. thanx :D

[simsgeo]

I made a skin, but if i look from some points I only see the basic skin

Can someone help me?

I'm dutch so my english is not very good :p

[IgnorantBliss]

simsgeo, do you mean that from some angles you still see the original Maxis texture? Did you remember to Update All Sizes (and then commit) when you imported the texture?

[simsgeo]

Ow thanks. I only update the biggest texture

[tiggerypum]

You really should use the Nvidia plugins and use DXT on your beddings, or you will lose detail and might well have your carefully aligned seams start to show.

[squall117]

This tutorial encouraged me to make some bedding right now, thanks a lot for this

[youcmecruzin13]

I do not understand how to put the bed recolor on! I got the template the orignal bed and the new colors i want up but i dont know how to put the new on the old! Ive done the recoloring objects and had no problem what so ever

[tiggerypum]

Check the tutorial part about making recolors. Specifically, you recolor the Colonial Ironwood bed and ONLY check the bedding (not the frame) to make your recolor file. Then you put the graphic (which is what this article is about, how to layout the graphic and have it work right) into the recolor, just like for any other.

[tiggerypum]

Uhm. That's off by more than a couple pixels. You need to do it like I show for the rainbow bedding - grabbing that middle section to move over for the other half of the single bed. Then if it looks ever so slightly off you might need to move it a few pixels.

[mininessie]

thanks for this wonderful tutorial!!

[Petchy]

Well Here's the problem and I hope you can find out the problem!
I had followed the great tutorial of your to the letter and had made a LOVELY bedding to match the sea themb in Family Fun Stuf.
The only problem was when I exported the texture into My documents it shoed up fine, and I edited it in *sigh* paint :cry: :lol:
When I came to Import the pic, it was ok too...
UNTIL when Ctrl + S it saved and everything but when I clicked on a icon (any oe inside the file) and then back again to the texture the beding was the same :cry: :cry: :cry:
So i thought the Computer was all hot and worked up. resterted it and began the same prosses agin (build DDS etc) following your tutorial and Numerators, but the problem was the SAME.
I put it into The sims 2 and it shoed up like the baceball beddding i worked on.
:cry: :cry: :cry:

[IgnorantBliss]

PETCHY14, I'm not completely sure I understand what your problem is. Do you mean that the texture of the bedding reverts back to the Maxis bedding you used as a base? Did you use Build DXT when you imported the texture? Which baseball bedding are you talking about? If you make more than one bedding recolor, you need to create a brand new recolor package with each one of them, you can't "recolor a recolor", meaning you can't just take your previous recolor package are replace the textures with new ones.

[Petchy]

No that doesn't help. Sorry! recoulour is the original maxis bedding ( the blue one with baceball bats, hats and Etc).
YES! i mean that the texture of the bedding I use reverts to the one i use as a bace
and Yes I used the Build DXT to import the bedding (I did EXACILY what Numerator explained to do in the tutorial. )
Maby the problem is something BEFORE the acual texture going away bit.
like when there are all those tick boxes, that might help me if They Wern't wrong!
hope this helps
Petchy14

[IgnorantBliss]

If you're doing exactly what Numenor says in his tutorial, it should work. You are using the latest SimPE, right? I can't really make any suggestions other than trying to attach one of those recolor packages to your post here and let someone take a look at it.

Edited to add: Are you sure you also remembered to Commit after importing the texture and before saving?

[Petchy]

Yes, I'm useing the latest Version of SimPE, It has pets (even thouh I don't have it!)
erm, I'll add my bedding and My pacage file so far, I HOPE you can fix it.
I'll try one again on annother pacage and Maby I'll work
Thanks for all your help So Far!
Eaven If Notings Going!
*a few muninits later*
BTW, its called:
PETCHY14'sProblem.zip
But the files inside are different.
and I tryed agin but nothing changed.
:(

[IgnorantBliss]

I'm not able to look at your package until tomorrow, but one more thing that comes to mind: If you're absolutely sure that you Committed after you imported the texture, what is the size (pixel dimensions) of the texture image you're trying to import? Is it the same size exactly as the original texture?

[Petchy]

Hirm, I may have to think about that one.
I belive its the same as I coppied and pasted my design onto it.
Last night i was thinking about it and It may not look so good after all, Because its a picture!
I've found annother immage that I would like to do, But until THIS one is done, I belive I can't do annymore!

[IgnorantBliss]

PETCHY14, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your recolor. I opened the package in SimPE, right-clicked on the texture image and chose Build DXT, then browsed to your texture file and clicked Build, then clicked Commit on the main screen, and saved the package. The texture stays the way it's supposed to, I can't see anything wrong with it. Make sure you're really doing all the steps and in the right order.

[Petchy]

Right, Ok, if It works on yours then It should work on mine too.
I'll have a Shoot at this agin. It SHOULD work now as you've had a go at it. Right?
:)
Thanks for helping me, and I'm realy sorry if I've wasted your time aswell as mine!

IT WORKED!
Thank you SOOOOOOOO much!!!
Its a real great feeling this!
My sims look so nice in the bed too!
:D :D :D :D :D :D
My single bed ARnt perfect, but I'll find a way for it to work!

[PenChris]

This is great. Thanks. I was wondering what I was doing wrong. :)
-Chris

[Ashen]

I have a question re single bed - can this line in the middle be dropped, that is visible during huge zooming - or is it as good as it gets? Thanks!

[tiggerypum]

That's not very visible.... but usually I can get a _seamless_ single bed. You do have to copy the texture from the center of the double bed, and then experiment, the templates appear to be a few pixels off, so try moving the single bed texture to the... (looking) left by 3-4 pixels and see if that improves it.

[Ashen]

Aha, I see ... now that may explain the tiny differences I've been experiencing all along! Wonderful, thanks a lot for the help, and even more for the brilliant tutorial!

[DaFoxyD]

FIXED!!!!!
apparently I used the wrong size template :rofl:

Hi, could some one please help me? :cry: I followed all of the guidelines, and I used the guys template for the bed. I saved as PNG, but, when I went to build the DXT, I hit Build, and it gives me the error "Unable to read beyond the end of stream"
Details
Message:
Unable to read beyond the end of the stream.

SimPE Version:
Default (0.60.2.20832).

Exception Stack:
System.IO.EndOfStreamException: Unable to read beyond the end of the stream.
at System.IO.__Error.EndOfFile()
at System.IO.BinaryReader.FillBuffer(Int32 numBytes)
at System.IO.BinaryReader.ReadUInt16()
at SimPe.Plugin.ImageLoader.DXT3Parser(Size parentsize, TxtrFormats format, Int32 imgsize, BinaryReader reader, Int32 wd, Int32 hg)

Source:
mscorlib

Execution Stack:
at System.IO.__Error.EndOfFile()
at System.IO.BinaryReader.FillBuffer(Int32 numBytes)
at System.IO.BinaryReader.ReadUInt16()
at SimPe.Plugin.ImageLoader.DXT3Parser(Size parentsize, TxtrFormats format, Int32 imgsize, BinaryReader reader, Int32 wd, Int32 hg)

.NET Version:
2.0.50727.42

I hit ok a couple of times and it goes away. I hit commit and saved. I went into the game to check it out, but as soon as I clicked on any bed, the game crashes. BUT if I just normal clicked on any bed, "not wanting different colors" it would work. :wtf: Can anyone please help? Send me a message if possible, THANKS!

[tiggerypum]

#1 delete your recolor file to fix the game crashes

#2 start over, make sure you have all the things you need for simpe install (there is a list of things you need). Make sure you installed the nvidia tools correctly.

#3 when you save your file, make sure you saved with the right format, don't tell it to save a png file and then name it 'bmp' or something

[DaFoxyD]

FIXED!!!!!
apparently I used the wrong size template :rofl:
I must have copied the template wrong in the first place :P

[Catfink]

hi there can anyone help me on this? I've made recolours of bedding but some seem to have "bolts" of colour that go all the way to the sky in my game and I don't know why.... grrrrr! Its happened with downloaded bedcovers as well as created ones, so I don't think its something I've done wrong while I've followed the tutorials (which have been brilliant many thanks to all the clever ones out there who want to help)... don't know what to do, any ideas anyone?

[tiggerypum]

Catfink, never heard of this (and I'm wondering if you somehow got a damaged object) Can you take a screenshot and then use manage attachments here to share it with us?

[Catfink]

Thank you so much for replying! I've taken 3 pictures, one of the thumbnail, one close up, and one distance, hopefully this will give you an idea of my problem. It doesn't happen with all my bedcovers, and sometimes the beams disappear until a sim gets on the bed. Any help would be very much appreciated!

[tiggerypum]

Catfink, in my opinion, I am inclined to think you have a damaged object (like an incorrectly made new bed) or hack in your game - because that looks like part of the bed is animating very very wrong.

So what I suggest would be - remove your downloads folder. Then pick a few _beddings_ (not custom beds!) to put back into your game. In your my docs-sims - folders, delete all the thumbnail files and all the cache files, they will regenerate. Then run your game, and see if your beds behave normally. Don't save of course, assuming you are testing on a lot that had custom content. Assuming this works, then look at 'game help' for suggestions on how to sort through your downloads and find the bad one(s).

[Catfink]

OK, thats what I'll do then, thanks for looking and wish me luck! :)

[mammut]

Hallo tiggerypum!

I forgot to say thanks for your little tutorial!
I had been trying to make good looking beddings for several days and almost got it on my own, but you hit the mark!
And now I have figured out the correct measure of how much I have to cut out from the double bed and put onto the single bed.
Our team (Blackys Sims2 Zoo) was very interested in your tutorial, and so I made a short translation for them, which of course we don't publish, as I told them that you don't want that.

Thank you very much, now it's really fun making beddings!!

[tiggerypum]

mammut, I'm glad you were able to put it to good use. If you'd like share the translation here at mts2, that would be wonderful, and I'd be grateful.

[mammut]

tiggerypum, I don't know exactly what you mean:
Am I allowed to public my translation together with my experiences on our website and give you the link?
Or can I upload it here as well?
Or shall I first of all send you a copy of it so that you can have a look?

That would be rally great!

[tiggerypum]

mammut, I can't read German so I'll have to take your word for it that the translation is good :D but... let's see. I'd like to be able to post a copy here, I'll PM you with my email address so you can send it and I can add it to the beginning as an optional download (if you can write it up so folks can download). And at this point, as long as you give credit/link to here, you can post it to your site also - and say it's with permission. I'd rather share the information. Badly made bed textures make me unhappy :)

[mammut]

tiggerypum, please excuse my late reply!
I got a bad cold and then my internet didn't work, but today I sent you a mail.
Please tell me if something is wrong.
THANK YOU!

[tiggerypum]

Ashen, moved your question to its own thread, as this one is for asking questions specific to the materials covered in the tutorial :)
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=225246

[Ashen]

Ah, sorry about that, thank you very much! :D

[tiggerypum]

Line up the two right hand 'edges' (the center line) and then move it over a few pixels. I did add that it needed a few pixel nudge to be perfect. I didn't make the templates, but if you cut along the right hand line and line that up with the right hand part of the bed and then experiment with moving it over a few pixels, it will line up. You do see that MY beds do not have any lines down the center. Of course, I'm magic, but maybe it's just the technique ;)

[nelson_ts2fan_loco]

I'm sorry, you're just too scientific for my level of knoledge when it comes to texturizing; and I didn't explain myself very well :faceslap: sorry.
Can I just use Darts' Template? It looks complicated, and I still don't know how to put some color with the paintbrush without messing up the shadows, but I can try. What are the disadvantages with Darts' Template? This will be my last question, I promise not to bother anymore. Just help me with these questions; be brief, because when you extend your answer, it gets very confusing
Questions:

-Which template is more easier to use?___Both Templates
-Which one has more advantages?___Both Templates
-How can i fill some color to the sheetfolds without messing the shadows?(something tells me that I should start with the channels__Darts' Template).
-In Dart's Template, there's some sort of grid that guides you to every part of the bed, it even places automatically your marquee in the spot of the pattern, depending on how close it was to the pattern. Could I make the pasting from where Darts guided it?

I think that Darts' Template would help better, unless you say 'no' on it.
Thanks for your help, Tig :)

[tiggerypum]

I don't know what to suggest other than you trying both templates and experimenting until you find the technique that works best for you. The templates (either one, I've also used darts) are fairly accurate but might not be perfect. As I said, after I do the cutting I need to move things a *few pixels* to get them perfect - but seriously the hardest part is understanding which area you need to cut - and for that both templates are about the same, in my eyes. You might find one easier than another.

[nelson_ts2fan_loco]

Okay, Tig, I think that you helped more than enough. Thanks for your help and patiente, I'll see ya around. :jest:

Nel :llama:

[JLonier]

Is this the next logical step from making floors and walls? I think I vaguely remember reading somewhere that clothing was the next step, but it just doesn't interest me. Bedding on the other hand I wouldn't mind giving a go 'cause I never know who created what when I'm doing a lot for upload.

I just want to be sure I'm not jumping too far ahead of myself. I dove into the deep end in a few months back and after making a series of uber ugly tables decided I needed to actually follow the sage advice given here at MTS2 and take it slowly. Plus I need to walk away from walls and floors for awhile (I've actually had dreams about them) and today I find myself with a whole day of nothing but laundry required of me!

So, this looks more challenging than photo studio and a step in the right direction for recoloring say... counters maybe?

Thanks in advance and sorry for rambling. I tend to get too wordy jumping from one thought to the next when I'm typing.

[IgnorantBliss]

You don't definitely have to follow a set path, they are just suggestions on what might be a good way to proceed in creating. Recoloring objects can as well be the next step after you've tried recoloring walls and floors. I think I started directly with object recoloring before trying walls, floors or clothing. Recoloring counters isn't that much more complicated than recoloring bedding, the only main difference is that with counters there is both a clean and dirty texture.

[JLonier]

Ok, thank you. I'm just trying to follow a path that will lead me to where I eventually want to go. I'd hate to start down one path only to learn I should have gone down an entirely different one. I'm all for learning, but when your time is limited it pays to set yourself in the right direction to begin with.

With any luck all will go smoothly and I won't need to make a pest of myself.

Thanks again.

[JLonier]

Yay, I did it! And it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would... though it isn't great yet. I'll clean it up here and there and somehow give it a velvety texture like it's supposed to have... but, it's crunchy!! I've noticed both the templates as well as what's exported from Maxis has the same crunchiness in the same places! Though I think I can remedy this myself.

My question is about the seam on the single bed on the sheet area. The duvet didn't make one so why does the solid colored sheet have a seam? I did quickly scan this thread, but it's getting kinda long. It's late and I was just really excited I recolored my first object and got it into the game! :D

Thanks!

[tiggerypum]

JLonier - I don't know, I suggest grabbing a game texture (and also checking it in game). Maybe one of the templates was a bit off. It's been... over a year since I did a lot of recoloring of bedding and first worked out my textures.

[JLonier]

Ok. I did check it in game which is the screen shot I posted. I guess I should have come more directly to the point when I asked why am I getting a seam on only the sheet area?

[XTS]

JLonier, it looks like where the sheet meets is merely a slightly different brightness.. maybe blending a bit of the brightness will blend the sheet where it meets the other side?

I get that problem alot when it comes to the single beds..
Best to ya!
xts

[tiggerypum]

JLonier I saw the screen of *your bed*. I was suggesting looking at the maxis made game beddings and then going and getting a texture from one of them that *does not have the problem* and using that to patch yours.

Or you could carefully grab and cut and paste the top segment with the lower part of the bed, instead of using the one the template provided.

[JLonier]

Oh, well that makes entirely more sense tiggerypum. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

This is entirely new to me and until this morning I didn't even realize you could select the different Maxis beddings in SimPE. Sorry to be a bother.

[Puscifer1980]

tiggerypum thanks for this thread made my 1st bedding which im really pleased about, still got some problems to sort out with them but now I know what to do thank you!

[Puscifer1980]

Hi, Im still messing around but having some problems. Still getting visable lines
on the single beds and i'm not sure how to fix them, any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[tiggerypum]

Puscifer1980, you're close but not quite getting the right spot. Copy the LIGHT yellow part of the bed, making sure to go exactly to the right hand edge of it - because that's the seam. Line up the right hand edge of your copied piece with the right hand edge of the single bed area (red).

So on the penguin bed, you should get 2 penguins on the twin bed, I think. If part of the left-most penguin shows on your cut and paste, then go edit it to make that little bit green instead.

On the asian bed, you might get a little bit of the lettering - if you do, I would suggest again that you edit it off of the single bed using a clone brush or whatever method you can to put some of the backgroun there instead.

Now my experience with these templates (which I didn't make) is that they are a couple of pixels off - so when you get your bed into the game, you'll see that the seam doesn't match up perfectly. Try moving your single bed section 2-3 pixels over towards the left to get a perfect match in game. (it's been a while since I made a bed)

[Puscifer1980]

Thanks for the advice Tiggerypum I will get there eventually, the seam lines are not as visable now once I figure out the designs properly for alignment I will be ok will practice till I get it :)

[rednpurplesunset]

Just wanted to say thank you, ever so much! Every time I make bedding I have to refer to your tutorial or I just confuse myself, it has been invaluable to me.

[Nomine]

A great tutorial. Thanks for it.
Well, I have got one problem. I followed your tutorial step by step, as well as the one of Numenor, but I cannot change the bedding. I export the Maxis one, create a file of it. Now, shall I edit and overwrite it or shall I create the new file?
Is it possible to replace the Maxis bedding with a new one in bmp format?

Sorry you have to answer such a trivial question but I did my best to find out where the problem was and had no idea. I am not experienced in SimPE and althou I am enthusiastic enough, every beginning is hard.
So thanks in advance.

[IgnorantBliss]

You can save over the original image OR create a new file. As long as the dimensions of the image are correct, and it's either in BMP or PNG format, you can import any image. PNG is recommended over BMP, though, because it supports alpha channels (transparency).

[kalamity_katie]

:faceslap: Ugh! I wish I had seen this tutorial before I tried my first recolor! The full-size looks really nice, but the twin... um, yeah. Anyway, thanks for the valuable info! :gjob:

[rebelious]

Thnx Ty.

have a pint :Pint:

[Mummysim]

Hi

First off I would like to thank Tiggerypum for the fab template for the bedding.

I have been making bedding with it for quite some time but still the single was a little off and needed tweaks. I know...lol my eyesight!

I decided to go grab the single bed mesh in studio max so I could see exactly where the lines started and ended for which I did a texport screen.

So I have this now on my site and its very useful to use as a new layer in conjunction with your template.

I had to zoom in close to see the exact edge of the mesh lines with the grid in photoshop but the bedding came out perfect.

Obviously the maxis texture covers the double bedding too and this just maps out the single so you can see where it lies on the texture.


Hope you find it useful too.

Hugs
Mummysim

Link is here: http://simsdivine.com/home2/index.php?topic=47.0

[tiggerypum]

Thank you :) I wrote the tutorial working off templates that were already on site, and I know I made it a habit of nudging the edge over a few pixels to get a perfect single bed. I guess as this was my first tutorial, I didn't think to make yet another template.

[vidde]

Hi! Thankyou for making this tutorial! It's so nice to know that whenever I want to try something new, there is always a tutorial for it over here.

Now for my problem; I usually make everything in five colors. I start out with one, and after I'm done making my recoloring I go back and just change the hue of the texture image. If I input the number 72 in the hue changer (photoshop) I get five nice colors and then get back to where I started. =)

However, I found that if I do the same with the bedding, and just chose "save as" in SimPE, the package files will overwrite each other in the game. Is there an easy way around this? Like a number somewhere that needs changing?

I can just make a new project for each color, but it takes a little more time...

[Deluxe Designs]

This is uber useful:D Thanks

[wisegolem]

Thanks for that useful tutorial !

I tried to aplly your method for the first time with Rgile template. And it appears that the red part is larger than the light yellow one : 180 pixels and 172 pixels.

So, when I copy the "light yellow part" to past it on the red one, there's au gap on both sides of the single bed left part. It's the same for the sheet.

Are those gaps normal ? (see red arrows on image under)

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii131/wisegolem/bedding_template_gapcopie.jpg

[Schaapje82]

To those who will find this useful:
I edited one of the templates to get the precise location of the seam between the left en right part of the single bed. As you can see on the screenshots with the crosses, the seam wasn't quite where the colored parts ended. I edited the template to correct this, so that making the seams seamless should be easier.

I packed a PSP and a Photoshop template file.

Edit: After testing another bedsheet I still saw a seam, will be working on this, will update later.

Edit2: Repacked the template, should be alright now.

[smiggle35]

this makes alot of sense but i tried the tutorial and i didnt quite understand it and i dont understand how you did this

[sanspaper]

this tutorial is great!

i have one question. after creating and importing my bedding, the colonial ironwood bed shows the option for a frame recolor as well as a bedding recolor. the frame "recolor" is not any different from the default maxis color of the bed, but in the thumbnail it shows my custom bedding on the bed. i have re-packaged my bedding again, deleting the original package, but the fake recolor is still there. how can i change this?

i have attached a photo to try and clear up any confusion.

[tiggerypum]

sanspaper,

First, let's verify it's your recolor doing it - move your recolor from your downloads folder and double check that it doesn't show up like that in game.

I am thinking that when you're recoloring, that you are leaving the frame part checked. When you recolor, once you say 'recolor' and give it a filename, simpe should show you some textures, you might need to use the scroll bar. You need to have the bedding checked and the frame -NOT- checked.

[sanspaper]

thanks so much for your help. i am really glad that it is possible to get the attention of people who know what they're doing in this community. :)

i remade the .package and made sure that the box for the bed's frame was not checked, and replaced the original file with the new one in my downloads folder. the fake recolor is still there! upon taking my custom sheets out entirely, i found that it is also still there. i really think it is my sheets making the fake recolor appear, because the bed has my sheets on it in the thumbnail.

when i made them, i saved them to a "working" folder and then copied only the package into my downloads folder, so i don't see how any recolors for the frame could even be there after i removed the .package. having it there is not a big deal for me, but i was hoping to share these and i don't want to annoy other people with it!

[gimblyz]

oh yeah now I CAN! mwahahahaahahhahahah! thankss

[groovilicious]

Wonderful tutorial!! Thank you!! :lovestruc

[juniorni]

thank u very much to share a good tutorial with us, thanks again!

[Gwenieviere]

Thanks for sharing this, I have seen a lot of bad recolors due to people just pasting a huge pattern over the whole thing *yikes* This clarifies a lot and now I can make my own bedding! Thanks again =^^=

[ekul81]

I have a minor issue with my bed design although drawn with your template it goes all weird when you zoom out or when their is a sim in it.
:alarm: this is an external link :alarm:
Movie which shows the effect. (http://cid-52d016e4bb1bed6b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MTS2/movie000.avi)
My Bed design (http:///cid-52d016e4bb1bed6b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MTS2/1.bmp)

If you can help that would be Great!!

[lolHANNUHH]

Wonderful tutorial! (:
Just wondering, *coughcough* Anyway I could download the Hannah the Usul and the Shoyru bed? ;D -loves Neopets- Just kidding! (unless they are for download somwhere o_o)

[guth75]

This is my first post, as well as my umpth time trying to figure out the bed recolloring... ^^... though i have a little problem. For one reason or another i can't work out the seam in the middle with the single bed spread... i included a screenshot of "what" happend ^^"

i also tried different patterns and designs... but same problem occured T_T
please help? :faceslap:


The same thing always happens to me but I have another problem too! Whenever I make something in object workshop it always fades to the old thing when you zoom out! HELP! :alarm:

[guth75]

I have a minor issue with my bed design although drawn with your template it goes all weird when you zoom out or when their is a sim in it.
:alarm: this is an external link :alarm:
Movie which shows the effect. (http://cid-52d016e4bb1bed6b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MTS2/movie000.avi)
My Bed design (http:///cid-52d016e4bb1bed6b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MTS2/1.bmp)

If you can help that would be Great!!


The same EXCACT thing happens to me! HELP!!!!!

[Lynn_aka]

Thanks to YOU I'll be able to make recolors to my little project! THANK YOU.

[skunkbeard9]

I just made my first bedding last night and it looks good. I had problems at first because i made the mistake of making two seperat designs, one for the single, one for the double :D . I added a screenshot that is below.

[MoshChic]

I Have a question, how do we save it? as a JPG, or PNG?

[HugeLunatic]

PNG is a better quality and that is the image type you are opening, so save it as PNG.

[MoshChic]

i created a bedset in photoshop and saved it as a png, now where exactly do i upload or put the ong to make the actual bedding i can use in the game? ive gone over these intsructions over n over but i still dont quite understand how to do it? =(

[HugeLunatic]

Post #1 - The link says start your recolor here. Follow this tutorial on recoloring, and as mentioned the Colonial bed holds the bedding. So that is the object your recoloring.

http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=102356

[MoshChic]

Alrighty, i think i did it right, ive commited it already so what comes next? what do i save it as??

[bubbajoe62]

If you're at the step where you commit, you should have already designated the file name of your package in the popup window after you hit the recolor and next buttons. After you hit commit, you ControlS to save.

[jormor1991]

Schaapje82, thank you ever so much! I've always kind of stretched it a bit to make it fit into the red part. It would look weird, but not too horrible. But now it lines up perfectly!

[Skimmer55]

I have a minor issue with my bed design although drawn with your template it goes all weird when you zoom out or when their is a sim in it.
:alarm: this is an external link :alarm:
Movie which shows the effect. (http://cid-52d016e4bb1bed6b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MTS2/movie000.avi)
My Bed design (http:///cid-52d016e4bb1bed6b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MTS2/1.bmp)

If you can help that would be Great!!

Check whether all the options down the side are the same: [see below]
http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j350/Skimmer55/Sims%20Pics/helper1.jpg
then right click and click update all sizes: [see below]
http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j350/Skimmer55/Sims%20Pics/helper2.jpg

Hope this helped

[simtastic72]

I can't understand that no matter what I do, my single bed bedding always has a seam right down the middle of it. I am using a plain satin-look texture with no pattern ,,just a solid color. I used the templates(newer ones) to do it with and still get the seam. How do I fix this? I do realize theres not been any replies to this thread in a long time, so i hope someone answers.

Edit: here is a screenshot.


http://i43.tinypic.com/a5sax.jpg