Could someone please tell me an easier way of generating sunshadows WITHOUT TSRW???? Please??? Because I'm making a new rabbit hole, and TSRW gives me an error message whenever I try to modify a rabbit hole...so the only solution is to use simpe,simoc and other tools, but I find it extremely difficult to generate proper sunshadow without TSRW...Please help...

There is something about sunshadows in OrangeMittens' Meshing (and Milkshape): Troubleshooting & Tips

It's not possible without having a fundamental understanding how sunshadows really work (I don't).

Suggestion: Just clone a decorative object as a dummy clone and adjust the groups on your mesh, import it into TSRW and generate the sunshadows from it. Then over Edit -> Project Contents you can export the package and get the two correct MLOD resources which you can replace in S3PE.

I *hope* this works.

teko,
his problem is that tsrw can't iport all of the rabbit holes data, which mean it can't do ANYTHING with rabbit holes other than load the hires mesh.

Sim Reality,
Wes was kind enough to get his object tool to be able to decode/reencode rabbit hole meshes,
use it to decode ALL of a rabbit hole's lod's and look at how EA made them, then make yours the same way, positioned the same, with the same
number of groups and bones and as low res as you can.

For other objects you just take your original model, make it an obj, lower the poly count, save it and close it. Bring in your MLOD2 for your object, bring in the low poly obj you have. Move the low poly obj to the same place that the MLOD2 model is. Enlarge the low poly obj until it is an appropriate size (you will notice the MLOD2 is larger than the MLOD1 and MODL) and move it again so it's in the right place to lie directly where the EA MLOD2 model is. Then delete the EA model, assign joints, and overwrite the MLOD2 with your new model. You can use the same one to overwrite the MLOD3 usually. It isn't a difficult process.

Isn't it the same for rabbit holes? And if not how are rabbit hole sunshadows different?

Raven Shadow, I wasn't talking about cloning or opening a rabbithole in TSRW, only about generating the sunshadow meshes with some dummy clone.

However, if the new rabbithole is not exactly the same size as the original one, the sunshadow will be misplaced and that looks quite weird.

OM,
the process is the same, my point was that he couldn't do it in TSRW 'cause it doesn't support rabbit holes.

Teko,
I know, that's why I said he should use the existing LOD's for the EA made rabbit holes to learn from

Thanks Raven I was just wondering because Teko said it wasn't possible to make a sunshadow without some fundamental understanding of how sunshadows work. This made me curious if there was something special about rabbithole sunshadows that I was unaware of.

Thing is Teko, you don't really need some deep understanding to make sunshadows that look good for most objects I've run into. All you need to know is how to move an object in the editor of your choice. From there it's straightforward

There are a few duds in the EA bunch but, for the most part, especially if your new object is close in size to the EA clone or smaller, the sunshadow is quite easy to make.

For most of the (non-rabbithole) objects I've looked at, the sunshadow mesh is exactly double the size of the other meshes, so that's a good proportion to start with.

There's a mathematical procedure on how a sunshadow mesh needs to be scaled. WS not only automated this, but does also further needed adjustments and that's probably not the sunshadow MLODs as I can just see. If it's not done on those MLODs, then my suggestion won't work.

We've been struggling a lot with misplaced sunshadows and as I creator I'm very glad the WS gurus fixed that and I can offer properly done sunshadows on my objects. Just the scaling really doesn't work – this has been discovered already in the very first days.

I dunno Teko...most people's uploads here are made with the tool set from here and the sun shadows are fine. You're making it out to be a lot more complicated than it needs to be for most objects IMO. There's a few that can be pesky but by and large most are well-behaved.

Besides the point you're trying to make here about TSRW is moot...the OP wants to make a rabbit hole and the tool you're pushing can't make 'em. There's no point in having a shadow for it if he can't have the rabbit hole that goes with it.

Going on and on about that tool is a tad off-topic under the circumstances.

OM, as I understood Teko's suggestion it was to make a NON-rabbithole object from a deco object just to get the mesh right. After that, export the mesh and import it into the rabbithole you made from s3oc.

Ah...I see you are right Inge. Sorry all, it must have been the partial stupor induced by reading about the struggles and the gurus that made me lose attention to detail...snicker.

Well, I think I'll try teko's suggestion :D. Thanks for answering everyone ^^