After quite a few mess ups today and this evening, I've finally succeeded at recoloring a custom object!

I'm so excited, as I've been wanting to do this for so long, especially since I opened up Sugah's Place.

One of my fave paintings is Kate's (of Parsimonious) Arabatica.
I've always like the size, the way it hangs and it's unique style.

Here is my very first recolored custom content.

Overlook Cafe



I'm going to attempt a few more tomorrow, just to make sure this success wasn't a FLUKE!
There's a Holy Simoly couch or two I love...

FABULOUS my dear friend! It turned out FANTASTIC!

Thank you, Z.
I was about ready to give up yesterday, as I attempted numerous times and was at it for hours upon hours.
Then, something Ed had said a few times and Donna (over at T2S) stuck in my head.
I knew, at that point, I had to be missing a crucial step.
Turns out, I found a different tutorial that helped me get thru the last of it and FINALLY, I was able to manage the painting recolor!

I'm sure there will be far more involved, complicated custom recolors, so I'll stick with the easy stuff for awhile.

Anyhoo, I am very excited about the possibilities and will start offering goodies other than Maxis stuff towards the end of this month.
YESSS!

Great job, Sugah. It looks great!

Sugah -

No one would EVER know that's your first custom recolor.

It's GORGEOUS Dahling.

I have one question.........where can we download???


btw......must share tutorial......must share..........

Thank you, ladies. I appreciate the positive feedback MUCHO!

There were several SimPE tutorials, Hunter. I had slight issues (for different reasons) with a couple of them.
The two that came recommended were by Numenor (MTS2 here) and Damian (at BPS here).
The one that ended up helping me decipher what step I was missing, that seemed most clear, concise and easy to follow, however, was here. I don't even know who wrote it!?!

Ed had good luck with the Damian tutorial. I think it was a combination of all three that worked for me, actually...esp. having found the LAST one.
They are ALL quite good and ALL have images (I'm a visual learner, so I need the screenshots, for sure).
I've printed each of them out and have started a TUTORIALS folder myself!

As far as making the "Overlook Cafe" available for downloading, I most certainly would be happy to, m'lady. I'm so glad you like it.
I thought I'd recolor a few more of Kate's Arabatica, then offer them as exclusive gifts to Basic, if that's okay.
Will get to that upon my return from E. Texas!

Okay, that was a no brainer. I admit. Double duh.

Let me know what you think of the tutorials, m'lady. I'm curious to learn which you like best, if you end up trying 'em.
I wish you good luck with them. Bon chance, cherie!!!

I have always loved Holy Simoly's Bijoux wicker set...very beachy!

Here is my first crack at recoloring the Bijoux love seat.



I see a flaw IN GAME when I look at the love seat close up. You can't see it as much in this close up screenshot, but there's a skinny orange line on either side of the wicker, where the arrow is.
I think I overshot it in PSP7 a bit. Will know better next time!



What do you think, my peeps? Back to the old drawing board???

WOW! My dear sweet Sugah, it looks AWESOME! I love this set also!

I don't know if there is something wrong with my eyes, but I don't see the line you pointed at my dear... I think it looks PERFECT right now!

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment AND for your positive feedback, Z. I truly appreciate it MUCHO!

Quote:

...but I don't see the line you pointed at, my dear...

It's the weirdest thing. It shows up a bit more in the game than it does in the screenshots.
Not sure why, but I'm glad you can't see it! Works for me!

Okay...my next attempt was a recolor of Kate's (@ Parsimonious) Very Tikki set.
I'm rather disappointed, as I REALLY thought I nailed this one, but it didn't turn out as nicely as I'd hoped.

I call this Very Tikki Summer Stripes (I know...not very original, lol)



The wall (though not new) is mine, as are the paintings, arm chair, loveseat and sofa recolors.
For some reason, the table lamp doesn't show up in game, though it shows up in the catalog.
(When I put it on the table, it remains Kate's original. Not sure what I did there... Didn't bother to snap a photo of it.)

Anyhoo, I'm rather disappointed as the stripes look sorta distorted and smudged IN GAME. I don't know why.
Upon getting closer (at certain angles), the stripes looked normal. It's still not acceptable, though, as the set has to look good from a distance, too.

COULD IT BE MY GRAPHICS CARD? I don't have a good one in the puter I create on.
In looking at the screenshot, the stripes don't appear as badly warped as they do in game. Hmmm...
Weird stuff!

I also attempted to do Kate's Sanctuary set, but for some reason the arm chair was the only one that showed up recolored ... NOT the loveseat or sofa.
I like that set mucho, too, and will try and post images later with my progress (or lack thereof, lol).

Back to the drawing board, folks. I am trying to do some custom recolors for this weekend's update.

Wow! You're getting so adventurous. Very cool that you're branching into custom objects now, and I must say, for being a beginner, your recolors are looking fab. I don't see half the mistakes you point out (though you did mention they were more noticeable ingame, but if your first custom recolors are this good, then honey, you're really going places! Great job so far!

Ari, thank you! I appreciate your generous comments very much. You have always been so supportive of me and my little hobby.
I'm grateful for that.

I'm glad you can't see the mistakes I'm referring to. That's good news!

What I might request from someone, is to download my Very Tikki Summer Stripes set who has a good graphics card.
This way, if the stripes still appear warped and smudged looking, I'll know I definitely need to go back to the drawing board.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by this thread and give your opinion, my friend.

Just an update on my ongoing struggle to get this whole cc recoloring thing down.

Inspired by my uncertainty as to whether my crappy graphics situation was the culprit in puter #2 (regarding why my Very Tikki Summer Stripes set appears warped and smudged in game),
I decided to FINALLY reinstall The Sims 2 in my main puter, where I have a fabulous graphics card.

Here is a screenshot of my newest recolor taken in my better puter #1:
(Forgive the boring wall, icky floor and lack of coordinating decor on the coffee table, as I have no downloads installed except the Very Tikki set!)



As you can see, the stripes still seem crooked and not quite right. Dang it!

Upon a closer, aerial view, I discovered this:



See how something seems to be going on with the mesh, since there are two cone-like bends that make it look warped???
I can't describe it exactly, but I can SEE what the problem is in the loveseat and couch.

When you look at the arm chair, it is NOT the same issue with the mesh:



The lines are perfectly straight, as they're supposed to be.

What I'm wondering is, because of this, if it will only be noticable with striped textures.
Kate used a flowered texture in her original, and it looks perfectly fine, of course.

I'm going to try it. I have a few pretty textures that might work for this mesh.
Let's hope so, as I REALLY like the Very Tikki set!!!

Gonna try one more time before dinner. I shall return...

I can see it now. It certainly has something to do with the mesh of the cushion. The cone oddities are symmetrical. Weird. I wonder what the deal is. Stripes just bend around it. It would tricky to find a pattern that doesn't warp.