things i wish i knew when starting out using mmd and general 3d modeling:
blender isn't as scary as u think. trust me. u dont need like 95% of the shit you see on screen
to touch up weight painting, use blender. it's far better than whatever the fuck pmxeditor has
experiment!! like, seriously. start out small (like with accessories and something as simple as for example a halo)
make your own textures when you can!!
use the goddamn transfer data modifier instead of the weight copy plugin I BEG YOU that legit changed me
use batch suffix / prefix adder tools (well, websites) and the batch name changer!! that will save you a lot of time when making multi-armed model edits. trust me.
most importantly, have fun!! really, if it's just a hobby, make it fun.
well. in any event, the utau guide is nearly done save for the oto section and the little bits at the end, so hopefully i can have that up soon sdjfkhgl
In the celestial realm where gods held sway,
A tragic tale unfolded, dark and gray.
Ceres, fair goddess of harvest and earth,
Met her demise in a fateful rebirth.
Raijin, mighty god of thunder and storm,
His heart heavy with duty, an oath to conform.
A clash of gods in an honor-bound strife,
The battleground, the theater of life.
In the dance of lightning, a tempest brewed,
Raijin's remorse, his guilt subdued.
For in the name of devotion, duty, and pride,
He slew fair Ceres, love cast aside.
The battle raged on in the heavenly skies,
As gods clashed with sorrow in their eyes.
Ceres, once vibrant, now lay cold and still,
Her essence fading, a divine, tragic fill.
Yet Raijin, conflicted, burdened by pain,
Gathered Ceres in arms, a love to regain.
With regret etched upon his thunderous face,
He cradled her form in a tender embrace.
To the dawn-lit sky, he carried her high,
Where stars whispered secrets to the moon in the sky.
Raijin, torn between love and duty's decree,
Raised Ceres to the light, set her spirit free.
The heavens wept tears, a celestial lament,
As Ceres departed, her radiance spent.
In honor's name, a love was laid to rest,
A tragic tale of gods, by destiny blessed.
Raijin, burdened by the weight of his choice,
Listened to the wind's remorseful voice.
In the canvas of dawn, where day meets night,
He released Ceres' spirit to eternal light.
A battle of gods, a sacrifice profound,
In the cosmic tapestry, a tale is bound.
Ceres' memory lingered in the divine air,
A tragic echo of a love so rare.
------------------------------------
Model coverted by StickLove
Software used Paint.Net, MikuMikuDance, PMX Converter, PMX Editor
But how do you convert your sims model to be usable in MMD? I think you mentioned something before, but for the life of me, I can't find it or remember which blog I saw it on. I have the general basics, but I don't know if you followed a specific tutorial or if you just figured something out as you went.
Either way, any insight you could offer would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!!
God I've been sitting on this forever but I can do a really quick tutorial because I need to rip Terezi anyway.
You need:
Blender (I recommend a 3.0+ version)
TS4Ripper
mmd-tools add-on
PMXEditor
Sims 4 Studio (optional)
These toon files (optional, I just like them)
This tutorial does not cover how to edit bones so they are compatible with MMD motions. I do not need them, because I export poses. This also does not cover how to add add-ons to Blender.
Models
Go into ripper, do the ripping thing. I choose DAE file, all separate meshes one texture.
Import the DAE into Blender, pull out the side menu where MMD Tools is, click "Convert Model" and click OK.
Hit Export Model and save where you need to.
Open the new model in PMX Editor.
OPTIONAL: Left window: EDIT > Plug-in > System > Size change tool > Resize by 0.886 to make the models scale a little better with other assets.
Left window, click on Material, select all, set the Diffuse-Specular-Ambient like so:
Go to the right window, click on the M, and identify which of your materials has transparency by turning them off and on. Then, in the left window, send those materials to the bottom of the list. In this case they are 002 and 007.
OPTIONAL: Add shading by making sure the toon you want is in the same folder as your model, then select all the materials again and type the toon's filename into the Toon box.
OPTIONAL: Go to Bone, select all the Bones, right click, Batch Name Editor, click the column to select all the JP names, copy and paste them into ENG name replacement,
and hit EDIT > Confirm > Yes.
Do your usual import into MMD and your model is ready.
Poses
Open the pose package you want in S4S.
Go to Clips, select the pose you want. You can see "Export" at the bottom. Export it into a .blend file with the rig you want.
Pull open the file in Blender. See where you can export poses, next to where you can export models? Do that.
Go back into MMD. File > Load Pose Data > select the .vpd you just exported.
Now you have a pose!
Exporting EA Files for Poses/Animations
In S4S, under Animation, select Clip Pack and click Animation.
Go to Clips, and Export as you did before, but EA Clip.
Export your EA clip.
Open in Blender.
You can scrub through the animation timeline to grab what frame you want to export as pose, OR you can export as animation, which is in between Model and Pose. I'll export as an animation to show you can do it.
Back in MMD, File > Load Motion Data. You can hit Play to test it!
on an irrelevant note, something neat i found whilst messing with PMX editor and MMD was that Bede wears the shorts and collar of the gym challenger uniform underneath his coat in his pre-leader model (at least, in his MMD model) which i find a bit strange because I can't really recall a time in Pokémon SwSh that you'd see this. (as someone who's replayed Sword very reccently) Maybe on the pitch during the opening ceremony but in that case, the whole uniform should be visible...which it's not (unless I'm missing some textures)
If I can find an MMD model of Nine, so help me I'm gonna make a video of him singing Let It Go.
I've done a Let It Go video before, I can do it again.
I just also need to find the set again.
EDIT: I found a Nine model, but it isn't rigged correctly for motion use. It's just a straight unedited rip of the model from Speed Battle with no edits to the bones.
Which. Makes this immediately more difficult because I don't know HOW to re-rig an MMD model like this.
If any of you guys have experience with MMD and PMX Editor and know how to re-rig a model correctly, please let me know, and here's the link to the model dl!
EDIT 2: I FIGURED OUT HOW TO FIX IT!!! I forgot that the batch name editor existed 😅 and then it was just a matter of figuring out how to add IK bones but so now I have a fully rigged Nine model :D