So here's version 2.0, improved and with hopefully less blather!
I've been using Sims 3 as a story telling vehicle for about six months now. I don't even play the game still.
So here is the trick: When I go in to take pictures, I go in with a loose idea of what I hope to accomplish. That's it. I have my sims run through a scenario, and I just take pictures, pausing and looking at various angles. I keep open the screen shot folder and peek at what I've taken to be sure that it will work.
So then a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned on twitter that I had a very awesome sim shoot. Yup, the pics for the most recent entry were taken a month ago. I'm not usually that on it, but sometimes I get on a kick and have to play out scenes.
And this is what came out of that:
Is there anyone out there wondering how I did that? Anyone?
Well too bad, you're going to hear it anyway!
This is an idea I had for a very long time. Basically, I just pushed two beds together using the move objects cheat. The sims will stay with the object if you move the whole thing. So I had Jimmy relax on his bed and then moved it.
The next step was actually from something I noticed before. Remember that shot of Edith rolling over looking mad? I realized that sims actually move from a relaxed position to a nap position. So I told Jimmy to nap.
The rest was all luck. Mary happened to be facing away from the wall. I told Jimmy to nap, and he happened to turn towards the wall. What the hell made them turn in the right directions? Was it where I probably subconsciously clicked? Was it right and left handedness on their parts? I don't know, but it worked.
And in the end I came away super happy.
A lot of old tricks still work. There are no invisible bar stool recolors yet, but they aren't really needed since you can recolor the cushions to match and take shots from interesting angles. Bar stools are level with arms of sofas and beds.
Also, I downloaded a chair that has no back so that I can have sims sit closer on the couch so it looks more natural. (That would be Old Sam's Comfort Chair from La Luna Rossa.) This is also handy for sitting on coffee tables.
You can get sims to sit on the ground by using the picnic basket and having sims sit on it. Then you actually move the sims. They'll usually turn towards each other and continue chatting or whatever you were having them do. And you can pause and have them look around by moving their target. (Like in this shot. I just moved Brandon who is the person she's actually looking at.)
And my last trick... a lot of shots I get just having sims talk and then moving them around when they make a move that I can see working in another fashion. This is actually a trick I picked up from Laura of Lakeside Heights.
All of the following shots are just sims chatting, and I moved them.
