latibulesims

[latibulesims]

do you still plan on making epiphany?

yes :) As a movie, though, not a series like I originally planned. Since Isla's a part of The Rivers, it would be the perfect prequel movie showing Isla's story and her high school years before she got to college in The Rivers universe

When I'll do it depends on 1) when I have time and 2) when is the best to upload it vis a vis The Rivers' timeline

[latibulesims]

Hi Lati! I have a question concerning the usage of music for your scenes. Now I'm really confused on how filmers approach adding music. I know you simply have to put in via a filming software but how do you get it? Do you "legally" 👀 download it and use it or find a license to it somewhere to use? Or is there something else?❤️

Hiii

I usually "legally" 👀 (lol) download my music via YouTube to MP3 converters. My personal favorite is Y2mate (keep in mind I have an adblocker, I haven't really experienced it without it). Of course, you can always license the music you want to use (But I wouldn't know how to go about doing that LOL) or opt for non-copyright music. I personally find that there aren't many options for non-copyrighted music that fit my series, but you can check them out here.

I do you copyrighted music, and get copyright claims on every episode without exception. LOL. It's not as scary as it sounds, though. It almost never is a strike on your youtube channel itself (you only get three of those), and usually the artists allow the song to be used in the video, but run ads on the video so that they get the $$. I never plan on making money out of my Youtube channel (it's not even monetized), so I don't really care about that

Sometimes, though, copyrights can get annoying (the worst ones i've received so far are when the artists block your video worldwide. Most times it's just in certain areas). I've had the worldwide one happen to me twice: Once in S2E1 and once in S2E2. For S2E2, the scene was trivial enough for me to just cut it out of the video after I uploaded the episode. It made for awkward pacing, but it beats reuploading the episode/scene LOL. The scene with the blocked music in S2E1, however, was really important, so I had to switch it out in post editing and re-upload the scene without any music (as unlisted).

You can always run music copyright checks before uploading the episode (Basically: upload an unlisted video with the music you want to use, so that you can check the claimed music before rendering the final draft of the episode), but sometimes artists copyright a video long after you upload it and even after it goes through Youtube's "checking" system. For example, Ben Platt blocked my episode worldwide eighteen month after I uploaded the episode. So, you never know and you need to be prepared for everything (and by prepared I mean, make sure you have the episode without any music to reupload scenes if necessary).

Hope this helps and gives you some insight about the process of adding music to your series!! Let me know if you have any other questions <3

[latibulesims]

Just a simple reminder that everything you create is an absolute gift and a blessing to my eyes. You are an absolute gem to this community. Please continue to create masterpieces. 💖💕

🥹🥹🥹 that is so sweet!!! thank u so much 🫶🫶🫶

[latibulesims]

My legacy's family tree updated over time!

It's getting hard to see the sims and their names, lol <3

CREDIT: Layout template!

[latibulesims]

Hello the gorgeous Lati! :D Would you be willing to make a tutorial or explain how you take such great sim photos with nice background and crisp lighting?

Hi Anon! <3

I'm going to assume you're referring to the portraits I have of my sims here on my tumblr, and not pictures of my gameplay over at my gameplay twitter (there I usually just take random pics as I play, and crop them. None of the technical stuff like with portrait photos)

How I take my sims portraits is pretty simple also, so i'm sorry if you're expecting more. Either way, I hope this is helpful.

Basically, I start off in an empty lot, and then include the following items:

THE BACKGROUND

These recolors of MixedUp's Screenshot Background Rug. I usually go for the white or the black if they're "serious" pictures (usually of character reveals of my show) but more fun colors when it comes to portraits of my gameplay sims (see below for the difference. Same set up, same lighting, different color background)

Lately I've opted for a clear background, as opposed to a set. I don't know, I feel like it looks way better when it comes to taking clear portraits of the sims you wanna showcase.

LIGHTING:

For lighting, I use two things:

The invisible Floor lamp in soft light, which is just everything to me both in terms of taking portraits and filming. Can't live without it!! And how much light you use really determines the vibe you want to achieve from a certain photoshoot. Here's an example of what I mean: Fun little gameplay portrait (bright) vs. Mystery series protagonist (dark)

If you would like to achieve different type of lightings (such as bisexual lighting, for example), I highly recommend colored lights such as this, this and this.

Of course, whichever lighting you choose, it helps to have a lighting mod such as this one!

OMSPs AND OTHER MODS

And then, of course, OMSPs are a must-have. These are the ones I use, but there's a HUGE number of OMSPs to choose from. I also use the look at me now mod, to get the sim to look at me (the camera).

And then, finally, I use poseboxes! There are a bunch of useful pinterest boards with poseboxes, such as here and here! For more whimsical portraits/facial expressions, I use Jaydee's boxes.

PROGRAMS

I use FRAPS to take my pictures and PHOTOSHOP C6 to edit them!

EDITING

Of course, editing is also a part of the ordeal. I don't do much, but I think it does make a difference I do things such as change the levels/brightness/hue of the photos, add sharpening, and smooth out any edges! I also sometimes add shadows, but very occasionally.

Here's a side-by-side with a recent sim I took:

RESHADE

I wasn't using reshade for this photoshoot in particular, but if you get it to work it helps with smoothing out some edges and adding shadowing. If you don't get it work, then don't stress too much about it because I don't think it makes that big of a difference personally! I have it off most of the time when I'm taking pictures, because I enjoy doing my editing in photoshop instead :)

If you do want it, though, here's an excellent video on how to install it for The Sims 2. I use Falkii's Turniphead reshade. The video itself also has a great reshade in the description, albeit one that's less colorful/bright (recommend more for filming than taking photos).

HOPE THAT HELPS!

Please let me know if you have any other/follow up questions <3

[latibulesims]

Hi girl!💖 I just wanted to say you're a huge inspiration to me and wanting to make a series of my own. I have a few questions that hopefully won't be too "personal". When you send your VAs their lines, do you share them around with the other VAs so they know how to respond/act out their voices or do you solely leave it up to them and use whatever material you get? And my last question is do your VAs know each other? Like have they been introduced to one another before working for you?💕

Hellooo! Thank you so much 💕 I'm happy to help out a new director, so please always ask away :)

I'm not sure I understood the first question very well. You either meant: When you send your VAs their script, or you meant: When your VAs send you their lines. Just incase, i'll answer both! LOL

First variation of the question: When you send your VAs their script

If you're asking me if I send my VAs only their lines, as opposed to the entire scene, like such:

VERSION 1: JUST THEIR LINES:

JONAH Hey.

JONAH That's nice.

VERSION 2: THE ENTIRE SCENE:

JONAH Hey.

NOAH F/ck off.

JONAH That's nice.

Then it's definitely Version 2, LOL! It's near impossible for the VAs to guess what tone they need to go with if they're just given their lines. Something I do, though, is: My scripts are super long (usually 70+ pages), so to not burden my VAs with all of that, I usually send them only the scenes that concerns their characters (unless they explicitly ask me for the entire script). This usually means scenes where they have lines, but sometimes I also include scenes they might not have lines in, if they carry context I feel is essential for how they play the scenes they do have lines in.

THE RIVER S1 SPOILERS: For example, even though Benji did not have any lines in the Noah-Raven confession scene in the season finale, I still provided his VA the scene so that he can be in the loop. So, when Benji is warning Faye of what he overheard, his VA understands the gravity of the situation because he got to read what Benji, the character, would have overheard. I hope that makes sense!

Second variation of the question: When your VAs send you their lines, do I share them with others?

I do not! VAs are usually given a certain amount of time to deliver lines (I give 4-6 weeks). If you're going to wait for one VA to deliver their lines before sending it to the other VA so they know how to react to it, then it's going to be near impossible to receive all the lines on time. Most VAs who voice act in the sims community for free do it as a hobby (bless them), so a lot of times they take up the 4 weeks + the extension, especially if things are hectic in their personal/work/school life. Waiting for one VA to send in their lines, to then send that to the other VA and wait again for them to send in their lines? And then to do that with a possible third, fourth, five person (depending on how many characters there are in that particular scene)...That sounds like a never ending nightmare to me, LOL.

An alternative to this is holding a sort of table read when you first share the episode. Some directors have been doing this recently: The VAs of a project and its director get together on a call and read the script out loud, and the director can sort of explain to each VA what exactly they want and how they should react to one another.

I've personally never held one of these because I don't think it's really necessary. Letting my VAs wing it and working with the material I get has worked for me so far, and i've been doing this for six years now! I don't think it's necessary to overcomplicate things with stuff like that, especially when the machinima making process is already so hectic in the first place

As for the second question:

My VAs do know each other! Most of them have been working together for six years now, and they've become really close friends. The sims community is a very tight-knit community, so all the VAs usually know each other, but some VAs of The Rivers did meet through The Rivers and are now close friends <3 Which makes me super happy.

With The Rivers, I didn't introduce the VAs to each other (they all just befriended each other over time), but I did make a discord for the VAs of my other project, The Foundlings, so they can get acquainted before we started working on the series.

So, as someone who has done both (not introducing vs. introducing the VAs before a project starts), I can tell you that...... It doesn't really make a difference, LOL. Of course, it's so nice seeing your VAs become friends, but if we're talking about its effect on the series itself, or the quality of the voice acting, it doesn't really change anything. At least, not with me.

You need to keep in mind that the voice actors are voice acting from the comfort of their homes, and not together in a studio booth, like with a real-life voice over project. So the VAs being acquainted isn't going to do anything for the characters' chemistry, for example, when they're not voice acting off each other's energies to begin with. I hope that makes sense!

Hope I answered your questions!! Please feel free to ask anything else, i'm here to help 💕

[latibulesims]

Hello, Lati! So, since I'm "new" to the Sims 2 Filming Community, I mean, I've always played the Sims 2 since 2005, but I've always had stories in my head that I wanted to film, and now I'm ready to make it happen, but my actual question is, since I'm thinking of making a VO Series, should I start with subtitles since I don't have any subscribers yet? I love your series, The Rivers and Foundings, and I love your filming style a lot. I hope that I can film like you one day too! But I also wanted to ask you, did you start with subtitles too? And since I literally have no subscribers, I don't know if anyone would be interested in being a part of a new series, so yeah, what would you advise me? 🤔

Plus My series has a lot of characters since my series is inspired by many series, mainly Game of Thrones, so that's another "problem" I guess 😪

Hiii <3

First of all, welcome!! It's always so nice to meet up-and-coming sims 2 directors, especially in 2022!!

DISCLIAMER: This is just my experience with everything! I don't think that's how everyone feels (many people still do subtitle series, and they do a FANTASTIC job at it, this is just my advise to you as someone who wants to do VO series from the get go).

I don't think it's absolutely necessary to start with a subtitle series! I did start off making subtitle series, and it did not exactly ease me into making a voice over series for the first time. I'll explain why:

Basically, a subtitle series is very different from a VO series. Sure, filming subtitle series before I did a VO helped make sure I knew how to FILM (how to manage the parameters, camera movement, how to pose the sims, what animations to use, etc), but it didn't make my transition to a VO series any easier in terms of SOUND EDITING. Which, really, is what makes or breaks a VO series!

MY EXPERIENCE WITH GOING FROM SUBTITLE TO VO: When I first started The Rivers, my first VO series, the sound quality was (to me) just God awful. I have a hard time rewatching the first couple of episodes because of it. The audio of my VAs were botched because I didn't know how to edit their background noises, the sound effects/ambience were off or too low, and the music was WAY too high. It probably doesn't bother viewers much, but as a director who's been doing VO for 6 years now, it bothers me a LOT. And back in 2016, I had already been doing subtitle series for 6 years, so I can honestly say from experience that, where sound editing is concerned, having previously worked on subtitle series didn't really do anything for me when it came to creating a VO series.

TIPS IF YOU'RE JUST STARTING: If, like you said, you've never started filming, I would advise that you start off making short machinimas instead of jumping head first into a VO series, especially a fantasy series with a lot of characters. Filming short machinimas (under 5 minutes long) is great because you can practice filming, pacing, sims making, set/world building, coloring, etc... Without it being a super large commitment. I definitely recommend them, ESPECIALLY if you don't plan on starting off with a subtitle series.

Like I said, having a subtitle series before a VO series did nothing for me in terms of sound editing, but it helped make sure I start off my VO series with decent(ish) filming and pacing (though it has evolved a lot from that, but we're always evolving)! I used to make SO many short machinimas before and during my transition to VO, and they helped a lot. I don't do them anymore, because I don't think I need to since I found my style, but they were a lot of fun.

It'll also help a lot with your engagement, because it's a perfect way to introduce people to your series. Not everyone will be inclined to sit down and watch a full episode without knowing much about your filming and writing style, but people will always have time to watch a quick, short video. That's how I made my first friends in the community, that gave me to push to transition to VO!

SUBSCRIBER COUNT AND VOICE ACTORS: When I first announced The Rivers, I actually announced it as a subtitle series. Like you, I barely had any subscribers (would get maybe 4-6 likes on a video, despite having done it for a few years), and did not think anyone would be interested in auditioning.

I don't think the subtitle series I was publishing at that time was what helped me gain enough fraction to decide to make the switch to VO. It was actually a mix of both machinima shorts I was putting out, and me trying to become more involved in the community. I would comment on people's stuff, engage with them on twitter and other socials, and just try to make friends. The sims machinima community, especially the sims 2 machinima community, is VERY tiny. Which has its perks, because we're quick to welcome each other since there's so few of us left. I would advise that you get on Twitter (if you do, let me know so I can follow you there, hehe). From there, you can post a casting call whenever you're ready, and I (and i'm sure other directors in the community) will be happy to RT to give it some engagement!

ON A SIDE NOTE, Don't be afraid to request voice actors! When I was holding auditions for The Rivers, I barely had any male voice actors auditioning for my series, so I ended up requesting most of them (like Jonah and Noah's VAs). I also ended up requesting VAs for The Foundlings (like Alec's VA), even though I had subscribers at that point! There's no shame in requesting VAs when you haven't found the perfect voice for the characters you had in mind :)

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS It is difficult to gain engagement as a sims 2 director. I don't want to pretend that it isn't. It's very rare to have the numbers that Sims 4 directors make, because people don't want to give a game as old as The Sims 2 a shot. But if you're looking to share your story with a group of passionate bunch, then don't be afraid to give it a shot :) And i'm happy to help with rt-ing or reblogging! x

Hope this helps!! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I know it took me some time to reply to this one, but I always enjoy answering these asks, especially if it means making the way for more Sims 2 directors lol <3

[latibulesims]

Hello, Lati! I'm a huge fan of your series and I really love the new one, The Foundlings, also very much. You are so talented, and I hope we will see more of the Foundlings in the future since it's so unique and your characters are all so stunning! If you don't mind, I wanted to ask you some questions about the Foundlings from the first episode. I can definitely say Lesedi is definitely a badass Queen. She's so amazing, but I love all of your characters, even the bad ones. Like Carswell, I love a well written "antagonist." I mean, if he is an antagonist, he seems like one for Dalila. I wanted to ask you who your favorite character is from your new series, and if you could tell us more about the characters in the future, with some posts on Tumblr or YouTube maybe? I would love to know more details about the characters 😍

Hiii!

Thank you so much for the sweet message! It really made me smile. Starting a new series is always so terrifying, because in my experiencing building a world from scratch and introducing so many characters is terrifying, but i'm so glad to hear that you liked it <3

One of my favorite characters is Alexey. She's just such a strong character. Even when she doesn't have much control over her life, she still always tries to stand her ground for whatever that's worth, and I find that inspiring. Especially as a woman in these times. But some of my favorite characters aren't introduced until Chapter 2! Chapter 2 delves into the Foundling five, and i'm really excited to share it <3 I don't think I'll be sharing anything that reveals about the characters just yet, so I don't take away from the stuff covered in the chapter itself, but i'll likely be sharing snippets here and there if the chapter takes too long to come out.

Thank you again for this super sweet message!! It really made my week <3

[latibulesims]

Hello, Lati! I hope you're doing well. I wanted to ask you if you use Reshade when you're filming. I'm a huge fan of your stories, especially how realistic the storylines for your characters are. I also want to start a series and you are one of my favorite storytellers. The way you film and capture the emotions of your characters is just amazing! 

Hiii!

First of, thank you sooooo much. I'm so glad you're enjoying the series, it really means a lot ♡

I have been using reshade for some time now! The first time I used it was in S2E3, and I've been filming with it ever since. I only use it for DOF and coloring, though, as I don't like how features like MXAO look in my game.

In the episodes I filmed before reshade was introduced for Sims 2, I would manually add the blurring in post effects through this process. It's definitely not perfect and takes a LOT more time than just having reshade on, but I do still love the DOF effect it gave the series, and it's a great alternative for those who can't/don't like to use reshade :)

As for the reshade I use, I originally started with Falkii's turniphead, which is still my favorite reshade to use for gameplay, but i've edited it aggressively to fit the Rivers style, LOL. The reshade as it is is far too cheerful to fit some of the themes of The Rivers :') But if you want a reshade to start with and make your own, I'd definitely recommend that one! There's also HerbalWhite's if you're looking for something super pretty but super heavy (my game lags too much with that one)

I hope you start that series!! And that you'll eventually share it with me/us when you're comfortable enough! I would love to watch it. ♡

[latibulesims]

sims noob here- what is it about heavily decorated hoods that make it more prone to corruption? how do you know if the hood/game is corrupt?

Oh wow, sorry I'm just seeing this!

Even tho i've been playing the sims 2 for 18 years, i would also consider myself to be a 'sims noob' bc I don't really understand how any of the tech that's behind it (graphics cards, specs, etc...). Really, I've spent the past 18 years just ~winging it~ LOL. So take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, I'm just speaking based on my experience with the game (filming and playing)

In my experience, heavily decorated hoods + lots crash more often because it takes a toll on my graphics card. This is especially true for high poly CC. High poly CC (and, well, CC in general, but especially high poly ones) can slow down your game, overheat your laptop/computer, cause your game to crash, etc... You can read more about it here. So a neighborhood that has little to no CC will less likely crash than a neighborhood that's been heavily decorated (or at least that's been my experience with both a non-gaming laptop, and a gaming laptop).

I usually know my game is corrupt when 1- the game crashes when i try to load the lots in that neighborhood, or 2- the game crashes when i try to load the neighborhood itself

Hope this clears things up!!

[latibulesims]

A Pride photoshoot featuring some of the LGBTQ+ characters in my Sims 2 VO series The Rivers! 🏳️‍🌈 Wishing everyone a month/year/lifetime of pride, acceptance and healing!

[latibulesims]

Hello Lati! I really love your series. I love The Rivers so much, and I'm always mesmerized by how realistic everything looks! I wanted to ask you, since I want to start a series as well, how do you decorate your neighborhood? Do you only decorate the lot where you film, or do you decorate your entire neighborhood with Neighbourhood Deco? :)

Hiii!! Thank you so much! That means a lot ❤️

I usually only decorate where I film! A heavily decorated neighborhood increases the chances of it going corrupt, so I usually just decorate around the lot Im filming with. I've attached pictures of my gameplay neighborhood vs. my filming neighborhood, you can tell the difference is huge :')

I do make an exception for the outdoor scenes I need to film, where I spend a little more on decoration just so I can get the open world feel that gives the series some realism. But if its a mostly interior scene where the neighborhood is only seen through windows, I just focus on the view outside of those windows.

Also, a tip: I have multiple neighborhoods per episode! This may be because my episodes are really long (1+ hour long), but I've found the longer you take to film an episode/the more sets you need, the more likely your neighborhood goes corrupt. So I create multiple neighborhoods for a single episode, usually designated for every character, especially when I know they won't clash (for example Raign's neighborhood would include Bellamy/Isla's dorms, the college campus, etc... While Noah's neighborhood would include Faye's apartment, the diner, etc).

Hope that makes sense and helps! Thanks so much for watching ❤️❤️

[latibulesims]

Requested Hairs for @latibulesims! I hope you all like them!

Glumbut's Haze - SFS / MF

TU-EU, base colors, 12.3k poly

Glumbut's Luma - SFS / MF

TF-EF, base colors + 4 custom, 6.1k poly

Glumbut's Comet - SFS / MF

TU-EU, base colors, 9.6k poly

credit: @glumbut

(@4t2clay)

☕

[latibulesims]

4t2 Hijab Models 10-14 by aanhamdan93

Yes ma'am! I've converted some hijabs from The Sims 4 to The Sims 2 as requested by @latibulesims!

☆ Informations ☆ Teen-Elder | Female only Polycount: Hijab Model 10 - 6,9k Hijab Model 11 - 5,7k Hijab Model 12 - 6k Hijab Model 13 - 8,3k Hijab Model 14 - 9,3k

Original CC can be downloaded HERE for TS4.

☆ Downloads ☆ SimFileShare MediaFire

If you have requests, problems or anything else you want to discuss with me, feel free to message/ask me about it! :)

[latibulesims]

These recent conversions by @applewatersugar have been everything! Got me inspired to create a sim :D

[latibulesims]

They're in love, your honor

[latibulesims]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Ah my first public download! 

Those who know me know I’m from Brooklyn so here’s a slice of home I wanted to share! The Bushwick Collective is one of my all time favorite things about the city so enjoy playing with these murals and please please check out the read me file for the artist’s instagrams! 

💛 Item found in Wall Hangings, $15

💛 Made with transparent mesh (included) so can use any wall texture underneath 

💛 3 Wall Tiles 

Special thanks to photographer Jaime Rojo, all these incredible artists, and mesh creator wideopeneyes 

FREE DOWNLOAD ON MY SITE HERE (simsfileshare, no registration) 

Happy simming!! So excited for 2022!