Picture Perfect: Tips for Better Screenshots
- Keep Your Goal in Mind. This may seem straight forward, but it can be very easy to see something "shiny" and then find yourself with heaps of useless screenshots. Yes, that vase contrasts nicely with the wallpaper in your bedroom, but you didn't even capture the bed, which makes it a bedroom.
- Off with their head...I mean Plumbob. If you are trying to capture a Sim, the plumbob absolutely must go. It's great for playing the game, but the iconic image can be an eye sore in your photos and it's easy to remove.
- Hit Ctrl+Shift+C and a thin blue box pops up at the top of the screen. Type in "hideheadlineeffects on" and hit Enter. Viola! Unsightly Plumbob removed!
- Keeping Tabs. When you are at an angle you like, hit the "Tab" key. Not only does the interface disappear, but you won't slide around accidently. The camera view will pivot from where you "stand" allowing you to look up, down, and all 360 degrees around you. It will also let you zoom in and out certain distances. Hit "C" to take the picture. Once you've captured the shot, hit "Esc" or "Tab" again and you will return to the interface view.
- In Full Tilt. Aerial or birds eye shots can be tricky. You want to capture the floor plan of a build and make it easy to understand. Before beginning, make sure all the roofs are up on your build. Then press the Tilt Up button until it stops. You should be looking down on the lot. The front of the lot should be at the bottom of the screen and the back of the lot at the top of the screen. This is important because you want all the floors facing the same direction in the screenshots to clearly indicate the placement of the rooms.
Once you have the entire lot, or the entire floor plan in view, hit "Tab". Zoom in and out as needed and twist the mouse left or right to straighten out your view. Hit "C" to capture and exit the Tab view. Without moving the mouse, hit "Page Down" on the keyboard and go back into "Tab" view. Repeat until all floor levels are captured.
- All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait. Sims are bursting with personality and with great timing, you can use that to your advantage. Observe Sims with different traits. A perceptive Sim will pull out a magnifying glass randomly, a dramatic Sim can faint on cue, or one of my favorites an insane Sim will talk to himself. Using that last example, I made this picture. Notice he actually appears to be tipping his top hat. It was all in the timing. He was actually in the process of pointing, seemingly arguing with an invisible someone and I waited until just that moment with just the right angle. Sure, it would be easier and faster with a Pose Player, but you don't need one to capture that perfect picture.
- Rule of Thirds. Professional photographers are secretly magicians. When you look at their art, your eyes go exactly where they want them to go. How do they do this? Rule of Thirds. Imagine a tic-tac-toe board with nine equal squares on your screen. The four points where the lines intersect are the strongest focal points and the lines themselves are the second strongest focal points. If your subject is alone, the most powerful placement would be on the left hand line with one or more the points. If you have more than one subject, the bottom right point is the strongest focal point and the top left is the weakest.
- Mood Lighting. Lighting is extremely important. You don't want the image too dark, making it hard to see, nor do you want it too light, washing out the subject. If you have World Adventures, make use of the lighting panels in the Buydebug menu. Hit Ctrl+Shift+C and type in the blue box "testingcheatsenabled true". Nothing seems to happen yet. Open the blue box once again and type "buydebug". Now when you enter Buy mode, you will see a new Function category with a "?". Inside you will find lots of great items, but under Misc. Objects, you can find white shapes in different sizes. Place these to add more lighting without the actual fixtures. They will disappear in Live mode. Also, if they lights are too bright, you can dim them (or brighten them) by hitting Ctrl+Shift while clicking on a light fixture or shape. You can also change the color of the light to an eerie red or soothing blue.
- Natural light is another great resource. In Sims, the sun rises in the morning, peaks in the afternoon, and darkens in the evening. The stars and the moon twinkle in the dark and the idyllic sunrise and sunset fill the sky with beautiful colors. Photographers use these to their advantage and so should you. Plan your Sim wedding at the right time and location to have the sunset behind the couple. Bring out your villain at night with only the stars to witness his evil deeds.
