Suggestions for Taking Pictures I've had more than one person here ask me directly about how to take pictures, most recently just today. So here are some of my thoughts: 1) If your pictures are fuzzy, take another look at the picture size and quality in the options section (the 3 dots in a row, or F5). Choose Camera Options. You can choose snapshot size and snapshot picture quality. The thing to keep in mind here is that the larger your picture and the higher the quality the more hard drive space it requires. I have space to spare so I'm using the largest picture size and the highest quality. It makes a big difference in what my pictures look like when I upload them here. 2) The tab key takes you into and out of Free Camera mode. Free Cam mode allows you to get up real close to your sims, right in their faces (or through them--I'm always finding myself staring at a mouthful of teeth suspended in mid-air. Sims are hollow.) The keys Q and E move you up and down. Those, plus the arrow keys and the mouse are what I use all the time. There are some other keys for movement of the camera which I don't bother with but you might find more useful: W/S forward/back; A/D left/right; Z/X Zoom in/out. 3) Some hints. First: Get in close while you play and just watch your sims. They're always glancing up from assigned tasks to look at another sim moving around nearby. Be ready for that snapshot. Also, they get lots of interesting expressions on their faces while eating, talking on the phone and even just watching TV. I've seen some pretty strange expressions when they're engaged in the most mundane of activities, like reading. (Some of their books must be quite frightening.) These expressions come and go really quick, too, so be ready. Second: P is for pause. Have your finger poised over that key any time you even THINK you might want to take a picture, then hit that P. While the game is paused you have all the time in the world to move your camera into position. Bring it around so that you're eyeball to eyeball with one of your sims. C is for Take Picture. You should see a brief flash. Third: The camera will not go as close to the ground as you might like sometimes, unless you've dug a very deep hole. However, if your house is on a foundation, you can get your camera eye level with the floor. That'll get you good closeups of the baby playing with the rabbit. Fourth: Lights! I like table lamps best for the effect, lighting up their faces from the side, adding a hint of shadows. Fifth: Got the Uni EP? One of the careers (Art?) gets you the antique camera. (Or you can cheat and Unlockcareerrewards.) Choose a sim, click on the antique camera and choose Pose for all sorts of fun poses. Most interesting is that they turn their head and smile in your direction, even if that means they have to look up toward the ceiling because you happen to be looking down from up there. Oops. Hit pause, position your camera, unpause, and they turn their head toward you again. Gives me chills every time. Finally, I've found the Windows Movie Maker handy for lifting a snapshot from a video. If you have taken a video of some game action, review it in Movie Maker, pause it on your favorite scene. Then under Tools you can Take Picture from Preview. Videos, by the way, take up WAY more space on your hard drive, especially if you have the quality set to high which is kind of important if you're taking a snapshot from the video. Anyone else with suggestions?
Great tips, Lynet. May I also add: If you have Nightlife be sure to take advantage of the visible neighbors - crank up the detail as far as you computer will tolerate for those special shots. Remember to have all your walls up before you start snapping away. I find pics where the walls are missing are limp and uninteresting. If you have paused the game you have plenty of time to arrange the walls. If you can see through a wall go into free camera mode so you can get closer. In fact snapshots taken taken without free camera mode are practically worthless.
So right about the walls. Sometimes I forget and find myself looking at a picture that would otherwise be good except for the bathroom sink and toilet behind the couch. Reminds me of house hunting years ago. One small house had a working toilet in the living room. No walls around it at all. I assumed that someone had been bedridden and stayed round-the-clock in the living room, but sheesh!. Would walls have been so hard to put up? Walls are GOOD things.
