Family portrait?

[Bubbo]

I tried searching for this but could not find anything about it.

You know the little splash screen you get when you are loading your family, the one with the picture of your household as it is? Is there a way to access that file? I'm on the fourth generation of a family and it would be nice to have regular 'family portraits'. I try to do a lot of screenshots and such, but would really prefer the occasional formal setting.

Thanks.

[Saltypaws]

I don't think so, but if you want a family portrait try to get all the members of the family in one spot, then have them pose to make them stay there and then have a sim paint a portrait.  The only problem is, if the sim that is painting the portrait is a family member, then they won't be in the portrait, unless you get a utility sim to get their skills high enough to paint everyone.  It is tricky getting them altogether, but it just takes patience.  I had Agnes paint the twins portrait while they posed, it turned out really good.  This was just a suggestion though.

[Asleep]

I managed to do something like that:

* Take a picture of the whole screen with Command Shift 3
* Open that screenshot
* Take another screenshot of just that family portrait
* You should end up with something like this:



If you're on a windows, though, the controls may be somewhat different.

[Bubbo]

Thanks! I'm definitely going to do the screenshot thing. I'm also thinking of putting their free will at zero and then trying to get them to all stand together, though I imagine that herding cats would be easier!

Thank you

[Asleep]

No problem.

[Pam]

Free will at zero works pretty good.  I've done that a couple of times.  You can arrange them in chairs or standing or both.

[Bubbo]

Thanks for the advice and help. I had to put their free will to zero and then turn on moveobjects in order to get them all facing the same way. Also, they kept thinking about sandwiches and computers!

[Lilygirl]

There is a cheat available that turns off the thought bubbles, but I don't know what it is offhand. Research says: hideheadlineffects on/off might work but needs actual testing.

[samoht04]

hideHeadlineEffects (true/false on/off) - Is the cheat that hides Bubbles and the Plumbob. 

[Bubbo]

hideHeadlineEffects (true/false on/off) - Is the cheat that hides Bubbles and the Plumbob. 

Awesome! Thanks.

[Ausette]

Don't forget you can use 'moveobjects on' to pose your Sims closer together, and get a photographer to use the Ask To Pose interaction if you have World Adventures installed. You can get nice intimate pictures like this one:



I also used the aforementioned 'HideHeadlineEffects on' cheat here, which is an absolute godsend for screenshots. That's not to say funny thought bubbles can't add a certain charm, though. 

[Asleep]

That's the picture you used on the Christmas Sims thread, right?

[Hosfac]

That's not to say funny thought bubbles can't add a certain charm, though. 

Yeah, sometimes those thought bubbles can take a cool screen shot and make it epic. 

[Leto85]

Already thought of using a mirror?
No really. You could make your painter sim 'remembering a scene' by using his or her mobile phone. So place all your sims together in a nice pose, with free will off and hideHeadlineEffects on (thank you Bubbo) and than let that sim take a picture of the mirror that is in front of the family.
Now he can make a portrait of everyone including himself.

Let's say, in theory this must work. I've never used it in 'real sim life' actually. Hope you can make this all true.

[Ausette]

That's the picture you used on the Christmas Sims thread, right?

Sure is  . I spent a lot of time setting up that screenshot, so I'm going to milk it for all it's worth!

No really. You could make your painter sim 'remembering a scene' by using his or her mobile phone. So place all your sims together in a nice pose, with free will off and hideHeadlineEffects on (thank you Bubbo) and than let that sim take a picture of the mirror that is in front of the family.
Now he can make a portrait of everyone including himself.

Paintings are great for self-portraits, but don't forget photographs! They have the added benefit of being faster, clearer and in adjustable sizes, so if you have a few photographers in the household you can get a really nice collection of pictures. They're also great for decorating. Here's one I used to decorate a teenage boy's bedroom in a house I built (because every teenage boy needs a few pinup models on his walls). The screenshot itself is also a good example of a thought bubble improving a picture.