Need Advice for Testing Skin Weights on Custom Armor

[editpolygon]

Does anyone know of an efficient way to test skin weights on custom built armor without having to export the files from 3ds Max (or another program), into and out of NifSkope, then finally importing them into Skyrim?

 

In general, I’d prefer to scrub through an animation to see how skin-weights deform within the same program I’d use to set said skin-weights.

 

I’d thoroughly appreciate any alternative methods and would like to hear advice in general from experienced from-scratch armor modders.

 

Thank you!