LOW WEIGHT vs HIGH WEIGHT

[jbp7271]

Can someone please explain what the purpose is of the Low Weight and High Weight settings (BodySlide) and the corresponding femalebody_0.nif / femalebody_1.nif files.

 

Is it just for a convenient way to reduce the overall look (weight) of a character proportionally? (although where/how I have no idea)

 

Does it have something to do with how your character will look in the game if itâs starving from hunger?

 

What determines which NIF data file the system will use and when (low weight _0 or high weight _1) ??

 

I have asked this question in the past and nobody has ever been able to provide a clear answer. I would be forever grateful if someone could finally clear this up for me. Thank you!

[anjenthedog]

weight: It provides you two sets of shape data to mix between. In addition, if you use a mod that affects weight by activity and consumption, then it allow the game to make you fatter or skinnier based on what you do.

 

So, suppose you don't use one of those mods... Ok, so why then? Well, maybe all your work in bodyslide* just didn't quite get it right. So tweak the body weight in game a bit. Or maybe you find some random bit of armor/clothing, don it, and discover it's cut for a different body shape. Usually you can get by (until you fit the armor...if the armor is fittable) by adjusting your bodyweight temporarily.

 

On bodyslide*, no doubt it's cool to be able to adjust body topography parameters, but it doesn't show the whole package (no face, no arms and leg applied to the body. You have to wait until you're in game to really see how your tweaking worked out. It all comes down to finding the right balance. Bodyweight (high and low and everywhere between) gives the player and easy way to make changes across the board just by adjusting one parameter.

 

height: racial and individual characteristics is all that comes to mind directly. As to a range of heights? I don't know anything about height-high, height-low, but maybe it has to do with changing into and out of beast form. Otherwise the only thing it would apply to (afaik) is body development during aging from childhood to adult hood.

 

But the height parameter itself should be a self-evident characteristic. In the USA, most men are ~5'8" tall (~172cm for the unit challenged). Well I'm 6'1". One of my maternal uncles is 6'5", one of my paternal uncles is 5'9". I went to elementary school with a kid who was already 6ft tall when he entered the 6th grade. (I have no idea how tall he is today, but I suspect that if he's still alive, he's a giant) I've dated womenfolk as short as 4'11" and as tall as 6'. My ex wife was 5'7". Height is a definitive characteristic, and aside from uncommon examples of when you just can't tell unless you meet then in real life (Maria Sharapova comes to mind) where body proportions are "maintained through out the design", it affects body proportion.

[Grospolina]

Every character has a body weight slider from 0 to 100, with 0 being the smallest and 100 being the biggest. The filename_0.nif file corresponds to a weight of 0, and the filename_1.nif file corresponds to a weight of 100. Any weight from 1 to 99 is an interpolation between the two meshes.

 

When creating these meshes, you must make sure that the vertices between them match exactly, or else you'll get a mesh explosion any time you set the weight between 1 and 99 (0 and 100 would still be fine).

 

Edit: Here's a picture that I happen to have: Barkeeper pants. It was used to report a problem with a mod. You can see the differences in the weight (left = 0 weight, right = 100 weight). You can also see that the number of vertices are different, and this causes a mesh explosion.

[anjenthedog]

BTW, if you open CBBE Bodyslide, you'll see two sets of sliders. One for 0 weight, the other for 100 weight.

 

When previewing, the slider at the top of the preview pane is the "mixer" for the two body weights. The more to the left (edit: RIGHT), the more the 100 weight sliders dominate, the more to the left, the more the zero weight sliders will dominate.

 

FTR, generally speaking, we players don't have to worry much about making sure meshes are perfect. Bodyslide handles that for us. We simply choose the particulars for each weight group (or even make them uniform for that matter) that we want displayed in our character(s)

 

What *i* do is work with the default 100 weight body in bodyslide, tweaking here and there to achieve my personal "perfection", then use the copy button (the arrow pointed towards the other weight sliders) to duplicate those settings to the zero weight sliders, then adjust them to be less bulky (smaller breasts for females, less muscly and less or "plump" bodies for both female and male, etc. (slide the preview panel slider to the far left to adjust zero weight sliders and visual see what's going on...took me a while to figure that one out on my own) Then, once I'm satisfied, I save the preset so I can access my settings for that model again later on. (failure to save your work means starting from scratch when you discover your arms are too small or too big, or whatever.)

 

But yes, of course it all works out to visuals. If you were a "90lbs" waif, you'd still have the same Dragonborn stopping power of an obese super muscled version.

[jbp7271]

Thank you for the responses!! I think understand now. :happy:

 

Just one more questions. My character in game seems to be using a lower weight version of my CBBE body. What determines what weight is used? Is that set through Racemenu?

[Grospolina]

Yes, in character creation, you can specify your weight from 0 to 100. You can bring the character creation back by opening the console (~) and typing: showracemenu

 

For CBBE and most female body mods, the weight slider mainly affects breast size.

[anjenthedog]

FWIW, in addition to using racemenu, you can also use a mod utility like LazyTools to modify your body weight in game via MCM.

 

PS> if you find yourself creating unique bodyslide work, don't forget you'll need a version for clothed and unclothed, (for the ladyfolk, that means adjusting the breasts to account for how clothing alters their chest topography...essentially, flattened slightly, lift a little, and push out to the sides or in depending on the amount of "cleavage factor" you're shooting for), choosing nude or never-nude, and don't forget to click the "Build morphs" checkbox prior to building content if you use one of the physics-modeled bodies (ie, CBBE Physics, CBBE Special, 3BBB's Amazing, Fantasy, special, opr physics, or in xUNP, the Unified Special)

 

Also, don't forget to build matching feet and hands!

[jbp7271]

Yes, in character creation, you can specify your weight from 0 to 100. You can bring the character creation back by opening the console (~) and typing: showracemenu

 

For CBBE and most female body mods, the weight slider mainly affects breast size.

 

Ah, that is what I suspected. Thank you!

[jbp7271]

FWIW, in addition to using racemenu, you can also use a mod utility like LazyTools to modify your body weight in game via MCM.

 

PS> if you find yourself creating unique bodyslide work, don't forget you'll need a version for clothed and unclothed, (for the ladyfolk, that means adjusting the breasts to account for how clothing alters their chest topography...essentially, flattened slightly, lift a little, and push out to the sides or in depending on the amount of "cleavage factor" you're shooting for), choosing nude or never-nude, and don't forget to click the "Build morphs" checkbox prior to building content if you use one of the physics-modeled bodies (ie, CBBE Physics, CBBE Special, 3BBB's Amazing, Fantasy, special, opr physics, or in xUNP, the Unified Special)

 

Also, don't forget to build matching feet and hands!

 

>> and don't forget to click the "Build morphs" checkbox prior to building content if you use one of the physics-modeled bodies<<

Oh! Well maybe that's why I can't get physics working right now?? I'm on SkyrimVR now, but before this with Skyrim SE I had both CBP and HDT physics working perfectly (not together). However, with this new VR install I opted to not include the "Bodymorph" option when I installed CBBE, therefor I do not have the "Build Morphs" checkbox in Bodyslide. Looks like I need to do a reinstall..

The reason I didn't include it this time was because it always confused me having the option to modify body parts in both Racemenu or Bodyslide and I was afraid one would screw up the other. Like if I modify a body part in Bodyslide and build it, then go in game and modify the same body part using Racemenu, what would happen?

I also had never built matching feet and hands in Bodyslide before (I guess I should have). Is this to make sure the seams match up? I assume I just need to make sure the feet/hand ankle/wrist size values match the main body's ankle/wrist size?

[jbp7271]

 

FWIW, in addition to using racemenu, you can also use a mod utility like LazyTools to modify your body weight in game via MCM.

 

PS> if you find yourself creating unique bodyslide work, don't forget you'll need a version for clothed and unclothed, (for the ladyfolk, that means adjusting the breasts to account for how clothing alters their chest topography...essentially, flattened slightly, lift a little, and push out to the sides or in depending on the amount of "cleavage factor" you're shooting for), choosing nude or never-nude, and don't forget to click the "Build morphs" checkbox prior to building content if you use one of the physics-modeled bodies (ie, CBBE Physics, CBBE Special, 3BBB's Amazing, Fantasy, special, opr physics, or in xUNP, the Unified Special)

 

Also, don't forget to build matching feet and hands!

 

>> and don't forget to click the "Build morphs" checkbox prior to building content if you use one of the physics-modeled bodies<<

Oh! Well maybe that's why I can't get physics working right now?? I'm on SkyrimVR now, but before this with Skyrim SE I had both CBP and HDT physics working perfectly (not together). However, with this new VR install I opted to not include the "Bodymorph" option when I installed CBBE, therefor I do not have the "Build Morphs" checkbox in Bodyslide. Looks like I need to do a reinstall..

The reason I didn't include it this time was because it always confused me having the option to modify body parts in both Racemenu or Bodyslide and I was afraid one would screw up the other. Like if I modify a body part in Bodyslide and build it, then go in game and modify the same body part using Racemenu, what would happen?

I also had never built matching feet and hands in Bodyslide before (I guess I should have). Is this to make sure the seams match up? I assume I just need to make sure the feet/hand ankle/wrist size values match the main body's ankle/wrist size?

 

 

>>However, with this new VR install I opted to not include the "Bodymorph" option when I installed CBBE, therefor I do not have the "Build Morphs" checkbox in Bodyslide. Looks like I need to do a reinstall..<<

 

Well that didn't work.. The "Build Morphs" checkbox is still not there after I reinstalled CBBE with the "RaceMenu Morphs (BodyMorph)" option selected and then a reinstall of BodySlide. Any ideas?