Custom animated static mesh?

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

Good evening everybody!

 

I recently continued work on a little project (large custom worldspace / island - thing with custom questlines, etc ...) ...

 

For that I would need to create a custom animated static mesh.

 

I know how to make a custom static mesh in 3DSMAX and get it into FO4.

I also found a tutorial on how to make a custom door and get that into the game. (A door is kind of a static thing with a animation, right ...? )

But I have not found anything on how to make a custom animated static mesh.

 

Basically, I want to make something like this wind-turbine-thingy that just rotates all the time:

Data\Meshes\DLC03\SetDressing\Turbines\DLC03WindTurbine01.nif

 

I tried importing that mesh into 3DSMAX 2013, but that didn't work. The mesh was there, but without the animation.

If anybody knows how to make something like this, let me know.

[thousande]

It can be done more intuitively with Max, I think, but I know and have created a couple of simple animations for Fo4 using NifScope.

With 'simple' I mean animate transform, rotate, vertex colors data for a 2 - 3 shape/objects.

 

I used this tutorial which discusses most of the nif nodes involved and walks you through the process.

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbrqxlSxMxwyYdnoQYrGPEyItRY7R92a4

 

It may be a bit overwhelming at first. Having a basic understanding of nifs helps, but with practice you should increase your understanding.

 

Also, I think Kinggath's mod school on youtube discusses vertex color animations.

 

Good luck and you may try ask here if you're completely stuck.

[VIitS]

As thousande said, it can be done in nifskope. If there is a vanilla object with the exact animation you want, you can even steal it. Not sure if it would be easier to copy the animation into your mesh or copy your mesh into the vanilla .nif and replace the parts with your own.

 

That said, what are you using to import into Max? I don't know if there is a good FO4 .nif importer for 2013 directly, but the 2017 importer works great. I used it a while back to import the vault gear door and create a close animation (would have uploaded it, but someone else already did). With Max it was a lot easier than it would have been in Nifskope, was able to just copy it and reverse it.

 

If you do have access to Max 2017 or 2018, you can use 2013 to give it the necessary collision for an animated mesh, then do all the animation in the newer version.

 

Here is a nice tutorial for making FO4 collisions (make sure to generate the right kind): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SssqMofI_Y

 

Here is one for making animations from scratch in 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XETBRVJArZU

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

Thanks for the quick responeses!

 

Man, Nifskope really seems to be a very useful tool, I will have to try that.

 

For importing nifs into 3DSMAX 2013 I just use the normal import-thingy ("import into current scene" or whatever -> select the file you want).

I have the havoc -tools thing installed that is also needed to export nifs.

I don't really work in 3DSMAX, I just use it to to do the texturing / UV-mapping and the collision.

I create the meshes in a program called SketchUp 2017. It's free and very easy to use.

From there I export the mesh as a obj file and import that into 3DSMAX.

 

I know that isn't a very "professional" workflow, but it works for me.

I mostly do static meshes, so I don't really need the "advanced features" of 3DSMAX. Just some basic mesh editing if anything is screwed up.

 

No, I don't have the newest version of 3DSMAX because I don't like the "subscription" crap, but not because of costs. I just don't like to "depend" on a connection to the internet.

My main PC where I do all of my stuff is completely offline all the time. It is more comfortable for me that way .....

 

[sorry for the ranting ... ]