A few questions to 3D modellers about architecture.

[Deleted6656695User]

Hi, first of all I'm a complete beginner in modding and I started out recently (and have enjoyed everything I've learned so far).

 

I am creating my own town in a custom worldspace, and the regular Skyrim buildings won't do it. So I decided to really get into business and start learning how to do it my own, cause the architecture I have in my mind is completely different from Skyrim's. I prefer using 3ds max over blender (I find blender too complex).

 

 

I only wish to get more wind to my sails on this subject, and I got some questions for experienced modellers. My main interest is making architecture models for now. So please give me some advice if possible.

 

Questions

1. Is modelling Buildings more complex than modelling character meshes or item meshes?

2. Can a newbie use a existing Building model and modify it into a new one, or it is better to start entirely from scratch? In terms of difficulty.

3. Is it generally a good idea to start learning modelling first at building architectures?

4. I haven't found many Skyrim tutorials on Buildings, do you know of any which are meant for beginners? I found Observe's Architecture tutorial, which is amazing (but not for complete beginners).

5. Any tips are welcome, even ones I didn't ask for!

 

 

Thanks a lot, I will be obviously checking back.

[ResolveThatChord]

If you've never made a model and imported it into the game, the best and simplest thing to start with is a sword. A sword requires you to model the object, UV unwrap it, texture it, do nifskope sorcery to it, and put it in the CK.
With armour/creature meshes, you need to do all that PLUS vertex weighting which requires a lot more effort and is trickier to import.
Buildings don't need vertex weights but they do need collision which I'm not sure has been solved yet, and they require you to be very clever with your UV maps.
As for tips?

-Before you start UV mapping, make sure your topography is as clear and clean as possible. Good topography can save hours of work and frustration when UV unwrapping and texturing, and a good UV map helps make better looking textures.

-Export vanilla buildings and other meshes to get an idea of how Bethesda do it. You can learn a lot this way.

-Information/tutorials on mod-specific skills like importing and exporting tend to be incomplete, eclectic and spread thin. when you want to learn something put your project aside and make a simple model that will definitely work with the tutorial you find.

-Also check out the Enclave modding school at TESA.

-Good luck!