iClustaFlux

Blimey, I'd forgotten about this thread. Got pulled away from my modding endeavors not long after writing... I'll have to have a poke around again and see whats new.

Thanks, you've really been great to me in a time of need. I am truly in your debt!

Dear via, I've been working straight for over 12 hours and am starting to hallucinate, what would you suggest i do?

I think you can, but it's not something i've looked into at all, as i've never used it personally.

Awesome! Sorry everything took so long to get sorted.. But you're finally able to get to work in blender now? If you are, you may find my workflow post useful, as it shows you some tricks and workarounds if you wanted to do your modelling/texturing in newer versions of Blender rather than being constricted to the ugly 2.49 UI - http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/944160-blender-249b-26x-workflow-what-you-can-do/ Happy modding! :happy:

I have awoken from my slumber, and shall endeavour to assist you once more, if its still required? If so, i suggest seeing if this workflow can get you started on editing your sword: http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/tutorials/article/93-3d-craftworks-importing-weapons-into-skyrim/ It only requires you to work with the .obj format which should cause no trouble with importing/exporting in blender - it doesn't even require you to create a tweaked .nif ..I'll try and find some info on the error you are getting with the .nif format. Could you please post the exact error message(s) you get so i can refine my search criteria?

Annnd im back, if you're still alive? The rules should apply to any .nif files (until NifTools are updated) so yes you will need to for pretty much anything you want to wok with.

You do make a valid point, and iIdid consider including that information - however i'm trying to keep workflow tips as bullet-proof as possible. A quote from the blender dev team themselves:

Your adjusting the .nif version and cleaning out shader data before trying to import?

Glad i could help :) Everything working?

Basically, the only working version of the NifScript plugin for blender only works on blender 2.49. It doesn't have proper support for Skyrim .nif files, so you have to make some minor tweaks to the .nif's on NifSkope before the script is able to properly import them.

You need to get NifScripts, which is NOT NifSkope, You then extract the contents into the .blender directory of your blender installation. Sorry for the delayed response, busy modelling a new body :3 NifSkope is needed to tweak .nif files so that NifScripts is able to handle the import.

The second option, which i highlighted in green ;)

You definitely set it to use the installation directory for scripts? And not the App. Data directory? You get 3 options: Use the application Data directory (requires windows 2000 or better)Use the Installation directory (ie. location chosen to install blender.exe)I have defined a %HOME% variable, please install files here.If you correctly set it, then i can only assume that it's something to do with your privileges on the computer..?

To make sure you can use the NifScripts plugin properly... Use the 32bit version of blenderMake sure blender 2.49 uses the application install directory to look for pluginsunzip nifscripts into the \.blender\ subdirectory of your blender installation (should be somewhere like: C:\Program Files (x86)\Blender Foundation\Blender249b\.blender\scripts )If you have the nifscripts installer (.exe) it will also use the \.blender\ subdirectory. IF you are not sure where your installation looks for plugins, just un-install it and re-install telling it to use its own directory.

Your not seeing the Netimmerse/Gamebryo item appear in blenders import options?

To import .nif files you will need to have blender 2.49 installed, with the NifScripts plugin. In order to use the plugin, you need to use NifSkope to clean up some items in the .nif file and then export it to a new file, before importing to blender. see: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/15690

...please excuse the formatting of this post, the forums killed it and i cant restore it at this point. Purpose of this article: An aid / guide / outline to anyone using Blender to create new content for Skyrim.To clarify what you can and can't do (at the time of writing) in different versions of Blender with regards to modelling and texturing.To provide a logical workflow (and possible variations) to include using the latest versions of blender.Describe solutions to common problems working with different blender versions and compatibility (Q & A).What this article does not intend: To teach you how to use software mentioned (NifSkope, NifScripts Blender versions)** some relevant links will likely be provided in a later edit, but for now I'm just outlining the basic workflow. Preface / Ramble: Upon reaching the decision that I myself wanted to try my hand at creating an armour mod, I started investigating what steps would be needed. Being a user of blender 2.5+ and never having really gotten along with older (2.49b and lower) versions, I felt dismayed that everything seemed to revolve around 2.49 due to the fact (at the time of writing) it has the only fully function .nif support via a plugin. Nevertheless I plunged in and got busy extracting my .bsa's and went through the process of cleaning and exporting with NifSkope, and figuring out how to properly import things using 2.49. The more I poked around the unfamiliar and ugly UI of 2.49, the more my eyes hurt and longed for the familiarity of the 2.5/6x UI I was so used to, so I started to see what might be possible with regards to backwards compatibility... As it turns out, all the way up to version 2.62 the bulk of the data in a saved .blend file could be read by 2.49! But why only up to 2.62? Well because after that point, the way blender handles its meshes goes through a drastic change, and virtually all compatibility gets broken - but there are some workarounds (see Q&A) Anyhoo... moving along.. The Comfort Workflow: A) Starting with NifSkope and Blender 2.49b Clean .nif files with NifSkope. [*needs a link] Import .nif files using Blender 2.49b with NifScripts. [*needs a link] Save your blender project to a new .blend fileB) Blender 2.62 - Getting comfortable! Open your saved .blend Get busy doing your modelling and texturing work in comfort with the familiar UI. Save your project.C) Back to 2.49b Open your project. Fix up your vertex groups. [*needs a link] Do any weighting work thats needed. [*needs a link] ! Save your project ! Export your new model(s).So really, all you need 2.49 for is importing/exporting, working with vertex groups and weighting. Once the NifTools team are up to speed porting their work over to the new Blender API we should be able to drop 2.49 from the process altogether, and hopefully no more "cleaning" work with NifTools either. Blender 2.62+ and some basic Q & A: This section is just to outline some likely scenarios Blender users might be faced with. Q) I really want to make us of texturing features in newer builds, is there no way I can do this? A) Yes, you can! Make a copy of your .blend project. Open the copy in your latest blender version. Get busy with your favourite features to create your new textures.NOTE: If you realise you need to alter the UV maps - go back to your 2.49/2.62 project .blend, make the changes and save. You can either copy the file and start over with your latest version (if your not too far into it for example) or you can import the updated model. Q) I have an armour model in 2.66, is there no way of getting it into 2.62? A) Don't worry, it's relatively simple! In 2.66 open the project that contains your armour (or other item) Export the models as an interchangeable format (for example .obj or .3ds) Go back to 2.62 and import the file(s) you just created. Get busy with your adjustments.NOTE: You could actually do the majority of your work in the most up-to-date versions of blender with this in mind. Also see next question. Q) Why not just save the blend as a legacy? (from VectorPlexus) A) Quote from blender dev's: "The new mesh format means that meshes saved in Blender 2.63 .blend files will be incomplete when loaded in older Blender versions (usually missing faces). When saving files, there is now a "Legacy Mesh Format" option to save Meshes compatible with older versions of Blender.However note that in general opening and saving files in an older Blender will lead to loss of data from any new features, so even without BMesh it is strongly recommended to avoid this." Relying on the legacy save functionality can easily leave you in awkward / annoying situations which can halt your progress while you try to resolve the problem. Feedback and Questions Welcome! I hope this article will prove to be of some use, remember it is only intended for people who already have working knowledge of the software mentioned, to provide a simple workflow guide and answer common questions. I expect it to evolve from both my own experience and input from the community, and as such it could be considered a WIP. Have experience you feel could be added? please don't hesitate to add your 2 cents, and if relevant I will include your notes of wisdom. Got more questions about working between blender versions? I'll do my best to add a relevant Q&A block. Both positive and negative critique is welcome. If you feel I need to be clearer about anything, feel free to say so. If your points make good sense I will endeavour to make amendments. Finally, if you for some reason feel those fires of hate raging in your belly, for whatever reason, expressing them here will not be tolerated. If you really HAVE to burn something, take a can of deodorant, a lighter, and practice on your crotch.

Looking for some input from more experienced modders around here. ..first a little bit about the journey. Basically i decided to pick up skyrim again a couple of weeks ago and decided to look at visual enhancement mods, got myself a few general HD texture and lighting mods making everything look a bit prettier, and then turned my attention to body/armour beautification. I didn't want to break away to far from the vanilla content, and started going over the female body mods and vanilla armour re-fit mods. The only female body mod that a found to be really pleasing realistically is the UNP mod by DIMONIZED, which also helpfully has an armour re-fit mod by exeter. Got both mods plugged in and running nicely, but quickly started noticing some nasty weighting issues and clipping as i played. So my first reaction was to see if there was anything i could do as far as fixing this, so i ended up installing (*cringes*) blender 2.49 and everything i needed for extracting/tweaking skyrims .nif files ...before i go any further, It should be noted im NOT knocking these guys - both have put a good deal of time and effort, and done a pretty damn good job. Anyhow.. Upon getting both a vanilla female body mesh and a UNP mesh into blender, getting the corresponding textures loaded in and taking a moment to analyse the UV maps (before i even started looking at armours) i started to see problems, problems that could most likely be solved and also be a benefit to future modders. Now, for some strange reason, i actually enjoy UV unwrapping, which means i also pay a HUGE amount of attention to how space is used, and how much distortion is going on. ..so i got totally side-tracked.. What im contemplating doing (and where your experience, wisdom and possible interest comes in) : 1) Create a base body mesh with better topology, far lower poly count than currently available body mesh mods yet retain detail in crucial areas ...i know how people love their perfectly smooth boobies for example but i can easily model that feature with a far lower count than the current options while retaining that perfect silhouette (something like this should put less strain on the CPU with a boob physics mod?) 2) Break down UV maps into better proportioned peices, this would lead to being able to get more detail into the maps and it would be more uniform with less stretched/squished poly's. Moving tail textures into their own files would free up a tonne of space for the torso to give more resolution (and less wasted space in non beast-race torso textures) I would of course re-bake all vanilla textures to the new map(s) so that they could be worked with. I'm aware this would cause a lot of incompatibility with other mods, but at the same time it should probably give artists something better to work with? 3) kinda a side note.. but.. make damn sure all the correct vertex group partitions are there so the engine can swap items out as and when needed properly (prevent nasty clipping with booties and gloves) 4) lastly, re-fit vanilla armours to my resulting body, and ensure they are properly weighted and create derivative variants in the like of bandit (fur) armour - i don't think i've seen anyone else do this? but then i haven't been around here very long.. To summarise my intentions: - Properly optimised high quality, or "HD", base mesh. - Greatly optimised UV maps for higher possible texture quality. - Proper vertex group partitioning. - Lore friendly vanilla armour re-fit (with eventual derivative variant options) So what are your thoughts / critiques / interests on any / all points?