problem with model import & export

[reko34]

I found this tutorium about "How to edit FO3 meshes in 3D programs". I followed it and use NifSkope and blender-2.48a to modify the models. But even if i don't change any thing on the model and export it directly from blender, the obj file is no longer useful. Its size is apparently changed but it looks alright back in NifSkope. In game it's terrible :wallbash:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/20090209_03e7e714e6ffcc5dfc27keFOYl.jpg

 

In fact i'm not used to the control of blender at all. I also tried 3ds max, which caused additional problem by material, and silo 2.0, which caused a game crash. It's the first time i tried to modify a game, so can somebody nicely give me a better tutorium? :thanks:

[neunen]

which object in the screenshot is the one youve edited? (sorry if its obvious and im just not seeing it)

also which tutorial did you try?

[reko34]

Oh, sorry, me forgot to post the link, it's here

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=633

 

The picture above shows my failure to edit the metal armor. I found someone made a shoulderless version, and i tried to make a hipless because i only had to delete some polygons.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3505

 

In fact the most i want to edit is the chinese stealth armor. The waist looks too fat.

 

Maybe the problem is far more complicated than i thought. I know nothing of binding skeletons.

[neunen]

hmm im afraid im still not quite understanding what has happened, what does the model look like when you bring it back into the game? once you export the file as an .obj from blender, i think the only way to get it in game properly is to then load a similar game file in nifskope and swap its nitristripsdata for the imported .obj's nitristripsdata, sorry if that sounds confusing (and double sorry if thats what youre already doing and its not working)

 

check out this tutorial

http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Creating_A_Custom_Weapon

even though its about a weapon, alot of the steps cover what needs to be done in general for FO3 models.

and also check this one out

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index..._Using_NifSkope

although its for oblivion the concept is still the same.

 

edit: try -opening the model in nifskope, then exporting it as an obj

-import the .obj to blender, do your editing

-export the model from blender as an .obj again (make sure to select triangulate and normals)

-then open the original nif in nifskope, import your edited .obj and then swap the original mesh for the new one (following the steps from that geck tutorial)

 

hopefully one of those two will help, but if not please post the exact steps you took and what was wrong with the model once it was back in the game and/or nifskope

[niterage69]

If i am seeing your image correctly; The problem looks to be as if you've deleted a few vertice/Poly's & have not welded the open area back together. Think of your mesh as a complete circuit, if you remove a section the energy can no longer flow (that is, until you repair it by closing the open area again).. if using 3ds max, you can simply select the area you are working on, click the modify tab, then scroll your panel options until you get to the area that says Edit Geometry;

you will NEED to copy the links below to see the images showing what i mean, as dynamic pages in the tags are not allowed.

 

http://content.glidesociety.com/image.aspx...91-40fa03f90a14

 

http://content.glidesociety.com/image.aspx...45-fb2fcdc644d3

 

 

 

as far as Blender goes.. I personally do not care for it. I have been modeling/texturing/coding for many years now & figured i would try out Blender (since the tutorials for import/exporting meshes referred to that program) nothing but head aches for me :wallbash:

 

I'm fairly certain Blender is a very useful 3d-modeling Program for those who wish to invest the time to learn how to use it...like i said earlier i use 3ds max, & Blender seemed very cumbersome for me to attempt to fiddle with (tough to teach an old dog new tricks, i guess).

not to mention everything in the tutorials for import/exporting between blender/nifskope/FO3 seemed to have alteast 10+ steps just to get your model to port correctly to FO3.

 

After a few days of installing/uninstalling blender/nif skripts etc... I managed to come along a 3ds importer that gets your model into the game in 3 steps ;)

 

SourceForge Nif / 3ds importer

 

steps:

1. import "yourmesh.nif" into 3ds max , change whatever you wish

 

2. export "yourmesh.nif" from 3ds

 

* 3. open the file in nifskope , then just re-save it to your working games mesh folder

 

* step 3 is important for reasons i have yet to figure out...if you do not open the file in nifskope & resave it...after exporting it from 3ds the mesh does not show up in game; i have a feeling the exporter strips the texture info from the Nif file....But in any case this method is alot more streamlined then other ways i have read/tried about from the forums.

 

If i get the time i will be creating completely new models/scripts & AI's for the game to upload in the future

 

Hope this helps some ...happy modding :))

 

Also if you are interested in texturing this Paint program has direct support of formats using the .DDS extension & comes in very handy as there is no need to convert the format

DDS Paint

[reko34]

Thank you good guys!

 

I'll try your advice and that will take some time i think.

[reko34]

I tried the plugin for 3ds max to edit the metal armor. I deleted all the polygons around the hip(or i believe so). That shouldn't affect the rest of the body because nothing has to be welded, right? The body part, which includes the deleted hip armor, cannot be seen in the game, though it looks alright in nifscope. The arm parts are OK in game because it's not been edited.

 

When i turned to blender, i also found the problems by import or export. I did as the tutorium says but the model can no longer be seen in nifscope even if i didn't touch anything. Any problem for my import and export settings?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/untitled.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/untitled1-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/untitled2-2.jpg

[neunen]

as far as the export goes i dont have blender handy at the moment, but two things off the top of my head are:

1 make sure you have the object selected when you choose export, (i forget to do that quite often, and essentially it then exports an empty file)

and

2 this is just a shot in the dark but i seem to remember having the 'material' button selected upon export

(the one next to 'keep vert order') maybe its worth a shot

[niterage69]

the problem could have nothing to do with the import/export settings, I looked at your Nifskope image & noticed that under the Block details, NiMaterialProperty: you have the .DDS texture listed there...that section looks to control additional info for specularity, lighting effects, alpha channels, etc ; which to my knowledge is not used in FO3 via the .NIF file (the game seems to use the internal engine to control that, which can be modified using the geck.. i can explain that more for you if you like later on). That info is left blank/default in all the FO3 models i have opened via Nifskope. The correct location to store you texture info is : (Block List) NiTriShape, BSSShaderPPLightingProperty, BSShaderTextureSet (Block Details) Textures.. refer to the image below & also make sure you've clicked on the model in the 3dviewport to make it the active one on the list ;)

 

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww355/niterage69/nif1.jpg

 

Did you double-check that you have deleted only the hip area & not an attached poly aswell...some models have hidden poly's? Also if you have changed the model by deleteing something on it , you WILL have to un-wrap the uv & recreate it (since the model/uv do not match any more)

 

your above image of Nifskope looks only to be showing the bone structures, not the mesh & does leave me wondering if you only had the bones selected when you exported it, as Neunen was mentioning.

Sorry if my posts seem a bit scattered (as my brain tends to be completely scattered most of the time)

:yes:

 

Edit: Ok, i just had a bit of time to check into this more, as you can see from the image below...the Hip area of the metal armor , does in fact connect to a vertice in the center of the mesh (which is most likely joined to the bones for animation)

Therefore if you delete those outer poly's you are basically cutting the armor mesh in 1/2...

I tested this theory by just shrinking an area of the armor (the shoulder spikes) so that they were inside rather then being deleted & this cheap method worked fine..which makes me lean more to the initial response i gave you about mesh welds (images below show you in 3ds, Nifskope, then in the actual game) you could test it yourself using the cheezy tip i just gave you & shrink the entire hip area so as to make it small enough it hides inside the mesh entirely ;)

 

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww355/niterage69/3dsarmor.jpg

 

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww355/niterage69/marmnospikes.jpg

 

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww355/niterage69/ingamenospikes.jpg

[reko34]

I tried to resize the hip armor into the body, but it still doesn't work. After imported into NifScope i found the "NiSkinInstance"-node is missing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/a1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/a2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/a3.jpg

 

At the same time my other idea has also failed. This time the problem is in the texture. I tried to use the BABE-body-replacer(http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1185) to make a bodysuit. All of dds-files are with body hair, i should get rid of them. I used DDS-converter and photoshop cs2. I tested dds-converter alone and no problem occured. It seems it's photoshop who changed the alpha-map automatically or lowered the image quality. I did no change in the image and just resave the file(both psd and tga are tried), and the connection between body parts became apparent. The dds-file from the author has no problem.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/ScreenShot5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/reko34/ScreenShot4.jpg

I also tried paint.NET. It has some function similar to photoshop but i found no way to delete the hair and repair the body, which is quite simple by photoshop.