[FO4][3DS Max 2013] Editing geometry of animated meshes while keeping the animation intact

[AnOutdatedMind]

I've been trying to edit the animated Fancy Bureau mesh with 3DS Max and NifSkope. However I can't figure out how I can make changes to the root part of the mesh without some issue arising. I've got no clue what export script I'm supposed to use in 3DS Max, I've tried multiple. I've also tried editing the results in NifSkope with not much luck either. The Creation Kit crashes most of the time when trying to load a modified mesh, when it doesn't, it's generally caused by the collision or the animations missing or being messed up.

Preferably I'd separate the drawers into separate sub-meshes and abandon the whole bone/vertex painting stuff, but if I can find a reliable way of editing meshes with animated bones I'll use them.

Any assistance on this is appreciated.

In short I want to change the Fancy Bureau mesh into the dresser pictured below while the original animation stays intact.

[South8028]

I haven't edited vanilla animations because I can't export them to max. But I imported hundreds of my animations and there was no problem. For boxes you can do the same for doors. Two sequences "open" and "close" with two tags of the same name. The quallyty type checkbox is set in the rig, "keyframed" is selected. The object type is anim static. The material is assigned. Exported as pe animation. The nif is passed through elrich. The nifscope is not needed. I only use it to add controllers, extra data and bs connect point. I don't need nifscop for anything else.

[pepperman35]

If you look at the NIF's Export Info one finds that PE Anim is the script used. However, you'll need to set up the animation for the Open, Close and Open/Close states. Ethreon Door animation tutorial should get you going in the right direction.

[AnOutdatedMind]

Thank you both! I'll have to do some new setting up to do since my previous attempts are pretty much unsalvageable. I'll show the results here when I get it working or post when I come across another issue.

[pepperman35]

I imported the FancyBureau01.nif into max and it looks like frame 1-21 will be your open sequence, frames 22-42 will be the close sequence, and frames 43-55 will be the openclose sequence.

[pepperman35]

Here's how I implemented the customized the FancyBureau01.nif. I didn't really like the strange behavior of the drawers so I kept it simple with a linear motion and no rotations. This is not to say that what I did is any better than yours, but merely a point of reference for you. Hopefully, you will find it helpful.