How does one make an outfit mod for 3BA?

[RedHeadAngel]

I've been wanting to make my own outfit mod for 3BA, but don't know where to start. I've looked through multiple guides, but they aren't helpful for people who are new to modding, like me. Are there any helpful tips that can help me with this endeavor? I play on SE.

[scorrp10]

That is too broad a question I am afraid.  

Are you trying to

Convert an existing CBBE outfit to 3BA

Convert other base shape (UNP) outfit

Convert an existing 3D model to use in Skyrim?

Design something entirely your own from scratch?

Or you want to know, once you have an actual 3D mesh, how to create a mod that makes it available in game?

[RedHeadAngel]

2 hours ago, scorrp10 said:

That is too broad a question I am afraid.  

Are you trying to

Convert an existing CBBE outfit to 3BA

Convert other base shape (UNP) outfit

Convert an existing 3D model to use in Skyrim?

Design something entirely your own from scratch?

Or you want to know, once you have an actual 3D mesh, how to create a mod that makes it available in game?

Which one of those would be best for a beginner to start on?

[scorrp10]

First one of course.

Generally what you do is:
1. Delete from outfit existing bone weights and sliders and delete existing body mesh.
2. Load an appropriate 3BA reference.   For most outfits, it will be Uniboob.   Learning to recognize when a different one is needed is a matter of experience.
3. Copy bone weights for all meshes.    This will copy weights from the reference to the outfit, so the outfit moves with the body as skeleton moves during animations.  When working with bone weights, it is best to turn textures off (T).  Use 'Mask weighted vertices' to see if any areas remained unweighted.    If some did, usually all you need  is, with already weighted vertices still masked, 'Copy Bone Weights' again, but specify  larger radius (i.e. 8 )   Sometimes, manual tweaking of the weights is needed, especially on parts that are rigid and don't bend with the body.   
Case in point - tops of these daedric boots would be weighted to Thigh bones, causing them to bend when knee bends, which is wrong.   So on these boots, one needs to delete all thigh bone weights and paint calf weights where needed.

4. Conform sliders.   This will cause the outfit to deform in response to 3BA sliders of the reference.   For reference, you mostly want Uniboob, but for various skirts, loincloths, capes etc,  you want one of 'curtain' references.   Generally, after conforming sliders, you want to play with every slider, see if it causes any clipping or weird distortion, and potentially edit it.  
5. Save it - you indicate outfit name in BodySlide (shou;d be unique), the path and name of built mesh file under Data\Meshes, the project file name (I prefer to put all parts of same outfit set  into same project file to reduce clutter), Shape Data folder (location of source mesh file under CaienteTools\BodySlide\ShapeData), and source mesh name - again I prefer to put all source meshes of an outfit set in one folder)

If you are adapting a different base shape outfit (i.e. UNP) to CBBE, then, after doing step 1 above, you:  
1. Load a proper conversion reference.   I.e. UNP to CBBE.   
2. Conform the outfit to its slider.
3. Set the slider to 100% and use Slider - set base shape.
4. Delete the conversion reference and delete slider data from outfit.
Those conversion references are pretty good, but sometimes they can distort the outfit if that happens, you might need to do a bit of manual tweaking before proceeding with the rest.

If you are adapting an outfit mesh that was not made for Skyrim, or there is no fitting conversion reference, then you generally need to manually adapt the outfit to CBBE base shape.    Which is best done in Blender.    I have both CBBE and HIMBO base shape bodies as Blender projects, which I use for this purpose.  Likewise, designing your own from scratch is something you do in Blender, then import it to OutfitStudio.

 

[RedHeadAngel]

I should have been more clear about what I meant. My apologies. I'm not looking to convert outfits; I'm looking to make them. There's an outfit I want in the game, but no mod exists for it that I can find. So, instead of waiting for someone to make it, I want to do it myself. For future reference, it's Lady Galadriel's dress from Lord of the Rings.

[scorrp10]

 Check out Elven dresses from Apachii Divine Elegance Store.  If not already what you want, they should be a sufficiently close starting point.

[RedHeadAngel]

Well, that's not the only outfit I want to make. That's why I'm wanting to learn how to make outfit mods.

[scorrp10]

As I said, I have CBBE base shape body (body/feet/hands/head) exported from nif a as Blender projects using pyNifly plugin.  And I use those to adapt outfits.  Exactly how to create an outfit from scratch (including sculpting, UV unwrap, texture baking etc) is seriously beyond this forum duscussion.   I suggest one of many series of Blender tutorials found on Youtube.   I also highly recommend watching timelapses by Flycat, such as this one:

 

Once you got a 3D model created and fitted to a base shape, the rest is easy.

[RedHeadAngel]

That's what I needed to know. Thanks!