Is there anyway to use an NPC’s appearance as a usable preset?

[Karna5]

Post script: Okay, this is starting to explain some issues from a couple of mods I've been experiencing. I come from a Fallout 4 background where all NPC mods use the standard human/raider race and then just apply either some NPC record face morphs in the plugin or allow the use of Bodyslide files for the body. But they do not use their own races for the human NPCs.

I've noticed that some of the characters from mods such as Babo Dialogue or from Ravenous:

a) are immune to the setweight console command,

b) do not use the bodyslide shapes in outfits I give them (they're always zero sliders),

c) have black faces, and

d) are immune to the skee preset-load command.

This only seems to be an issue with those specific mods out of my nearly 700 installed mods, but I'm guessing from what you're all saying that:

a) the NPCs from those mods are not using the standard human, high elf, dark elf, orc, nord, breton, imperial, etc. races, and

b) are trying to force unknown mod dependencies that weren't listed in the mod page and are depending on NIFs prebuilt by the mods rather than standard bodies used by the rest of the game.

I've gotta say I prefer the Fallout 4 mod by a large margin. This Skyrim SE method has far less compatibility and integration support to each player's modded game.

Post Post Script: For instance, the NPCs from the Circle of Lust mod do not have the problems of Babo Dialogue and Ravenous NPCs. When I uninstalled BaboDialogue this play through, the NPCs from Circle of Lust started behaving like proper vanilla NPCs allowing setweight, preset-load and BodySlide morphs. Also the NPCs from Fertility Mod (the grown adults) do not have problems and behave like they should, just like Fallout 4 NPCs.

[scorrp10]

No, they definitely use .tris for facial expressions and talking - but once an NPC head is designed and finalized, head mesh is exported to facegendata - and race/chargen .tri's are no longer applicable.   

[anjenthedog]

edit: OUCH: CAVEAT, Only works if you run 1.5.97

Again CCA. it has glitches, but it does work.

This is a pic of Yuih Sha.. as cca'd onto my player.  (slightly modified in body styling and eye/hair color  via Racemenu, after cloning,  but whatever...) 

I used this cloned Yuih Sha for a couple of play throughs.

 

Moreover, she (the original Yui Sha) is natively BHUNP, and the player model I cloned her onto was CBBE-3BBB (the one you see in my avatar thumbnail)

ah, found a snapshot 

only issues (aside from face reset glitches sometimes and an invisibility glitch that pops up once and a while) were that since BHUNP and CBBE variants have different node naming, many Racemenu adjustments don't work on the clone, although. skeleton adjustment values do, breast size height etc do. 

This is of course something most of you will never encounter anyway, since I'm probably one of the few who decided to install two different body types

And had I cloned the same type onto her (ie a CBBE-3BBB onto a CBBE-3BBB,. or BHUNP v.X onto BHUNP v.X, etc) there would be no issue with Racemenu oddities

the face reset issue is where having a preset saved and ready for the clone  (and a mod that allows quick access of racemenu without char renaming so you can fix easily on the fly by loading the preset and exiting right back out into the game) comes in handy, and the invisibility either self-resolves after exiting a cell where it happened, or saving, then restarting the game fixes it. Wish the author hadn't abandoned the project and fixed these before walking away, but "oh well".

 

 

 

[scorrp10]

Body is really not even part of this discussion, it is an entirely separate topic.    If an NPC mod comes with custom body shape, you can either copy those meshes over to use with someone else - or you can use Outfit Studio to figure out  a real good approximation of Bodyslide preset for it.

So, with CCA (for those who can use it), my point stands.    I would imagine CCA can take the downloaded  NPC head/tintmask and import it into game to replace player's generated head - which would essentially make the 'recipe' stored on the player not match the head.   But as soon as  player enters RaceMenu, it will use the recipe to rebuild the old head.   And exporting player appearance as a preset (via skee command), will export the stored recipe which is NOT for the head mesh copied via CCA.

So, the short answer to the title of the thread (can one convert a head mesh/mask from a downloaded NPC mod to a usable preset)  - unless this NPC  head has been designed fully via CK, using vanilla sliders only, the answer is 'No'

[anjenthedog]

Nope, when you enter Racemenu in cloned format, the player still presets as the CCA cloned character. I used CCA for a couple/few years.

Which apparently I won't be able to, once I get the game reinstalled (using the "AE" route), as I learned yesterday while perusing an SKSE Plugin Status website looking for instances of "you can't install that anymore cuz AE" mods I'll have to either drop or replace with some substitute mod

frankly, I think it was a brilliant concept, but the author stopped supporting it after 1.5.79, and of course didn't fix the glitches presented in the mod

Edit: but for those who are still running 1.5.97, it IS a choice.