Blender tutorials for swords?

[AfroGamerNinja]

I just downloaded Blender and I want to know how to use it so I can make my own swords. The problem being I can't seem to find tutorials for it using Blender.

 

Any clues where I should look? Because Google is not cooperative in the matter and TES Alliance only covers armor.

Edited March 15, 2014 by AfroGamerNinja

[ScrollThief84]

Funny thing, this. I have been working with Blender and the whole time have never come across a tutorial for making weapons. So, needless to say I would also be interested in a good weapon tutorial. Bump! :)

[ScrollThief84]

Maybe Ghosu* would know, as he makes a lot of weapon mods...

[AfroGamerNinja]

Maybe Ghosu* would know, as he makes a lot of weapon mods...

But he uses 3dsMax.

[Urwy]

Just answered a similar question in this topic. Might be interesting for you to read all the replies. =)

[GingerArcher]

I also had a hard time finding good tuts for weapon modding with Blender. But through a lot of web searching, mixed with trial & error, I found that weapon modding is actually much easier than armor/clothing since you don't have to worry about bone weighting or any of that other stuff. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to actually making a real tutorial, but in the meantime, here's the method I use:

 

(In addition to Blender, you need NifSkope, and a good graphics editing program for the textures. Photoshop, Gimp, etc. You'll also need a decent understanding of the Creation Kit)

 

1: Find a .nif file for the type of weapon you're wanting to make, from the vanilla files, other mods, whatever. Open it in NifSkope. (If all you have is vanilla, you'll probably need to use NMM, MO, or another program to extract the files from the .bsa archive) I recommend immediately doing a Save As and saving the file in a new location with a new name, so you don't accidentally screw up the vanilla file.

 

2: Click the little arrow symbols to expand the Block List, so you can see the different branches of the file. It should look something like this:

 

BSFadeNode (name)

. BSXFlags BSX

. NiStringExtraData (position where weapon gets sheathed)

> bhkCollisionObject

> NiTriShape Blood object 1 (Bloody overlay for weapon)

> NiTriShape Blood object 2 (same as above)

> NiTriShape SCB (Scabbard/sheath)

> NiTriShape (name) (actual weapon mesh)

 

If all you're wanting to edit is the weapon itself, you can ignore the other TriShapes. Personally I recommend changing the scabbard & blood objects to match though.

 

3: Expand the NiTriShape you want to mod, and click on the NiTriShapeData so it's highlighted. Click File > Export > Export .OBJ and save the .obj file somewhere easy to remember/locate. Do the same for the other TriShapes as you see fit.

 

4: Go into Blender, and click File > Import > Wavefront (.obj), and load up the file you exported from NifSkope. You don't *need* to keep it or use it in your actual new weapon, but it's helpful to know the proper sizing/orientation that the weapon should have to sit properly in NifSkope. (You can always change these settings in NifSkope if they're not right, but I personally find it easier to do in Blender)

 

5: Either edit the weapon mesh as you see fit, or create a new one from scratch using the imported one as a template for proper size. (Tons of tutorials out there for how to use Blender, so I won't go into detail on that)

 

6: Once your weapon is modeled, be sure to do a UV unwrap on it and export the UV template so you can make a texture later. (Again, tons of tutorials out there on doing this in Blender)

 

7: When you've got the UV unwrapped, and you're sure you're done editing the mesh, it's time to export it. First, be sure you delete or otherwise get rid of the one you imported as a template. You don't want to export 2 weapons taking up the same space. With your new weapon mesh highlighted/selected, click File > Export > 3d Studio (.3ds) and export it to a new file.

 

** Note: You CAN export as a wavefront .obj again if you prefer, but in my experience at least, the UV layout data tends to get lost and/or corrupted in the process. I've had much better luck with the .3ds format.

 

At this point you have 2 choices: Either import this new mesh into the .nif, or open the UV template to make your texture. You'll need to do both eventually, but you can do them in whatever order you want. Just know that if you do the .nif first and try to test it in-game, it will probably be using whatever textures the original vanilla weapon used, or will be untextured.

 

8: Open Gimp/photoshop, and load up the UV template you saved. I recommend creating a new layer to do the actual texture work on, using the template as a higher layer with lowered opacity so you can still see the layout as you work. There are about a million tutorials out there on making textures so I'll leave that to you. When you're happy with your texture, save it as a .DDS.

 

9: Go back to the .nif file you had in NifSkope (the one you saved under a new name, right? :cool: ) Click/highlight the NiTriShape specific to the mesh you've created. (Weapon, scabbard, etc) Click File > Import > Import .3DS. Hit "OK" on the pop-up, and select the file you exported from Blender. You should now see your new mesh in the NifSkope render window, in place of the original one. Do the same for the other NiTriShapes if you modified/created replacements for them. (NOTE: It's important that you have the TriShape selected before importing. If you don't, the imported file will be added to the .nif instead of replacing the original)

 

** NOTE: It doesn't happen to me every time, but for some reason I'll sometimes find that the imported .3ds mesh has been severely shrunk. Scrolling down the NiTriShape to the Scale entry, and setting it to a higher value (7-10ish usually) corrects the issue. Just make sure that if this happens, you use the same scale for all the meshes.

 

10: Expand the NiTriShapes and further expand the BSLightingShaderProperty within them. You'll see an entry called BSShaderTextureSet. Click on it, and expand it in the lower window so you can see the list of used textures. As with any other mod, you should have your texture saved within the skyrim\data\textures path somewhere so that you can put a general path to it here in the .nif file. You don't want to use a specific "c:\program files\steam\etc\etc" path, as the textures wouldn't work for anyone who has their game installed elsewhere. Replace the listed texture entries with the one(s) you've created. You can tweak the other shader settings as necessary if you want your weapon more/less shiny, etc.

 

11: Save your .nif file, and open up Creation Kit. At this point, you should be able to create a new Weapon entry, point it towards your new .nif file, and test it in-game. (The tutorials out there all cover this process in-depth) If you're happy with it, congrats! If not, you can go back to Blender to change the model more and export it again, change the shaders in NifSkope, or whatever you need to do. But provided you haven't changed the other stuff in the .nif file like the BSX or collision stuff, your weapon should work.

 

I guess it's debatable whether this is really easier than modding armor or not, since you have to import/export all the different formats rather than just importing the .nif directly. I personally find it easier though, as you don't have to worry about tweaking all the user versions, dismemberment info, etc in the .nif file prior to and after the process. You're simply exporting an existing weapon as a reference, building a new one, then replacing the original within the .nif. Hopefully this sets you in the right direction! :cool:

Edited March 16, 2014 by GingerArcher

[AfroGamerNinja]

Thanks. :)

 

Anyway, just so I don't lose the topic, I'll put it on my favorites.

[ScrollThief84]

@ Urwy and GingerArcher

 

Thanx a bunch, this will definitely help when I start making weapons! :blush:

[Terra Nova]

 

Maybe Ghosu* would know, as he makes a lot of weapon mods...

But he uses 3dsMax.

 

I think he uses Cinema4D actually.

 

But the procedure is the same, just a different program.