Mesh help needed

[JoseAgua]

I edited R18PN - 02 Lingerie set's Black Dress & this

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll128/Aguaa/result-1.jpg

is the result I'm getting with

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll128/Aguaa/settings.jpg

these settings. Using 3DS MAX 9.

 

The file size is originally 903kb & it ends up being 359kb. Obviously something is wrong, but I can't figure out what it is.

I've looked through 3DS nif tuts & guides & I still can't find the problem/solution. Please help!

 

I've seen varied opinions concerning Collapse/Zero Transforms box checking. Some screenshot boxes also don't have "Generate Partition Strips" as an option. I've tried saving it with various combinations of the 3, all with the same result ingame & in the file size.

 

edit: just tried it again, this time it's 547kb, not sure why. The 547kb one shows the base nude skin ingame but no dress. I used the same settings as far as I remember. Here's the edited .nif if it helps. Now it shows the base skin in game, but no dress. I don't understand. :/

 

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2LOG4Q8C

 

this screenshot shows the differences in the .nif properties displayed in nifscope.

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll128/Aguaa/nifdifferences-1.jpg

The one on the left is edited, on the right is the same dress in the original state.

 

3DS edited all of the block names and the structure itself. Is this what's causing the problems?

[JoseAgua]

I tried remaking it again & I keep getting the 360kb .nifs. I can't seem to replicate the 547kb .nif. The exported version from 3DS max adds NiNodes 29-97. Alot of Fingers and Toes, which aren't originally in the mesh. :/ Someone here has to know what the problem is... 1/2 the mods on this site seem to have edited .nifs.

[JoseAgua]

I tried deleting all the extra NiNodes in 3DS max & exported it. It's still a 369kb file & doesn't appear ingame. The original is 903kb.

[JoseAgua]

I think I found part of the problem. The method I was using to edit it in 3DS MAX was "Convert to Editable Mesh" and then Tools1>Vertex to be able to delete some of the dress. Doing this removes the Skin modifier from the object.

 

So, I added the Skin modifier back to the object once I was done editing it and now when I try to export it says "You must specify atleast one bone." How do I get past this obstacle?

[JoseAgua]

I added the same bones to the dress as it was originally assigned, this is the result. It is now 617kb, 903kb is the original

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll128/Aguaa/ThisAintRight.jpg

[Jahmir0]

You have to rig the skin to the bones(the skeleton) and weight paint it. One way to this 8the easiest way but not the best way i think) is to delete the skin modifier from your mesh(lets call it mesh1) and then import a similar mesh(mesh2) with skeleton to the one you´re editing, atach mesh2 to mesh1 and then delete the parts you don´t want.

 

Explaining it like this sounds a bit confusing but I think there is a tutorial about doing this in the CS wiki or some other site. I´ll try and find it for you and post it here.

[Jahmir0]

That probably happened because you didn´t paint weight on the mesh i think.Take a look at this:

 

http://wiki.rumor.ru/index.php?title=Quick...gging_in_3dsmax

[JoseAgua]

even though I added all the bones to the skin modifier of the dress they don't appear in NifSkope once I export it. :/

[Jahmir0]

Did you read the tutorial i posted?

You don´t have to add bones to the mesh...just attach it to another similar mesh(in this case the origina R18PN) that is already skinned and rigged and then delete the elements you don´t want to keep. And then maybe make some adjustments to the weights, allthought if the meshes are very similar thats probably not even necessary.

[JoseAgua]

Yes, thank you very much Jahmir. Don't get me wrong, I posted my prior reply before refreshing the page, so I hadn't seen your advice yet. Then I went to editing it with the new information before replying. It worked! I just copied the dress's skin weight from the original and posted it on the edited dress. And viola!

 

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll128/Aguaa/Finally.jpg

Now I have a working, more visually pleasing dress ;)

 

This was my first time editing a .nif, thankfully it was able to be a success. Now to do more advanced things!

 

Kudos to you Jahmir0, thanks again.