Modeling Help.

[Bulletsponge]

Hello.

 

Being new to this, I would like help on modeling. I need to know what program to use, what to start on to practise with and how to load them into the game, a video tutorial would be helpful and very much apriciated.

 

Regards

 

Bulletsponge.

[DoctorEars]

People tend to ask "What modelling program should I use?" when there isn't one clear answer. They all have their ups and downs, but they can all do the same things. If you're a complete beginner to modelling,

I would suggest Lightwave as it is the easiest to learn because of a very good UI. In regards to importing into the game, I'm not entirely sure.

[Topazanite]

Most tutorials in the community are geared towards Blender, because it's free, and it's the best free 3d modeling software out there. I recommend downloading that, it's a quick Google search away.

 

If you want to be an expert at Blender, you need to look up the "Blender: Noob to Pro" tutorial that's floating around the internet. It does exactly what the title tells you, but it's VERY long. If you want to jump into modeling, then the Oblivion community has many, many excellent tutorials aimed at people who know little about Blender beyond the controls; these should get you started:

 

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Blender/Custom_Sword

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Blender/Custom_Cuirass_%28part_1%29

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Blender/Creature_Meshes_101 (I added this for the detailed instructions on weight painting, necessary for making armors)

 

I know this is a Fallout forum, but Oblivion based Blender tutorials (and texturing tutorials!) are largely compatible with Fallout. To export any models made in Blender, you'll need the .nif scripts for it, (.nif is the file type for Bethesda models) as these tutorials mostly mention. You also need Nifscope, more free software, to apply textures to your models. Textures require an image editing software capable of exporting .dds files. I recommend the GIMP, also a Google search away, because its .dds extension is easy to install.

 

Here is where Oblivion differs from Fallout; the process used in Nifscope for Fallout is very different. You just need to find one of the Oblivion to Fallout conversion tutorials once done with Blender. Alas, for someone new and relying on tutorials this work-around is necessary, as I have yet to find a directly straight-for-Fallout model tutorial.

 

For practice, I don't recommend starting from scratch right away. Once you have Blender, Nifscope, and the Gimp set up, play with the Bethesda models a bit. Blender's controls are fine once you know them, but it's got a steep learning curve. You NEED to RTFM for Blender, just jumping in and playing around won't get you far (at least it didn't for me). Once you figure out how to select and move vertices, make faces/edges, understand the UV map and (for armor) vertex-weighting, you are good to move on to custom work.

 

EDIT: I have never heard of Lightwave. It may be good, but there's probably a reason the community doesn't use it. I'd guess it doesn't have .nif scripts and cannot export in a Fallout-compatible format.

[DoctorEars]

EDIT: I have never heard of Lightwave. It may be good, but there's probably a reason the community doesn't use it. I'd guess it doesn't have .nif scripts and cannot export in a Fallout-compatible format.

 

Considering it's a commercial product, that's why the community doesn't use it. Because it costs quite a bit. I only recommended it because I've been learning it at my course and it was simple to learn (and in my experience, easier to learn than Blender).

 

Blender is what you'll need to use though, if you're modding for Fallout. You could always export .obj files from other modelling programs into Blender and then from Blender to nifscope if needed as well.

[Interfer0]

You should look into the Fallout 3 modding. The tutorials haven't been ported over, and there arn't really any one stop shop tutorials.

 

I always used blender, then there are plugins to export the items into .nif files. Then you edit that in nifscope. It takes a lot of work to get new items into the game correctly the first time. The collision meshes can be ridiculous, and animations for items are a nightmare. But doable. Editing existing items is a lot more common and easy.

 

I have been out of the modding community for a while, and everything may be easier now, but I had to learn a lot from trial and error.

 

Its very rewarding mentally to go from a cube in blender to a fully scripted item active in game, and being added into other peoples mods.

[Bulletsponge]

Thanks guys, I'll wait for more posts until I make up my mind. If theres anything else I need to know, please tell me.

 

Also, thanks Topazanite for linking the tutorial, I'll watch that later.

[Bulletsponge]

Heres an idea, if I wanted to, how would I open existing models on New Vegas into blender, E.G: I wanted to edit the model of the 9mm Pistol.