Body Type 3 Tutorial?

[GearF0x]

Are there any tutorials on how to add type 3 body to modded armors that aren't type 3?

[madmongo]

You can basically use any tutorial on how to make armor. You are probably going to need some sort of modeling program like Blender or 3ds Max.

 

Armor in Fallout is kinda funny in that it includes body parts. In other words, if your forearms are visible when wearing the armor, those forearms usually don't come from your character's body model, they are included in the armor model. So the basic idea here is that you need to get rid of the body parts that aren't type 3, replace them with type 3 body parts, then reshape the armor to properly fit the body.

 

What I usually do is start with nifscope. I take the body type I am porting to (in this case, you want type 3), open that up in one window in nifscope, and open up the armor in another window in nifscope. I look for what body parts are in the armor nif, and delete those branches. Then I either copy the remaining armor branches into the body nif, or copy the body branch into the armor nif. Whichever way you are copying it has to have the same skeleton parts or the copy will fail, so if for example your armor doesn't include legs and doesn't include the leg skeleton bones, you won't be able to copy the type 3 body over to it.

 

I use Blender, so then I go into Blender and start modifying stuff. If you prefer, you can use 3ds Max or some other modeling tool, as long as it supports nifs.

 

If you look at how a lot of existing armors are set up, you'll see that they don't include the entire body. If only the arms are visible, they'll only have the body arms in the nif. If the armor has a chest plate that completely covers the torso, then you'll want to cut out the torso from your type 3 body that you copied over. If you don't, you run the risk of the body parts clipping through the armor and becoming a visible mess. This is more of an issue on tighter fitting armors. But hey, let's face it, if you are using a type 3 body the whole point is usually to make it have tighter fitting armors and clothing.

 

Before you delete any parts though, now is a good time to adjust the armor parts so that they fit over the body type. That way, when you equip the armor, it looks like it fits over the body type that you were using. For example, if you are using a body type with a double-D type chest area but then you equip armor that shrinks the chest down to a size B, it's not going to look right. So while you still have the torso there in your mesh, you can adjust the armor in Blender so that it coves the chest underneath. Then, once that is done, if the chest underneath isn't going to be visible ever, you can delete that part of the mesh. If you are making something like the typical type 3 micro bikini radiation suit (because, you know, that's extremely realistic... ahem), then you'll probably have to leave the entire body mesh intact. On the other hand, if your armor includes skinny jeans and boots, you'll probably want to delete the entire lower half of the type 3 body so that it won't clip through the pant legs or boots as the character moves.

 

That's the basic idea of it, and other than copying the type 3 body mesh into the armor mesh in nifscope, the procedure is basically the same as making any kind of armor, so any armor creation tutorial out there should go into a lot more detail and should help you out.

[GearF0x]

Thanks for the detailed reply, I really appreciate it. I seem to be having some trouble though, as I am a complete noob to nifskope and blender as well. I cannot see to delete any parts in nif. I will check out the armor tutorial videos though

EDIT: This has actually helped a lot, thanks! I have an issue with exporting though. Whenever i export i get an error saying "Export Error. Scene Root skinning not enveloped" or something like that. Any idea what it could be?

Edited September 25, 2015 by GearF0x