AgentIdaho Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 im trying to make a race mod for oblivion but i dont know how to convert a .PNG file into .NIFany ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wetblanket Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 You can't convert .png to .nif, in the same way that you can't convert apples to orange juice. Do you mean convert to .dds format? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHammonds Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 I will assume you meant to say "convert PNG to DDS" (we are talking about a texture image). Download and install Paint.NET Open the PNG file using Paint.NET. Make sure the image dimensions are in a power of 2...such as 512x512, 256x1024, etc. Click File, Save As and change the file type to DDS. You will then be prompted for DDS options. You then need to figure out what options you need to set. Example: Most armor, clothing and weapons use DXT1 with Mipmaps for the diffuse (color map) texture. If the texture has transparency (using the alpha channel) then you will need to use DXT5 with Mipmaps. All Normal Map textures use DXT5 with Mipmaps. If you are making an inventory icon, you DXT3 without mipmaps. LHammonds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ub3rman123 Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 A .png file is an image. A .nif (NetImmerse File) is a model, data on what something is shaped like. You can convert a .png to a .dds file, which is the texture format BethSoft's Gamebryo games use, with either the .dds converter on the Nexus (Doesn't work on Windows 7) or installing the .dds plugin for GIMP or Photoshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAubrie Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 I'm repeating what everyone else said, but as a noob myself, I'm sensitive to how all this sounds coming at a beginner, so... Like Ub3rman said, your .nif is your entire model...so the shape of the object (the mesh) and the color/surface of it (the texture) all rolled into one. .png is just a regular image format, and one you and I are probably more familiar with. Oblivion doesn't use .png's though, so we have to convert it to a .dds, which is just another image file - just as easy to edit as a .png - but one Oblivion can read. You can use paint.net like LHammonds suggested, or if you use Photoshop already, there's a .dds plugin available for that - just google "photoshop .dds plugin" or something and it should come up. Download and install that, and it'll enable you to work with .dds in Photoshop just like you would .png's. NifSkope (where you edit .nif's) is where you can apply a .dds texture to your mesh. So it's two different programs, two different things, but you have to use both. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentIdaho Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 now i understand i feel kinda stupid but i get it nowso does anyone know any programs that i can make the head of the race?programs that save in NIF format Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHammonds Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 You are talking about 3D modeling. This is not something you can just pick up and have something cool-looking by the end of the day. It will take a LOT of learning and not "just" how to create 3D models. Once you have a model, you will then need to create a UV map, create a texture image that works with the UV map, associate the texture to the model using the UV mapped coordinates. With a head (body, armor/clothing), you are also going to need to import an armature / skeleton and do some rigging (a.k.a. skinning / weight-painting). I have not created heads but I know there are more things that have to be learned and done to make heads work...morphing being one of them. This is not an easy process and not very many people have done it successfully. See Throttlekitty. But to answer your question plainly, you can use a free program commonly used in the modding community called Blender. The Nexus also hosts a modeling forum. LHammonds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAubrie Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) Yeah, get Blender...(a lot of the Blender tutorials you'll find on YouTube use 2.49B, and this is what I would recommend...I personally find the newer versions harder to use)...plus, the one walkthrough I found that worked for me in dealing with converting Blender format to .nif used 2.49 edition...that was how I got the blender to .nif converter to work... You use Blender to actually *make* your meshes (and if you get the converter I mentioned, you'll be able to move files back and forth between Blender and NifSkope without losing everything and the mesh becoming ugly)...and you use NifSkope to make them ready to put in the game by telling the computer what parts of your mesh do what. All along, you'll need a graphics editor (GIMP, Photoshop, Paint.net) - and you can use this to mess with texturing (changing colors, etc), even of existing mods. Since it all was really intimidating at first, messing with textures, recoloring armor and clothes and stuff, was how I got started. It's still what I'm most comfortable with, but that's just me. But yeah, to answer your question, get Blender like LHammonds said. Actually, he's got some tutorials on different things if you're serious about modding. They might be of help to you. :) But like they warned, making race heads and faces is really complicated. Really complicated. But there's always FaceGen, and there's a converter that will plug your custom made face right into Oblivion. You might try playing with this to start out with: http://www.facegen.com/ Edited May 8, 2011 by LadyAubrie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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