3DS Max 2009 and NifSkope

[LanceJZ]

I've been working on this for some time, I'm trying to make a custom character for Fallout New Vegas. I've been able to export it from Max to NifSkope, and it looks good. Here are some screen shots.

 

This is where I copy parts of the head nif from Fallout NV

http://image.yogile.com.s3.amazonaws.com/msn0hify/nejobaywiptrye3dh66gyn-large.jpg

 

This is the head model with texture in NifSkope

http://image.yogile.com/msn0hify/nejobaedysrychg8oznsbu-large.jpg

 

The block order does not match, but when I attempt to change the order inside the 0 NiNode block, they revert back after saving the changes. I don't know if this is why the texture does not appier in Geck, or not. The texture looks nothing like it does in Nifskope, its all brown, and odd looking.

 

This is what it looks like in GECK

http://image.yogile.com/msn0hify/nejobarishv5xyezh0u7de-large.jpg

 

You can see what settings I'm using in the Nif Exporter for Max, I'm at my wits end. I've searched and searched the web for hours for answers, but I'm unable to find any. I'm willing to post any files you may need.

Please help, thank you for your time.

Edited September 5, 2011 by LanceJZ

[Ghogiel]

I'm willing to post any files you may need.

Please help, thank you for your time.

start by posting these missing images. :tongue:

You don't need to copy anything across nifs if you are exporting from max, but you're trying to do a head.. like an actual head. Well that comes with some head bashing, the model side of it is no problem, but all the facegen is basically a nightmare.

[LanceJZ]

What missing images? I can see them just fine, please look again.

I can't even get the texture to show up, so I'm not even that far. I'll tackle that when I get to that, right now I'm worried about this, one thing at a time, please.

 

I'm willing to post any files you may need.

Please help, thank you for your time.

start by posting these missing images. :tongue:

You don't need to copy anything across nifs if you are exporting from max, but you're trying to do a head.. like an actual head. Well that comes with some head bashing, the model side of it is no problem, but all the facegen is basically a nightmare.

[Ghogiel]

The images weren't working before..

 

first thing to do is tick flatten hierarchy in the export dialogue. You can go ahead and tick all the other options under skin modifier, they just optimise the nif and aren't harmful. I think the rest of the setting will do.Then the nif should work basically out of the box. The one thing you need to change is in the shader flags, check the BSShaderPPLightingProperty or what ever it's called, in the block details look for the shader flags. Untick SF_Shadow_frustum. And tick the SF_window_environment_mapping, I think.. just double check on a vanilla head nif. That's the skin shader oddly labelled in nifskope.

 

The actual head implementation in the GECK I'm fuzzy on, it's 3am but I'll post back in the morn, but I am guessing you need to add blank nifs into some of those facegen slots, iirc you had to do that in Ob so I assume it's the same here. :unsure:

I have a head I can double check the work flow on and see what I can do in that regard.

[LanceJZ]

Ah, well, it may have been you looked at it so quickly the images had to refreshed at where I had posted them at. I see you posted about it as I was editing my post. This is my first post using images. Maybe my first every post here, I don't remember.

I'll check out those settings, it is getting late for me too, thank you so much for giving me some information. I look forward to further information on that. :D

Thank you again for the help!

 

The images weren't working before..

 

first thing to do is tick flatten hierarchy in the export dialogue. You can go ahead and tick all the other options under skin modifier, they just optimise the nif and aren't harmful. I think the rest of the setting will do.Then the nif should work basically out of the box. The one thing you need to change is in the shader flags, check the BSShaderPPLightingProperty or what ever it's called, in the block details look for the shader flags. Untick SF_Shadow_frustum. And tick the SF_window_environment_mapping, I think.. just double check on a vanilla head nif. That's the skin shader oddly labelled in nifskope.

 

The actual head implementation in the GECK I'm fuzzy on, it's 3am but I'll post back in the morn, but I am guessing you need to add blank nifs into some of those facegen slots, iirc you had to do that in Ob so I assume it's the same here. :unsure:

I have a head I can double check the work flow on and see what I can do in that regard.

[Ghogiel]

Oh yeah... major forgot something :wallbash:

 

in the BSShaderPP... block details, change shader type to from default or what ever to shader skin or nothing will work.

[Ghogiel]

OK I just did this on one of my heads, and the mesh HAS to be in meshes\character\head, you can disregard that crap about blank nifs. It doesn't revert on my head.

 

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/lego-botz/Durosheadw.jpg

 

And there is an issue with the niftools exporter, that it will Zero all transforms on a mesh if anything under the skin modifier dialogue settings are ticked. Unticking the collapse and zero transforms in this instance might be worth it doing at least in the attempt to get keep the same tranform as he vanilla head does, which you might want to set up. You'll have to delete the skin modifier, save the envelopes first, import the vanilla head mesh into the scene, click your mesh, enable the edit affect pivot only under the motion tab in the command panel, and the click the align tool the click the vanilla head. Hoepfully that would get you the same transforms copied over to your mesh, then whack some skin and load up the env file you saved.

 

It maybe worth noting that those options under micellanious have affect the way it exports transforms.. but no matter what In do, it zeros everything when anything under skin modifier is ticked.

 

if you cannot get the transforms correct then any sort of facegen might be bonkers. though iirc those files expect the heads pivot to be 0,0,0, but you'd rpobably still have to have the correct pivot to zero it ou right anyway, and that would be the easy part of anything facegen related.

 

And now I am definitely off to bed. check back on your progress in the morn.

 

 

edit:

OH and just in case you haven't, I have the _sk texture and egm, tri, and egt fie for my head. blank egt is in a mod, the egm and tri are generated with the conformulator, _sk texture is just a greyscale thing I knocked up in photoshop. you probably need these for the head to show up right.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Ghogiel

[LanceJZ]

Thank you! I'll mess around with this more tomorrow, its my bed time, thank you so much for the information!

 

OK I just did this on one of my heads, and the mesh HAS to be in meshes\character\head, you can disregard that crap about blank nifs. It doesn't revert on my head.

 

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c85/lego-botz/Durosheadw.jpg

 

And there is an issue with the niftools exporter, that it will Zero all transforms on a mesh if anything under the skin modifier dialogue settings are ticked. Unticking the collapse and zero transforms in this instance might be worth it doing at least in the attempt to get keep the same tranform as he vanilla head does, which you might want to set up. You'll have to delete the skin modifier, save the envelopes first, import the vanilla head mesh into the scene, click your mesh, enable the edit affect pivot only under the motion tab in the command panel, and the click the align tool the click the vanilla head. Hoepfully that would get you the same transforms copied over to your mesh, then whack some skin and load up the env file you saved.

 

It maybe worth noting that those options under micellanious have affect the way it exports transforms.. but no matter what In do, it zeros everything when anything under skin modifier is ticked.

 

if you cannot get the transforms correct then any sort of facegen might be bonkers. though iirc those files expect the heads pivot to be 0,0,0, but you'd rpobably still have to have the correct pivot to zero it ou right anyway, and that would be the easy part of anything facegen related.

 

And now I am definitely off to bed. check back on your progress in the morn.

 

 

edit:

OH and just in case you haven't, I have the _sk texture and egm, tri, and egt fie for my head. blank egt is in a mod, the egm and tri are generated with the conformulator, _sk texture is just a greyscale thing I knocked up in photoshop. you probably need these for the head to show up right.