Looking for feedback on a mesh and texture article

[genolune]

So basically, I started writing an article based on what I've learned the past week in regards to meshes and textures for Fallout 4. I want to post it here for others to read and see if it is solid and what I should add. I wanted to have my lessons learned for people new to the Nexus to make it easier to either using mods or create their own.

 

"What are meshes?

Meshes are like the body (musculature and substance) of a model. Fallout 4 uses .nif files for its meshes. When editing meshes in Bodyslide/Outfit Studio, the mesh is automatically paired with the textures. That confused me at first because of previous experience working with mesh colliders in the Unity game engine. A good mesh for females that I recommend is Atomic Beauty http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12406/? and for males I recommend Super Hero Bodies http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10360/? both of them for their customizable nature in Bodyslide/Outfit Studio

 

***placeholder for information on Bodyslide/Outfit Studio***

Article about conversion: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/articles/282/?

 

What are textures?

Textures are usually 3 different layers put on top of one another like a skin on top of the mesh. The normal map is the actual texture (ie whether something is smooth or rough or bumpy or has depth). The diffuse map is all the detail like tattoos and coloration. The specular map is the one that shows how light shines on it and is used for oil or sweat effects. Fallout 4 uses .dds files for textures like the following:

FemaleBody_n.dds

FemaleBody_d.dds

FemaleBody_s.dds

As you can tell, the first one is a normal map, the second one is a diffuse map and the last one is a specular map based on the _n, _d, or _s designations.

 

For pictures of each map and more explanation read this article:

http://wiki.splashdamage.com/index.php/Basic_Texture_Overview

 

On the character models, the textures are squares designs that wrap around the character, so if you view a .dds with a utility such as DDS Converter http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6712/? you might think that it looks odd. Again, that’s because the square is wrapped like a blanket around the mesh to make a good shape. So if you use a texture not compatible with your mesh you’ll get weird things like breasts in the middle of your stomach and a black patch on your shoulder.

 

What I found out, and probably isn’t common knowledge, is that you can mix and match the 3 basic maps from different compatible mods. I can use CBBE textures with Atomic Beauty meshes but not JaneBod textures because of the way they wrap.

 

For example what I am using on default females:

Diffuse Map: Demonikone’s Tattoo Collection http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18152/?

Normal Map: CBBE Muscle Map Conversion http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17807/?

Specular Map: Light oil version of Silky Smooth Skin: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6940/?

 

I copied them into the basefemale folder and replaced the originals by deleting the original and renaming the new one to the originals name to take its place.

 

How do the following mods play into this:

Unique Player: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3718/?

Unique Followers: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4293/?

Wintermute with customizable add-on: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12573/?

Kira: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18308/?

 

By making the .esp (which I think stands for Elder Scrolls Plugin) point to folders where the meshes and textures for the character are, you can copy and paste or drag and drop the .nif and .dds files to make it customizable. Using the method I described with my mix and match, you can then make customizations that apply only to that character instead of all females.

 

**placeholder for more information**

Meshes and textures of creatures: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/13723/?

Meshes and textures of objects: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11701/? "

[dazzerfong]

Qu

 

So basically, I started writing an article based on what I've learned the past week in regards to meshes and textures for Fallout 4. I want to post it here for others to read and see if it is solid and what I should add. I wanted to have my lessons learned for people new to the Nexus to make it easier to either using mods or create their own.

 

"What are meshes?

Meshes are like the body (musculature and substance) of a model. Fallout 4 uses .nif files for its meshes. When editing meshes in Bodyslide/Outfit Studio, the mesh is automatically paired with the textures. That confused me at first because of previous experience working with mesh colliders in the Unity game engine. A good mesh for females that I recommend is Atomic Beauty http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12406/? and for males I recommend Super Hero Bodies http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10360/? both of them for their customizable nature in Bodyslide/Outfit Studio

 

***placeholder for information on Bodyslide/Outfit Studio***

Article about conversion: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/articles/282/?

 

What are textures?

Textures are usually 3 different layers put on top of one another like a skin on top of the mesh. The normal map is the actual texture (ie whether something is smooth or rough or bumpy or has depth). The diffuse map is all the detail like tattoos and coloration. The specular map is the one that shows how light shines on it and is used for oil or sweat effects. Fallout 4 uses .dds files for textures like the following:

FemaleBody_n.dds

FemaleBody_d.dds

FemaleBody_s.dds

As you can tell, the first one is a normal map, the second one is a diffuse map and the last one is a specular map based on the _n, _d, or _s designations.

 

For pictures of each map and more explanation read this article:

http://wiki.splashdamage.com/index.php/Basic_Texture_Overview

 

On the character models, the textures are squares designs that wrap around the character, so if you view a .dds with a utility such as DDS Converter http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6712/? you might think that it looks odd. Again, that’s because the square is wrapped like a blanket around the mesh to make a good shape. So if you use a texture not compatible with your mesh you’ll get weird things like breasts in the middle of your stomach and a black patch on your shoulder.

 

What I found out, and probably isn’t common knowledge, is that you can mix and match the 3 basic maps from different compatible mods. I can use CBBE textures with Atomic Beauty meshes but not JaneBod textures because of the way they wrap.

 

For example what I am using on default females:

Diffuse Map: Demonikone’s Tattoo Collection http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18152/?

Normal Map: CBBE Muscle Map Conversion http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17807/?

Specular Map: Light oil version of Silky Smooth Skin: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6940/?

 

I copied them into the basefemale folder and replaced the originals by deleting the original and renaming the new one to the originals name to take its place.

 

How do the following mods play into this:

Unique Player: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3718/?

Unique Followers: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4293/?

Wintermute with customizable add-on: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12573/?

Kira: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18308/?

 

By making the .esp (which I think stands for Elder Scrolls Plugin) point to folders where the meshes and textures for the character are, you can copy and paste or drag and drop the .nif and .dds files to make it customizable. Using the method I described with my mix and match, you can then make customizations that apply only to that character instead of all females.

 

**placeholder for more information**

Meshes and textures of creatures: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/13723/?

Meshes and textures of objects: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11701/? "

 

A few problems:

Meshes are a surface representation of an object.

 

Rather than jumping into Outfit Studio which has no context, explain the nuances of operating with a mesh, because the lead-up makes no sense to anyone who has never used OS.

 

Textures are simply images used for the context of shaders. They are not 'layers' as you call it.

 

Your texture definitions are wrong:

Normal maps represent normal information, or the shading's directionality)

Diffuse (more accurately, albedo map) show the non-reflected colour information

Specular maps show the intensity of reflected colour.

Gloss maps (the green channel of the '_S' map) are used to handle how rough or smooth the microsurface of the material is, thus affecting how well-defined the reflections are.

 

Textures do not have to be square, just the dimensions have to be a power of 2.

 

That 'square design' is called a UV map. That more or less projects the surface into a 2D representation (U,V).

 

Besides that, it's not too bad, but I'm trying hard to understand the agenda of the article. Is it to teach the basics of 3D modelling and texturing, or how to mix-and-match body types? Because one half of your article does not address the other.

[genolune]

Thanks for the information as I am not a graphical artist.

 

Agenda (I can put that at the top of the article): It is meant to show people the theory behind all of the meshes and textures so that they can have a better sense of what's going on to mix and match as well as creating some of their own mods. The theory and talk about meshes/textures flows into mixing and matching multiple files and working with Outfit Studio. It's meant to take a newbie who says, I want my character to look like xyz, from zero knowledge to getting it done either with the assets provided across the nexus or being able to build upon what I give them and compile together into this guide and make it for their selves.

 

I wanted to keep simple hence why I used terms like skin and body for other persons reading it. It needs a lot of fleshing out but at least what I gathered from you is put an agenda up front to guide the reader and tie all of it together better. How would you approach it? I really just needed to get it all down on paper and out of my head. I'm sure there is plenty I'm forgetting.

[dazzerfong]

OK, in that case, you can go even simpler. However, whatever you do, do not ever introduce the wrong information, only simplified information.

 

For example:

 

Textures: there are 3 textures used (then list what they all do, ie.)

Albedo/diffuse: the plain colour of your part

Normal map: used to control lighting interactions of mesh

Specular: how shiny a part is

Gloss: how 'oily' or matte a part is