Transparent Textures

[LdGilmoure]

The DXT5 .dds file format (used for textures in Skyrim) has 4 channels R,G,B (Red, Green, Blue) which make up the colours of the image and 1 "Alpha" channel which can be used for various things.

 

For 'diffuse' or 'texture' maps which are the files that determine what your item looks like, the Alpha Channel can be used to indicate "Transparency" ... Basically you set parts of the armor to be completely 'invisible' 100% transparency (no texture) translucent say 50% transparency or totally visible 0% transparency

 

Open up one of the texture files that has 'fur' on it like the Bandit Armor and you'll see parts of the texture seem to be 'missing' this is the tranparency.

In you .nif file you need to add an "Alpha Property" to the NiTriShape

 

= Right lick your NiTriShape -> Node -> Attach Property -> NiAplhaProperty ... This will ad an NiAlphaProperty to the very bottom of the list with a reference number before it, you then need to make it a 'child' of your NiTriShape

= Left click your NiTriShape -. Scroll down in the BOTTOM window -. click the little arrow beside 'Properties' -> You should see ...

 

Properties | ref<Ni object> | BSLightingShaderProperty

Properties | ref<Ni object> | None

 

Double click the 'None' and type in the reference number displayed before the NiAlphaProperty and hit "enter"

 

You should now see the NiAlphaProperty move up and be a 'child' of your NiTriShape

 

Right click on the NiAlphaProperty and click 'Flags' ... This will bring up a dialogue box with several options ...

 

If you simply wish to make parts of the mesh disappear UNTICK "Enable Blending" and TICK "Enable Testing" -> set "Alpha Test Function" to 'Greater or Equal' -> and set 'Alpha Test Threshold" as 128 -> click accept

Then you can 'delete' parts of the texture file and that part of the mesh will become 'invisible' in game (and in Nifskope) and make sure to save the file in DXT5 .dds format

 

If you want to make a part of the mesh 'opaque' or 'seethru' like glass (or some of the skimpy lingerie mods http://forums.nexusmods.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/wink.gif ) Leave the "Enable Blending" ticked

On your texture file, experiment with different levels of 'transparency' on the various parts to get the desired effect on your mesh (i.e. try 20% transparency, 25%, 40% and so on ... Anything more than 50% transparency doesn't really display properly in Skyrim as it usually looks basically invisible anyway, which is why I set the "Alpha Test Threshold" at 128 (half way or 50% between 0 no colour and 255 full colour)

Cool, thanks man! Many years later and your how-to is still helping folks.

[RagnarSeptim]

does this work for retexturing a guard shield like Windhelm guard shield? I trying to use a image I made inspired by the Ebon Heart pact to replace Windhelm's current shield symbol. i got it working for stormcloak banners and flags. but right now it works but the shield has a white box where the normal texture of the base shield and the symbol are not covering. So i have a shield that looks fine from one end but when you look at it from the front its has these 4 white corners on it. need some help on fixing this if anyone can spare the time to explain.

[Araanim]

does this work for retexturing a guard shield like Windhelm guard shield? I trying to use a image I made inspired by the Ebon Heart pact to replace Windhelm's current shield symbol. i got it working for stormcloak banners and flags. but right now it works but the shield has a white box where the normal texture of the base shield and the symbol are not covering. So i have a shield that looks fine from one end but when you look at it from the front its has these 4 white corners on it. need some help on fixing this if anyone can spare the time to explain.

I believe that white square is a separate mesh that holds the symbol itself. In your texture for the symbol, you need to make sure you've got the background cut out using an alpha map, so only the symbol renders.

[mattski123]

I know this is old, but will making an objects texture (lets say a large one) completely transparent help with FPS?

[joseeeeef]

You have to add an alpha channel to the texture (with photoshop or gimp or any program that edits .dds files) so the NiAlphaProperty in the .nif file can read it and know which areas are transparent.

Thank you. After hours of work and reverse engineering, this finally did it for me. I am in the process of shell texturing fur onto a cloak from the Wet and Cold mod. And let me say, it's already turning out fantastic. Thanks again :D