Alozaps Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) I'm trying to learn the basics of modding... well, more specifically, editing the appearance of items, creating new items, editing faces, etc...I've scoured the Internet, but honestly, there's not much out there; at least not that I know of. I'm hoping I can get some good help here. What I want to do is start with something really simple (or not... maybe it's more complicated than I think) Suppose I wanted to take an existing item that is low-res, and simply up the resolution. I'll take Master Robes as an example. I've gotten as far as being able to unpack the Texture bsa files and import the dds file corresponding to female Master Robes to an image editor. Is there any general technique that works well for improving texture resolutions without changing the design of the texture? It's not as simple as just blowing it up, right? And the resolutions can only be integer multiples of the original resolution? Edited January 8, 2012 by Alozaps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitualBlack Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I like to think of texture editing programs like an extended paper. You can do what ever you want in them :happy: . Before starting I would recommend getting used to the interface and tools. Also make sure you get some of the plug-ins which you will need (for example a normal map plug-in). If I were to make HD robes using the base texture I would probably first scale the image from a 512 to a 1024. You could than get into adding the unique details and noise which will allow you to normal map a greater level of detail into your mod (maybe a bit of sharpening, some creative use of filters etcetera...). This is good if you just wish to 'enhance' a texture and if you want to make a completely custom texture that is a bit of work. A good normal map is the key to getting the most out of your texture (at least that is my opinion :laugh: ). A good normal map can be achieved through first desaturated your texture than running your normal map plug-in. Than some of the things I usually do are grain merging, Gaussian blur and some sharpening. You can have a lot of fun playing with parts of the game, just remember that it doesn't have to be learned in a day. Spend a few hours learning about the tools you wish to use and than start applying that knowledge to the creation of your mods. It takes time, but its time well spent :biggrin: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teklanika Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 There is A LOT out there. Just use google---there are plenty of forums out there with the exact info you're looking for. The Construction Set Wiki, for example, is a great website to get you started. Then there is The Nexus, as well as the Steam forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perraine Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 It also requires a certain amount of artistic ability, sometimes your painting textures 1 pixel at a time, so having a good image in your mind of what the finished product should like like is essential, make use of the zoom tool frequently, what may look ok close up, will look rubbish zoomed out, and vice versa, sometimes putting a black dot on a white square seems counter intuitive, but when you zoom out it adds a nice level of detail ... Good Luck and as BeyondTom said, it doesn't have to be finished in a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alozaps Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) This is exactly the problem: I don't really know what normal mapping is. The fact that legions of people on Skyrim Nexus have already rolled out with amazing retextures made me think that the process itself is easy, and that pretty much anyone can do it. But I think this is the kind of thing you need to go to school for... you need years of study and knowledge in the fields of computer graphics, 3d modelling and texturing. I didn't realize that these people do this an an occupation to build their credentials and get themselves known. Edited January 8, 2012 by Alozaps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werne Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) You don't need years of studying in 3D modeling or graphic design, it only takes time to get used to the program. If you have the knack for it you'll learn it pretty fast, I for example learned how to make a 3D models from scratch in a bit more than a month. As for the texturing I can't tell what exactly to do to improve the texture, you'll have to do it by feeling, using efects, layer styles, image adjustments and adding details by hand. Try different effects and styles and see what they do, then try to combine them and adjust them so they do what you want. If you're patient you'll learn how to do it since it's not too complicated. Edited January 8, 2012 by Werne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHammonds Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I'm trying to learn the basics of modding... well, more specifically, editing the appearance of items, creating new items, editing faces, etc...Changing the appearance of items is called re-texturing or more specifically, texture replacers. It involves obtaining the original DDS texture, making changes and leaving the texture in the exact same path as the original which will change all occurrences of the original to your new texture. Texture replacers are basically the same process for all games so a tutorial for Oblivion would be perfect for Skyrim. Example: How to create texture replacers. Instead of using BSA Commander, you will need a Skyrim-specific BSA extractor What I want to do is start with something really simple (or not... maybe it's more complicated than I think)I'd recommend texture replacers to start with. You can do that right now and have (or can get) all the tools needed for it. I am waiting for the Creation Kit to be released so I can create proper ESP plugins for adding new content to Skyrim. Once you get DDS texture creation figured out (diffuse texture, normal maps, specular maps, glow maps) and familiar with your graphics editor of choice, you might want to jump into a 3D modeling program such as Blender to make modifications to existing items or create all new models. Here is a page that talks about the different aspects to modding. Is there any general technique that works well for improving texture resolutions without changing the design of the texture? It's not as simple as just blowing it up, right?Nope, not even close. Anyone that takes a 512x512 texture and resizes it to 1024x1024 is doing nothing more than wasting valuable video RAM. Many of the games textures could be improved by keeping the same resolution of the diffuse texture but upping the dimensions of the normal map...provided that you can make a better normal map than the original designers. That typically requires using a 3D modeling program and sculpting the 3D model into a much higher-resolution version...then baking the details into the normal map. And the resolutions can only be integer multiples of the original resolution?For changing the size, you definitely want to keep the same aspect ratio but the dimensions need to be in a power of 2. Example: Original image dimensions of 512 height by 512 width Good: 256x256 (smaller dimension)Good: 1024x1024 (larger dimension)Bad: 1024x512 (wrong aspect ratio)Bad 1018x1018 (not a power of 2) Link to more Texturing tutorials Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alozaps Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Thanks everyone, and thanks especially for the links LHammonds; they've proven to be very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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