[LE] Skyrim 3d model scaling question....

[yarddogg77]

So I'm making a mod and I have created a new 3d object in blender. The question, is how do I know if my 3d model is a comparable size to the object in game? It's a soul gem BTW. I want to make sure the new 3d model is closely the same size as the soul gem in game. I looked at the soul gem in creation kit but can't find any info about pixels or any thing else. As far as I know nifskope is useless as far as scaling. Any suggestion? I'd hate to get it all done then load it up in game and have a soul gem the size of a house.

[Di0nysys]

The game uses inches for scaling, what u could do is just import a vanilla object into your modeling program and compare while you work.

[zwvskyrim]

Just import a vanilla soul gem in Blender.... and compare sizes...

 

Moin

Oli

[yarddogg77]

Thank you,I forgot to mention that it worked. Problem solved....

 

Since you do seem to know about blender I have plenty of more questions being a newbie. Since the start of this post, I have created and scaled the models of the objects I am making. They are Gems. Just simple objects. I applied materisla to them and set up the scene as per tutorials. I like how I've made them look in blender. Now I'm trying to learn how to make textures that will look the same as my materials, then I need to learn how to port everything into Skyrim. Most infoI am finding is outdated, and the software, game and everything involved has changed, so I would like some current up to date human help with this.

 

Where do I go from here? Google seems to only pull up horribly outdated crap from several years ago and it's starting to piss me off. I think I need ti find a new search tool.

[Algabar]

I just recently started to learn 3D modeling for Skyrim myself, so total noob here... Since noone replied yet, I'm going to try to give you some pointers anyway.

 

My current workflow in short:

 

1. Create 3D model in blender, do the UV unwrapping in Blender. Export the UV Layout from Blender to a file format readable by your preferred image editor. I simply use the default PNG. For all this Blender part there are tons of usable tutorials, even videos.

 

2. Open the UV Layout in an image editor of your choice, then create textures. I use a very, very old version of Photoshop and the current version of GIMP for this. Just make sure you can export your textures in DDS format. There are free plugins both for Photoshop and GIMP. There are also tutorials for creating textures for Skyrim, but this is the part where I can't help much since making good textures for Skyrim is soemthing I'm struggling with myself ATM... Currently I'm using free textures from the internet as base for my own attempts, but maybe there is a better way. As I said - noob here.

 

3. Export from Blender to Nifskope. The method posted by BlazeLeeDragon posted here basically still works:

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1948619-tutorial-custom-weapon-blender-to-skyrim-using-blender-271/

He also made a video tutorial:

 

OFC he's talking about weapons here, but a mesh is a mesh. It should work for other objects too. Just disregard the weapon specific parts like blood meshes and scabbards.

Just remember to change one thing: Nowadays you need TWO versions of NifSkope - the current one 2.x and an earlier one. I use 1.13. The reason: NifSkope 2.x doesn't have the import/export options you need, Nifskope 1.13 doesn't work well for putting textures on current Skyrim NIFs. So you basically use Nifskope 1.13 for all the mesh importing stuff (just as explained in the tutorial), then you save your NIF file (still without textures). Now open Nifskope 2.0 and put the textures on your mesh. Save and you're done.

 

4. Put your objects into the game using the CK. This is basic CK stuff. BlazeLeeDragon explains the basics in his video, besides that there are many tutorials for the CK on the internet.

 

Hard parts are step 2 (texturing - at least for a noob like me...) and step 3 (exporting the mesh to Skyrim). The latter get's easy once you've done it succesfully once or twice and understood the process.

 

If someone knows of a better, more straightforward method (or good tutorials on texturing for Skyrim) - please let me know. I'm always willing to learn.

 

Hope this helps at least a bit.

[yarddogg77]

I think we should stay in contact and share info. The thing I'm confused about is the UV layers. I've already made my normal maps, wasn't sure if you knew you needed to do that or not. My confusion was the UV maps. Are they the same? I think they are different. I've been thinking I need to do both,UV, and normals. I was going to mention that there is an export tool for blender to nifskope. I just got it and haven't used it. I'm using blender 2.78a, NifSkope 1.20 Alpha, with the plugins, there is also NiUtilsSuite vs. 1.22 made for Blender 2.7. That's the one you need for Blender for exporting options. I have read that in order for NifSkope to work correctly, the textures have to be embedded in the nif files. I have that sword video saved and plan to use it once I get that far, in the beginning of the video he mentions having the textures ready to go. Essentially what he is doing, is replacing the models in the original nifs, using the file structure of the Nif being replaced, then inserting the custom textures into them, and exporting. That's exactly where I'm trying to get to. Not sure if you found it yet, but check out this page. It's a detailed list of flags and setting sBethesda uses in their Nif files to make the custom nifs playable. Creation kit is no issue for me, I just need to get that far. Check out this link. http://beyondskyrim.org/skyrim-nif-files-bsshadertextureset-and-textures/

 

Aside from import export and all that, this could prove to be the most important parts of it all. Well I need to check on making UV maps then. My confusion is about whether or not I can create them from materials. I think I can?

[FrankFamily]

You have some big confusion there regarding uv maps and normal maps...

 

Uv map, texture coordinates or uvs are the connection between the texture and the model, the 2d and the 3d. They are therefore done usually in a 3d modelling package and are stored in the model itself

 

Normal map is a special kind of texture used to add 3D-looking details in a lowpoly model, to quote polycount:

 

A normal map is an image that stores a direction at each pixel. These directions are called normals.

The red, green, and blue channels of the image are used to control the direction of each pixel's normal.

A normal map is commonly used to fake high-resolution details on a low-resolution model. Each pixel of the map stores the surface slope of the original high-res mesh at that point. This creates the illusion of more surface detail or better curvature. However, the silhouette of the model doesn't change.

 

you can read more here: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Normal_map

 

so of course the normal map needs uv coordinates.

[yarddogg77]

Thank you very much for clarifying that. I saw the options to embed the normals in the model, but I didn't do it because I thought the normals need to be compressed into dds first. I made the normal maps, exported them, then compressed them in gimp, and loaded them with nifskope. Needless to say, none of the surface modifiers i added had an effect. So what is the right way to do it? Should I save the normals to the model internally then? If I do that then what format do they need to be in? Blend, obj, or 3ds? That's where I start to get confused. And if I do save them internally in blender, do I need to compress them first? I'ts the order of doing these things that has me the most confused. As far as the uv coordinates, I still haven't found anything showing how to bake UV maps properly for a video game. People are real good about showing off their renders in Blender, but beyond that, the tutorials I see are basically useless.

 

So what order do I need to do these things? Another confusion I have, is if I save the maps internally then what are the texture files? Are those strictly the surface colors? I'm totally lost

[FrankFamily]

No problem,

you dont export or bake the uv map, just unwrap the model in blender and then export to nif, the uv map goes with the model if it has it.

one thing is the normals of the lowpoly model, that it always has and are important, and another is the normal map baked from a high poly model to increase detail and help with the curves. the normal is baked to a texture (i've never done so in blender, i use xnormal, but its probably possible, just google "bake normal map in blender", or use xnormal, its free and pretty straight forward.

nothing embedded or internally, you can save color information on the model, vertex colors, but thats massively limited to the model resolution.

[yarddogg77]

That's almost the way I was trying to do it. What you're saying does make sense because some f the textures I've saw in vanilla are just like a picture with a white outline of the object on them, the sides aren't even trimmed. So in order to get those cool surface effects like on the heartstone, I have to sculpt the high poly model, then bake my normal map texture, then export it to gimp right? One mistake I might have made is flatenning the texture image before exporting from gimp to NifSkope. I read a manual about using gimp to compress to dds, and it said to flatten the image, seems that it flatenned it alright, my surface had no signs of having any kind of normal map after the "sculpting" I did. But I loaded a texture for an armor today directly into gimp, and it had 3 layers and the alpha channel right there, why would I want to flatten the image. I think I need some better directions for that part.

 

So for the UV map, all I need to do is apply the image, unwrap it, then export it using the NifUtils? Sounds straight enough, I might have something to show soon, thanks again. If you have any more advice I am all ears. I want my models to be epic, and they are needed in game.