[LE] How Do I Import Skyrim models into Blender?

[LordNyron]

I'm just guessing that this is the right place to ask this, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to import models from mods into Blender, specifically armor and hair, but I'm having trouble figuring out how. There's no direct way to import a NIF file into Blender, and every guide I've looked at is years old and mentions needing to use an older version of Blender. I tried that, but Blender 2.49b refuses to run. I have the required version of Python installed, and Blender 2.49 did run once, but after I closed out of it it refuses to open again. Now it just stops working on startup. No matter how many times I uninstall and reinstall it it won't work, even tried repairing Python. So I'm wondering if there's another way I can get these files into Blender 2.78? Can I just open the NIF files in NIFSkope and export them as OBJ files and import them into Blender 2.78? Or is there absolutely no way around importing them into Blender 2.49 and exporting them as BLEND files and then importing into Blender 2.79?

[DeathMotif]

Open the nif in Nifskope. Export as obj. Open the obj in Blender.

[LordNyron]

Do I need to open any other files in NIFSkope or Blender? It works(Not that there was any reason to doubt it would.), but the model I used to test it has these gray spots on it when I import the OBJ file into Blender. I should probably mention that I am completely new to Blender so I have no idea if there's something I'm supposed to do to get rid of those grey spots on an otherwise white textureless model, or if that's supposed to be there.

[DeathMotif]

Those tutorials are indeed old. However, the latest release of Blender should be just fine. Getting back to nif is the tricky part, though I understand you can do it in BodySlide.

[DeathMotif]

I couldn't tell you. I'm new to Blender as well. Just getting my feet under me, but it's unlikely a problem.

[LordNyron]

Well I got it working, the model imports and the gray faces are normals that need to be recalculated. So all that is fine. But when I go to apply the texture, something goes wrong. The texture doesn't go on the model correctly and I'm not sure how to fix it. I load up the DDS file like I'm supposed to, go into UV editing mode, unwrap the model, and unwrapping the model does something that I think it isn't supposed too. It looks like an outline of all the polygon strips overlayed on top of the texture image, and most of them aren't covered by the image, so I'm assuming that's why it isn't being placed on the model correctly, but I'm not sure how to fix that. I'm so confused.

 

EDIT: The video I was watching showed the person loading the texture image in the UV editor and then unwrapping the model. There was no polygon outlines overlaying on top of the image. The image was just suddenly applied to the object. I'm assuming that the UV's are supposed to be the outlines, not the texture image, and that the texture has nothing to do with UV's. But even if I just set up the texture normally and then hit the render button, the texture doesn't apply properly. So I'm still not sure what's going wrong.

Edited May 10, 2017 by LordNyron

[Algabar]

Sounds somewhat strange. What exactly do you want to do with the model in Blender? If we knew your goal, it would be easier to assist you.

 

As for UV unwrapping in general: Skyrim models imported as OBJ keep the original UV map created by Bethesda. But those imported meshes don't have UV seams, that can be properly recognized by Blender, any more. If you unwrap them again, you will end up with a mess, because Blender doesn't find correct seams and therefore doesn't know how to "cut" the textures. If you want to unwrap an imported model again, you need to create new seams in Blender first - or use the "Smart UV project" feature, which in most cases just won't get you acceptable results. So creating the seams "by hand" ("mark seam") is really the only viable option.

 

I'm not sure if you really need to unwrap your model again at all. Unwrapping a model again is only necessary, if you a) changed the mesh (e.g. modified an imported object) or b) changed the UV unwrapping (to get rid of ugly textures seams or stretched textures). Otherwise you can just apply the textures on the model and carry on. As I said above: Tell us, what you want to do - you'll get more specific answers. :cool:

[LordNyron]

Sounds somewhat strange. What exactly do you want to do with the model in Blender? If we knew your goal, it would be easier to assist you.

 

As for UV unwrapping in general: Skyrim models imported as OBJ keep the original UV map created by Bethesda. But those imported meshes don't have UV seams, that can be properly recognized by Blender, any more. If you unwrap them again, you will end up with a mess, because Blender doesn't find correct seams and therefore doesn't know how to "cut" the textures. If you want to unwrap an imported model again, you need to create new seams in Blender first - or use the "Smart UV project" feature, which in most cases just won't get you acceptable results. So creating the seams "by hand" ("mark seam") is really the only viable option.

 

I'm not sure if you really need to unwrap your model again at all. Unwrapping a model again is only necessary, if you a) changed the mesh (e.g. modified an imported object) or b) changed the UV unwrapping (to get rid of ugly textures seams or stretched textures). Otherwise you can just apply the textures on the model and carry on. As I said above: Tell us, what you want to do - you'll get more specific answers. :cool:

My end goal is to use hair and clothes from Skyrim mods on a custom character model built in Daz Studio, and I believe I have to put the hair and clothes on the model in Blender. I'm not sure if it's really necessary to get the texture onto the models while in Blender, I think I can port back to Daz to do that and it might be easier, but seeing that they actually work while in Blender would at least me know not to waste my time. And I've figured out that I probably don't have to unwrap the UV so I'm not doing that anymore, however if I add the texture like I'm supposed too, one of two things happens:

 

1) The texture doesn't go anywhere specific on the model and just kind of wraps around it aimlessly. This was probably due to the UV screw up as I haven't seen it since I stopped that.

 

2) The texture is applied to the model, but it looks more like a photo being pasted over a white background. The polygon strips are still very much visible. I assume this is what a transparent alpha texture is for, however I've tried adding the N.DDS file that I believe is supposed to be the alpha texture, I'm not sure because they aren't labelled as such, but the image is like a light purple over a white background, which is usually how alpha textures look, and it doesn't seem to help anything. So I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing wrong.

 

And just to clarify, I will not be porting the finished character model back to Skyrim. This is for my own personal projects, Skyrim just happens to be the best place to find clothing and hair for such purposes.

 

EDIT: I'm also not entirely sure where to use the alpha texture. I believe it's under Materials because there's an Alpha box I can check off and it does the checkerboard pattern, but I didn't see any change in the model. And there are two Material's tabs. One that's separate from the Texture tab, and one that's in the Texture tab. I can't seem to add any custom materials under the standalone Material's tab and it has no alpha option, the one under the Texture tab lets me open a texture and hit the alpha checkbox. But like I said, nothing seems to happen. It isn't even picking up the normal texture anymore. And if I do render the image, there are these darker spots on the model. Looks like it did before I recalculated the normals.

 

My step by step goes something like this:

 

1) Import NIF file into Nifskope

 

2) Export as OBJ file

 

3) Import OBJ file into Blender

 

4) Scale model down because for some reason it's bigger than the screen and then rotate it because it's laying on its side.

 

5) Enter Edit Mode and recalculate the normals to fix dark spots.

 

6) Go into the Texture tab and under Textures, open DDS file.

 

7) Move over to the Material's tab under the larger Textures tab and open the N.DDS file, set as alpha

 

8 ) Render model to view, result not as expected.

 

 

 

I'd go somewhere specific to ask these Blender related questions, but there is nowhere and I know no one who uses Blender. And none of the official documentation really covers this. Even the Blenderella DVD stops short of showing texturing. I would try Blender Stack Exchange, but I did that once before and they are not a nice bunch to deal with.

Edited May 10, 2017 by LordNyron

[Di0nysys]

Blender's export/import plugins are very dated, and u'll be doing a ton of after export edits in Nifskope for stuff to work. Recommend u instead get into 3dsMax. It's free, it's an industry standard, easy interface, and it's plugins are all up to date and give me very little headache. Just an advice.

[LordNyron]

Blender's export/import plugins are very dated, and u'll be doing a ton of after export edits in Nifskope for stuff to work. Recommend u instead get into 3dsMax. It's free, it's an industry standard, easy interface, and it's plugins are all up to date and give me very little headache. Just an advice.

I have not seen a free 3DS Max anywhere. Trust me, I would if I could, but all I see is a 1 month free trial of the latest version, and no legal versions of the previous builds.

 

EDIT: Except the student version, but I'm not a student.

Edited May 11, 2017 by LordNyron