Converting Meshs from other games, help

[0Theara]

I used 3ds max and it's pretty much do everything for me, just import the mesh, reposition it or whatever, when export, choose the game that you want the mesh to works with, it'll automatically set the nif setting for you.

[SnakeSlippers]

I'm pretty surprised that with all the kinds of mods, and tools and etc. we have for these games noone made a tool yet that you just upload a nif from one game and it converts it to a nif for a different game. Maybe it's harder then that idk. Like music converters upload MP4 convert to MP3. But like I said it's probably harder then that tho.

 

I finally managed to install Blender with all programs needed. Everything works with no errors finally. I exported that cube, but can't seem to get it to show up in FO.

 

I export from Blender the right way, I think. Upload in Nifskope, but from there that's where it stops. I need to find a tut for that part. Maybe I have to switch some settings in Nifskope to export to FO?

 

I'm starting to think it's pointless now, too many items I would convert, not enough time.

[madmongo]

What cube?

 

For the mesh to show up in the game, it has to be UV texture mapped since FO3/FNV can't handle other types of materials. Also, the nif export settings need to be correct, and the shader flags in the nif need to be set properly.

 

When you export, you end up on a screen with various export options available. At the top in the middle, you'll see Static, Anim Static, Clutter, Weapon, and Creature. For statics, click on Static. For misc items, click on Clutter. For clothing, armor, bodies, and creatures, click on Creatures.

 

Also, on the right side of the screen, there's an option for Use BSFadeNode Root. This needs to be selected for pretty much everything except Creatures, and it needs to be unselected for Creatures (armor, clothes, bodies, creatures). If this isn't set correctly, the mesh may not work properly and may even crash the GECK or the game.

 

When you are creating bodies, armor, and clothes, Blender doesn't set the shader flags correctly (at least it doesn't for me, if there's a proper setting for it in the nif export, I haven't figured it out yet). You'll need to go into nifskope to fix it. For regular armor parts, the type needs to be set to SHADER_DEFAULT and make sure SF_SHADOW_MAP and SF_REMAPABLE_TEXTURES are both checked. For the any visible human skin body parts in bodies, or visible human skin in armor and clothing meshes (like arms, legs, etc), the type needs to be set to SHADER_SKIN and make sure SF_SHADOW_MAP and SF_FACEGEN are both checked. Blender usually sets the rest of the flags correctly.

 

For statics, clutter items, etc. Blender usually sets the shader flags correctly.

 

If you set up Blender and the nif tools correctly, the paths for your textures will be game-relative and will be fine. If you don't have things set up correctly or your texture wasn't in the right place (as often happens when importing meshes from other sources), those paths may be absolute (i.e. c:\program files\steam\etc instead of starting with \textures) or may be completely incorrect. You can fix those in nifskope as well. If you are importing an object from another game or from some other source, the material might not be set up properly to UV map the texture. Hopefully the UV mapping at least is correct in the mesh so that all you'll need to do is re-assign the material to the texture.

 

Textures must be in dds format.

 

Armor/clothing/bodies/creatures don't need collision. All other objects need a separate collision mesh.

Edited February 15, 2018 by madmongo

[sykoholic001]

What cube?

 

Sounds like he has the same problem that I do (among others). When I open or import a mesh into Blender, often all that shows up is a cube. No mesh, no shape, no object... just a cube. :huh:

[M48A5]

 

What cube?

 

Sounds like he has the same problem that I do (among others). When I open or import a mesh into Blender, often all that shows up is a cube. No mesh, no shape, no object... just a cube. :huh:

 

 

When you first open blender, move your mouse to clear the logo. Then press the "a" key twice to highlight everything. When all the items in the display have a pink highlight around them, press the move (m) key. A small grid will open near where you have the cursor. Choose any of the boxes (I usually use the far right one on the top tier) and left click "OK". This will clear the display.

 

You can now continue to import what you want with nothing else in the display.

[sykoholic001]

Really? THAT is what has been buggering me this whole time?

 

*facepalm*

 

Okay... I am officially a complete idiot.

Edited February 15, 2018 by sykoholic001

[SnakeSlippers]

I tried exporting that cube when you open blender. Now I have good news and bad news.

 

Well for one, I think when I exported the Oblivion nifs and that cube I didn't select all then export, so... that's probably why nothing showed up.

 

Good news. I imported one of the barracks, removed the vents on top and the electric boxes on the side and exported it and it shows up. So I think I might have the hang of it now. I need to find out how to remove the boarded windows. Since you select the boards the whole building gets selected. I remember selecting individual lines before, just don't remember how now.

 

I think I have the settings right and all that, so hopefully it shows up in GECK and the game with no problems.

 

Bad news. I have a banging headache now lol

 

 

Edit. I got one of the Oblivion models in game, it's tiny as hell tho. And the barracks are working in game. But the textures flicker and something must of been connected to the windows cause they are now deleted.

Edited February 16, 2018 by SnakeSlippers

[sykoholic001]

Bad news. I have a banging headache now lol

 

 

I feel your pain. All I'm trying to do is remove the tail and ears from Backsteppo's "Bunny Suit" and I'm on the verge of pulling my hair out.

[madmongo]

When you first open blender, move your mouse to clear the logo. Then press the "a" key twice to highlight everything. When all the items in the display have a pink highlight around them, press the move (m) key. A small grid will open near where you have the cursor. Choose any of the boxes (I usually use the far right one on the top tier) and left click "OK". This will clear the display.

 

You can now continue to import what you want with nothing else in the display.

 

 

I do it slightly differently.

 

For those who are new to Blender, when it starts up it gives you a default camera, a default light, and it gives you a cube mesh that you can start editing if you want. For creating and editing meshes for FNV, you generally don't need any of that, so instead of moving it, I just delete it all. Similar to the above, press A to select all, then press the Delete key to delete everything.

 

As was already mentioned, Blender only exports what you have selected, so always make sure you do a select all before exporting. If you always delete all before importing, you never need to worry about something extra getting picked up and exported when you do a select all and export.

 

Nifs can contain multiple meshes. If you want to delete an entire mesh, just select it and press delete. If something is part of another mesh, like the boards on the barracks windows, then you have to edit the mesh to get rid of them. You can select vertex mode or face mode, and depending on what you are doing, one may be easier than the other. For boards, it's probably easier to select each face of the boards and press Delete to remove them.

 

You can also do block selects to grab multiple faces or multiple vertices at once. Another useful trick is to select all of the vertices you want to keep (instead of the ones you want to delete) then press i to invert the selection. Depending on the mesh, that can sometimes be a lot easier than selecting the parts you want to delete.

 

I haven't looked at the bunny costume, but typically if you are deleting something like bunny ears, the easiest thing to do is rotate your view around until you can block select the entire bunny ear, then press Delete to get rid of it. Hopefully the bunny ears are separate objects, or are at least disconnected from the rest of the outfit even if they are part of the same mesh. One problem you can run into is if they are part of a mesh, deleting them may leave a hole behind in the mesh. The only way to fix that is to add new faces and possibly some new vertices, which will then have to be UV mapped, and if it's something like a clothing item or a creature skin you'll have to bone weight the new bits as well.

 

If something is really tiny (or really big) when you import it, you can select all and press S to scale, and you can make it bigger or smaller as needed. If there is only one mesh, it's easiest to go into edit mode first. If there are multiple meshes, you'll need to select all and scale, and then you'll need to press A in object mode to apply rotation and scaling. If it was scaled in Edit mode and not Object mode, then you don't need to apply rotation and scaling. Collision meshes often don't scale properly, so you'll probably want to delete the collision meshes and make new ones.

[sykoholic001]

*bangs head repeatedly against keyboard*

Cube removed. Nif imported and saved as .blend. Ears and Tail deleted. All good, right? Nope!!!!! 2.79 won't export to .nif and 2.49 claims the nif_scripts aren't installed (even though they are). Tried uninstalling and re-installing them. The auto-installer claims I don't have Python and/or PyFFI installed (even though I do) and installing them manually apparently makes them undetectable by Blender... and these, of course, are all technical issues which are outside the scope of this conversation.

If I weren't an atheist, I'd swear God hates me.

 

:wallbash: