Beginner in need of some help.

[Stemin]

I don't know exactly where to start. I want to do some simple rendering in 3Ds max for Skyrim. I believe I have all the tools.. Nifskope, Photoshop, 3Dsmax, the NVidia DDS plugin for photoshop, the Nif import/export plugin for 3Ds max. I also have textools although I have no idea what to do with it once I install it and it seems to require installing every time you use it.

 

I started with some simple stuff to get used to the creation kit. I turned a two handed sword into a one hander, by copying the .nif files and editing the .nif's. Then I copied the .nif's for the hide gauntlets and the textures, did some file renaming in nifskope to make it work, made a new item in the creation kit and it worked. The texture I did looks like crap but it was just a quick and easy to see if I could do it.

 

I'll be playing with photoshop to improve my bracers, but I would like to learn how to make some new items. I thought I'd start simple with a sword or a shield or something, but what I'd really like to do is make a curiass similar to the hide armor.

 

The problem I'm running into is I want to is most of the "skyrim" tutorials skip the 3dS max details and proclaim that there are enough 3ds max tutorials out there, but most 3ds max tutorials aren't geared towards skyrim, so they don't give me what I need without taking me off into animation right away after teaching basic shapes.

 

I guess to start off, I should ask some simple questions and go from there. How much detail do I need to put into my rendering versus how much I can make up with my texturing? And how can I combine two objects in 3ds max besides welding two end vertexs?

[kronaras]

The best guide i've found is Nightasy's. I'm also a beginner and his tutorials helped me very much, i strongly recommend you watch them. He adds more videos every now and then, so you should track him.

 

Here's his nexus link: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19249

And his Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/NightasyTutorials