ECE, Racemenu or both

[WakahisaSensei]

So, for a while, I have been trying to make some really beautiful skyrim characters and failing. I've been looking at the mods done by heowoo22 as my goal (specifically going for this look https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/726134)

 

Now, a lot of the people who make these incredible characters seem to use enhanced character edit. But I've noticed that the mod isn't exact;y compatible with Racemenu (or at least some aspects of it. Trying to run both breaks many vampire functions/mods). But I'm also not sure if it is ECE that's making these characters beautiful or something else. There are also some mods that don't exist anymore listed for followers that have similarly beautiful faces.

 

Is there a way to use Racemenu and ECE together and maintain full functionality for both? Will that help me reach this goal of pretty characters?

 

 

Another thing I've noticed is the frequent use of UNP for these followers rather than CBBE. Do UNP faces look better than CBBE? I really want to get a prettier face, but I don't want to break any of the gameplay mods I have either. Advice and info would be super appreciated. And if it's not possible to reconcile my interests then it's not possible and I'll accept that.

[WakahisaSensei]

I also want to specify, I don't want an exact copy heowoo22's work. I want to be able to make my own. I have a design in my head, I just don't know what tools/mods will allow me to get there.

[WsElite]

once i try to enable both, its making a mess with character (npc too), also you will get warning about something (i don't remember it very well since it was long time ago). i think most people use UNP because the "normal" size of the bust, but still its depend on your liking.

Edited April 10, 2019 by WsElite

[Irstina]

You cannot run both ECE and Racemenu at the same time, so you'll have to pick one. I prefer RM for the overlays, sculpt feature and just general compatibility with other stuff. If you're trying to make Asian looking characters though, then perhaps some of the morphs from ECE would be better. ECE also kind of has a sculpt tool like RM does, but RM's is just easier to use IMO, once you understand how to use it, at least.

 

Here are some tutorials for RM Sculpt:

 

 

At the end of the day though, the two mods share most of the same functionality, and you can make Western looking characters in ECE (see all the Bijin overhauls) or Asian looking ones in Racemenu. I'm used to RM so I have my bias, but they both work.

 

About UNP and CBBE: These are body replacers! They have nothing to do with your head and do not change it in any way. I feel like the UUNP family has more Bodyslide conversions than CBBE so there's more compatibility with all sorts of outfits, also with Bodyslide you can get all sorts of shapes including some that resemble CBBE. That said, neither body does anything to your heads so you can use whichever you prefer. You need to look for a skin mod you like, eyes, makeup, stuff like that, in order to improve your head. Fair Skin Complexion or Unslaad are both great if you're looking for pale, younger looking characters. The one in your link is probably using Fair Skin Complexion.

 

The Eyes of Beauty is all you need for eyes IMO, but there are other choices too.

 

Your ENB matters a lot too. I still think Snapdragon ENB is the best for making characters look good, but I only take screenshots, if you're looking to play the actual game, then maybe something less resource intensive is better, like Caffeine ENB, or whatever you prefer.

 

Also. If you're having trouble creating something from scratch (I know I do) then remember that RM has a tool that allows you to import the facial geometry of any other character, including most followers you can download here or elsewhere. So if you like a particular follower's face and you want to use them as a base for creating your own character, you can do that. Tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGpnugyCOyk

 

Keep in mind this only copies facial geometry, so stuff like brows, eyes, hair, if you want the exact same, you'll have to find yourself.

 

Finally, remember that any character you see in these screenshots is carefully posed under ideal lighting and at FOV values and camera angles that you will never use in gameplay. They'll never look quite as good running around in the world in minute to minute gameplay stuff. This is true for every preset available out there, the author or other screenarchers will make them look amazing, but they probably spent 15~ minutes if not way more on the photoshoot.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Irstina

[WakahisaSensei]

You cannot run both ECE and Racemenu at the same time, so you'll have to pick one. I prefer RM for the overlays, sculpt feature and just general compatibility with other stuff. If you're trying to make Asian looking characters though, then perhaps some of the morphs from ECE would be better. ECE also kind of has a sculpt tool like RM does, but RM's is just easier to use IMO, once you understand how to use it, at least.

 

Here are some tutorials for RM Sculpt:

 

 

At the end of the day though, the two mods share most of the same functionality, and you can make Western looking characters in ECE (see all the Bijin overhauls) or Asian looking ones in Racemenu. I'm used to RM so I have my bias, but they both work.

 

About UNP and CBBE: These are body replacers! They have nothing to do with your head and do not change it in any way. I feel like the UUNP family has more Bodyslide conversions than CBBE so there's more compatibility with all sorts of outfits, also with Bodyslide you can get all sorts of shapes including some that resemble CBBE. That said, neither body does anything to your heads so you can use whichever you prefer. You need to look for a skin mod you like, eyes, makeup, stuff like that, in order to improve your head. Fair Skin Complexion or Unslaad are both great if you're looking for pale, younger looking characters. The one in your link is probably using Fair Skin Complexion.

 

The Eyes of Beauty is all you need for eyes IMO, but there are other choices too.

 

Your ENB matters a lot too. I still think Snapdragon ENB is the best for making characters look good, but I only take screenshots, if you're looking to play the actual game, then maybe something less resource intensive is better, like Caffeine ENB, or whatever you prefer.

 

Also. If you're having trouble creating something from scratch (I know I do) then remember that RM has a tool that allows you to import the facial geometry of any other character, including most followers you can download here or elsewhere. So if you like a particular follower's face and you want to use them as a base for creating your own character, you can do that. Tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGpnugyCOyk

 

Keep in mind this only copies facial geometry, so stuff like brows, eyes, hair, if you want the exact same, you'll have to find yourself.

 

Finally, remember that any character you see in these screenshots is carefully posed under ideal lighting and at FOV values and camera angles that you will never use in gameplay. They'll never look quite as good running around in the world in minute to minute gameplay stuff. This is true for every preset available out there, the author or other screenarchers will make them look amazing, but they probably spent 15~ minutes if not way more on the photoshoot.

Thank you for the info. I've been using CBBE but may switch to UNP on my next fresh install. I have an ENB and skin texture I like. My interests were primarily on the face, and I suspect these tutorials will help. I've also used the racemenu tool for copying facial geometry but results were limited or sometimes didn't copy properly, other times it worked wonders. But at least I finally have the answers I was looking for. I'll probably stick with Racemenu since so many of my other mods depend on it. Thank you very much.