DESPERATE NEED FOR BLENDER TO SKYRIM WORKFLOW

[Brinemobee]

Ok im very familar with blender modelling etc.

 

i need some help/info/advice about the import/export to skyrim and some clarification

 

1. What version of blender is currently supported? 2.49? or 2.63(current) or anywhere in between?

 

2. what other tools do i need to get.

 

3. What script do i need to get.

 

4. What is the general workflow

 

5. Can i use a workflow with blender to edit animations?

 

Im a big believer of giving to get.

 

so i promise that if someone helps me work this process out. i will create a detailed tutorial and possible blog (aswell as mods) that utilize this workflow so that others can do something similar.

 

and if no1 helps me, well ill just figure it out anyway. but itll take longer.

 

thanks

[Urwy]

1. What version of blender is currently supported? 2.49? or 2.63(current) or anywhere in between?

Version 2.49 stil has the latest stable version of nifscripts. 2.63 does not.

 

2. what other tools do i need to get.

Depends on what you'd like to do. New items? Nifskope, Gimp/Photoshop. If the items have a skeleton (armor, crossbows, creatures) Then you'd need 3ds max/GMax with the correct niftools (3.7.1 is recommended, as 3.7.3 has some bugs)

 

3. What script do i need to get.

Heh, guess i sort of answered that already :P

 

4. What is the general workflow

For me personally:

 

1: Sketch

2: Model

3: UV map

4: Textures

(3ds Max rigging)

5: Nifskope

6: CK

7: Skyrim

 

5. Can i use a workflow with blender to edit animations?

If you're using blender 2.49, then yeah. There's some tricks to make the Nifs exported by blender work in skyrim. Not so much in 2.63 (afaik)

 

I hope that answers your question. If not, just post some more =)

[Brinemobee]

Great, thanks for the info

 

i may go down the road of adding custom meshes etc. (im an ok modeller used blender for ages now)

 

what i specifically want to do is.

 

Skyre added a new weapon called the stave.

 

i want to edit the fighitng animation of the stave. to be more like a quarterstaff

 

so i want to take the animation file that works on this area into blender. edit the motion. then replace it.

 

i will download a trial of 3ds max if i need to. but ideally i would like to get this working on blender. though i know its far less likely.

 

any info you can add on this idea?

 

thanks for all your help so far though. much appreciated

[Urwy]

Great, thanks for the info

 

i may go down the road of adding custom meshes etc. (im an ok modeller used blender for ages now)

 

what i specifically want to do is.

 

Skyre added a new weapon called the stave.

 

i want to edit the fighitng animation of the stave. to be more like a quarterstaff

 

so i want to take the animation file that works on this area into blender. edit the motion. then replace it.

 

i will download a trial of 3ds max if i need to. but ideally i would like to get this working on blender. though i know its far less likely.

 

any info you can add on this idea?

 

thanks for all your help so far though. much appreciated

 

Well, i cant say ive ever tried that myself. But as far as i know, that would require a new set of animations for the humanoid skeleton, which might be tricky since skyrim, by default, doesnt accept any new animations.

However, you could try to see if FNIS - Fores new idles Skyrim or PC exclusiveanimations can provide a starting point. It enables modders to add new animations by allowing the game to access modified, duplicate animations. Once you've got the animation you'll probably need a script to apply those new animations when staves are wielded.

Atleast, that's how i would imagine one would do that.

 

Hope some of this makes sense :)

Edited August 19, 2012 by Urwy

[Guest Messenjah]

First off... to the above posters...

 

Gmax has been dead as of 2005 from what I understand. It was based on 3DS Max 4.2 and we are way beyond that now. Besides, it was only packaged for and only useable for specific titles from game companies whom purchased the legal and additional rights to use Gmax for their modding communities. As you would imagine, not many game companies purchased these rights, as most game companies began to lean toward consoles. As far as I know, no one has written a script for Gmax to export to NIF format, and it is unlikely, unless I am mistaken, that there ever will be. Gmax was something I wasted nearly a year of my life on, until I gave in and started working with Blender instead.

 

3DS Max is great but not everyone can afford 7-9 grand as pocket change to spend on such software. So, I stuck to Blender for all of my modding needs.

 

The problem is, however, I have not yet figured out how to export models myself for Skyrim yet. I knew how to do this for Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fallout New Vegas however. I could get static meshes, rigged meshes, animations... everything.

 

You will need 2.49 though, since the exporters have not, yet been updated for the most recent version of Blender.

 

As for animations, that will be tricky because Bethesda changed their methods for animation... a LOT. Now you have to hack behaviour files in order to get custom animations in. I do believe that if you just want to replace an animation however, which sounds like, is what you want to accomplish here, you may not even need Fores system. You just need to find the name of the animation you wish to replace, export your animation and re-name it to the animation that you wish to replace.

[steve40]

As for animations, that will be tricky because Bethesda changed their methods for animation... a LOT. Now you have to hack behaviour files in order to get custom animations in. I do believe that if you just want to replace an animation however, which sounds like, is what you want to accomplish here, you may not even need Fores system. You just need to find the name of the animation you wish to replace, export your animation and re-name it to the animation that you wish to replace.

 

What if the animations are Gamebryo ones baked into the nif, rather than separate Havok hkx files? What would be the procedure to import these baked-in animations to Blender, then after editing them, export them from Blender back into the CK and fix up any loose ends to make them work in Skyrim?

[Urwy]

First off... to the above posters...

 

Gmax has been dead as of 2005 from what I understand. It was based on 3DS Max 4.2 and we are way beyond that now. Besides, it was only packaged for and only useable for specific titles from game companies whom purchased the legal and additional rights to use Gmax for their modding communities. As you would imagine, not many game companies purchased these rights, as most game companies began to lean toward consoles. As far as I know, no one has written a script for Gmax to export to NIF format, and it is unlikely, unless I am mistaken, that there ever will be. Gmax was something I wasted nearly a year of my life on, until I gave in and started working with Blender instead.

 

3DS Max is great but not everyone can afford 7-9 grand as pocket change to spend on such software. So, I stuck to Blender for all of my modding needs.

 

The problem is, however, I have not yet figured out how to export models myself for Skyrim yet. I knew how to do this for Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fallout New Vegas however. I could get static meshes, rigged meshes, animations... everything.

 

You will need 2.49 though, since the exporters have not, yet been updated for the most recent version of Blender.

 

As for animations, that will be tricky because Bethesda changed their methods for animation... a LOT. Now you have to hack behaviour files in order to get custom animations in. I do believe that if you just want to replace an animation however, which sounds like, is what you want to accomplish here, you may not even need Fores system. You just need to find the name of the animation you wish to replace, export your animation and re-name it to the animation that you wish to replace.

 

Ah, well a friend here on the forums said he was using Gmax to rig crossbows. So that's why i thought Gmax was still usable for this.

Blender is quite date as well, but has the advantage of having a working nif importer/exporter. The downside to that is that the tool doesnt support skyrim (officially). But there's some ways to make it work though. (a tutorial on the nexus wikia if i remember correctly.)

 

I though he was trying to add a new animation for the staves instead of replacing one.. :unsure:

Granted, If replacing an animation is the goal, it 'd be a lot simpler to achieve.

 

As for animations, that will be tricky because Bethesda changed their methods for animation... a LOT. Now you have to hack behaviour files in order to get custom animations in. I do believe that if you just want to replace an animation however, which sounds like, is what you want to accomplish here, you may not even need Fores system. You just need to find the name of the animation you wish to replace, export your animation and re-name it to the animation that you wish to replace.

 

What if the animations are Gamebryo ones baked into the nif, rather than separate Havok hkx files? What would be the procedure to import these baked-in animations to Blender, then after editing them, export them from Blender back into the CK and fix up any loose ends to make them work in Skyrim?

 

I'm afraid i cant help very much on that subject. :ohdear: