Creating a custom npc/follower from scratch

[DiscordOfSound]

Oh boy, where do I start? Well, I decided I wanted to take a character from one game, and import it into Skyrim. I ripped the mesh/textures from the game and set up in 3ds Max (2019). After several days I finally got the head morphed and fixed to how it should look in game. I followed one of the head tutorials located on the Nexus, exporting the newly created head from Max to blender, from blender to outfit studio, from outfit studio to Nif, from Nif back to outfit studio, and so far, the resulting OBJ looks really good. I haven't messed with the texture yet as that'll come later. Now, I'm sitting at the point in the tutorial of using/creating Tri files to animate the face, add expressions and so on.

 

This is where the tutorial lost me. The problem here is that this character is supposed to be an npc, singular race, male and doesn't use beards/eyebrow/hair, similar to some of the creature npc's (think of a Spriggan but with a face.). So, I'm not entirely sure what Tri files I'm going to need to use and which ones I can leave out without breaking anything. Also, on one of the tutorial pages, it lists some programs to use, however the links appear broken so that was another issue I came across. Also, I haven't touched the CK yet as I wanted to finish the model first before creating the new race/npc, therefore doesn't yet have an ID. I'm not sure if I need to go into the CK and do this first. If someone wouldn't mind helping me with the process, I'd be ever grateful.

 

I haven't started on the body, as it's going to use a human body/skeleton, however I need to sculpt the body mesh first.