SSE Merging Race Menu .nifs in Skyrim SE for Followers

[mrWAWA]

I'm wanting to create custom followers using Race Menu .nifs, but all the tutorials I can find are for LE and use NPC Nif Merge, which sadly doesn't appear to work for Special Edition.

 

I'm curious as to how people are working around this, any insight would be much appreciated because I have spent an undignified amount of time on this.

[polingc]

Hi mr WAWA. I'm currently writing up a guide on how to do this for SE users (I've done it a few times and it's worked every time so far) but here's a short version:

 

1) Make your character in RaceMenu, export the head mesh .nif file and the accompanying skin tint .dds file.

2) Use the console command 'spf [iNSERT NAME HERE]'. This will make a .npc file in your Skyrim directory that you will use later.

3) Create your follower in Creation Kit as per normal, and give them all the same head parts (i.e. custom hair, scars, eyes etc.) that your RaceMenu preset uses.

4) In the character morph tab of the actor profile there is a button labeled "Import". Click it, and load your .npc file from step 2. This will then automatically adjust the slider values of your NPC's head to match the slider positions in RaceMenu, as close as possible that the Creation Kit can.

 

NOTE: Your NPC at this stage will not look like your RaceMenu version, but rather what the CK can most closely reproduce.

 

NOTE: You will at this point have two different head meshes. The RaceMenu head mesh you WANT to use, and the one the Creation Kit created after you made your follower. You now want to combine the two to make your NPC look like your RaceMenu version.

 

5) Load the CK mesh and the RaceMenu mesh in NifSkope. The CK mesh is located in the 'FaceGeom' folder and is a numeric value (i.e. 005900)

6) Open up the block windows in both meshes and find the TriShape data for the head mesh.

7) Right click on the RaceMenu head mesh block, select "Copy Branch".

8 )Right click on the NiNode of your CK Mesh file, and select "Paste Branch".

 

NOTE: you should now, in the CK Head mesh .nif file, have TWO different head meshes: the CK version and the RaceMenu version.

 

9) Right click on the CK version's head mesh (i.e. the TriShape block; be careful because both TriShape blocks will have the same name). Select "Remove Branch"

 

NOTE: You should now have only the RaceMenu head mesh remaining in the .nif file.

 

10) Repeat the process for any other meshes you need to copy over from the RaceMenu .nif file (e.g. scar patterns that are made to fit to the RaceMenu mesh and not the CK version)

11) Save your new .nif file, overwriting the old file (e.g. if the CK named the .nif file '005900' then save over it)

 

NOTE: Your NPC should now look like your RaceMenu version!

 

NOTE: Back up your new merged .nif file! Every time you open your mod in the Creation Kit, the CK will update and overwrite all the .nif files in the 'FaceGeom' folder. If you need to make any changes all you need to do is simply take your merged .nif file and overwrite the CK version again.

 

 

Hope this helps!

Edited June 22, 2019 by polingc

[Raggtop666]

you now you are the first person to give me any good info in this but i do have a question about NifSkope i loaded my RaceMenu nif and the neck and hair where inverted above the head any thoughts?

[Todd420]

I'm wanting to create custom followers using Race Menu .nifs, but all the tutorials I can find are for LE and use NPC Nif Merge, which sadly doesn't appear to work for Special Edition.

 

I'm curious as to how people are working around this, any insight would be much appreciated because I have spent an undignified amount of time on this.

I appreciate you taking the time to write all this but I'll walk away before I start going through all that. Or.. I'll wait for nifmerge SE. Has anyone tried using the existing nifmerge to get the head then convert it to SE?

 

Sorry wrong quote.. intended for PolingC

Edited May 28, 2020 by Todd420

[Zetrix1991]

bump! requesting that guide from polingc:) i am also getting the hair weirdly on top of the head.

[scarlettdays21]

thank you so much polingc your tutorial work like a charm

[d3adxey5]

Hi mr WAWA. I'm currently writing up a guide on how to do this for SE users (I've done it a few times and it's worked every time so far) but here's a short version:

 

1) Make your character in RaceMenu, export the head mesh .nif file and the accompanying skin tint .dds file.

2) Use the console command 'spf [iNSERT NAME HERE]'. This will make a .npc file in your Skyrim directory that you will use later.

3) Create your follower in Creation Kit as per normal, and give them all the same head parts (i.e. custom hair, scars, eyes etc.) that your RaceMenu preset uses.

4) In the character morph tab of the actor profile there is a button labeled "Import". Click it, and load your .npc file from step 2. This will then automatically adjust the slider values of your NPC's head to match the slider positions in RaceMenu, as close as possible that the Creation Kit can.

 

NOTE: Your NPC at this stage will not look like your RaceMenu version, but rather what the CK can most closely reproduce.

 

NOTE: You will at this point have two different head meshes. The RaceMenu head mesh you WANT to use, and the one the Creation Kit created after you made your follower. You now want to combine the two to make your NPC look like your RaceMenu version.

 

5) Load the CK mesh and the RaceMenu mesh in NifSkope. The CK mesh is located in the 'FaceGeom' folder and is a numeric value (i.e. 005900)

6) Open up the block windows in both meshes and find the TriShape data for the head mesh.

7) Right click on the RaceMenu head mesh block, select "Copy Branch".

8 )Right click on the NiNode of your CK Mesh file, and select "Paste Branch".

 

NOTE: you should now, in the CK Head mesh .nif file, have TWO different head meshes: the CK version and the RaceMenu version.

 

9) Right click on the CK version's head mesh (i.e. the TriShape block; be careful because both TriShape blocks will have the same name). Select "Remove Branch"

 

NOTE: You should now have only the RaceMenu head mesh remaining in the .nif file.

 

10) Repeat the process for any other meshes you need to copy over from the RaceMenu .nif file (e.g. scar patterns that are made to fit to the RaceMenu mesh and not the CK version)

11) Save your new .nif file, overwriting the old file (e.g. if the CK named the .nif file '005900' then save over it)

 

NOTE: Your NPC should now look like your RaceMenu version!

 

NOTE: Back up your new merged .nif file! Every time you open your mod in the Creation Kit, the CK will update and overwrite all the .nif files in the 'FaceGeom' folder. If you need to make any changes all you need to do is simply take your merged .nif file and overwrite the CK version again.

 

 

Hope this helps!

Didn't work for me. Npc still using her Ck face despite the nif file being the racemenu face.

[crc64error]

Definitely anxiously awaiting Polingc's tutorial guide. I have the lofty goal to create a new original race, plus a follower to introduce that race's story, along with an expansive set of quests.
Thank you for sharing the short version here.

[Sandaron]

you now you are the first person to give me any good info in this but i do have a question about NifSkope i loaded my RaceMenu nif and the neck and hair where inverted above the head any thoughts?

I think I spent an hour or two banging my head against a wall, but it's something related to skinning when the mesh is exported, and it's specifically the Spine2 bone. When I delete that bone the mesh pops back to how it should look, but that's not useful because the mesh isn't properly rigged anymore at that point. Following the steps of the second post fixes this because the mesh data is now relying on the CK export skin data, which isn't quite as broken. (the CK one looks a bit weird compared to the rest pose of the skeleton as well, but not nearly as messed up)

 

The engine also seems to have ways of placing meshes based on the way it's skinned (so it might look different in-game as it does in nifskope) as far as I can see. I haven't really looked that much into it though, but it seems to behave that way; some modded hair I've seen isn't placed on top of the head and the origin is at the centre, but it still appears correctly in-game, and a lot of the vanilla face data is completely zeroed out; the mesh data of the eyes, inner mouth and eyebrows are at 0,0,0 but so is the origin and it still appears where the face is. I've even messed up some skinning of my own mod and placed the bone data a bit far forward, which caused alignment issues even though the actual mesh was placed in the same position as the rest pose of the skeleton. Bethesda also changed the way mesh data is stored for SE compared to LE; previously the mesh (NiTriShapeData) and skin (BSDismemberSkinInstance) data was separate, but for SE they combined them into one block (BSDismemberSkinInstance) and that probably has some effect on things. It beats me what actually causes it though; it could be almost anything as far as I know.

 

Probably a bit late for a reply, but I hope it enlightens anyone else that might stumble across this thread. It's certainly the best thing I've found so far to get towards fixing my problems, but I'm still not quite there

[Delilan]

Hi mr WAWA. I'm currently writing up a guide on how to do this for SE users (I've done it a few times and it's worked every time so far) but here's a short version:

 

1) Make your character in RaceMenu, export the head mesh .nif file and the accompanying skin tint .dds file.

2) Use the console command 'spf [iNSERT NAME HERE]'. This will make a .npc file in your Skyrim directory that you will use later.

3) Create your follower in Creation Kit as per normal, and give them all the same head parts (i.e. custom hair, scars, eyes etc.) that your RaceMenu preset uses.

4) In the character morph tab of the actor profile there is a button labeled "Import". Click it, and load your .npc file from step 2. This will then automatically adjust the slider values of your NPC's head to match the slider positions in RaceMenu, as close as possible that the Creation Kit can.

 

NOTE: Your NPC at this stage will not look like your RaceMenu version, but rather what the CK can most closely reproduce.

 

NOTE: You will at this point have two different head meshes. The RaceMenu head mesh you WANT to use, and the one the Creation Kit created after you made your follower. You now want to combine the two to make your NPC look like your RaceMenu version.

 

5) Load the CK mesh and the RaceMenu mesh in NifSkope. The CK mesh is located in the 'FaceGeom' folder and is a numeric value (i.e. 005900)

6) Open up the block windows in both meshes and find the TriShape data for the head mesh.

7) Right click on the RaceMenu head mesh block, select "Copy Branch".

8 )Right click on the NiNode of your CK Mesh file, and select "Paste Branch".

 

NOTE: you should now, in the CK Head mesh .nif file, have TWO different head meshes: the CK version and the RaceMenu version.

 

9) Right click on the CK version's head mesh (i.e. the TriShape block; be careful because both TriShape blocks will have the same name). Select "Remove Branch"

 

NOTE: You should now have only the RaceMenu head mesh remaining in the .nif file.

 

10) Repeat the process for any other meshes you need to copy over from the RaceMenu .nif file (e.g. scar patterns that are made to fit to the RaceMenu mesh and not the CK version)

11) Save your new .nif file, overwriting the old file (e.g. if the CK named the .nif file '005900' then save over it)

 

NOTE: Your NPC should now look like your RaceMenu version!

 

NOTE: Back up your new merged .nif file! Every time you open your mod in the Creation Kit, the CK will update and overwrite all the .nif files in the 'FaceGeom' folder. If you need to make any changes all you need to do is simply take your merged .nif file and overwrite the CK version again.

 

 

Hope this helps!

 

Thank you for the Tuto,polingc,,,, i tried this but it's not work on me.... i already work for change NPC head (made with racemenu) 2days no sleep..... but never succes :'( CRY ME A RIVER