Need a little help with creating a new bow.

[Iamiko]

Ok, so I've been working on this model for a couple of days and I've got the mesh to the point where I'm happy with it for now. The question I have is this: Where do I go from here?

 

I'm using Blender 2.64 and the only guides for bows in Skyrim I have found are for 3D Max and while I MIGHT still be eligible for a student licence for 3D Max, I would rather not use it as to be honest I object to using software from a company that thinks £3,300 for an electronic download is reasonable.

 

You can see a screenshot of the mesh so far here: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/Images/145400

 

Not posting the image directly in case anyone's reading this on a mobile device :)

[ghosu]

Just in case you get no replies:

 

I'm using Max myself but importing a bow is similar to importing armor so it should be the same in Blender - and there are several armor import tutorials out there for Blender. The bow nif comes with a skeleton like armor, you just have to weighten your mesh to it so it stays in position when animated - same as armor/clothing. So there is a bone for the string, limbs and whatever.

 

Armor: http://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Creating_an_armour_for_Skyrim._Part_1

 

Down below is a chapter 'bout weights...copy/paste 'em from an original bow to yours should work in this case.

Edited October 7, 2012 by ghosu

[WastelandAssassin]

where do you go from here??

there are basically several steps when making a weapon

you need to create the mesh (which you have done), animate the mesh (i am almost sure you need to do this for the moving parts, not sure if you did this), create a texture or apply an existing texture, and combine all the resources into one

and the last little step is making the bow in the creation kit

 

for creating textures you need a software like Photoshop or GIMP or such, and as for combining the resources, use NifSkope

 

hope this helps :thumbsup:

[Iamiko]

Awesome, thanks folks :) will have a look at that once I've watched Avengers Assemble as I need a break :) only stopped for coffee, food and sleep in two days and I need an hour or two off!

[Iamiko]

Ok, so it seems there's no way to export or import a *.nif for this build of Blender *bangs head on desk*, but I did get the bow nicely rigged to a custom skeleton. Only downside is I don't know if an extra bone will be needed in each limb to prevent mesh distortion, using two per limb atm.

 

Thanks Ghosu, that weighting guide was very useful for fixing the issues caused by the auto-weighting!

 

Next job, working on the UV map unwrapping of the mesh, been holding off on that in case I had to make mesh alterations.

 

Edit: Found a handy forum post that helped me get the mesh out of 2.6 and into 2.4, also got the UV map nicely laid out now too. Now to get the bones in from a stock bow and work out how to weight paint in 2.4 ^.^

 

Edit 2: As of about 10 minutes ago, I got her in-game and seems to be only a slight rigging issue where the limbs have a slight buckle in them when the bow is fully draw. She's a monster though, may have to look into a mob that changes the bow's position on the back slightly as the bottom of the bow is nearly scraping the floor! Still need to make a new texture as I altered the mesh somewhat to fix a few flaws and have also learned never to trust auto face gen, half the faces were backwards >.< but thanks again for the advice, it got me on the right track!

Edited October 9, 2012 by Iamiko