Modding with 3DS Max (tutorials?)

[Cynster]

So, I used a modder resource of a new face (head4, I think the name was) and using nifscope tried to replace the original head with the new head4. Every time I loaded Oblivion, the game just crashed. Same when I just edited some vertices on a horse mesh. Is there a tutorial for step by step instructions on working with nifscope?

 

Or maybe it's the way I'm exporting it into a NIF. Is there any special bones or something I'm missing in 3DS MAX when you export just a head?

 

Anyway, I guess this is a general humble request for any tutorials using 3DS MAX to rig and create UV maps and make armor / races that you may have bookmarked.

 

I'm just a little frustrated with how finicky NifScope seems to be. But there's probably something (or a group of somethings) that I just missed the point of.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thank you.

[Cynster]

Giving this a little bump :3

[Vagrant0]

The head mssh in Oblivion is specially designed to work with facegen and animation settings (the .egt and .egm files). This is why it crashed. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of these settings, I don't think anyone has managed to figure out how to export a new head mesh for use in game. I believe at this point, all you can do is move around the verticies (slightly) and hope it looks right.

 

Armor on the otherhand is a whole other ball of wax, and has been worked out reasonably well. You just need to import the skeleton and know how to weight the mesh to the skeleton. I have a tutorial on my project forums, and at Canadian Ice for copy rigging in 3dsmax, but it isn't very good.

 

As for UVW mapping, like most other things with 3DSmax, you're pretty much stuck to figuring it out or paying someone for classes. The number of free tutorials available, which cover anything beyond the very basics isn't very high, and most deal with other things, like animation.