How to import / edit animations in blender? Skyrim SE

[JuanEffenCarlos69]

I have run into an issue with certain animations in certain mods I have. Generally speaking, they are either broken or in some way or another aren't right. I'm trying to figure out how to make my own animation in order to make a "scene" from one of my mods look a lot better. To my surprise, the internet has yet to yield me with any good results on how to import Skyrim SE animations into Blender (the most recent release) nor how to convert .hkx to .kf (only b/c blender won't let me import .hkx). The only guide I have found on the Nexus is for either Oblivion or Fallout 3, neither of which I have nor want to mod. Currently, I am at the conclusion that you can't even edit Skyrim SE animations, however I have tried both Oldrim and SE ports of the animations I want to edit and nothin works. I've made sure to get the Niftools plugin, but still nothin.

Tbf, I don't even know if there is another, better alternative to Blender which I could use to get the same effect. I am as new as new can be to making mods for Skyrim SE (as in I have never attempted this stuff before).

 

Once again, I'm trying to either edit an animation from a mod I have, or create an animation for said mod. Since I have no idea how to read scripts, I don't know which approach I need to take. If anyone could point me in the right direction of some guides that could help me that would be greatly appreciated.

 

Honestly, if there is an animator out there who wouldn't mind me giving them a project, i'm at the point where I don't know / think I can do this myself.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[sankojin]

This YouTube video is a good starting point. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9-OAFLOB1ps&t=5s. I have used it myself to make a short weapon animation. I got it to work in game. The main problem is that the rigging of the current character model that people have to work with isn't that great. I mean its okay but its not great. I was like you and a lot of the custom animations bugged me. I have animation experience but I mainly like to do 3d models. So I tried to animate but also didn't like the results because of the current rigging of the character model. At that point I gave up because I don't have enough care to rig it myself.

 

You can also change any skyrim animation into a SE one and its super simple. You just have to run the old file through a person's made program and it makes it work. So if you follow the video and make a animation for old rim you just need to convert it to SE.

 

Tutorial for converting old rim to SE. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2970

 

Hope this helps.

[JuanEffenCarlos69]

This YouTube video is a good starting point. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9-OAFLOB1ps&t=5s. I have used it myself to make a short weapon animation. I got it to work in game. The main problem is that the rigging of the current character model that people have to work with isn't that great. I mean its okay but its not great. I was like you and a lot of the custom animations bugged me. I have animation experience but I mainly like to do 3d models. So I tried to animate but also didn't like the results because of the current rigging of the character model. At that point I gave up because I don't have enough care to rig it myself.

 

You can also change any skyrim animation into a SE one and its super simple. You just have to run the old file through a person's made program and it makes it work. So if you follow the video and make a animation for old rim you just need to convert it to SE.

 

Tutorial for converting old rim to SE. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2970

 

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for your response! Its a breath of fresh air!

I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and watch the video you provided, so if what I am about to say is included in the video, then my apologies!

From what I could gather, that video is mainly about the process of actually editing an animation (which I will certainly refer to if I ever get this thing to work lol), however my problem starts with trying to import the animation I want to edit into blender. If I have the right file, the animation is in a .hkx format, which I can't import into blender. I HAVE found a plugin that I *think* is meant to address this, but I haven't gotten it to work (I could just be stupid, so idk), and I have also heard of something called "Havok Content Tools", but that has since been discontinued and I can't find any alternatives. So until I can get the animation loaded in, there isn't much I can do.

So I'm sorta stumped.

 

If its not already clear, I have NO experience when it comes to animating. I am adept at using AutoCad programs, but that is the extent of my 3D modeling career. I would like to believe that I could figure out how to do this myself, but I am beginning to fear that this is something I can't google my way through.

 

With that, I also have realized that I will need to do some scripting to make things work. I tried to start learning how to do that since I have been stumped on the animation side of things, but I have been led to more dead ends. Hoping I can figure this out, but idk at this point...

[JuanEffenCarlos69]

Problem number two:

I have figured out how to convert the animation I want to edit into a .kf, however blender still won't accept it. I get "No armature was found in scene, can not import KF animation!" followed by "C:\Users\me\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\2.91\scripts\addons\io_scene_niftools\kf_import.py:69".

I think this is because I have to run Havok (which I have), but I can't run Havok without 3D Max. Am I missing something or am I supposed to buy a $1k+ per year software just do run Havok? I was actually making progress and now I have no idea if I can go any further...

[sankojin]

Sorry for my late response. I didn't get a notification when you replied to my post. To answer your question, the video should go over everything that you need to do in order to make a animation for skyrim. If you follow everything in the video you should be able to make one. That video I linked is the second one that he made. Its been a while since I watched it. I have been really busy with a new job and in my free time trying to make a mod for Baldur's Gate 3. If you watch his first video and then he's second you should be good to go. You shouldn't need any scripting experience. I have none and I hate coding. It gives me a headache. The author posted a link to the tools that you will need. I do remember that everything that you need is listed and you shouldn't need anything else. Sorry I cant help mush more than that. I only ever really messed around with it for a couple of days and than I stopped. I do remember that I got it to work and it took some doing and some tinkering around with the programs.

 

I would say watch both videos and download all the tools that he says that you need. If you still cant figure it out send me a pm with your problem and Ill see if I can figure out what it is though it might take me a while to get to it but ill try. Though please be aware that I am nowhere near being good at this. I only tired it the one time but Ill do my best to help you figure it out.