Animating in NIFskope

[AVANA]

I need to animate an elevator for a mod I'm making but all of the tutorials I've found are just way to complicated for me to understand and the ones that I can understand are for completely different effects like textures and alphas. I just want to animate one NiNode to go from -3000 to +3000 on one axis in NIFskope.

Sorry if this is in the wrong category, if it is then please could one of the moderators move it? thanks

[DaMage]

The process of animating in nifskope is.....very hard and tricky if you dont know how it works.

The job however is very simple, if you want ot send me the mesh I can do that animationin blender in a few minutes for you.

[Hanaisse]

Animating in Nifskope is possible if you have two things; the animation file (.kf) and the mesh (.nif). You can 'attach' an animation using Spells > Animation > Attach .KF, however, it sounds like you don't even have the animation file yet (at least I've never heard of an elevator animation).

The animation itself can be created in Blender or 3DMax, two of the modeling programs that create nifs. Animations are pretty much considered advanced modeling, the basics of which are discussed here.

I'd suggest you take DaMage up on his offer to create the animation for you. Simple animations such as an up and down movement can be made directly on the mesh itself with no need to separately attach it in Nifskope.

Good luck

[WindmillTilter]

Simple translation animations are easy to build from scratch directly in NIFskope. In fact if all I'm doint is translation or rotation on a signe node I always do it in NifScope as it's faster. That said, if you're not familiar with NifScope from doing retextures at cetera, it will be tough as you'll be learning the tool at the same time. If you just want a working elevator then take Mage up on his kind offer and be glad. If you want to learn the process for future use, post the NIF here along with a description of how you want it to work. I'll type up a walkthrough for you this weekend, and we'll get you through it.

WT

[washington]

Thanks Windmill, it will be of use to me too. Once I tried to copy animation data from doors to my new mesh but that messed up the scale and I never touched it again!

And also, I'll too need a simple lift animation for a platform in one interior that I'm making so it's the right time to learn it.

[WindmillTilter]

@Washington: The link Hanaisse posted is excellent too, it's how I first learned to animate in NifScope. If AVANA winds up not needing it, or the specifics don't apply to your NIF just send it my way, if I have the NIF in question I can give more specific advice than the general tutorial.

WT

[washington]

Thanks, I'll keep you in mind!

But I'd really want to learn how to animate sooner or later. Preferably in Blender directly.