Need some help with meshes in an armor mod

[DudleyAz]

I need some help with a mod I am working on. I am using the default Nightingales armor as the base for a new set of 'Ranger armor'. I am stripping all the special properties, changing the recipe and textures, etc, and have almost everything good to go. EXCEPT for:

A. Changing the mesh on the cowl to remove the mesh and associated blue lights over the eyes..

and

B. Removing the shiny reflection from the chest where the Nightingale emblem used to be..

So here is where I'm at on each...

A. Cowl: I've been get rid of the blue light, but can't get the player face to show through above the mask part of the cowl.

1. After extracting the cowl mesh from the .bsa file, I saved a copy (RangerHalfCowl)and used that to work on.
   
2. I opened the cowl_1.nif using NifScope
   
3. I Exported the .nif as and .obj
   
4. I imported the .obj into 3DS Max. When I imported it, I did not import the 'Eyes' layer, only the main hood layer.
   
5. I applied my repainted .png of the cowl. (I used Photoshop with the .dds plug in to recolor the original, then saved that as the new .png. I also saved it as a .dds)
   
6. Everything looked good, with nothing showing in the space where the players eyes would be.
   
7. I saved that as a .max file, then exported it as a .obj.
   
8. With the RangerHalfCowl_1.nif file open, I imported the new .obj file. I had the top NiNode selected and it seemed to import with no problems.
   
9. In NIFScope though, the Eyes Shape Data stuff was all still there, so I removed it. The removed the cooresponding triangles from the mesh, so I thought I was home free.
   
10. I redirected the texture set to look at my new RangerHalfCowl.dds
    
11. I saved the .nif, and then used CK to update the cowl armor and armorAA files with the new .nif mesh.
    
12. I put an instance of the cowl in the game, and it looks great on my player with all of the new paint showing, but the eye space is still just a black void. The blue eye dots are gone, but there is still no player face visable.
    
13. What am I missing?????? I'm very new to NIFScope, 3ds Max, and the whole thing, so please provide feedback at a very simple level... I'll try to keep up.
    

B. Chest emblem. Similar start to this as cowl. This one doesn't need a mesh change... I think... just some help with the reflection layer... where ever that is.

1. After repainting the armor .dds file in Photoshop and removing the emblem there, I went in to the _m and _n files and 'repainted' those to match the main color texture file.
   
2. I referenced all three in the .nif file and saved it.
   
3. When I load the armor in the game, the new colors are there, and the emblem is gone, with no 'relief' either. However, when you get at an angle to the armor, you can see the light play across it and the reflection still shows the emblem.. kind of like a reverse shadow on the chest.
   
4. What am I missing??? Again, I'm new to all this, so please type slowly!
   

Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated. If I can these last two things working, it might even be good enough to share!

Thanks,

Dudley!

[WillieSea]

You might have better luck asking in the 3D Craftworks forum.

[Hanaisse]

A. Cowl;

Well, you went the long way around. All you had to do was remove the NiTriShape branch of the eye cover in Nifskope, but no big deal .. a learning experience When you create the AA and the armor, make sure the only Biped part used is 31 Hair and 41 Long Hair. If the Biped part is head it will remove the player's head.

B. Chest Emblem;

I haven't looked at the texture, but perhaps there's an alpha channel you missed to change?

[DudleyAz]

On the Cowl part... BINGO!!!!! That was the missing step. In the armor file it had 30 head and 42 circlet also selected. Unchecking those did the trick. Thanks SO much!

As far as the Chest Emblem... Alpha channel?? Zooom... right over my head. Where would I look for the alpha channel?

[hoodoo_man]

You mentioned Photoshop, so I assume you're reasonably proficient with it, or at least have a copy . Each of the color seperations (i.e. in this case you're using RGB color) has it's own "channel" containing the pixel data for that color. So in an RGB file, you normally have three channels--Red, Green, and Blue. Additional channels can be added to contain things like masks, etc. These are referred to as "alpha channels." Skyrim uses the alpha channel from some texture files to determine luminosity, what areas the spectral map affects and how much, transparency, etc. So Hanaisse was suggesting that in one of the texture files you re-painted there is an alpha channel you failed to edit.

 

I would add that if there is a separate specular map file--usually "_s" that that would need to be edited also, and could easily be causing your problem, as the spec. map affects reflectivity (is that a word? ) accross the whole model.

 

I hope that helps, and didn't come off as condescending. I don't know what your experience level with various things is, so I tried to keep it to basics, and assume nothing. Good luck with your mod!

 

Hoodoo Man

 

As far as the Chest Emblem... Alpha channel?? Zooom... right over my head. Where would I look for the alpha channel?

[InsanitySorrow]

Please stop resurrecting old threads.