Need help with creating armor mod (pictures included)

[dougmanfree]

Hello all, i'm really new to modding and I thought id try my hand at mashing up armor sets for skyrim se. I've been working on it for the past week and i'm driving myself nuts. i've looked through a few online tutorials but most of them are for creating assets from scratch or slightly editing existing models to fit body mods. My goal is to splice three existing armor sets to create a new chest piece. 

Description of the process so far:

I used 3ds max 2018 to import nif's of exisitng armor sets. I spliced them together and make sure nothing clips and linked them so they are one mesh. I created the two bodyweight variants. But when i tested the armor by replacing an existing armor, it was all messed up. 

I have nifscope but dont know how to use it.

I also have the creation kit installed

[Hanaisse]

The vertex count of your _0 and your _1 nifs must match exactly, or you'll get exploding armor results. Carefully examine your meshes for any discrepancies.

[dougmanfree]

i was testing if i could even get the armor into the game using a character with 0 body so i wouldn't have to worry about the weight slider issue. So i replaced the mesh for the fur armor with mine but it doesn't even show up. Just the default body with part of his torso missing. 

[Hanaisse]

Alright, sounds like more issues than you originally thought

Post the .nif file here, I'll take a look.

[dougmanfree]

Thanks so much for helping me out. Here is the 0 body type file. 

renforcedfurarmor_0.nif

[Hanaisse]

Seems to be a problem with downloading the attachment, could you PM it to me? Maybe that'll work better.

[Hanaisse]

Ok, all 3 of the BSTriShapes for the armor are missing Tangents and Normals. I believe this should be part of the export options in Max, but I don't know enough about Max to say for sure. The body doesn't need it (although the body is missing the _s.dds texture).

[Ashenfire]

Thank you Haniaisse for helping.  This help will come around for us all. 

[dougmanfree]

So I exported it again with the nominal option checked and added it to the game, but the mesh disappears when i turn my camera. 

 

Thanks for all the help so far, i feel that i am super close!

[Hanaisse]

Your normals are backwards.

[Ragna_Rok]

to be honest, i just made "big guy armor" so far... theres some useful information for me in this thread for going for "big and skinny guy armor" in the future. bookmarked.

cookies given hail malacath!