How To: Make Leaderheads! Ekmek's Guide

[mechaerik]

I gots a problem:

I know its some problem with the sash's shader (and i've fixed it before), but i can't remember how to fix it.

EDIT: Ekmek, i'm curious, where are you from? Not San Diego, country of origin? I ask because it turns out "Ekmek" is Turkish for "Bread" (which would explain your avatar and "Invictus Panis").

 

[MadmanOfALeader]

Hey, mechaerik, who is that? That looks pretty nice.

And Ekmek lived in Turkey for a long time. 'Ekmek' is a kind of Turkish bread.

 

[Ekmek]

I gots a problem:
I know its some problem with the sash's shader (and i've fixed it before), but i can't remember how to fix it.

I think you used a nonshader version to get the sash and put it on a shaded LH. i think I have it in my troubleshooting. Also somewhere else this happened in my thread and I answered it (within the last three-four pages). I cant remember off hand whats the quickest way to fix this (material properties I think?). but if you cant find the answer post the nif. in case your wondering or don't want to wait, what I'll do is compare the objects in nifskope and see whats different between the colored objects and the sash and fix the differences

EDIT: Ekmek, i'm curious, where are you from? Not San Diego, country of origin? I ask because it turns out "Ekmek" is Turkish for "Bread" (which would explain your avatar and "Invictus Panis").

And Ekmek lived in Turkey for a long time. 'Ekmek' is a kind of Turkish bread.

Madman's right. almost frightenly so. Either madman is my unofficial biographer or he's seen people ask me that question so many times he knows the answer

 

[mechaerik]

Hey, mechaerik, who is that? That looks pretty nice.

And Ekmek lived in Turkey for a long time. 'Ekmek' is a kind of Turkish bread.

mmm..... bread

Still doesn't answer my question though.

As for the leader, its a secret... but you'll see him soon enough. The clasps on the cloak are a small hint... but i'll give you another. Its a Khan.

@ Ekmek: I'll try that when I get home from school tomorrow.

 

[MadmanOfALeader]

You told me yourself, Ekmek! Of course, Wikipedia told me about the Turkish bread.

 

[mechaerik]

My last post came out weird. I fixed it, here's how it was supposed to look:

Hey, mechaerik, who is that? That looks pretty nice.

And Ekmek lived in Turkey for a long time. 'Ekmek' is a kind of Turkish bread.

mmm..... bread

Still doesn't answer my question though.

As for the leader, its a secret... but you'll see him soon enough. The clasps on the cloak are a small hint... but i'll give you another. Its a Khan.

@ Ekmek: I'll try that when I get home from school tomorrow.

 

[MadmanOfALeader]

I suspected it. It looks like the Afghan coat of arms.

 

[MadmanOfALeader]

Well, Ekmek ingested huge quantities of that Turkish bread while playing Civ.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Hey, Ekmek, I'd just like to proudly say that I finally got it at last!

Thanks for helping me, er, "graduate".

Now I just have to play around with the animations and textures...

So thanks a lot, man!

 

[mechaerik]

I'm an idiot. I can't figure it out.


On another note, I must say Ekmek, that skeleton swapping is definitely an excellent way to make leaders. No more rerigging needed! Unless its a new object. Just export boned parts, apply them in NifSkope, then make adjustments and rotate parts (like the hands) in blender. Much easier than rigging hands and heads to be fully animated.

 

[Ekmek]

I'm an idiot. I can't figure it out.

a 2 second fix - see picture

On another note, I must say Ekmek, that skeleton swapping is definitely an excellent way to make leaders. No more rerigging needed! Unless its a new object. Just export boned parts, apply them in NifSkope, then make adjustments and rotate parts (like the hands) in blender. Much easier than rigging hands and heads to be fully animated.

yeah skeleton swapping saves time once you get used to it. I need to dedicate more time to a tutorial on it. I still consider it an advanced technique and knowing the basics of rigging should be learned first. I'm glad you know it because you can help people when they ask questions as they try it!

 

[Nitram15]

How can I swap skeletons?

 

[The Capo]

Why are LH-makers so secretive all the time?

I can't really tell that well, but I would wager those are Afghan COAs on his cape. Although who knows. The LH does look pretty cool right now though, good work. And years ago I worked for this Turkish guy named Jihad for a while and well, man, I hope you aren't Turkish...

JK. I'm friggin' Mexican and Irish for 's sake. At least you aren't that.

 

[The Capo]

You told me yourself, Ekmek! Of course, Wikipedia told me about the Turkish bread.

Wait, did you Wikipedia Ekmek?

 

[IgorS]

Wait, did you Wikipedia Ekmek?

What, "Wikipedia" is also a verb now???

 

[Ekmek]

How can I swap skeletons?

by the way mecharik's LH was put on napoleon's skeleton so it shows some of the capabilities.

well, the steps are easy but it assumes you are pretty comfortable with nifskope (and blender of course but its more on nifskope). Since I havent done screenshots or a tutorial I'll put out the steps.

1. Open the original LH you want to use as the base skeleton -(I'll refer to this as BASE)
2. open your exported LH (or the the original of the one you wat to use as a base - I'll refer to this as WORKING nif)
3. do the nifswap.
4. If you get an error that says Bone whatever is missing go back to the Working nif and click on the mesh you wanted to swap and rename the bone in the skininstances to something close (say if shoulder_clav is missing then just nake it clavicle)
5. once you did all your swaps the working on the base will look distorted - save this as a new nif name (I'll call this NEW nif)
6. with your saved new nif import it into blender.
7. In blender it may look rotated wrong. fix any rotation or placement errors (usually the hands which is why I usually separate the hands from the Base nif and nifswap those too)
8. work in blender anything else then export (I'll call this Blend nif)
9. nifswap blend.nif with the base.nif and save as you LH name and test ingame per usual.


those are the basic steps. again it assumes you understand basic LH making terms and are comfortable with nifcope and nifswapping. I wont answer questions if you are a LH noob trying this

JK. I'm friggin' Mexican and Irish for 's sake. At least you aren't that.

That explains the excessive drinking. j/K.

PS sterotyping isn't cool kids, even if Capo lives up to them

 

[Nitram15]

Great!
This is very useful tutorial (for me )
I copy it and paste it to text, to find this anytime.

Thank you Ekmek!

 

[The Capo]

Great!
This is very useful tutorial (for me )
I copy it and paste it to text, to find this anytime.

Thank you Ekmek!

You can download it, and it has pictures, so it is probably better to do that rather than copy it to text.

 

[IgorS]

1. Open the original LH you want to use as the base skeleton -(I'll refer to this as BASE)
2. open your exported LH (or the the original of the one you wat to use as a base - I'll refer to this as WORKING nif)
3. do the nifswap.
4. If you get an error that says Bone whatever is missing go back to the Working nif and click on the mesh you wanted to swap and rename the bone in the skininstances to something close (say if shoulder_clav is missing then just nake it clavicle)
5. once you did all your swaps the working on the base will look distorted - save this as a new nif name (I'll call this NEW nif)
6. with your saved new nif import it into blender.
7. In blender it may look rotated wrong. fix any rotation or placement errors (usually the hands which is why I usually separate the hands from the Base nif and nifswap those too)
8. work in blender anything else then export (I'll call this Blend nif)
9. nifswap blend.nif with the base.nif and save as you LH name and test ingame per usual.

I'm surprised because I actually understood all that. It doesn't mean I'm going to do it though. It sounds so boring and time-consuming, not my type of work. I like the simple quickly made LHs. My record for a LH is one night- the second version of Brian Boru.

 

[mechaerik]

Why are LH-makers so secretive all the time?

Aren't you a LH maker? Either way, I like following what you know as the JustATourist philosophy. I keep my plans close to the vest, so that if I mess up, no ones disappointed. I don't like saying I'm going to do something, only to realize its out of the range of my ability.

I can't really tell that well, but I would wager those are Afghan COAs on his cape. Although who knows. The LH does look pretty cool right now though, good work.

Maybe they are.

JK. I'm friggin' Mexican and Irish for 's sake. At least you aren't that.

Mexirish? How do you take your coffee?

@IgorS: Its actually quite simple, and faster than just rigging a bunch of parts, like the heads and hands with lots of bones.