dutchking
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- Joined
- Apr 30, 2007
- Messages
- 3,317
How to: Unglue a hat/etc. from a Leaderhead.
NOTE: this tutorial is slightly out of date (new blender versions, streamlined imports, etc.) I'll be updating it when I get the time.
Ok, this is the tutorial I've been promising to write for about a month now. Have you ever wanted to use a leader's hat? But it was glued onto the leaders body? Well, this tutorial will teach you how to unglue these parts.
What you will need:
Blender 2.45
Blender NIF Scripts v2.1.19
Python 2.5
PYFFI
And the DDS Converter from the skinning tutorial.
All those are just to run the scripts, if you have problems with running them I might be able to help, but I'm currently running all of that except they deleted the old version of PYFFI which I use. (the scripts usually are very shaky)
Ok, I assume you can run the scripts well now (if you can't just ask for help). So we'll move on to the actual process of ripping off a hat, etc. First import the leaderhead you want to separate. For this tutorial I'll separate Bismarcks helmet off his head. So if you want to see your textures while you work (HIGHLY RECCOMENDED), you'll have to convert Bismarck_DIFF.dds or Bismarck_NONSHADER.dds to .tga using the DDS converter. For this I'll use the Nonshader, because first of all almost 100% of the time the nonshader works on import, and second is that I don't have to add shaders after I export from blender (shaders are lost on import with the regular one if the regular one even works). So now before you import, I assume you have Blender set up to import, and your textures ready in TGA format.
You select Bismarck_NONSHADER.NIF:
And then you'll go back to and select the "..." and SELECT BISMARCK_NONSHADER.TGA!!!
Ok, now you import and you're in object mode. Switch to UV Face Select mode. If your textures were configured correctly it should look like this:
Now all you have to do is select all the faces of the object you want to separate. Do this by Right Clicking while holding down shift to select multiple faces. (this is just started out you have to select every face on his helmet):
You can change the view, zoom in, etc. to do all this. After you've selected all the faces, go into edit mode, make sure all the faces are pinkish (if you make a mistake you can click control z to undo a deselect) and right click then go to Edit>Edges>Mark Seam. After that all the borders will turn orange. Then simply click Edit>Verticies>Separate. Voila, you're almost done. Then go into object mode, select the separated hat. Then export a 3Ds (it goes really quick) to your desktop. Now open Nifskope in a new LH such as napoleon or something, and import the 3Ds into the nif. You might have some trouble finding it, but that's because its been scaled down by 10. Right click when you find it, click transform>edit and scale it up by 10. Your hat should be there, but the texture will probably be messed up. Select the hat, and then click view>block list. Now go to my tutorial here called "Graphics Basics" and follow the instructions there on how to change the texture back to normal. Then go to my other tutorial called "How to add a hat etc..." and do that to add the hat to the LH.
YOU'RE DONE. Its really confusing so just post here if you have questions. I've used this method many times before, its a good one in my opinion. But it's hard at first. For an example of how I used Bismarck's hat look at my Kaiser LH.
NOTE: this tutorial is slightly out of date (new blender versions, streamlined imports, etc.) I'll be updating it when I get the time.
Ok, this is the tutorial I've been promising to write for about a month now. Have you ever wanted to use a leader's hat? But it was glued onto the leaders body? Well, this tutorial will teach you how to unglue these parts.
What you will need:
Blender 2.45
Blender NIF Scripts v2.1.19
Python 2.5
PYFFI
And the DDS Converter from the skinning tutorial.
All those are just to run the scripts, if you have problems with running them I might be able to help, but I'm currently running all of that except they deleted the old version of PYFFI which I use. (the scripts usually are very shaky)
Ok, I assume you can run the scripts well now (if you can't just ask for help). So we'll move on to the actual process of ripping off a hat, etc. First import the leaderhead you want to separate. For this tutorial I'll separate Bismarcks helmet off his head. So if you want to see your textures while you work (HIGHLY RECCOMENDED), you'll have to convert Bismarck_DIFF.dds or Bismarck_NONSHADER.dds to .tga using the DDS converter. For this I'll use the Nonshader, because first of all almost 100% of the time the nonshader works on import, and second is that I don't have to add shaders after I export from blender (shaders are lost on import with the regular one if the regular one even works). So now before you import, I assume you have Blender set up to import, and your textures ready in TGA format.
You select Bismarck_NONSHADER.NIF:
And then you'll go back to and select the "..." and SELECT BISMARCK_NONSHADER.TGA!!!
Ok, now you import and you're in object mode. Switch to UV Face Select mode. If your textures were configured correctly it should look like this:
Now all you have to do is select all the faces of the object you want to separate. Do this by Right Clicking while holding down shift to select multiple faces. (this is just started out you have to select every face on his helmet):
You can change the view, zoom in, etc. to do all this. After you've selected all the faces, go into edit mode, make sure all the faces are pinkish (if you make a mistake you can click control z to undo a deselect) and right click then go to Edit>Edges>Mark Seam. After that all the borders will turn orange. Then simply click Edit>Verticies>Separate. Voila, you're almost done. Then go into object mode, select the separated hat. Then export a 3Ds (it goes really quick) to your desktop. Now open Nifskope in a new LH such as napoleon or something, and import the 3Ds into the nif. You might have some trouble finding it, but that's because its been scaled down by 10. Right click when you find it, click transform>edit and scale it up by 10. Your hat should be there, but the texture will probably be messed up. Select the hat, and then click view>block list. Now go to my tutorial here called "Graphics Basics" and follow the instructions there on how to change the texture back to normal. Then go to my other tutorial called "How to add a hat etc..." and do that to add the hat to the LH.
YOU'RE DONE. Its really confusing so just post here if you have questions. I've used this method many times before, its a good one in my opinion. But it's hard at first. For an example of how I used Bismarck's hat look at my Kaiser LH.
