tearin my hair out trying to change NPC hair

[timstertimster]

I've read a zillion posts on editing hairs, and it just confuses me a ton.

 

1. I open the follower esp in CK, and also open Apachii esp
   Q: do I need to set an active file? Or do I just export the facegeom and leave the esp alone?
2. I open the new facegeom nif and the backup original in Nifskope, side by side in 2 windows
   Q: which direction do I have to copy branches to? From original/backup to new/exported? Or the other way around?
3. When I copy branches, I worry only about face,eyes,brow, mouth.
   Q: Why wouldn't I copy the hair meshes to the original instead of the face to the new export?

 

Thanks for any explanation, it's sometimes really difficult to figure out between the 300 posts on the subject with so many different process suggestions.

 

[timstertimster]

In an effort to help myself (no not that way you perv, get your mind out of the gutter, oh wait, it's LL forum, lol)

 

Anyhow, I have tried this with success:

 

1. copy original NPC nif to SKSE/CharGen folder
2. launch game with default character (console: coc whiterun at main menu), remove all armor etc
3. console racemenu
   1. sculpt tab: load mesh
   2. slider tab: choose hair
4. export face
5. open exported nif in SKSE/CharGen using NifSkope
6. open original nif in facegeom/blah.esp/ using NifSkope
7. copy hair branch from exported nif to original nif
   1. change txt value of newly copied node to original node name (observing original string index reference e.g. followerHair[11] becomes originalHair[4] so you now have two originalHair[4])
   2. delete original hair node
   3. paste hair branch again (!)
   4. repeat step 7.1 for hairline, if present (change txt string value to match original hairline string)
   5. delete original hairline branch
8. save original nif to facegeom/blah.esp/

 

I have tried forever to change NPC hairs attempting all these other post's methods and it always gave me issues. This is the first time I actually got the desired result and no CTD. Best part: no CK involved. Say what you want, but as a software, CK is not great.

 

 

PS: if an admin would kindly move this to SE forum, I just noticed this is LE forum. Sorry.