Creating SlaveTats Packs

[aranious]

Long time lurker first time poster in need of some advice.

 

So, I got bored one day and decided to futz about with customising some of my playthrough. Creating SlaveTats packs seemed simple enough in theory and so far I've had no issues getting them to appear in game. Well, I say no issues, but UV mapping is a serious pain. Does anyone have any tips on getting it to work right. I've detailed my process below but the basic gist of it is,

since Blender doesn't support SSE NIF's, I convert the body to an OBJ file using Outfit Studio, import to blender, use it UV Mapping feature to export the UV map of my body type. Then I just overlay that image as a layer on top of the Body's texture in my chosen image editor. Again, this "works" sort of, the Tats appear in game, and on large areas they work just fine, but some of the smaller tats end up warped. 

 

I've imported a few different tats that I know work, but from what I can see there's nothing special about the way they were done, they look just like the way I do it, but somehow always show up far better,  Even if I place them in the exact same spot and layout as a working tat from another pack that I *know* appears just fine, mine still wont. 

 

Does anyone have any tips? I've seen guides saying yo can overlay images in Blender on top of the model but I've never gotten that to work (especially since it was a guide for Oldrim NIFS)

 

Also, is there anyway to test the Tats without having to create the mod, load it in MO2 and then boot Skyrim, real pain to do just for minor adjustments.

 

My current process :

 

 

Spoiler

1. Find my body type texture.

2. Import Body NIF into Outfit Studio, save as OBJ.

3 Import OBJ into Blender.

4 Use Blenders "UV Mapping" feature to export the UV map of the Body OBJ (Saves it as a 1k texture rather than the body's 4k but it still works)

5. Create Tat in image editor

6. Save as DDS file.

7.Import into SSE using MO2

8. Success? Sort of...as I say, bigger area tats are okay for the most part, but smaller ones always end up warped. Even if I place them in the exact same spot and layout as a tat from another pack that I *know* works just fine in game. 

 

[Cieris]

I can't help you with blender but there is an easier way to test the tats without going through many steps.

 

MO2 mod folders can be edited while the game is running. You can right click a mod, open in explorer and overwrite the dds you're working on and it can be loaded in game.

 

STMM also makes it much easier to save and reload the same tattoo without needing to open MCM each time.

 

[nilead]

 That seem to be a complicated way of going about it.

Way i went about it was using blender texture paint to see the exact result, just painting over the body i use. Trying to workout exact way UV stretches from a UV map seems daunting, not to mention working with UV seams in such a process sounds outright painfull. You may also use LE version of body to import .nif directly, unless its an SE exclusive one.

 Vast majority of body mods seem to use the same UV map for both.

If you're not comfortable with blenders texture paint, you might want to do rought mapping with it, and then do detailed work on the result in whatever image editor you prefer.

 Anyhow, id encourage you to give tex paint a shot. Can save you alot of headache.

Edit: OR you could create a tatoo exactly as you want it first, inver alpha, load it as a mask for tex pain and get it exactly where you want it this way. Might take a little smoothing afterwards, but shall work just fine.

[aranious]

On 7/22/2021 at 6:36 PM, Cieris said:

I can't help you with blender but there is an easier way to test the tats without going through many steps.

 

MO2 mod folders can be edited while the game is running. You can right click a mod, open in explorer and overwrite the dds you're working on and it can be loaded in game.

 

STMM also makes it much easier to save and reload the same tattoo without needing to open MCM each time.

 

That is something I did not know!! Thank you that actually speeds things up quite significantly, also STMM will be a big help thanks!

 

On 7/22/2021 at 6:52 PM, nilead said:

 That seem to be a complicated way of going about it.

Way i went about it was using blender texture paint to see the exact result, just painting over the body i use. Trying to workout exact way UV stretches from a UV map seems daunting, not to mention working with UV seams in such a process sounds outright painfull. You may also use LE version of body to import .nif directly, unless its an SE exclusive one.

 Vast majority of body mods seem to use the same UV map for both.

If you're not comfortable with blenders texture paint, you might want to do rought mapping with it, and then do detailed work on the result in whatever image editor you prefer.

 Anyhow, id encourage you to give tex paint a shot. Can save you alot of headache.

Edit: OR you could create a tatoo exactly as you want it first, inver alpha, load it as a mask for tex pain and get it exactly where you want it this way. Might take a little smoothing afterwards, but shall work just fine.

The problem for me is I've never been able to get Blender's texture paint thing to work, honestly I've barely been able to get blender to work properly, can never get anything to appear on the body. I could use the LE body too actually, but I'd have to redownload it etc. It's more out of lazyness that I don't do it. So far I've been doing rough editing and loading it in game, making tweaks and reloading, takes a bit of time but seems to work. Still changing it into a mask might well be an option too actually, thanks for the advice!