Export settings for animated mesh with armature

[GrimmHatter]

I'm taking my first steps with animating nifs with armatures and could use some direction. Up to this point I've become quite adept at using Nifskope and Blender (ver 3) to mesh, UVmap, create particle emitters, create simple custom animations, etc, etc...

 

I typically export my meshes straight from Blender as nifs using the NifTools addon, unless it has multiple animation actions I want to trigger separately in-game. In this case I use the export FBX -> ck-cmd method. All has been going well until I try to animate a custom nif with an armature. Note, this is nothing NPC related, just a simple animated static with several bending parts (similar to the Eldergleam roots or the Apocrypha tentacles, which I have opened up and studied in Nifskope and Blender). In Blender, everything looks fine. I create my simple, 6 bone rig, parent it to my mesh, animate it, and export it. Here's when I run into trouble. If I use the fbx/ck-cmd method, I get basically nothing but a static nif. The mesh and rig are present in Nifskope, but there is no animation whatsoever. If I export as a nif from Blender, everything looks great in Nifskope. Mesh, rig, and animation are all present and running nicely. However, when I load it into the CK, the mesh "t-poses". No deformation or animation at all. It's like it loses its weights or something.

 

I'm not sure what to do to get past this point. Am I using the wrong parenting/rigging process in Blender? CurrentlyI select my mesh, then select the rig, then ctrl-P and Armature Deform with Automatic Weights and fine tune in Weight Paint mode. Am I not using the correct settings when exporting? I mostly just use default settings unless a tutorial has stated otherwise. Or is there no way to utilize a custom baked in armature animation? Would I have to export the "skeleton" alone and the animation as a HKX and then rig it to the mesh in Outfit Studio? I haven't tried that yet, but that seems like an unnecessary route to take.

 

I'd appreciate any help. I can post pics/files if need be for clarification. Thanks.