n00b question about adding bones to cbbe armor

[cornelius_t]

I'm using 3ds Max (2012) to do very simple armor modding.

 

I'm trying to mod some armor to bend/stretch along with its body. I noticed that the bone I need to use

"NPC Belly Node"  isn't listed in the available bones for my armor in 3ds  Max

 

Strangely, when I open the body.nif in nifskope, the "NPC Belly Node" shows, but in 3ds Max, I can't find it.

 

Questions:

1. Where did that belly node/bone go?  
2. How do I add a bone that is found in a cbbe body to a cbbe armor skin?
3. Would I need to add the bone to get the armor to bend/move  with the body?

 

I'm very new to 3ds max.  

 

Note: I made sure that the 'Remove unused bones" option was never enabled when I import/exported skins.

[GrimReaperCalls]

The problem might be that 3ds Max doesn't import the skeleton from the .nif file, it imports a seperate one and then attaches it to the armor/body during import. 

 

You can change which skeleton it imports. At the import menu, look at the "Skeleton" section (lower part of the menu), there should be a file path, it probably points toward the default Skyrim male skeleton. Change it to a custom skeleton containing the Belly Node.