Mesh Rigger (Skyrim, Fallout, Oblivion) Beta.89.f (10-26-2014)

[Supierce]

Am I the only one who seems to be too stupid to use this tool?

I'm trying to add hdt to an armor and I get stuck at the point where you choose from the grid with the thousands of weights and bones (?).

What am I doing wrong?

Yes, that can be a problem. Find or make a template mesh with fewer bones (but has the bones you want). You can use nifscope to remove unneeded bones from whatever template you're using now.

[idle]

Given I do that, how do i continue? I see no "okay" button, only bones 

[Supierce]

Given I do that, how do i continue? I see no "okay" button, only bones 

When you've selected the bones, just close that button panel and it will work.

[myuhinny]

@idle

 

*Do not* use a skeleton as your template file skyrim skeletons have too many bone nodes in them and when it loads all of the bones nodes up it'll push the ok button off screen as well as many of the bone nodes. Instead use a template body nif instead that has the bone nodes in it that you want. You can make a HDT body in bodyslide and use the file as your template file or download a HDT body from the nexus.

[idle]

Okay thx 

[Guest]

Think I should ask first: may this tool come in handy if I, for example

- edit body_0 and body_1 in Blender in order to add a few vertices (subdivide smooth)

- and after that the weight slider doesn't work ?

 

Or

- edit cloth_0 and cloth_1 in Blender, just make some vertices translated in order to prevent clipping

- and then want to restore the default properties, i.e. to copy them from the template (original) nif ?

[myuhinny]

@seahorse

 

What you edit in one nif has to be done in the 2nd nif as well or nothing will change in game. So if you alter say cloth_0 then you will have to do the same thing to cloth_1. Or alter one nif and then make remake the _0 or _1 file. If you add more vertices you can just use the original body file in the nif as your template file to redo the bone nodes and weighting.

[Guest]

I've made all the changes equally for _0 and _1. I've already tried riggering with original body nifs as a template with these settings: 

 

Failed unfortunately. Ugly destructured mesh in game (body weight 40).

"Redo the bone nodes and weighting" - what settings should I use, please?

 

I've just tried to switch on the "Delete all weights", "Replace Bones" and "Replace Partitions". The same result. Body weight 0 and body weight 100 look correct, everything between looks wrong.

[myuhinny]

You are doing this for a female body so why do you have both ticked for allowed genders? Tick only female for female male for male only you only ever use both if you are working with both a female and male file.

 

Copy weight copies the weights from the template and adds them to the target file if you use copy and delete weights it'll delete the weights that are already present and replace them with the ones from the template file. This can sometimes cause problems with stretching and whatnot.

 

Select bones will add the bones that you selected in the list of bone node if you use both select and replace bones it'll remove all bones from the target file and add the bone nodes from the template file. This might also cause stretching depending on what the bone nodes are attached to.

 

I have vertex index search ticked as well as copy havoc node. I also have search distance set to 100 and vertex targets set to 3.

 

Sounds like the two files are not the same the _0 and _1 files have to be the same or it can mess up the weight sliders.

[Fredas]

I made a post about a set of FO3/NV armors and my repeatedly failed efforts to rig BNB to them.  If anyone who has had success with Mesh Rigger wants to give it a shot, the armor package is linked in the post.  Very surprising nobody's done this armor set yet.

[myuhinny]

@Fredas

 

Showing a screenshot of said problem will help us help you easier as it is easier to tell what is going on if we can see the problem. Also have you tried other BnB bodies to see if the problem isn't coming from your template BnB body as there might be a flaw in the body that is causing your problems.

[27X]

So I decided to try this thing out instead of using 3ds/Blender to save time and space, to do a simple bone/node copy and this is the result:

 

 

 

I take this is what the "repair position" bat is for?

 

[myuhinny]

Never seen a repair position bat before. When running it through mesh rigger does it show alot of something like a improper rotation matrix error? Also what body did you use as a template body? If it is a body from dimon99 then that would explain why as dimon99 bodies were made using a older skeleton and when run through mesh rigger the bodies would move forward backwards left right up or down in the nif.

 

Have you tried loading up outfit studio pick new project select something like UNP HDT or whatever one you want next select the the file and place the body file in there and select it and load it up highlight you body that is in the nif then switch to the bone tab and highlight all of the nodes and copy and transfer them to the body and then export the file.

[Fredas]

@Fredas

 

Showing a screenshot of said problem will help us help you easier as it is easier to tell what is going on if we can see the problem. Also have you tried other BnB bodies to see if the problem isn't coming from your template BnB body as there might be a flaw in the body that is causing your problems.

 

Well, I admit it.  I'm a Mesh Rigger failure.  I abandoned my efforts to rig the Type 3M armor, but forgot that I had also made an effort to rig this outfit for Cass, which I added to her inventory at some point.  That was a rude awakening:

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, that's pretty typical.  Any vertex the app touches goes haywire.  It looks more unnerving in motion, since the distortions are not necessarily consistent.  (The template mesh I used for this armor set was the BnB body, which seems to be the actual template used in the first place.)  I remember having the same issue during my Fallout 3 playthrough, discussing it, and ultimately not finding a resolution.

 

Clearly, given the fact that this thread is full of discussion and not so full of pleas for help, there is some magic formula that I am uniquely failing to hit upon.  Perhaps it is as simple as I'm trying to do this for FO3/NV and everyone else is focused on Skyrim.  I think at this point I'd be happy just to have a working rigged set of the Cass armor from the earlier link.

[myuhinny]

This is the Cass companion outfit one done with added breast bones. Let me know if it came out alright.

 

cass_companion.nif

[Fredas]

This is the Cass companion outfit one done with added breast bones. Let me know if it came out alright.

 

cass_companion.nif

 

Good work.  The bounce is there with no deformities.  But there were a couple of anomalies. ;p

 

 

 

 

The familiar visible meatcaps return.  I can probably make them disappear, though my "success" with that usually ends whenever the character gets dismembered.  More interesting is the cel-shaded look of the mesh, which I must admit I hadn't even suspected was something that could happen.  Based on those anomalies, I have to suppose the method used here was not Mesh Rigger itself, so there's probably no point in asking how you worked this particular magic.

[myuhinny]

When you ran the file through mesh rigger did you use select bone nodes and remove bone nodes as well as copy weights and delete weights?

 

When I ran it all I did was use copy weights and select bones and only selected the breast bones.

 

Make a copy of the one I did and rename it and place it in a folder with the original one. Next load the one I did up into nifskope and right click each meat cap one at a time and go to block - remove branch once all of them are deleted out of the nif hit save as to overwrite the nif. Next load up the original and right click a meat cap and go to block copy branch then block - delete branch then save as then hit load and click on the my nif and load it and click scene root and go to block paste branch then save as.  Repeat till they have all been transported over. I usually delete the one out of the original so I keep track of what ones have been done. 

[Fredas]

When you ran the file through mesh rigger did you use select bone nodes and remove bone nodes as well as copy weights and delete weights?

 

My exact procedure: Run "Mesh Rigger.bat".  Choose template mesh.  Choose template skeleton.  Choose target folder.  Tick "use subfolders".  Choose destination folder.  Search distance: 20.0.  Vertex targets: 3.  The following boxes are selected: "Override Distance" "UV Search" "Copy Weights" "Select Bones"  Allowed Genders "Both"  Template Material Type "All Materials".  Click OK.  Next section: Select "Select BBB Bones" (which selects "breast.L" and "breast.R").  Only those two bones are selected.  Click OK.

 

It sounds like you do the same, though it's possible some of your boxes differ.

 

Make a copy of the one I did and rename it and place it in a folder with the original one. Next load the one I did up into nifskope and right click each meat cap one at a time and go to block - remove branch once all of them are deleted out of the nif hit save as to overwrite the nif. Next load up the original and right click a meat cap and go to block copy branch then block - delete branch then save as then hit load and click on the my nif and load it and click scene root and go to block paste branch then save as.  Repeat till they have all been transported over. I usually delete the one out of the original so I keep track of what ones have been done. 

 

So if I understand this correctly, I duplicate the mesh, delete meatcaps from the duplicate, and then copy them back over to the duplicate from the original?  I gave it a go.  Not certain if it was intended to cause a change but the meatcaps are still visible.  I'll take a crack at hiding them in a bit.

[myuhinny]

The make a copy was so that you wouldn't have to keep downloading the file if you messed up and renaming it is because if you tried to add both the one I did and the original into the same folder one of them would get overwritten.

 

Yes delete the meat caps out of the one that I did and save it. Then load the original nif and use the above part to transfer the meat caps from the original to the nif that I did. Make sure to save every time to paste the new meat cap part into the nif. Doing this should fix the nasty meatcap thingy.

[Fredas]

Yes delete the meat caps out of the one that I did and save it. Then load the original nif and use the above part to transfer the meat caps from the original to the nif that I did. Make sure to save every time to paste the new meat cap part into the nif. Doing this should fix the nasty meatcap thingy.

 

Okay, I see what you're saying now.  Seems obvious in hindsight.

 

Well, barring the possibility of ever using Mesh Rigger successfully myself, I don't suppose there's any chance of getting rigged versions of the rest of the outfit?  It's a series of interchangeable pieces.  Would be great if Mesh Rigger would just give a usable result, of course.  (Still would love a working Type 3M set.)  I'm going to assume the FO3/NV part of it was just never tested fully.

[myuhinny]

I just noticed something in your above post and I can safely say that it's probably not mesh rigger making your stuff go funky it is what you have selected that is doing it. **Allowed Genders "Both"** this right here is your problem. Female target female template = female only male target male template = male only female/male target and female/male template = both.

 

When you are working with female bodies you must select female only both is only used if you are working male/female.

 

The clothing converter and mesh rigger scan a bodies UV map which is one of the things it uses to convert things from one body to another. Male and female bodies have different UV maps so it's going to mess things up especially when using UV search.

 

I have these set for my mesh rigger. Search distance is for trying to scan things that are away from the body the higher the number the farther it will search.

 

 

I

 

[Fredas]

I just noticed something in your above post and I can safely say that it's probably not mesh rigger making your stuff go funky it is what you have selected that is doing it. **Allowed Genders "Both"** this right here is your problem. Female target female template = female only male target male template = male only female/male target and female/male template = both.

 

When you are working with female bodies you must select female only both is only used if you are working male/female.

 

Okay.  I gave Mesh Rigger another spin with Female Only.  I believe I had selected "Both" based on a post I read quite a while back.

 

It turns out that Mesh Rigger doesn't seem to know what to do with a clothing mesh that doesn't conveniently include the body mesh with it.  For example, the jacket by itself.  It complains of an "incorrect gender".  With "Both" selected, I do get output files, though they are unusable.

 

I know the "solution" to this situation may be to temporarily copy+paste the body into the meshes, but Mesh Rigger was designed to handle this stuff in batch, so I assume it has a batch way of dealing with the absence of the body mesh.  Or else there's another setting I need to tick in order for it to stop complaining about the wrong gender.

 

Anyway, the rigging works with the settings you provided, but all limbs become distorted:

 

 

 

I feel like this is progress, though.

[myuhinny]

What body are you using? Have you tried a different BnB body at all? If not I would suggest trying a different one as there could be a flaw somewhere in the template body that you are using. I usually paste stuff without a body onto a body and then delete the body out afterward as well as rename the new file to the correct nif name. I have never had much success with stuff with no body in them.

 

I used this body as my template body when I ran the file through mesh rigger. http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/47986/?

[Fredas]

What body are you using? Have you tried a different BnB body at all? If not I would suggest trying a different one as there could be a flaw somewhere in the template body that you are using. I usually paste stuff without a body onto a body and then delete the body out afterward as well as rename the new file to the correct nif name. I have never had much success with stuff with no body in them.

 

I used this body as my template body when I ran the file through mesh rigger. http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/47986/?

 

I tried that body.  The resulting distortions were even more severe.  About the only thing I haven't done is use whatever skeleton you happen to be using, though the one I'm using is basically the same one everyone who uses a custom skeleton uses.  I also tried rigging both with and without "preserve skeleton structure" checked, but there was no difference.

 

So I don't get it.  Using the same app, the same settings and the same files, but I get unusable results.

[Fredas]

I spent an extra several hours trying a few dozen more stabs at Mesh Rigger.  Every single permutation produces distortions in the limbs, like always.  BnB body template, athletic body template, even the cass_companion.nif body you successfully converted as a template... Several different skeletons, with and without "preserving structure"... Search distances between 3 and 100.  It's like it doesn't matter.

 

I guess I throw myself at your mercy, since you have the correct mix of files that don't make Mesh Rigger reliably choke.  All I need are the jacket, cass_companion and castopless.  I got the jacket rigged but unfortunately the last few inches of each arm are distorted just like the limbs on the body mesh, so it's worthless.  If you do find the time to convert these, hopefully you will have a solution to the cel-shaded look of the cass_companion you posted earlier.  I already tried to make the skin look normal but the differences between your .nif and the original .nif are too numerous and perplexing for me to just change a few variables.