Neck Seam on outfit fix

[Aki K]

I was tinkering with an outfit in outfit studio and unexpectedly got a neck seam. I do not know why because I did not convert the body. The only thing I did was add bone weights to the existing body's belly (no other bone weights added at all). But now there is a neck seam and I can't figure out how to fix it.

[Andy14]

1 hour ago, Aki K said:

I was tinkering with an outfit in outfit studio and unexpectedly got a neck seam. I do not know why because I did not convert the body. The only thing I did was add bone weights to the existing body's belly (no other bone weights added at all). But now there is a neck seam and I can't figure out how to fix it.

Just for your information:
Only one bone is allowed to act on the neck, namely Spine 2.

All vertices there must have 100% Spine 2 weight.

 

The Small Seam slider is responsible for the morph on the neck for weight changes from 0 to 100. The slider is hidden by default in Bodyslide, but visible in Outfit Studio.
So I would check if the skinning on the neck is correct and if the slider is working.

Maybe the Nif you converted wasn't weight 100.

[blank_v]

Neck seam or neck gap?

Neck seam is when there is visible border between neck and body but the mesh is still connected, the "border" is made due to the differences in texture...

Neck gap is when head and body are not connected by the mesh, so there is a "hole" that separates them both

 

If You were editing outfit in OutfitStudio and didnt touched textures at all then You probably have a gap not a seam...

It would be very valuable if You could provide a picture of the issue...

 

If its a gap, You could suggest urself with Andy answer ( tho keep in mind that if by accident u touched sculpting options then sliders are not going to help You )

But if its a Seam, then its not mesh related issue, it could be still .nif related issue tho because Shaders to matters in this... even if You didnt touched settings maybe the original mesh had settings that got reseted during OutfitStudio exporting...

 

But again... picture could help a lot...

 

Edited October 13, 2025 by ̖̪.

[Aki K]

On 10/13/2025 at 3:29 PM, ̖̪. said:

Neck seam or neck gap?

Neck seam is when there is visible border between neck and body but the mesh is still connected, the "border" is made due to the differences in texture...

Neck gap is when head and body are not connected by the mesh, so there is a "hole" that separates them both

 

If You were editing outfit in OutfitStudio and didnt touched textures at all then You probably have a gap not a seam...

It would be very valuable if You could provide a picture of the issue...

 

If its a gap, You could suggest urself with Andy answer ( tho keep in mind that if by accident u touched sculpting options then sliders are not going to help You )

But if its a Seam, then its not mesh related issue, it could be still .nif related issue tho because Shaders to matters in this... even if You didnt touched settings maybe the original mesh had settings that got reseted during OutfitStudio exporting...

 

But again... picture could help a lot...

 

Neck Gap for sure.

 

The only thing I did was add bones to the belly section. I didn't touch weights or anything at all. I didn't even change the reference body. I didn't sculpt anything.

 

This was my process:

- Load the outfit (with its original refence body)

- Set the reference body to not be a reference body.

- Loaded new reference body.

- selected belly

- copy selected weights

- delete the new reference

- reset the original body to act as the reference body.

 

And that caused a gap. I have no idea why.

[Aki K]

On 10/13/2025 at 2:35 PM, Andy14 said:

Just for your information:
Only one bone is allowed to act on the neck, namely Spine 2.

All vertices there must have 100% Spine 2 weight.

 

The Small Seam slider is responsible for the morph on the neck for weight changes from 0 to 100. The slider is hidden by default in Bodyslide, but visible in Outfit Studio.
So I would check if the skinning on the neck is correct and if the slider is working.

Maybe the Nif you converted wasn't weight 100.

The weight for the neck appeared to be 0 in in outfit studio, so I set it to 100. I rebuilt the outfit in bodyslide. The neck gap is smaller but not gone.

[Kastagir]

On 10/13/2025 at 9:57 AM, Aki K said:

I was tinkering with an outfit in outfit studio and unexpectedly got a neck seam. I do not know why because I did not convert the body. The only thing I did was add bone weights to the existing body's belly (no other bone weights added at all). But now there is a neck seam and I can't figure out how to fix it.

 

If you added bone weights to only one of the body meshes (_0 or _1) in Outfit Studio then you broke the weight slider.  You have to edit the project or create a new one with a working _0 to _100 slider before you change the weights.

 

2 hours ago, Aki K said:

Neck Gap for sure.

 

The only thing I did was add bones to the belly section. I didn't touch weights or anything at all. I didn't even change the reference body. I didn't sculpt anything.

 

This was my process:

- Load the outfit (with its original refence body)

- Set the reference body to not be a reference body.

- Loaded new reference body.

- selected belly

- copy selected weights

- delete the new reference

- reset the original body to act as the reference body.

 

And that caused a gap. I have no idea why.

 

Weights aren't saved to the mesh until it is exported.  Don't delete shapes or parts of shapes while they're set to Reference.  The weights you copy from them won't be transferred and you risk breaking partitions.  Also, OS normalizes weights on export and since you didn't mask the vertices at the neck before changing Spine2 weights, the vertices weighted to Spine2 were changed.  In the above example, you ended up doing this:

1.  copy Belly weights from new body to outfit's body, changing which vertices are weighted to Spine2 - vertices at neck were not protected by this operation because they weren't masked.

2.  deleted reference body - source for new Belly weights is now gone

3.  exported mesh - OS normalizes weights and Spine2 weights are now different

 

1 hour ago, Aki K said:

The weight for the neck appeared to be 0 in in outfit studio, so I set it to 100. I rebuilt the outfit in bodyslide. The neck gap is smaller but not gone.

 

If your end goal is to use Bodyslide, you need to edit the project, not a single mesh.  If you edit a single mesh you'll just break the weight slider, which will get you a neck gap.   You're trying to do something complicated without using the necessary tools or going through the required steps.  If you want further help, provide images/screenshots or indicate what outfit you're trying to edit...but I've been on this merry-go-round with you before so I'm not going to hold my breath.

[Andy14]

7 hours ago, Aki K said:

Neck Gap for sure.

 

The only thing I did was add bones to the belly section. I didn't touch weights or anything at all. I didn't even change the reference body. I didn't sculpt anything.

 

This was my process:

- Load the outfit (with its original refence body)

- Set the reference body to not be a reference body.

- Loaded new reference body.

- selected belly

- copy selected weights

- delete the new reference

- reset the original body to act as the reference body.

 

And that caused a gap. I have no idea why.

 

I think the outfit you loaded wasn't weight 100.
You can check this after you've also loaded your body as a reference and see if both body meshes have the same shape.
 

Ultimately, I'm wondering why you're so keen to keep the old reference. Why don't you replace the old reference body with your reference body?

Would you upload pictures of it or even files so we can take a look?

[Andy14]

5 hours ago, Kastagir said:

Weights aren't saved to the mesh until it is exported.  Don't delete shapes or parts of shapes while they're set to Reference.  The weights you copy from them won't be transferred and you risk breaking partitions.  Also, OS normalizes weights on export and since you didn't mask the vertices at the neck before changing Spine2 weights, the vertices weighted to Spine2 were changed.  In the above example, you ended up doing this:

1.  copy Belly weights from new body to outfit's body, changing which vertices are weighted to Spine2 - vertices at neck were not protected by this operation because they weren't masked.

2.  deleted reference body - source for new Belly weights is now gone

3.  exported mesh - OS normalizes weights and Spine2 weights are now different

Sorry, but that's not correct. The skin is saved in the mesh and also exported, regardless of whether the reference body has been deleted or not. It's just a skin weight, not bones, and the key isn't the reference, but the skeleton.
You can even add bones manually in OS and skin them manually – without any references.
And a "Copy Selected Weights" of the belly bone should have little effect on Spine 2, but rather on Spine 1, Spine, and Pelvis. Even with Spine 2, the vertices on the neck shouldn't reach the vertices at all.

[Aki K]

On 10/15/2025 at 6:48 PM, Kastagir said:

 

If you added bone weights to only one of the body meshes (_0 or _1) in Outfit Studio then you broke the weight slider.  You have to edit the project or create a new one with a working _0 to _100 slider before you change the weights.

 

 

Weights aren't saved to the mesh until it is exported.  Don't delete shapes or parts of shapes while they're set to Reference.  The weights you copy from them won't be transferred and you risk breaking partitions.  Also, OS normalizes weights on export and since you didn't mask the vertices at the neck before changing Spine2 weights, the vertices weighted to Spine2 were changed.  In the above example, you ended up doing this:

1.  copy Belly weights from new body to outfit's body, changing which vertices are weighted to Spine2 - vertices at neck were not protected by this operation because they weren't masked.

2.  deleted reference body - source for new Belly weights is now gone

3.  exported mesh - OS normalizes weights and Spine2 weights are now different

 

 

If your end goal is to use Bodyslide, you need to edit the project, not a single mesh.  If you edit a single mesh you'll just break the weight slider, which will get you a neck gap.   You're trying to do something complicated without using the necessary tools or going through the required steps.  If you want further help, provide images/screenshots or indicate what outfit you're trying to edit...but I've been on this merry-go-round with you before so I'm not going to hold my breath.

This is the outfit I'm trying to add belly weights too:

(https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/107636) If you still want screenshots, let me know what specifically you want me to take screenshots of. But this is the outfit i'm currently trying to convert.

 

I've been using CBBE HDT according to bodyslide. Whatever the case, I noticed in game that if something is meant to be expanding my character's belly (like pregnancy), it isn't happening when this outfit is worn. In the past, and with other outfits, this was easily fixed by copying just the belly bone weights to the outfit, and using the new reference body. I tried that this time, and the new reference body caused a gap. I tried keeping the old reference body with just the new weights, same issue.

 

I confess my understanding of the topic is limited and that I'm aware I'm difficult to work with. I very often need the layman's explanation and I get lost when technical terms or acronyms are used.

 

You mentioned editing the entire project. My question then is "how"? I had attempted just using an entirely new reference body and copying all weights to the outfit, I'm guessing that's wrong too.

 

You also mentioned "without using the necessary tools."  Are you referring to other programs or tools within outfit studio?

On 10/16/2025 at 12:31 AM, Andy14 said:

 

I think the outfit you loaded wasn't weight 100.
You can check this after you've also loaded your body as a reference and see if both body meshes have the same shape.
 

Ultimately, I'm wondering why you're so keen to keep the old reference. Why don't you replace the old reference body with your reference body?

Would you upload pictures of it or even files so we can take a look?

I tried to use a new reference and encountered the same problem. It's not so much that I'm keen to keep the old reference, so much that I thought that the new reference was the source of the problem. So I tried to keep the old one thinking the fewer changes I made, the less risk of a gap there would be. It seems evident I was mistaken on this.

 

On 10/16/2025 at 12:41 AM, Andy14 said:

Sorry, but that's not correct. The skin is saved in the mesh and also exported, regardless of whether the reference body has been deleted or not. It's just a skin weight, not bones, and the key isn't the reference, but the skeleton.
You can even add bones manually in OS and skin them manually – without any references.
And a "Copy Selected Weights" of the belly bone should have little effect on Spine 2, but rather on Spine 1, Spine, and Pelvis. Even with Spine 2, the vertices on the neck shouldn't reach the vertices at all.

That has certainly been my experience with other outfits.

 

Usually I am able to use a new reference body without creating a neck gap and can simply copy the weights I want with little issue beyond some clipping, which I can fix easily. This outfit in particular seems to be giving me trouble with regards to neck gap.

Edited October 18, 2025 by Aki K

[Andy14]

16 hours ago, Aki K said:

This is the outfit I'm trying to add belly weights too:

(https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/107636) If you still want screenshots, let me know what specifically you want me to take screenshots of. But this is the outfit i'm currently trying to convert.

 

I've been using CBBE HDT according to bodyslide. Whatever the case, I noticed in game that if something is meant to be expanding my character's belly (like pregnancy), it isn't happening when this outfit is worn. In the past, and with other outfits, this was easily fixed by copying just the belly bone weights to the outfit, and using the new reference body. I tried that this time, and the new reference body caused a gap. I tried keeping the old reference body with just the new weights, same issue.

 

I confess my understanding of the topic is limited and that I'm aware I'm difficult to work with. I very often need the layman's explanation and I get lost when technical terms or acronyms are used.

 

You mentioned editing the entire project. My question then is "how"? I had attempted just using an entirely new reference body and copying all weights to the outfit, I'm guessing that's wrong too.

 

You also mentioned "without using the necessary tools."  Are you referring to other programs or tools within outfit studio?

I tried to use a new reference and encountered the same problem. It's not so much that I'm keen to keep the old reference, so much that I thought that the new reference was the source of the problem. So I tried to keep the old one thinking the fewer changes I made, the less risk of a gap there would be. It seems evident I was mistaken on this.

 

That has certainly been my experience with other outfits.

 

Usually I am able to use a new reference body without creating a neck gap and can simply copy the weights I want with little issue beyond some clipping, which I can fix easily. This outfit in particular seems to be giving me trouble with regards to neck gap.

I'll take a look. It might take a while, though, since it's 2:30 a.m. here in Germany, and I'm going to bed first.
 

 

PS:
 

I downloaded the mod and tested the NIFs in ShapeData/[NIND] CBBE ODD Daughters of Dimitrescu with Nifscope and also in Bodyslide. With the exception of the collision mesh for the SMP skirt, all relevant meshes have an NPC Belly bone with bone weights, as well as the PregnancyBelly and SmallSeam sliders.

 

The only thing that makes these top meshes special is that there are actually two body meshes. These are toggled using the Enable Oiled/Hidden Oiled Zap slider.

A good solution as long as the order of the meshes in the NIF isn't changed.👍

 

So, to summarize: It's not necessary to edit these NIFs in Outfit Studio. Both the NPC Belly and Pregnancy Morphs are present and working.

 

PPS: NIND (Mod Author) is also member of Loverslab. You might want to ask him why the Belly Bone/Pregnancy doesn't work in the game.

Edited October 19, 2025 by Andy14

[Aki K]

16 hours ago, Andy14 said:

I'll take a look. It might take a while, though, since it's 2:30 a.m. here in Germany, and I'm going to bed first.
 

 

PS:
 

I downloaded the mod and tested the NIFs in ShapeData/[NIND] CBBE ODD Daughters of Dimitrescu with Nifscope and also in Bodyslide. With the exception of the collision mesh for the SMP skirt, all relevant meshes have an NPC Belly bone with bone weights, as well as the PregnancyBelly and SmallSeam sliders.

 

The only thing that makes these top meshes special is that there are actually two body meshes. These are toggled using the Enable Oiled/Hidden Oiled Zap slider.

A good solution as long as the order of the meshes in the NIF isn't changed.👍

 

So, to summarize: It's not necessary to edit these NIFs in Outfit Studio. Both the NPC Belly and Pregnancy Morphs are present and working.

 

PPS: NIND (Mod Author) is also member of Loverslab. You might want to ask him why the Belly Bone/Pregnancy doesn't work in the game.

They aren't working for me. If I leave them unchanged the outfits fit and have breast/butt physics but not belly physics.

 

...maybe the mod has been updated since I last downloaded it. I'll try reinstalling it.

 

I am still interested in learning how to fix the neck gap though. Just for educational purposes.

[Andy14]

12 hours ago, Aki K said:

They aren't working for me. If I leave them unchanged the outfits fit and have breast/butt physics but not belly physics.

 

...maybe the mod has been updated since I last downloaded it. I'll try reinstalling it.

 

I am still interested in learning how to fix the neck gap though. Just for educational purposes.

Neck gap - just a few points:
- The reference body in Outfit Studio corresponds to the in-game weight of 100.
- The Smallseam slider (for the neck) is inverted, so with morph 0 corresponds to body weight 100, and with morph 100 to the body weight 0.
- The vertices at the edge of the mesh at the neck have only one bone - Spine2. All of these vertices therefore need 100% Spine2.
- If you want to update/cahnge the reference body in Outfit Studio (with a loaded reference), you should right-click the original reference body to make it a non-reference.
This way, after loading the new reference, you can check whether the meshes at the neck match. You can then delete the old reference body with DEL.

Important when loading a new reference: all sliders will be replaced. So it's best to check beforehand whether there are any sliders that don't meet the standard, for example, zap sliders.

An alternative to replacing the reference body with Load->Reference is:
Add Project -> then select the SliderSet of your reference body (CBBE HDT, etc.) in the project selection window.
This method retains all custom sliders, ignores sliders with the same name, and adds missing sliders.
This is actually the better method for replacing the reference body.

[Aki K]

On 10/20/2025 at 1:39 AM, Andy14 said:

Neck gap - just a few points:
- The reference body in Outfit Studio corresponds to the in-game weight of 100.
- The Smallseam slider (for the neck) is inverted, so with morph 0 corresponds to body weight 100, and with morph 100 to the body weight 0.
- The vertices at the edge of the mesh at the neck have only one bone - Spine2. All of these vertices therefore need 100% Spine2.
- If you want to update/cahnge the reference body in Outfit Studio (with a loaded reference), you should right-click the original reference body to make it a non-reference.
This way, after loading the new reference, you can check whether the meshes at the neck match. You can then delete the old reference body with DEL.

Important when loading a new reference: all sliders will be replaced. So it's best to check beforehand whether there are any sliders that don't meet the standard, for example, zap sliders.

An alternative to replacing the reference body with Load->Reference is:
Add Project -> then select the SliderSet of your reference body (CBBE HDT, etc.) in the project selection window.
This method retains all custom sliders, ignores sliders with the same name, and adds missing sliders.
This is actually the better method for replacing the reference body.

Thank you. I'll give these instructions a try this weekend. I think I understand.

[Aki K]

On 10/20/2025 at 1:39 AM, Andy14 said:

Neck gap - just a few points:
- The reference body in Outfit Studio corresponds to the in-game weight of 100.
- The Smallseam slider (for the neck) is inverted, so with morph 0 corresponds to body weight 100, and with morph 100 to the body weight 0.
- The vertices at the edge of the mesh at the neck have only one bone - Spine2. All of these vertices therefore need 100% Spine2.
- If you want to update/cahnge the reference body in Outfit Studio (with a loaded reference), you should right-click the original reference body to make it a non-reference.
This way, after loading the new reference, you can check whether the meshes at the neck match. You can then delete the old reference body with DEL.

Important when loading a new reference: all sliders will be replaced. So it's best to check beforehand whether there are any sliders that don't meet the standard, for example, zap sliders.

An alternative to replacing the reference body with Load->Reference is:
Add Project -> then select the SliderSet of your reference body (CBBE HDT, etc.) in the project selection window.
This method retains all custom sliders, ignores sliders with the same name, and adds missing sliders.
This is actually the better method for replacing the reference body.

 

So this did not work, but in the process of trying it I might have found part of my problem and its very possible I was trying a solution that didn't match the problem. I don't think Outfit studio is even the tool I should have been using.

 

For whatever reason, this outfit in particular isn't using my preset when I build it in bodyslide. All of the values aren't set correctly and the box labeled "preset" is empty as is the drop down menu. I'm going to reinstall and try manually setting all the % values to match what I have for by preset and then building it that way to see if it works. Maybe that's why the belly wasn't working, and if that fixes it I won't need to try changing bones and then no neckgap. Here's hoping.

 

It'll be a pain though because if it does work, I'll have to set those values 4 times for each version of the outfit and do that everytime I reinstall the game/mods in the future.

 

 

EDIT: This was the problem all along. For whatever reason, the body isn't using my preset and I have to manually input the values before building the body. F*ck if i know why. And i don't know if there's a way to force it to use my preset but it seems to not let me select it in the bodyslide drop down menu.

 

 

Thank you all for your patience with me. Although I was wrong about how to pursue the solution, your advice helped me find the real problem. Everything's kinda coming together. I'll bet this is why the neck gap was persisting too. Because the new reference body was also not using my preset values.

 

A fresh reinstall and then manually setting all the values appears to have solved my problem. No neck gap and now the belly works.

Edited October 26, 2025 by Aki K
Real issue and solution discovered.

[Andy14]

1 hour ago, Aki K said:

For whatever reason, this outfit in particular isn't using my preset when I build it in bodyslide. All of the values aren't set correctly and the box labeled "preset" is empty as is the drop down menu.

Well, that's information I needed before.😉

But instead of reinstalling every time, below are the steps to fix it.

 

If your preset isn't displayed in BodySlide, it's because:
- the outfit isn't in a group to which the preset applies.

 

Workaround:
In BodySlide, select your body in Outfits and your preset in Presets:
Save the preset with "Save as."
In the following window, select the outfit groups to which the preset should apply and then save the preset.

Then, click on Group Manager in BS and load the outfit group in which you want the outfit. It must be a group for which you saved the preset.
Once you've selected the group, the outfits already available in the group will be on the left, and the outfits that aren't yet in the group will be on the right.

You can add the outfit to the left with Add. Don't forget to click Save at the top afterward.
Afterward, close BS and reopen it. The outfit and preset should now work together.

[Aki K]

28 minutes ago, Andy14 said:

Well, that's information I needed before.😉

But instead of reinstalling every time, below are the steps to fix it.

 

If your preset isn't displayed in BodySlide, it's because:
- the outfit isn't in a group to which the preset applies.

 

Workaround:
In BodySlide, select your body in Outfits and your preset in Presets:
Save the preset with "Save as."
In the following window, select the outfit groups to which the preset should apply and then save the preset.

Then, click on Group Manager in BS and load the outfit group in which you want the outfit. It must be a group for which you saved the preset.
Once you've selected the group, the outfits already available in the group will be on the left, and the outfits that aren't yet in the group will be on the right.

You can add the outfit to the left with Add. Don't forget to click Save at the top afterward.
Afterward, close BS and reopen it. The outfit and preset should now work together.

I'll see if I can figure that out.

 

Thank you very much.