TBBP body missing butt/belly nodes. Any experienced body modders?

[Fredas]

Yeah.  Basically by Hobson's choice I've more or less settled upon Manga Body for my character.  This particular body comes in at least six separate and rather different flavors, including two with a heavily reduced vertex count that better matches CBBE.  But all of them have:

 

1) the same exact nipples, vertex for vertex (left image - note the concave element in the center of the nipple)

 

 

and 2) to a greater or lesser degree, a defined "hill" shape for the areolae (rightmost image):

 

 

 

These features are what I want, and only one of them (the puffy / hill-like areolae) is even conceivably possible with BodySlide assistance.

 

All of the Skyrim Manga Body models are ports or interpretations of the original Oblivion Manga Body which remains easily the best version of them all, chiefly because the "hill" areola is the best-defined.  But the one I picked - labeled "Manga CBBE DM - TBBP" and available in the OP of this thread - pretty much predates the idea of butt or belly nodes, so the only thing that works with lovely HDT are the breasts.  (Note: There is a so-called "Manga Body v3" available in the "Conversions for Manga Body" thread which does include the missing nodes.  However, this particular body is an inexplicably mutated take on the original.  None of the Skyrim Manga Body models are adequately faithful to the Oblivion original but this one just takes the cake.)  Edit: I have noted recently the existence of a "v2" Manga Body which has better proportions and basically the same nipple/areola structure as Manga CBBE DM TBBP, and it does come with butt nodes.  However, it still lacks a belly node.

 

So I'm basically hoping that somebody who adds these butt/belly nodes/weighting in their sleep will spare some time and finish the job that was started with Manga CBBE DM TBBP Manga Body v2 (available here; link provided by Amox).  Or else that it would be potentially not a bad idea to "steal" the nodes/weighting from Manga Body v3 (despite the noteworthy mesh differences between it and Manga Body v2), and that someone who knows how to go about that business would be willing to spare the time to do so.

 

With a belly node intact, really the only thing left to do would be to touch up the areolae so they more closely resemble the Oblivion Manga Body.  (Sadly also outside of my area of expertise. ;p )

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[blabba]

Ummm,

 

You can copy weights and stuff using gerra6's mesh rigger tool (simple easy to use pop up dialog boxes)

 

Or you can use Outfit Studio to easily transfer the weights (slightly more user unfriendly than gerra6's tool but still pretty easy to follow)

 

But IMO, maybe you should try generating a normal map for this specific detail you speak/ask about. I mean normal maps were kind of invented to handle these sort of subtle details.

Also, the benefit of using a normal map is that you could just use it on whatever body 'family' you want (UNP vs. CBBE)

[Fredas]

You can copy weights and stuff using gerra6's mesh rigger tool (simple easy to use pop up dialog boxes)

 

I will check it out, thanks.  My lingering concern is that the Manga Body v3 is actually a rather different body from v2, so if there is any hazard in copying nodes between mismatching bodies, it's probable that I'll trip on it.

 

But IMO, maybe you should try generating a normal map for this specific detail you speak/ask about. I mean normal maps were kind of invented to handle these sort of subtle details.

 

Well, the brutal truth is that normal maps lose their usefulness on larger details, or especially when viewing something in a profile which is perpendicular to the texture (see second image, rightmost, in the OP).  It's a good trick but it's not magic; you can't get those hilly features with a normal map.  For a better example, I present this image which uses a body of uncertain providence:

 

 

This may be CB++ but I really don't know for sure.

[blabba]

 

Well, the brutal truth is that normal maps lose their usefulness on larger details, or especially when viewing something in a profile which is perpendicular to the texture (see second image, rightmost, in the OP).  It's a good trick but it's not magic; you can't get those hilly features with a normal map.  For a better example, I present this image which uses a body of uncertain providence:

 

Nah, Gerra6's mesh rigger is really good and easy to use, it's bone copy function is the most accurate I've ever seen. I mean sure, there will be some cleaning up to do and the paints might mismatch slightly but for 3-D inept people like me it's by far the best tool to use.

 

 

 

Well, the brutal truth is that normal maps lose their usefulness on larger details, or especially when viewing something in a profile which is perpendicular to the texture (see second image, rightmost, in the OP).  It's a good trick but it's not magic; you can't get those hilly features with a normal map.  For a better example, I present this image which uses a body of uncertain providence:

 

Hmm, you may well be right about the normal maps unable to give such definition.

But I reserve judgement until I see it's been done or tried at least.

From the tutorial videos I've seen of zBrush high poly models and converting them to normal maps to bake into low poly bodies, the amount of details is absolutely stunning and almost 1 to 1 with the high poly models.

 

I'm also personally rooting for a normal map type solution as that would be cool to have that level of detail on whatever body a user chooses instead of being tied down to 1 specific body

[Fredas]

Hmm, you may well be right about the normal maps unable to give such definition.

But I reserve judgement until I see it's been done or tried at least.

I'm also personally rooting for a normal map type solution as that would be cool to have that level of detail on whatever body a user chooses instead of being tied down to 1 specific body

 

Still off topic but I felt I ought to make myself clearer; I haven't been doing a good job of it.  Take another look at that image of the woman.  Her right areola/nipple.  It is seen in profile against the background.  The distinct "puffy" outine - eraser-head nipple atop a round hill areola - is unmistakable.  More importantly, impossible for a normal map to reproduce because the outline of a 3d object is dictated solely by the mesh.  What this image doesn't showcase but is just as important: Shadows cast by the body onto other things and itself.  A normal map can itself be shadowed under the correct lighting conditions and angle (such as in this image from your own thread) but it's not about to start being responsible for shadows on other surfaces.  That's the job of a completely different aspect of the rendering engine, and said job depends on meshes.  Finally, field of view is an active giveaway.  Say you start zooming the camera in on a puffy areola.  If it's a proper mesh, the 3d representation remains believable no matter how close you get (see OP, first image, though the effect is best illustrated temporally).  If, however, you were trying to fake those details with a normal map and the areola is in fact as featureless as the breast, the jig is quickly up.

 

[hryh23k9823u]

 

Hmm, you may well be right about the normal maps unable to give such definition.

But I reserve judgement until I see it's been done or tried at least.

From the tutorial videos I've seen of zBrush high poly models and converting them to normal maps to bake into low poly bodies, the amount of details is absolutely stunning and almost 1 to 1 with the high poly models.

 

I'm also personally rooting for a normal map type solution as that would be cool to have that level of detail on whatever body a user chooses instead of being tied down to 1 specific body

 

 

A normal maps isn't the same. I mean, sure you can somehow imitate a nose with normal maps, but I doubt you want a flat face that only fakes a nose from the front

Also, it shouldn't have to be limited to one specific body. Ahem. Bodyslide?

 

I sent you a couple of trials, although i personally dont like puffy nipples a lot, but it seems to be a must have optional for any bodytype and certainly skyrim (and bodyslide) is still pretty poor when it comes to breasts, considering the possibilities...