Do it Dirty: Fix that Skyrim Neck Seam!

[Kendo 2]

IMPORTANT!!:

To use this you need to have nifskope properly installed with all of the support files.  Here is a link to the sourceforge page:

http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/NifTools

 

They have tutorials, downloads, links and anything else you might need.

 

NOW THEN, let's fix those neck seams!

This might seem like a little thing, but it makes a world of difference.

 

EDIT: Here's something else that will cause a seam and needs to be fixed:

 

 

*Be sure to make these changes on BOTH versions of the meshes you're fixing.  e.g. femalebody_0 AND femalebody_1 need to be the same.  This goes for hands and feet as well.  If you're having seam issues with some modded armor and clothing this method will fix the skin parts on those as well.*

 

Here is a download of the images for easy viewing.

K2MeshFix.rar

 

This the vanilla femalebody_0 nif.

vanilla_femalebody_0.nif

If in doubt, make the body you're using match the vanilla standard.  Check it node by node, branch by branch if you have to.  Don't blame me, don't blame yourself.  Blame the person that made the body mod.

 

[EdinMG]

That's a very nice tutorial, thanks for sharing... =P

[Kendo 2]

Thanks.  It's nothing special.  Just little tricks to make the game better. 

[Gameplayer]

Will implement into releases thanks

[Kendo 2]

Will implement into releases thanks

One sure way to know if a mesh is jacked or not: without the textures applied, the mesh skin should be stark white.  If it is gray and you can see things like the navel or any muscle shape the values are WRONG for Skyrim.

 

[Gameplayer]

Alright so

 

White is good,

 

Gray is bad?

 

Alright, I opened the Snake Rogue Outfit.

 

Found a mistake the body was not at top of the list.  Fixed that and followed the tuts and body is white now.

 

Going to get a repack on that soon.  Then I'll see about a slider set for it.

 

This goes for outfits too?

 

 

Thanks again.

[Dallas-Arbiter]

Question about the hands. When I looked at "Num UV sets", of the hand meshes it's something like 4097. Do I change that? and what do I change it to?

[Kendo 2]

This goes for outfits too?

Yes.  The gray 'I can see detail on the mesh' is a render nightmare for Skyrim.  Have you have ever had the deal where you change cells or enter a cell and the NPCs have desaturated/ gray crazy dark skin?  Those jacked values in nifskope are part of the blame.  I have gone through and redone every player-made mesh in made game.  Thank GOD it was only about 20.

 

90% of the CBBE and UNP outfits I have in my folders have this going on.  Funny that SOS doesn't.  People are crazy over female body mods, and they are the most fucked.  Go figure...

 

Question about the hands. When I looked at "Num UV sets", of the hand meshes it's something like 4097. Do I change that? and what do I change it to?

YES.  Change it to 1.  4097 is a default export Blender value.  Since Skyrim nifs need to be hacked in and out of Blender as FO meshes those values export as well.  They are WRONG.

 

Re-read the the first post.  All will be clear and you'll be happy with me (doubtful) and happy with your game (maybe).

[Dallas-Arbiter]

 

This goes for outfits too?

Yes.  The gray 'I can see detail on the mesh' is a render nightmare for Skyrim.  Have you have ever had the deal where you change cells or enter a cell and the NPCs have desaturated/ gray crazy dark skin?  Those jacked values in nifskope are part of the blame.  I have gone through and redone every player-made mesh in made game.  Thank GOD it was only about 20.

 

90% of the CBBE and UNP outfits I have in my folders have this going on.  Funny that SOS doesn't.  People are crazy over female body mods, and they are the most fucked.  Go figure...

 

Question about the hands. When I looked at "Num UV sets", of the hand meshes it's something like 4097. Do I change that? and what do I change it to?

YES.  Change it to 1.  4097 is a default export Blender value.  Since Skyrim nifs need to be hacked in and out of Blender as FO meshes those values export as well.  They are WRONG.

 

Re-read the the first post.  All will be clear and you'll be happy with me (doubtful) and happy with your game (maybe).

 

 

K, I did everything but the hands, I did read the first post, just wasn't sure. But the neck seam is gone completely now, so yeah, I'm quite happy.

 

[Kendo 2]

... the neck seam is gone completely now, so yeah, I'm quite happy.

Mission accomplished on my part then.  The shit is fixed and you're happy.

[Gameplayer]

Alright so when I changed this outfits to the directions, when inside the outfit was quite darkly textured and outside it was well the colors looked normal.  The prior values the outfit almost looks the same texture wise between exterior and interior cell.

 

 

AHAH

 

I forgot to change the num value from 4097 to 1.

 

Also it would appear that when I generate a nif or slider, from outfit studio....There is some f'd up imprinting of old values.

[Kendo 2]

I don't use slider mods so I really wouldn't know.  Player made utilities for players are just that.

[darkconsole]

congrats [and thanks] on your easy to follow tutorial. i notice on your profile photo there is no neck seam, it must work marvelous!

[DMCDante]

Thanks it fixed my, albeit small but still visible, neck seam.

Also I wonder is it possible to make a small app or script or whatever you wanna call it so one can auto update every mesh he has to this little but effective edit? I mean it must be a nightmare fixing meshes from hundreds of armor mods if one uses such (I do, most of the vanilla+dlc armor sets are skimpified for the body I use )

[Kendo 2]

Thanks it fixed my, albeit small but still visible, neck seam.

 

Also I wonder is it possible to make a small app or script or whatever you wanna call it so one can auto update every mesh he has to this little but effective edit? I mean it must be a nightmare fixing meshes from hundreds of armor mods if one uses such (I do, most of the vanilla+dlc armor sets are skimpified for the body I use )

Well, it is a nifscope issue so I don't know about an all-in-one fix.  Maybe an executable jar file could do it.  I have no idea.  Not a programmer.

 

And if you're still getting a minor seam then check your msn normals and make sure they all come from the same source mod.  Mixing and matching between mods (even ones made for the same body) can have dubious results.  I've tried Texture Blender and it doesn't work as advertised.  Half of the time it destroys the head normals.  At least that was my case.  That's how I discovered the errors in nifscope.  I was comparing modded bodies to vanilla bodies node by node.

[DMCDante]

I have no seams anymore at all, thanks to this quick tip. Before applying your fix I had a small barely visible seam. All the textures came from SG, but used a wet body (I dunno what it's called I believe it was a _s file) and a fitness normal (I guess that is _msn) from other sources. But thanks to this no seams are visible.

[Kendo 2]

AWESOME.

[RitualClarity]

 

  Now to only get that dang nifskope properly installed..

More to the point... get off my lazy green ass

[seiken42]

Hello, I use CBBE Slim with Bodyslide 2 and have neck, wrist and ankle seams. I tried to follow this guide to find that, for femalebody_0.nif,  Endian was already little, Has Normals is already No and Num UV Sets is set to 0 and greyed out, unchangeable. The mesh is definitely not grey in nifskope, renders nips and all. Any idea how i can force a change to Num UV Sets or what else could be causing the seams? Tank you very much

[Kendo 2]

Try opening a different nif, like a CBBE body that doesn't use bodyslide. (We're checking to see if your version of Nifskope is a good one or an experimental dev one.)

[seiken42]

Try opening a different nif, like a CBBE body that doesn't use bodyslide. (We're checking to see if your version of Nifskope is a good one or an experimental dev one.)

Thank you for your swift response. So, for some variety i opened up femalebody_0.nif from the CBBE archive, pre-bodyslid, slimhorse.nif from Skyrim Horses Renewal and femalebody_0 from the bethesda mesh archive. All have Num UV Sets at 0 and greyed out. My Nifskope is v. 1.1.3, file modified November 2012 (which seems mighty old to me.) Simple as updating Nifskope?

 

Edit: Upon further investigation, 1.1.3 is the latest stable build available from NifTools, so its not that (as far as i can tell). 

[Kendo 2]

Don't update it.  I'll do some asking around and see what the deal is.

[seiken42]

Don't update it.  I'll do some asking around and see what the deal is.

Thank you kindly, good sir.

[Kendo 2]

Okay.  I have version 1.1.0. dated from 2010.  The one person I could get a hold of said he doesn't have a clue why you can't change the UV value.  I don't know either.  Do me a favor and attach your femalebody_0 nif so I can look at it.  In the meantime, contact the author of the mod and see what version of Nifskope he is using.  You might want to tell him what you're trying to do and get what info you can.  If you could share what he tells you here that would be a big help, not only for me but for anyone else who will have this issue with the UV value being locked.

[seiken42]

Heres the femalebody_0 that i use ingame that im trying to change, its post-bodyslide but with the stock slim preset so it should be pretty standard. I'll hit up caliente on nexus but im sure he's swamped with nonsense messages as it is. Although since it is with every nif i open up that i see this happen, in the meantime i'll try to find a Nifskope 1.1.0 and see if it works. Thanks for all your help, you're fantastic

femalebody_0.nif