Can anybody please explain to me how to make a standalone follower with ECE?

[Youwish1]

Ok so i've been watching tutorials and such and read up on a great one on the nexus but what confuses me is not everything is explained. Such as. Not uploading assets and how to work around that. Do i use .Tri files? if i didn't use YgNord?.Do i even need ECE files if i used a vanilla race?. If i do what tri files will i need, are there specific ones for my character?. What about separate face textures? how are those applied?, a lot of these are not explained and if they were then i guess i am just stupid and ignorant. Probably the latter!. Thanks in advance!.