Anyway to test char textures without actually starting skyrim?

[CJD16]

Hello,

 

As the title states, I'm curious if there is a way, some program or something that will allow you to load the Female or any character NIF files and test out how they look with your specific textures? 

 

I'd like to edit my textures and hopefully see how they look before having to take a look then turn off game, tweak, restart, etc. 

 

Can it be done in nifskope, or body slide, or even 3DSMax maybe? 

 

Thanks for your time. 

Couldn't have been the only one who has thought of this so far with how much people tweak their ladies textures. 

 

Also I'd like to be able to do with male and Orc and other races too, but that would be a luxury. Females at the least. 

[Kastagir]

Nifskope 2 alpha is your only option if you want to see what it will truly look like in-game. Other options will only show the diffuse texture and not the effects of the normal or specular maps. 3D Studio Max will render everything if it's configured properly but it's far more effort than simply launching the game.

[CJD16]

Nifskope 2 alpha is your only option if you want to see what it will truly look like in-game. Other options will only show the diffuse texture and not the effects of the normal or specular maps.

Perfect thank you so much. 

 

But will I be able to load the whole character body with head and hands and feet etc? Or will I have to view them seperately? 

[Akzyra]

NifSkope: Yes, set up where the texture files get loaded from.

Bodyslide: Just install the textures normally into Skyrim and start it. Other models may need to be imported into Outfit Studio

3dsMax : Import model and setup the material to point to your files as it probably won't find them.

 

Edit: You could do that in NifSkope but it would require merging different files.

[Kastagir]

 

Nifskope 2 alpha is your only option if you want to see what it will truly look like in-game. Other options will only show the diffuse texture and not the effects of the normal or specular maps.

Perfect thank you so much. 

 

But will I be able to load the whole character body with head and hands and feet etc? Or will I have to view them seperately? 

 

 

You can't "paste branch" NiTriShapes if their parent nodes (skeleton bones) aren't present.  To get around this, open the skeleton .nif file and "paste branch" each body part NiTriShape to get a full body.  Then use "Optimize - Remove Bogus Nodes" from the Spells menu to get rid of unused bones.  It's a good idea to save this compiled .nif for later use.  You can use your exported head mesh (at 100% weight to match the _1 body) from Racemenu if you don't want to use the default head mesh.  It may give you a better idea of what textures will look like on a particular character or actor.

 

[CJD16]

Great thank you guys so much for your help. Can't wait to try this tonight. 

[myuhinny]

There is also mesh rigger to add nodes to a mesh if the template has the nodes needed that will allow you to paste something into the nif there is also outfit studio that can paste nodes into a item while you have it in outfit studio. 

[eifrag]

you can do this in MO without restarting skyrim

 

bijin lydia for example

 

>find lydia in-game

>alt-tab skyrim

>open bijn lydia mod folder in explorer

>change body textures

>alt-tab skyrim

>disable-enable lydia

>see changes