FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted July 9, 2012 Posted July 9, 2012 Hey there! The files in this - "Perfect Neck Seam" kit - are unusable without far, FAR more knowledge of Gimp 2 than I have, or that I have yet been able to divulge from a growing number of Gimp tutorials. It involves applying layers which are mismatched in terms of size to another texture file. I have tried to work through this several times now, and have only succeeded in butchering my skin textures & having to re-apply them all. Even where layers are NOT differently sized (and I have tried re-sizing), I am likely approaching the entire exercise in completely the wrong way (get layer from one file, select all, deposit into new layer on target .dds, etc. does not seem to be working), and I need some help. A thorough, "HOW TO USE THIS MOD FOR BEGINNERS USING GIMP 2" is sorely needed if somebody feels up to doing it. For those with the knowledge, this is likely an extraordinarily simple exercise, and would be greatly appreciated by a good many people!
foreveraloneguy Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 I figured this out after some trial and error a couple of weeks ago. You don't apply this directly from gimp. You need to save out the individual layers by unchecking the eye next to each layer you don't want after opening the file in gimp, then save that into, for example, the color directory under "TexBlend\Library\Body and Feet\" as a psd file of your own naming, then use texblend to apply them. For the CBBE and UNP bodies, default textures are assumed, it appears. So in the above example, uncheck everything in the psd you got except the color layer, then save that off under "TexBlend\Library\Body and Feet\Color" as "mycustomcbbebodyblend.psd", then open up texblend and select that to apply the skin texture color blending. You have to repeat that for every layer, and each one has to be saved into the right directory for body and feet color, specular, skin, and normal. Then do the same thing for the head. In any case, I really was able to get a truly invisible neck seam with pretty face pack and the default cbbe body texture after many months of trying other things. If you need more help than that, I could eventually throw a tutorial together, but work has me so swamped it would take at least a couple weeks to document what's actually about about a 20-30 minute process, start to finish including the actual blending.
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted July 12, 2012 Author Posted July 12, 2012 I figured this out after some trial and error a couple of weeks ago. You don't apply this directly from gimp. You need to save out the individual layers by unchecking the eye next to each layer you don't want after opening the file in gimp' date=' then save that into, for example, the color directory under "TexBlend\Library\Body and Feet\" as a psd file of your own naming, then use texblend to apply them. For the CBBE and UNP bodies, default textures are assumed, it appears. So in the above example, uncheck everything in the psd you got except the color layer, then save that off under "TexBlend\Library\Body and Feet\Color" as "mycustomcbbebodyblend.psd", then open up texblend and select that to apply the skin texture color blending. You have to repeat that for every layer, and each one has to be saved into the right directory for body and feet color, specular, skin, and normal. Then do the same thing for the head. In any case, I really was able to get a truly invisible neck seam with pretty face pack and the default cbbe body texture after many months of trying other things. If you need more help than that, I could eventually throw a tutorial together, but work has me so swamped it would take at least a couple weeks to document what's actually about about a 20-30 minute process, start to finish including the actual blending. [/quote'] AH-HA!! Very, VERY useful info! This, I can definitely do - I did not know that this was how to approach it! Yay! Okay - here is how it looks at the neck (courtesy of Lydia)! PERFECT! Yay! ALSO - following these instructions, I was able to slightly improve the mismatch between Navetsea's hands & the rest of the body. EVEN MORE - I can now use the "Sporty Sexy" normals with Navetsea's body & head textures over a CBBEv3M body and have NO neck seams! WOOHOO! In indoor conditions, seams all over the body are virtually INVISIBLE. In outdoor conditions, seams at the neck & feet are BARELY visible (only at close zoom range using tfc 1 / sucsm 1 can they barely be traced). There is still a slight mismatch between body & hands - the hands are somewhat lighter than the body, but it is noticeably better (the godawful post-blending "I've been wrist-deep in 'Mission-Brown' fence stain" hands are gone), & not particularly apparent outside of short-range. Thank-you VERY much indeed for this enormously helpful tip! May I post this info on Nexus? There have been a TON of people confused by this!
foreveraloneguy Posted July 13, 2012 Posted July 13, 2012 I just posted it in the main comments thread, but if people are asking other places, feel free to post it anywhere it might be helpful. My username over there is narphous, if you think to give credit. I won't cry if you don't.
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted July 14, 2012 Author Posted July 14, 2012 Yay! Thanks again for your help!!!
vwguy Posted July 16, 2012 Posted July 16, 2012 Alright so I am a little slow with this. so I have the blender tool and I have the blend kit found here: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/16263/?tab=2&navtag=/ajax/modimages/?user=0|:|id=16263#content. I followed the instructions and have the same issue as before.
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted July 19, 2012 Author Posted July 19, 2012 Alright so I am a little slow with this. so I have the blender tool and I have the blend kit found here: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/16263/?tab=2&navtag=/ajax/modimages/?user=0|:|id=16263#content. I followed the instructions and have the same issue as before. That pic looks like you've modified an NPC, yes? It looks like you're experiencing the "Grey Face" bug (as in like, "I changed an NPC's looks & now their face has gone a weird dark colour") - is that correct? If so - that's actually a different problem, and can be fixed through the Creation Kit. If you have modded an NPC, once you've finished editing their looks in the CK, make sure you locate their name in the "Actors" list in the Object Window, click on the name once to highlight it, and press CTRL+F4 to export their Facegen. You will be prompted to continue, hit "Yes", and wait a moment. You will be notified when it is done. Then go & view the results in-game (if you saved your NPC to an .esp file, make sure you have ticked/checked it in your NMM plugins list so it will load). The method outlined by foreveraloneguy will fix the seams between body & neck, provided you get it right (it may take a couple of tries & some tinkering - I know it did for me!), but it won't fix the grey-face problem. Additionally, that kit you've used may not actually be the right one for the body & texture mods you are using - which ones *are* you using? OR - am I barking up the wrong tree here? Is it instead that you used TexBlend & all of a sudden the head textures all went weird?
chinpoppo Posted December 24, 2012 Posted December 24, 2012 Will this work with a fairskin mod ? Plus, unn, for cbbe it;'s alo include and a SK file lay, when to put it ? in what textblend folder I forgot, add, if it's posible can any one show me where exsist more deteil FAQ ? for this mod ?
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted December 26, 2012 Author Posted December 26, 2012 Will this work with a fairskin mod ? Plus' date=' unn, for cbbe it;'s alo include and a SK file lay, when to put it ? in what textblend folder I forgot, add, if it's posible can any one show me where exsist more deteil FAQ ? for this mod ? [/quote'] I'm gunna go ahead & post Divistator's excellent tutorial post contents here: Divstator 1 kudos 5 postsAppologies for the length, just remove it if it's too long. Tutorial for GIMP ver. 2.6.11 users: Getting the dds plug-in to work in GIMP is beyond the scope of this tutorial. I believe for 2.6.11 it is already installed but I'm not certain. A short explanation of the psd files. The files "feather" the neck seam for the head of one mod to match the body of another mod. There are potentially 4 different files for the head and 4 different files for the body. From the head mod you will be looking for femalehead.dds(Color), femalehead_msn.dds(Normal Map), femalehead_s.dds(Specular Map) and female_sk.dds(Skin). The body files are femalebody_1.dds(Color), female_1_msn.dds(Normal Map), female_1_s.dds(Specular Map) and female_1_sk.dds(Skin). These textures should be located in the \Data\textures\actor\character\female folder. So, let's say I wanted to match "Better Females By Bella" faces to the body of "ADEC". First I would create a working directory...say C:\Neck Blend. I would copy the file Better_Females_by_Bella_Version_3-2812-3.zip into C:\Neck Blend. Extract the zip file. Depending on how you extracted the file you will be looking for a directory path something like C:\Neck Blend\Better_Females_by_Bella_Version_3-2812-3\Data\Textures\Actors\Character\Female. Inside the "Female" folder of this directory path you will find the files femalehead.dds, femalehead_msn.dds and femalehead_s.dds. Now copy the file "First_step_Head_part-7582-.7z" into C:\Neck Blend. Extract the 7zip file. You should find a file named "NeckTexBlendHead.psd". Open this file with GIMP. You will see 3 main windows, a toolbox window(left), an image window(center) and a layers window(right). Now goto File->Open as Layers. Drill down through the folders to select the "femalehead.dds" file(ex. Better_Females_by_Bella_Version_3-2812-3\Data\Textures\Actors\Character\Female\femalehead.dds). Hit the "Open" button. Hit the "Ok" button on the pop-up window. In the "layers" window on the right you should see a layer labeled "femalehead.dds". There should also be an "eye" to the left of this layer. This "eye" indicates that this layer is visible. There should also be a layer labeled "Color". This layer needs to be above the "femalehead.dds" layer. Click to the left of the "Color" layer on the "eye" to make the "Color" layer visible(if you toggle the "eye" on and off you should notice a slight change to bottom of the image). Now click on Edit->Copy Visible. Click Edit->Paste As->New Image. You should now see a new "Untitled" image window. Make sure this window has the focus(is active). Click File->Save As. Drill down to C:\Neck Blend\Better_Females_by_Bella_Version_3-2812-3\Data\Textures\Actors\Character\Female. Enter femalehead.dds for the "Name" of the file. Confirm that you want to replace the file(hit the "Replace" button). On the pop-up window, tick the "Generate Mip Maps" check box and hit the "Ok" button. Close the "femalehead.dds" window. Close the "NeckTexBlendHead" image window. Choose the "Don't Save" button. Now it's time to do the body texture. It's a bit easier. Copy the "Second_step_ADEC_body-7582-.7z" file into the C:\Neck Blend folder. Extract the 7zip file. You should find a "NeckTexBlendADEC.psd" file. Open this file in GIMP. Now, depending on which body type you want for your ADEC body, you will have to choose whether you want the "Default", "Pubic1" or "Pubic2" layer. Let's say you choose the "Default" layer. Make sure it is visible(click the "eye" to the left of the layer). Make sure the "Color" layer is visible. Choose Edit->Copy Visible. Choose Edit->Paste As->New Image. You should now see a new "Untitled" image window. Make sure this window has the focus(is active). Choose File->Save As. Drill down to C:\Neck Blend\Better_Females_by_Bella_Version_3-2812-3\Data\Textures\Actors\Character\Female. Enter femalebody_1.dds for the "Name" of the file. On the pop-up window, tick the "Generate Mip Maps" check box and hit the "Ok" button. Close the "femalebody_1.dds" window. Close the "NeckTexBlendADEC" image window. Choose the "Don't Save" button. Copy the files femalehead.dds and femalebody_1.dds from "C:\Neck Blend\Better_Females_by_Bella_Version_3-2812-3\Data\Textures\Actors\Character\Female" to \Data\textures\actors\character\female (normally C:\Program Files (x86)\steamapps\common\Skyrim\Data\textures\actors\character\female). Choose "Copy and Replace" if prompted. And that's it for the "Color" type files. You will want to repeat this procedure for the remaining "Normal Map", "Specular Map" and "Skin" texture files. I normally do all the head files and then the body files. Also for the body part, name your files for the layers you choose as visible. femalebody_1_msn.dds = "Normal Map" - layer name = "MSN" and "msn" femalebody_1_s.dds = "Specular Map" - layer name = "S" and "S#1" femalebody_1_sk = "Skin" - layer name = "SK" and "Sk" The above material was posted subsequent to this thread being made, and it is an excellent, beginner-friendly walkthrough of the process. Once again - many thanks to Foreveraloneguy, Silvist, Narphous, and Divistator for being so helpful with this! That should answer any questions anyone following-up on this process might have! NOW... When you've made your new .psds for blending, you are going to need to place them in your "Library" folder in TexBlend: ...\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\common\skyrim\Data\CalienteTools\TexBlendHEAVY\Library HOWEVER... The older "Lite" version of TexBlend often used by people only addressed the neck seam - not wrists or feet or anything else. I use Caliente's standalone version - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5737/?tab=3&navtag=%2Fajax%2Fmodimages%2F%3Fuser%3D0%26id%3D5737 (I tend to think of it as a heavier-duty version, hence the folder name in the location address above) This version will allow you to address "Body and Feet", "Hands", and "Head", and includes an easy to use interface. All the folders are clearly labelled - and if any are not present, you can simply make your own when you are placing all the .psd resources for your new blending kits. Caliente also includes a thorough description of what TexBlend is and how to use it at the above link. Good Luck!
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted December 31, 2012 Author Posted December 31, 2012 One more thing here - I was reminded of (and confounded, and infuriated by) this today... The "Source Preview" window in TexBlend can at times fail to load or display, leading to TexBlend being unable to blend textures. This has occurred at my end when I have tried to use newly-made .psd's. I have no idea *WHY*. The solution - or workaround, at least - is to delete and re-generate (& re-configure if necessary) Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini located at: \Users\(your name here)\Documents\my games\Skyrim No seriously - I have no idea why. But it *does* work...
chinpoppo Posted January 3, 2013 Posted January 3, 2013 actualy, you're long message, didn't asnwer on any of question what i ask. gimp faq unusless, i don't even know how it's look like, since i use useo nly photophop. but, htank you for try.
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted January 4, 2013 Author Posted January 4, 2013 actualy' date=' you're long message, didn't asnwer on any of question what i ask. gimp faq unusless, i don't even know how it's look like, since i use use only photophop. but, htank you for try. [/quote'] Ah crap - sorry chinpoppo! I don't use photoshop, so I'm not very aware of what might be a good alternative tutorial. Were you able to locate the correct locations for .psd's in CalienteTools Library folders?
anavar Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 actualy' date=' you're long message, didn't asnwer on any of question what i ask. gimp faq unusless, i don't even know how it's look like, since i use useo nly photophop. but, htank you for try. [/quote'] you have to create a new SK folder, for skin. using photoshop is simple, first you must install nvidia dds https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop then open the neckblendkit you've downloaded from perfect seamkit by radiorage right click on the layer you wish to modify (color, specular, and normal)], choose duplicate layer and set the duplicate to new file after you've got new windows and 1 layer which youve duplicated open the .dds you wish to edit (female_head.dds for example) dont generate mipmaps and load their actual size., when the file is open duplicate to the file youve duplicated recently and put this duplicated to the bottom order, save 8,8,8, Generate mipmaps.. youre done.. the other way open the neckblendkit you've downloaded from perfect seamkit by radiorage right click on the layer you wish to modify (color, specular, and normal)], choose duplicate layer and set the duplicate to new file and save as PSD in the Library folder of your Texblend. Head folder if you the duplicated file is the head color, specular or maps..
ger4 Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 Can anyone port this over to oblivion? I know that the neck seems on that can't be fixed completely due to engine bugs, but this may still help greatly.
sniperdoc Posted March 15, 2013 Posted March 15, 2013 actualy, you're long message, didn't asnwer on any of question what i ask. gimp faq unusless, i don't even know how it's look like, since i use useo nly photophop. but, htank you for try. Actually, GImp's instructions are very translatable to Photoshop. It isn't step by step, but if you are familiar with Photoshop it should be very easy to understand what Gimp is doing and convert it to Photoshop. --------- I did have a question though. It seems people still say to use the Texture Blender even though you're using Photoshop or Gimp? Can't all the steps be accomplished with an image editor without having to resort to the Texture Blender? Reason I ask, because I'd like to incorporate the edited or "fixed" files into the mod itself, so as I deactivate and reactivate it, I don't have to do this blending every time... that would work right? I know there is a little more work involved using the image editor, i.e. manual blending and lining up of texture and combining them, but considering there are so many various body and head diffuse, normal and specular maps, such as Milkdrinker, Barbarian, Sweaty, Milf, Bella's Better Females, Navateas faces, Fit with/out abs, Body Imperfect, Dry Skin, etc... using the default UNP Texture Blend on a UNPB that has a variety of skin mods would still make some mods have a massive seam...? For example, I used the Texture Blender for UNP on the following Dark Elf female that has light human skin to make her appear more like a human (used RaceMenu's color sliders to achieve that): Better Females by Bella Natural Edition (including the New Normal Maps) and UNPB 2.4 with UNP Fitness Body Less Abs with Body Imperfect Clean and the neck and face ended up being much brighter and flatter when compared to the body and made the seam much more apparent. So, if I wanted to use Photoshop, I should be able to do all that using the image editor, save all the files back to the mod so that if I do have problems and need to remove and add the mod back in later, that I don't have to go through all this again?
mineme Posted August 26, 2013 Posted August 26, 2013 This is an exactly good board for me to know how to manually blend the textures. Although I didn't know any about gimp, but I was familiar with P.S. so I think it is very likely to blend texture in Photoshop by a very similar process. It worked I tried, however I think it is still an inconvenient way to blend textures if someone want to create a very accordant texture compared with the original one. I mean the original textures have many details which could hardly be duplicated into the new blended texture parts. The current method is like a simple fading which just put a gradually changing color on the original texture. I didn’t try TexBlend because I didn’t know how to use it correctly. I guess it must be a very simple and fast way to blend the textures roughly. Is there any blending tutorial in more depth I am wondering. Anyway, I just want to say thanks for all these very useful messages.
illuminaughty Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 hi guys i willing to learn .. i try learn from nexus the shit is no pic there http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/597488-tutorial-fixing-neck-seams-with-the-psd/ can you help me step by step with pic guide to fix this silly neck seam on my new char i called her mrs Boufiltre i tried many tools but make my char more worse than pretty Halp me pls and luv u all \m/
Eikichi Onizuka Posted March 23, 2014 Posted March 23, 2014 Hey there! The files in this - "Perfect Neck Seam" kit - are unusable without far, FAR more knowledge of Gimp 2 than I have, or that I have yet been able to divulge from a growing number of Gimp tutorials. It involves applying layers which are mismatched in terms of size to another texture file. I have tried to work through this several times now, and have only succeeded in butchering my skin textures & having to re-apply them all. Even where layers are NOT differently sized (and I have tried re-sizing), I am likely approaching the entire exercise in completely the wrong way (get layer from one file, select all, deposit into new layer on target .dds, etc. does not seem to be working), and I need some help. A thorough, "HOW TO USE THIS MOD FOR BEGINNERS USING GIMP 2" is sorely needed if somebody feels up to doing it. For those with the knowledge, this is likely an extraordinarily simple exercise, and would be greatly appreciated by a good many people! Please.. reupload "Perfect Neck Seam" kit
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted March 23, 2014 Author Posted March 23, 2014 It is no longer needed really. It is the resource which was often used by UNP users prior to the release of Svarog's UNP Texture Blender. Try that instead. Instructions can be found in the mod's Description - read it carefully. Make sure you pick the right version for the texture set you use.
Eikichi Onizuka Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 It is no longer needed really. It is the resource which was often used by UNP users prior to the release of Svarog's UNP Texture Blender. Try that instead. Instructions can be found in the mod's Description - read it carefully. Make sure you pick the right version for the texture set you use. The problem neck seam has been generated in the process of conversion of the original PC in a Follower, only follower has the problem between the body and the head, as you can see here: http://www.loverslab.com/uploads/monthly_03_2014/msg-204983-0-27812100-1395623743.jpg
FastestDogInTheDistrict Posted March 24, 2014 Author Posted March 24, 2014 Unless you're messing around with custom races or incompatible mods, or are making a PC-lookalike using some additional program or non-CK method (which frequently causes problems and/or poor results, and which you do not need to do), your NPCs and character should all be accessing their textures from the same, standard, Vanilla folders. If they are not, then locate the folder/s they ARE using, and over-write the contents with the blended textures from your regular "female" folder (...\Skyrim\Data\Textures\actors\character\female). You will also need to ensure that any .esp for your follower/NPC is correctly placed in your load order, or you may experience results like that shown in the picture regardless of what you do. *Don't forget - if you use mods such as CharGen Extension or ECE to make your character, then you will need to follow the tutorials for how to properly create your NPC, if you have not already done so. Any such information should be contained, or at least linked to, in that mod's Description.
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