NifSkope: Multilayered Transparency
| Tools used in this tutorial
Required |
In the previous transparency tutorial - Exporting Transparant Textures - you learned how to create, set up, and export transparent textures through using 3D Studio Max and the Civ4 Nif Exporter. In this tutorial you will learn how to set up multiple layers of transparency. Why would you need to do that, you may ask - was there anything wrong with the frizzy edge on the rug in the first tutorial? No, there wasn't, because it would never have to worry about transparent layers on the other side of it from the player's perspective. But in many cases when working with transparent textures, that will be the case.
Simply put, when you export a transparent texture on a model with the Civ4 Exporter, the transparent part of it will look invisible to the player whether there is another transparent layer behind it or not.
What you'll need for this tutorial:
- 3D Studio Max v8.0
- Civ4 Nif Exporter
- NifSkope
- Download Reference Files for this tutorial.
It's a 7-zip archive. 7-zip is a freeware zip program which can be downloaded from 7-zip.org. It can achieve superior compression compared to any other zip program out there.
¤1. Instead of me trying to explain it in words, go ahead and open up "RP01a - Lacks proper transparancy.nif" (in the "Nif Example Files" folder) in NifSkope, which should look similar to Image 1. Examine the canopy, and you'll see what I meant. Because the transparent layers can be viewed through each other, it will look very bizarre and shoddy and not at all like Dracus intended it when he modeled the tree.
¤2. We need to examine and edit the block details of the nif file, so press F2 or go to "View > Block Details" in order for this infobox to become visible.
¤3. When you open a nif in NifSkope, the nif tree is rolled up. To unroll it for the RP01a nif, click on the plus sign to the left of the text "NiNode". Continue to unroll it until it looks like in Image 3 and you can see the text "NiAlphaProperty". Now check out the block details, and you'll see the number 237 to the right of a flag symbol.
¤4. If you double click on the number 237 you'll get a textbox, in which will let you replace the number with the proper one. Remember, as the name implies the Civ4 Nif Exporter was designed for a totally different game than Oblivion, and the fact that it works at all is nothing short of a miracle. After you've double clicked the number you'll need to left-click once in the textbox to get the cursor to show up, then use backspace on your keyboard to delete the number, and instead write 4845.
¤5. Hit returns to see the magic happen before your eyes. Yaay, it looks like a tree again! If you didn't get it to work, NifSkope the other nif file - "RP01b - Has proper transparancy" - where it's set up, and compare the differences in it with the RP01a nif.
If you would like to use this tree in your mod, you are free to do so. It's not my assets to share, but you should credit Dracus for the model and leaf texture and Lemog3d for the bark texture. Of course, don't forget to change the texture paths in NifSkope to wherever you choose to place the texture files, otherwise the tree will turn up untextured. If you don't know how, check out some of the reskinning tutorials here on the wiki.
My personal thank you goes out to all the hardworking guys of the NifTools group, who's amazing tools have enabled us modelers to unleash our creativity for Oblivion mods. Cheers guys!