Difference between revisions of "NifSkope Alchemy"
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Added note about using underscores for shared normal maps.
imported>Lhammonds m (Removed link to Discussion Topic which no longer exists.) |
imported>Lhammonds (Added note about using underscores for shared normal maps.) |
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To start with textures, it is important to note that NifSkope needs to be configured properly. Since the 0.94 version you can have NifSkope do this automatically. Go to the Render menu >Settings. Push the Oblivion button in the Auto Detect field. The correct Oblivion Data folder path should appear in the Custom field. You can find more information of this feature at the [http://www.niftools.org/wiki/index.php/NifSkope/Setting_the_Texture_Search_Path Setting the Texture Search Path] article of the NifTools.org site. If you use an earlier version: Go to the Spells menu >Textures>Folders. Select Oblivion's Data\ folder. Not the textures folder, this spell sets Data\ as the base folder, and will fill in the correct path when you select a new texture file. NifSkope will use /'s instead of \'s in the path. This will only cause problems if you are referencing a texture from within the Oblivion .bsa files. Onward! | To start with textures, it is important to note that NifSkope needs to be configured properly. Since the 0.94 version you can have NifSkope do this automatically. Go to the Render menu >Settings. Push the Oblivion button in the Auto Detect field. The correct Oblivion Data folder path should appear in the Custom field. You can find more information of this feature at the [http://www.niftools.org/wiki/index.php/NifSkope/Setting_the_Texture_Search_Path Setting the Texture Search Path] article of the NifTools.org site. If you use an earlier version: Go to the Spells menu >Textures>Folders. Select Oblivion's Data\ folder. Not the textures folder, this spell sets Data\ as the base folder, and will fill in the correct path when you select a new texture file. NifSkope will use /'s instead of \'s in the path. This will only cause problems if you are referencing a texture from within the Oblivion .bsa files. Onward! | ||
Nearly every nif has two texture files associated, stored in the dds format. The color map, and the Normal Map. Say, Sword.dds and Sword_n.dds. When you assign the Sword.dds, the Oblivion engine automatically seeks out Sword_n.dds. | Nearly every nif has two texture files associated, stored in the dds format. The color map, and the Normal Map. Say, Sword.dds and Sword_n.dds. When you assign the Sword.dds, the Oblivion engine automatically seeks out Sword_n.dds. | ||
If your filename has extra underscores in it, there will be problems, so: No Underscores. | If your filename has extra underscores in it, there will likely be problems, so: No Underscores. The only time to use underscores is the scenario where you are sharing a common normal map. If you have 3 glass swords that are identical except in color, you could share the same normal map by using an underscore in the name such as GlassSword_Red.dds, GlassSword_Green.dds, GlassSword_Blue.dds and the game engine will search for GlassSword_n.dds for each one...thus sharing the same normal map. | ||
In the color map, the Alpha channel should be white, unless you are using transparency, then Black is transparent, and white is opaque. I will touch on how to enable Transparency later. For the normal map, the alpha channel controls the amount of specularity on the mesh, again, black=not shiny, White=Shiny. | In the color map, the Alpha channel should be white, unless you are using transparency, then Black is transparent, and white is opaque. I will touch on how to enable Transparency later. For the normal map, the alpha channel controls the amount of specularity on the mesh, again, black=not shiny, White=Shiny. | ||