.obj

[DarkAsmodeous]

I have a model open in blender that I spent a couple of hours to make, it's ok but not that great. I need to know all the steps necassary, from saving to importation, to get it ready for use in oblivion.

[DarkAsmodeous]

Please? for starters, do I need to UV map it, if so, where do I put the seam?

[Razorwing]

I humbly believe that you would have a much easier time if you used 3D Studio Max instead of Blender, especially now that gundalf created a new NIF exporter.

[DarkAsmodeous]

there is a NIF exporter for blender. what I need to know about is the textures. I will....aquire 3ds max at the nearest opportunity, but for now I want the model I made in game.

[Caligula Superfly]

Well, UV mapping is going to be nessisary yes, then you will need to export it as a .obj. There is actually a blender .nif exporter now, I can't remember where I got it though. If I find out ill post it. Anyways, as far as seams go, you don't actually NEED them. They are only for situations where blender couldn't unwrap them properly, a dome for instance. You could just unwrap the dome as is, but then you would get alot of "stretching" (where the texture would get distorted) along either the middle or the edges. But, if you put a seam going from the very top down one of the rows to the edge, then when it unwraps it will separate at that section, mapping much cleaner.

I usually don't have to use that though, you can often just highlight a section at a time and map those independantly (the edges of your selection almost acting as a seam).

Im not sure how much of that made sence, but to put it simply:

Uv mapping: Yes you need it, but what you do with seams is up to you. Nothing will go wrong by not using them, the mapping might just look funny.

Saving/Exporting: All you need to do is export it as a .obj, then you will be able to import it into nifskope to save as a .nif. OR, if you have a .nif exporter for blender, then you just export and your done!

BTW: the one thing that really makes blender a pain is how small objects come out as. If you place a blender object into max (or OB for that matter) its going to look like a fly. The best solution for this I have been using is to take a model you know is the right size (like one of the lovely models ST has already finished) and import it into your file so you can see it up next to whatever your making. Then you ca nsize it up to whatever its supposed to be.

EDIT: I see you found the exporter

[DarkAsmodeous]

Thanks for the reply, Im still confused a little as to how to go about getting it ready for importation. do I just UV map it with nothing on the map, then give it a color map in nifscope?

[Caligula Superfly]

You should be able to do everything from blender itself. In the UV mapping thing, there is an image tab. If you select an image in the image tab, then all of the currently selected faces will have that image applied to it according to the mapping that has been set up. Once you export it as a .nif and import it into nifskope you will probably get an error message along the lines of "blahblah texture not found", in which case you will just need to dig into the proper tabs and reassign the location of the image, at which point it should pop right up.

[DarkAsmodeous]

Im sorry, I'm just not following.. I suppose I'll get max since people here seem more comfortable with it, I sure wish I oculd salvage the model though. perhaps someone can get the .oobj to a point where I can edit the texture to what I need? If not thats cool.

[Razorwing]

I bet Blender is a great program in its own right, but side by side, for an Oblivion modder - Max makes life a whole lot easier in my opinion. Every other post I've seen about it, on ESF and other places, revolves around getting it to work with Elder Scrolls models.

My best argument is that it's Bethesda's program of choice for creating Morrowind and Oblivion. If they ever release an official exporter - which going by gundalf's blazing progress seems like it won't matter anymore - it'll be for 3D Studio Max. Plus, because of Max's widespread use in general, skills learnt it might be beneficial in other areas of life in one's future.

- "Jack, Chris is sick today so you're gonna have to make that park concept for tomorrow's board meeting."
- "No problem Mike, I learnt how to use Max when I was modelling for Silgrad!"
....
- "Heeey, that turned out great Jack! The city planners are gonna love our proposal. I can see a promotion for you in the near future!"

[DarkAsmodeous]

yeah, max sounds good. Can max open .blend files?