3ds Max Distorting Imported nif Model

[Anonymous]

I have a Skyrim armor mod that started as one single model for both legs and top, which I have separated into 2 separate files - top and legs - using 3ds Max with some help over on the Modeling forum.

However, when I loaded my exported 'legs.nif' into Outfit Studio to fit it to my body mesh, I saw that 3ds Max had distorted my model, making one leg of both the Body and the Armor shorter than the other.  So I re-imported the original (combined top and bottom) nif back into 3dsMax and found that it was distorted there as well (in the original, not just in the export) and I simply hadn't noticed it.

This is not how the mesh actually is- in-game, in NifSkope and in Outfit Studio, the model shows correctly, both legs approximately the same length- in other words, bilaterally symmetrical.

I am attaching 3 images, all of the same nif model- one in NifSkope, one in Outfit Studio and one in 3ds Max. Only 3ds Max is distorting it.

How can I prevent 3ds Max from distorting my imported nif model so that when I remove the top and export the pants by themselves to a nif both legs will be the same length?

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous and welcome to the community,

From your screenshots, the bones on the feet are actually not in the same places.  Something about your nif importer or exporter from Max is causing the problem possibly, or one of the bones has been moved.  You could try to move it back... but if the problem exists in the importer or exporter those are all 3rd party and not really part of Max.  Which Max version and nif importer/exporter are you using?

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

I agree that the foot (and lower leg) bones appear to have been moved when the model is viewed in 3ds Max, however as you can see from the 3 images I posted, that appearance is false and only shows up in 3ds Max- the other three places I can see it in (in-game, in NifSkope and in Outfit Studio) do not show that at all.

I'm using 3ds Max 2016 and the only nif plugin I could find for it. If there is a selection of nif plugins (i.e., more than one) for 3ds Max 2016, please point me to one that doesn't distort the nif when it imports it.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

When I import a nif into 3ds Max, I get an Options popup. Because the options themselves seem goofy (nif files don't contain animations, so why is it asking me whether or not to include animations with nif files?) I just accept the defaults (shown in the attached image) and move on.

As info, I did find another nif plugin, installed it, and tried to import the Seraphine model, but it errored out with "premature end of stream" and dumped me to the 3ds interface without importing anything. So I reinstalled the only other plugin I can find and tried again, and got the same 'pegleg' result shown in my OP.

[Anonymous]

UPDATE:

After some experimentation, I have solved the 'pegleg' problem by unchecking the Skeleton-related options in the nif-Import Options popup (see previous image.) Sadly, while this has allowed me to split the single armor.nif mesh containing the top and pants into two separate meshes, top.nif and pants.nif, the resulting meshes are unusable in-game even after using Bodyslide to adjust them to the Reference Shape (body) I'm using and copy new bone weights to them.

So, the operation was a complete success but the patient died.

If anyone has any experience or insight into how, exactly, to use 3ds Max to split a multi-item nif into two separate nifs, please let me know. Thanks.

[Alfred.DeFlaminis · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous,

It seems a bit strange to me that the bone is moved in Max but not after.  Does the skeleton still work when you bring it into the game?  My thought is that the skin/bones aren't exporting from Max correctly which then shows the non-deformed model on whatever program viewer that is.  I'll admit I don't have much experience with nif importing/exporting and my best suggestion here is to contact the maker of the plugin.  I wish I could help here but I'm not familiar with this process.  

Best Regards,