Nif Import/Export plugin for 3dsmax 2013

Submitted by Ehamloptiran on

Hi all,

I have been busy porting the 3dsmax NIF Import/Export plugin to 2013. I will continue to update this topic with newer versions as I get further into the port. After the initial port is complete I will be focusing my attention on improving the plugin to get as close as possible to game ready assets straight from 3dsmax.

I have also started this topic so people can suggest improvements that they would like to see implemented once the base port is complete.

You can get the latest version (Last updated 11/08/2014) from here, for 64-bit:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqpBc4MrAMXc2dkRUhFSzdwNEE/edit?usp=sharing

And a test 32-bit version can be found (Last updated 11/08/2014) here (It does not contain the additional DLL's as they are 64-bit only - Which means no MOPP or Capsule collision exporting):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqpBc4MrAMXTWRIYmUyM3B0RGc/edit?usp=sharing

As of now the following has been implemented:

11/08/2014
- Fixed importing/exporting of skeletons. Plugin will now replace incoming bones from chosen skeleton.nif if "Import Skeleton" is chosen.

Change Log

16/02/2014
- Implemented exporting of SwitchNode objects.
- Fixed importing/exporting of capsule collisions, they should now appear in the correct place.

15/02/2014
- Added new SwitchNode object to create NiSwitchNode nodes. Have implmented importing of NiSwitchNode's using this new object. Exporting to come next.

12/02/2014
- Fixed imported transform animation. Should now look much better.
- Added importing of BSLODTriShape geometry.
- Added importing of BSLeafAnimNode and BSTreeNode and NiSwitchNode.
- Added importing of Texture and Material animations - Offset and Scale U/V and Alpha.

09/02/2014
- Big release: Added the ability to export Compressed mesh collisions. (Use the bhkRigidBody Modifier and set it to packed strips shape and the material to anything but default). For now it only supports one material, Which defaults to stone. A new modifier will need to be created to support multiple materials. Collision should work out of the box, no need to do anything in nifskope or any collision tools.

07/02/2014
- Havok collision shapes should now be correctly scaled on export and import.
- Num UV Sets now correctly set to 4097 and Tangents/Binormals are calculated.
- Vertex color import/export improvement. (Still more work to do)
- Correctly exports the root node selected in the Export Window.

06/02/2014
- Added importing of basic animation (NiTransformController no NiControllerManager)
- Added importing of skin modifier and BSDismemberment modifier.
- Added importing of textures from BSLightingShader and BSEffectShader nodes. Texture tiling supported as well as Scale and Offset.

05/02/2014
- Added importing of Vertex Colors and Skyrim compressed collision meshes with correct scale: Still need to merge and weld the chunks based on materials. (If you have changed the bhkScaleFactor in the ini file, please set back to 6.9969)

03/02/2014
- Added Importing of meshes, and some collisions - No textures or bones/skinned meshes.
- Added Furniture node - No exporting. Will be used during import.
- Added NifShader - Doesn't seem to generate correct nodes for Skyrim. Safer to use standard 3dsmax shader for now.
- Added saving of ini values. Dialog choices will now be remembered across exports.

02/02/2014
- Added bhkList and bhkProxy collision objects. Can now export MOPP collisions. All collision modules are now ported. There is still issues with materials, and the collision display does not update for bhkProxyObject style collisions.

01/02/2014
- Added bhkRigidBody modifier to export collisions of types: Axis Aligned Box, Sphere, Capsule, Tri Shape, Packed Tri Shape, and Convex. (Inlcudes MOPP exporting code, but currently does not export to MOPP). Currently the 3dsmax material applied to these objects is solid (not wireframe like previous versions).
- Added bhkBoxShape and bhkSphereShape helpers. Same material problem.

30/01/2014
- Added Dismemberment modifier, so can now export skin partitions. I had to change some of the code to prevent crashing in 3dsmax 2013, so not 100% confident that this is right. Please test thoroughly. (no crashes with modified code)

28/01/2014
- Exporting of static meshes
- Skinned meshes: excluding dismemberment.
- Animation: This requires a lot of work to make it work properly for Skyrim. I checked my existing plugin from 3dsmax 2011 and it also couldn't generate the correct nodes for a NIF file with a Manager. (Don't even try to use accum nodes at the moment, they break the NIF)

List of improvements I will be working on after base port:

- Vertex color export improvement
- Export the correct Num UV's - taking into consideration Tangents/Binormals
- Correctly calculate the Tangents/Binormals
- Correctly produce the correct animation nodes
- Incorporate Ormin's MOPP collision fixes
- Seperate materials for BSLightingShader and BSEffectShader nodes for Skyrim - with full configurability
- Particle systems

If you do download and test the plugin and something goes wrong. ie. 3dsmax crashes. Please show a screenshot, outline the steps you did to recieve the crash and your operating system version and type.
 

Karma: 9 (9 votes)
Last edited by Ehamloptiran on 10 Aug 2014 - 22:28.

I am a 32bit 3DsMax 2012 user.

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Ehamloptrian - thats amazing - ill check that out when i get home! Thanks a lot :)

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I will be testing this on new PC :)

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Google Drive gives me an Error 404 on the .dll and .dlu - if anyone has downloaded can they reupload the files?

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plasmax, select 'file' from the menu at the top and pick 'download' from the dropdown menu.

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Thank you cire! Don't know why I didn't try that.

Tested, worked. Issues:

1) Crashed once on export before I edited the .ini file to remove programs I don't have (Oblivion etc - didn't have to do this with 2011 version)

2) Selected BSFadeNode on export, got NiNode in nifskope

3) Had to re-assign textures once in nifskope, even after I edited the .ini adding direct mesh and texture paths (as I did with 2011).

Will be testing this more! :)

Karma: 0 (0 votes)

1) Crashed once on export before I edited the .ini file to remove programs I don't have (Oblivion etc - didn't have to do this with 2011 version)

If you have an ini file for the 2011 version, just copy that and replace the one I provided. Since the ini file I provided was my ini file from 2011.

2) Selected BSFadeNode on export, got NiNode in nifskope

This is normal for the moment, haven't implemented different root node's yet.

3) Had to re-assign textures once in nifskope, even after I edited the .ini adding direct mesh and texture paths (as I did with 2011).

I will look into this one, thought I had got the texture root paths implemented, apparently not.

EDIT: Just realised, very few of the ini options will actually work at this point, as I have not implemented that part. Which includes texture root paths, only the GUI option will work. Ini options will be implemented at the end, once the rest of the code has been ported.

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Added dismemberment modified. Updated first post and link has been updated to the latest version.

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Added bhkRigidBody modifier and some bhk helper objects. First post updated.

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Added bhkListObject and bhkProxyObject. MOPP style collisions can now be exported. First post updated.

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Testing rig export.

Stick with whatever the default is, but try unticking multiple partitions, this should generate a NiSkinInstance then add a BSDismemberment modifier, and export with Multiple Partitions and this should generate a Dismemberment node
 
Reading this made me realise I should probably be testing this stuff when I've had some sleep. :)
 
Anyway, I exported a simple cylinder with 3 bones & a skin modifier and then added dismemberment for the 2nd one. I'm using the 2011 MaxNifTools.ini if that's relevant.
 
 
Then create some collisions using the collision helper tools under NifTools under the Helpers tab and export and see if you get Collision nodes
 
This is the next step.
Karma: 2 (2 votes)

Ported furniture and shader code. Only importing is left of the base port. First post updated.

Karma: 1 (1 votes)

@Ehamloptiran:
I have been working on the creation of new tree models to be used in Skywind and Skyblivion, due to the limitations and bugs in the older 3DsMax exporters I never managed to produce a 100% working in game tree. It always requested allot of manual work in Nifskope to get things working. I am not a big fan of manual Nifskope work and due to my limited knowledge on all the settings, I never ever got a model to work in game without issues.

If you have some time I would like you to take a look at importing and exporting a default Skyrim tree model. Nif files containing trees are different from the other files.

Karma: 0 (0 votes)

Sjors Boomschors

If you have some time I would like you to take a look at importing and exporting a default Skyrim tree model. Nif files containing trees are different from the other files.

I plan to implement importing/exporting of custom nodes once the base port is complete. I will take note of trees. Also the plugin has been updated to include importing of meshes and some collisions. No textures or skinned meshes yet. First post updated.

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Added vertex colors and skyrim collisions to import. Updated first post.

Karma: 3 (3 votes)

Added importing of textures. Updated first post.

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Added importing of skin modifier and dismemberment. First post updated

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Man this is awesome! Keep up the good work. :)

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Someone has been a busy bee

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Added basic animation importing. First post updated.

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Just some small updates this time. Most important is the Havok shapes and Num UV Sets. First post updated.

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@Ehamloptiran:
The new 7-2-2014 32bit plugin does import models now, thanks! I will beable to test the plugin a bit more now.

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Your my hero Ehamloptiran.

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Added the ability to export Compressed mesh collisions. First post updated.

Model in 3dsmax with red outlined collision:

Mesh in CK previewer with black outlined collision:

Mesh ingame with collision:

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That box in Whiterun reminds me of obelisk form space odyssey :)

Awesome progress.

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wow, just wow.

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No update to plugin. But started working on particle system import and wanted to share progress. Currently working on PCloud emitters.

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Importing of BSTreeNode and BSLeafAnimNode:

Importing of Texture animation (Offset UV, Scale UV, Alpha)

First post updated.

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Added new SwitchNode object (Under helpers --> NifTools) to be able to create NiSwitchNode functionality. It allows you to visually flip between different branches. So far for import only.


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I'm not sure I'm even able to fathom just how helpful all of this will be for the project. Wow Eham; this is seriously amazing work! 

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Exporting of SwitchNode objects is now possible:


Fixed importing/exporting of capsule collisions:


First post updated.

Karma: 3 (3 votes)

Hello, I've been using this plugin successfully with 3DSMax 2014,

I just have 1 question, do you have any idea if this supports importing skeleton.nif files into 3dsMax and make the bones Max bones instead of dummy helpers?

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I have had no problems with importing skeleton.nif during testing. The only part it won't import at the moment are the collision constraints.

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(Using Max 2013) Recent versions of the plugin imports the skeleton.nif with all dummies instead of bones. I looked around the .ini and didn't see an option to import bones instead.

I also noticed Oblivion .KF animation files won't import to an Oblivion skeleton.nif. I know most of this is for Skyrim, but figured I'd point it out. (Thank you for the work either way!)

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hey great work on the plugin an i know it dont say its for 2015 x64 but it dont work for that just though it let you know :) works great for 2014 though :)

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Its not designed for newer versions at this point because an majority of the team is working in older versions.

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I'm actually surprised it works for 2014 (Good news it is, means I dont have to do a seperate 2014 build) as for 2015, I was not even aware that it was out yet. I will leave that for later when the plugin is more fleshed out.

Karma: 0 (0 votes)

Hi Ehamloptiran,

I'm using you version with Max 2014 and is working fine and really fast :D!

My only issue is that if I configure the INI textures and skeleton will show properly.

But Max will show a Error upon exporting.

picture of the error attached.

Any way to avoid this? Or just leave the INI as it is?

Attachment Size
Error 134.14 KB
Karma: 0 (0 votes)

Yeah, I'm getting that error message too for Exporting.
I'm pretty much following these video tutorials.
Because I'm saving my mods in a folder separate from my extracted data, I had to modify the plugin's directories for textures and meshes in the MaxNifTools.ini file.
Here's a snippet of the important change

After finally getting to video 6 and trying to export the models and skeleton I just imported I got that error message with the box text.

 

Not exactly sure what's goin on here.  Just a general error.  It seems to have something to do with the skeleton or nodes, cause if I have just the body and armor selected and do 'Export Selected' it works fine, but without a skeleton it's bare (of) bones.  Any thoughts?
I'm running 64 bit, on Windows 7.

Karma: 0 (0 votes)

Yeah the error is not exactly readable due to wide strings. Are you able to send me the MAX file? I plan to do a bunch of work on the plugin this weekend, so if you send me the MAX file, I may be able to fix the error you are having at the same time as my other work.

Karma: 0 (0 votes)

Ehamloptiran

Yeah the error is not exactly readable due to wide strings. Are you able to send me the MAX file? I plan to do a bunch of work on the plugin this weekend, so if you send me the MAX file, I may be able to fix the error you are having at the same time as my other work.

Sorry but.. what MAX file?

Error is in japanese or chinese now :/..

[External image]

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hi there, i've been trying to install this plugin. but i just keep failing. when i use it on 3ds max then i get an error message when opening 3ds max.

[External image]

Any suggestion for this? 

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This version of the plugin will not work on anything earlier than 3DS Max 2013

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Nice, i got it to work on 3ds max 2013, But i have another question. in nif utilities on max 2009/2012 you could set textures paths. When i import meshes into 3ds max with your 2013 plugin. Then it wont import the textures, Is there a way to set the textures paths again? for morrowind,Bloodmoon,Tribunal,oblivion,Knights of nine,Shivering isles, Skyrim

Still its a nice plugin

Karma: 0 (0 votes)

artizan

Nice, i got it to work on 3ds max 2013, But i have another question. in nif utilities on max 2009/2012 you could set textures paths. When i import meshes into 3ds max with your 2013 plugin. Then it wont import the textures, Is there a way to set the textures paths again? for morrowind,Bloodmoon,Tribunal,oblivion,Knights of nine,Shivering isles, Skyrim

Still its a nice plugin

right now loading textures by editing the INI file will cause errors when exporting. we need to wait for more updates from Ehamloptiran. But yes this plugin is very good! And our only hope to edit nifs with MAX 2013/14.

Karma: 1 (1 votes)

sorry double post.

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Having not attempted this before, I might be putting things in the wrong place, but after attempting to install the plugin, I'm getting the following error:

--------------------------- Error Loading Plug-in DLL ---------------------------

DLL <C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2013\PlugIns\EhamPlugin.dlu> failed to initialize. Error code 193 - %1 is not a valid Win32 application.  

So, I'm either sticking the file in the wrong place (very possible I suppose), or is there some other error?  And, yes, I did grab the x86 version and am using the 2013 32-bit version of 3ds.  

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Turns out I don't think this plugin successfully handles animations yet....

Or at least I can't import skyrim .kf file onto XPMS skeleton, is anyone else successful in doing this?

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pralima87

right now loading textures by editing the INI file will cause errors when exporting. we need to wait for more updates from Ehamloptiran. But yes this plugin is very good! And our only hope to edit nifs with MAX 2013/14.



Really? This is how I have been testing the exporting since the beginning. I will investigate but not sure on the issue there.

begalund

Having not attempted this before, I might be putting things in the wrong place, but after attempting to install the plugin, I'm getting the following error:

--------------------------- Error Loading Plug-in DLL ---------------------------

DLL <C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2013\PlugIns\EhamPlugin.dlu> failed to initialize. Error code 193 - %1 is not a valid Win32 application.  

So, I'm either sticking the file in the wrong place (very possible I suppose), or is there some other error?  And, yes, I did grab the x86 version and am using the 2013 32-bit version of 3ds.  



That error message suggests its a 64-bit DLL trying to load in a 32-bit environment. But you say you used the 32-bit (x86) version. I'll have to test

blabba

Turns out I don't think this plugin successfully handles animations yet....

Or at least I can't import skyrim .kf file onto XPMS skeleton, is anyone else successful in doing this?



You are correct, animation has been a low priority for me at the moment. Since Skyrim does not natively use .KF files for animations, I will probably not have an Import/Export KF feature. The options will include:

- NIF + Individual Controllers
- NIF + NiControllerManager
- NIF + HKX Hybrid - This will export transformations to HKX and any other type of anim (Particle effects, etc.) as a NiControllerManager

Not sure when I will get around to that though, as collisions still remain my top priority.
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