I tried putting my Blender weapon model into the tes construction set.
But for some reason it crashed.Any suggestions on what I should do?

what did you do to it, becuase something about your mesh is wrong. If you just exported from blender, so long as it was exported as the Morrowind file format

i had a couple do that the other day. blender had saved them as tristripes instead of trishapes. so i had to highlight the mesh in nifskope and select triangle in the mesh edit options. dunno if that will fix your problem. i've got another one where i tried to make a better ground mesh for pauldron by combining the upper arm and clavicle meshes. and it will crash the cs after about 4 seconds. even though it will show up. :brokencomputer: so it might not fix your problem. but it's a start :blush:

The easy answer? Use Max.

The complex answer? Check why it crashed, if there's any info, check the mesh for validity, check the original mesh to make sure nothing odd is going on there, re-export, try the CS again. Also check your textures.

Whats max?

3D Studio Max, a professional-grade modeling program that just so happens to support the official Morrowind exporter. The difference is pretty obvious if you've ever had to downgrade to Blender; in image and model work, you really do get what you pay for. I use Max over Blender always, although some have been lured away from The Truth by Blender's twisted remnants of a UI.

Note: the strategic use of the term "downgrade" and most of the last sentence are solely for TheDaywalker's benefit.

On a serious note, I'd recommend checking out the demo just to see which works better for you. You might be able to grab an old Max 5 demo somewhere (I may have the installer laying around), or check if the NifTools support a newer version (up to 2010 last I knew of). Blender and Max (and the professional alternatives such Cinema4D, Maya, SoftImage, ZBrush, Sculptris, Mudbox, and the downright awful ones like Wings3D, Milkshape and Truespace) all tend to have very different layouts, so one is bound to work for you.

Check you exported as 4.0.0.2 version Nifs.
Check you have no NiTriStrips.

Usually, I export out of Blender, but then use NifSkope to do the final assembly by cut/pasting the geometry from the export Nif into an existing Morrowind Nif that has been 'carved out' ready to contain the new geometry.

PK neglected to mention that:

3DS Max: $3495

Blender: $0

:)

Add to which, some people find 3DSMax's interface truly abhorrent. I know a professional modeler who swears by Lightwave and regards Max as having a truly unusable interface.

It's what you are used to that matters more I think.

Ahmen to that... ThwDayStalker can argue all he wants that blender is better, but it really isnt.


And for a good reason too

From my other post: "in image and model work, you really do get what you pay for". Plus the trial of Max is free.


That's why I mentioned a good list of others, with the note that you're bound to like one of them. I've known people who loved Maya and hated Max, despite their similarities, so the variety out there is definitely a good thing.


And on-topic, as symon said, you can do a lot with NifSkope to both build and repair meshes. You have to be careful to link nodes just how MW likes though, or the mesh can go funny.

So by the time you've learnt it, the program has expired and you'll be using blender anyway

That's fact...otherwise professional Game Developer would use Blender instead of 3ds Max, but they don't

How do I know if my model has nitristrips and how do I get rid of them?
I have no clue how to use nifskope so sorry if this is a noob question.

It will say in the tree in NifSkope. If you use NiTriStrip nodes, then it has strips. If you see NiTriShape nodes, then it doesn't.


I've heard of indie studios using Blender, but a lot of pro studios don't actually use Max, at least not always. Maya is very popular as well.

I couldn't find NiTriStrip anywhere in the tree.
Do you know another place I could look in nifskope?

If you're not seeing any tristrip nodes, chances are, it doesn't have any tristrips. In that case, your problem is likely something else. Try splitting the mesh into smaller chunks until you find what is causing the problem.

I never ever had any TriStrips in my nifs. Either you accidently changed the default export settings, which you can set back by button "restore default settings" or you're not exporting for the right game which is Morrowind. Check if you have chosen the right game!!!


On topic: It's a shame some guys have spread such blasphemous words about Blender, while I was suspended and even had no chance to flame them. Doesn't matter if you guys use Blender :rock: or Max :yuck: , you'll be always limited to your own skills and the limits the game engine brings with it. Yes I agree, Max is professional software, but since I'm modding I haven't seen a single professional modeler here. So what is so great about to own a 3000 $ application, if you still don't know how to texture a simple cube!!! :lmao:


TheDaywalker :rock:

How do you split up the mesh?

Oddly enough, I have a copies of:
3DSMax 5.1
Lightwave
Blender
Wings3D
Assorted Doga versions
and probably a few more. The advantage of being in an Media/IT company that gets freebies.
I use Wings3D for some stuff and then import via NifSkope into Blender.
Max's interface leaves me cold and I tend to find the Niftools Blender plugin rather good.

There you go, someone with the expensive Max who prefers Blender.

As I said, it's what you find best. The only 3D program I find without redeeming features is Milkshape. Even Doga was better for some things.