In blender you can export NIF files with the BsFadeNodeRoot setting. In 3Ds Max this setting does not seem to be available. Unfortunately I need this setting enabled. I can't export the model in blender because it's giving me a "Value out of Range" error everytime I try to export it. 3Ds Max exports the nif fine, but the mesh doesn't show up in the GECK due to the missing BsFadeNodeRoot flag which only Blender appears to be able to set.

So is it possible for 3DS Max to set BsFadeNodeRoot as well?

A BSFadeNode and a NiNode are IDENTICAL data types just rename it, also the reason it does not show up has nothing to do with the BSFadeNode/NiNode it has to do with the fact that the BSShaderPPLightingProperty gets exported with the Skinned flags ticked and for objects that are not skinned this makes the game expect something that does not exist hence the screw up -> Untick all flags except SFEmpty and SFUnknown_31.

Argh, you're absolutely right. Blender exports the nifs better than 3ds max does. blender sets everything up correctly, 3ds max requires some manual correction. Thanks, I've got it figured out now.

Thats not really true Blender sets all kinda of incorrect flags just not the skinned ones it also sometimes completely f**ks up collisions values has a tendancy to completely fubar collision exports to the point of making the file useless then there is the amount of time you can waste just making sure you set up the scene absolutely correct because even one mistake and all Blender exports are completely fubared -> then there is the implementation of the BSDismembermentSkinPartitions which is a completely chore to work with, then there is the way it likes to completely screw up animated objects I mean it does not even properly exports scenes that are animatable without heavy restructuring... and the list goes on Blender is by no means perfect nor is it better by any stretch of the imagination -> what it is, is free which is the most important part for most people.

Then there is Max is has the 2 afforementioned drawbacks as needing to rename the NiNode to BSFadeNode (when its required, not all files need that node) and the need of unticking a few flags in meshes that are not skinned -> it also has access to the best set of animation tools available for this game the CivIV exporter, the Time you save using Max and Max's UI over the garbage that is Blender's UI alone is 10 times the time you waste having to clean up after Max exports, they are just different, different issues, different post export clean up.

To be honest you could not pay me enough money to switch from using Max to using Blender, I hate just about everything about Blender from its UI to the way its scene's are setup there is absolutely nothing about Blender that is convenient in any way, other then the price!

Cant beat free. XD

If it were 3 years ago, and I had the money, I probably would have gone with Max. But, oh well.