Hi I have downloaded GIMP and nifskope and right now I am actually basically trying to turn the wooden scabberd and the wooden handle of the steel claymore, black. my one problem is, how do I do this? also how would I reduce a items shine in game? I am actually doing this change for this 2h sword from this mod: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21778


So how exactly would I do that? I was playing with color and stuff in GIMP but I couldn't just affect the handle part. can someone help me?

Is the handle color map taken from the same texture file as the blade?

It looks to be yes.

If you wish to change only the handle color then select only that part of the texture (selection rectangle) when adjusting contrast, and hue.

Shine on a blade is applied via the normal map, and though the apply_hilight/ Apply_modulate setting in NifSkope.

When the handle, and blade share the same NiTriStrip in the .nif file whatever shine you apply to one part affects the other.
In my last release (Nico's Gift) I separated the handle from the blade as two different NiTriStrips in NifSkope so that I could apply the shine to the blade but allow the handle to have less shine that better suits the leather that it is.

Shine when using the Apply_HiLight in NifSkope can be controlled by the alpha channel in the normal map. I have found that between 85% to 95% (of black in the normal map alpha channel) with Apply_Hilight gives a nice shine to metal objects.

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/843/texture.jpg

In red notice the two separate NiTriStrips of the handle, and the blade.
In blue is the texturing property where the Apply HiLight is located.

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/5038/texture2.jpg

In red is the Alpha 'K' value as located in Photoshop that I am talking about for tweaking the amount of shine in the normal map of a texture when Apply_HiLight is used in NifSkope.

It should render a shine in game like this>>>

http://firingsquad.us/albums/WIP_Mod_Pictures/Oblivion_2009_10_13_10_46_16_40.mp4

Notice that the blade shines but the handle does not.

Hope this was helpful, and not too cryptic

Ok now I edited the dds file in GIMP, and applied it, and it worked! BUT, now say I use invisibility or something, it doesn't become invisible with the rest of the weapon, also the shine is gone. Can someone tell me why?

Could be the way the file was saved.

What were your settings when you saved it in .dds format?

This may be helpful, and explain it better than I can>>>>http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Retex_Guide