Oblivion Useful Links.

Here are some links that are both useful for beginners and experienced modders alike.

This thread will be updated frequently so check back often.

This was originally posted on the official Bethsoft forums by ICUP.

The Construction Set Wiki - Tutorials

Useful CS tutorials for beginners

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Blender:

Beginner:
Blender 3D: Noob to Pro - This is one of the best for someone who has never done anything with blender before.

http://www.blenderwars.com/tut-path.php?module=index - Multiple tutorials for beginners.

http://www.spaghettimoon.co.uk/downloadpot.htm - Video tutorials from beginner level to more advanced.

http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/dojo/ - Contains multiple threads on using blender. The first few are directed towards beginners and they get more advanced.

http://ocw.tufts.edu/Course/28/Learningunits - More Blender tutorials starts at the beginner level and moves up.


Oblivion Specific:
http://www.niftools.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Blender - tutorials for modeling, configuration, and splitting Oblivion meshes for custom characters

http://www.niftools.org/wiki/index.php/ ... ort_export - Directions on exporting in the .obj format.

http://www.niftools.org/wiki/index.php/ ... air_Meshes - This tutorial is intended as an starter aid to those wanting to model Oblivion hair meshes.

http://www.alys.org/gallery/CuteUnits-R ... ion?page=1 - CuteUnits guide to rigging meshes and exporting them.

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... guide&st=0 - throttlekitty's guide to riggging meshes and exporting them.


Not specific to Oblivion:
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/art/features/blender1/ - Making a Sword Part 1

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/art/features/blender2/ - Making a Sword Part 2

http://bgdm.katorlegaz.com/lscm_tute/lscm_tute.htm - UV Mapping a head. Note: For people using newer versions of blender that are following this select "unwrap" as you won't see "LSCM" as an option.

http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~kapu/cg_course/compgrfx-27.htm - Contains links to many tutorials. I especially liked the tube through a cube tutorial.

http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/Main_Page - Tons of tutorials in two locations. Look under "Tutorials-->Tutorials" and "Tutorials-->Tutorial Links"

http://www.blender.org/tutorials-help/ - Many tutorials, some with video.

http://www.blendernation.com/category/t ... tutorials/ - Video tutorials, oh how I love the video tutorials. Also, check out the tutorials link on the right side of the page for non-video tutorials.

http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/ ... _Animation - Intro to character animation.

http://www.geneome.net/index.php/blender-tutorials/ - Lot's of video tutorials covering a wide range of topics.

http://www.ibiblio.org/bvidtute/ - Yet another list of video tutorials from a different site.

http://blendernewbies.blogspot.com/ - A great resource with lots of video tutorials. I've learned a lot from this one site. Make sure to check out the "archives" list on the bottom right of the page.

http://mediawiki.blender.org/index.php/ ... ing_a_Mesh - This is a must read for any Blender user. It shows multiple methods for unwrapping your mesh. Normally I avoid making multiple links to a site but I think this one is worth pointing out.

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3D Studio Max:

Beginner:
http://www.max-realms.com/modules/wflinks/ - Beginner and Advanced tutorials. Also has videos for both beginner and advanced.

http://www.3dtotal.com/ - Make sure JavaScript is enabled and go to "Free Stuff-->Tutorials-->3d Studio Max-->Beginners"

http://www.mr-chompers.com/tutorial/video/beginner.zip - 16 minutes long. Rather fuzzy picture quality but it'll show you a few things.

http://tutorialoutpost.com/count/6121 - Explains the Max user interface.

Oblivion Specific:
http://www.niftools.org/wiki/index.php/Category:3ds_Max - Contains tutorials on Importing, Exporting, Conversion, and Configuration.

http://www.silgrad.com/wbb2/thread.php?threadid=2477 - Collision: the easy way out using gundalf's exporter


Not specific to Oblivion:
http://www.mr-chompers.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm - Ben Mathis's site directed toward video game modeling and texturing. Tutorials from beginner to advanced.

http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/ma ... anmenu.asp - This tutorial covers modeling starting with a person all the way through to adding armor, a weapon, UV mapping, rigging, etc. In other words, it's pretty thorough.

http://www.3dtotal.com/ - Tons of other tutorials from the same site as above. Make sure JavaScript is enabled and go to "Free Stuff-->Tutorials-->3d Studio Max"

http://area.autodesk.com/learning/ - You need to define what you're searching for but there's lots of stuff here.

http://www.pixel2life.com/tutorials/3d_studio_max/ - another long list of tutorials (check out the subcategories)

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Gimp:

Beginner:
http://www.communitymx.com/content/arti ... ?cid=0A44B - If you've never used Gimp before then this tutorial is for you.

http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/ ... -gimp.html - Explains how to use layers in gimp. I highly suggest this one for any new gimp user wanting to learn how to texture.

http://www.onona3d.com/pdf/texturing.pdf - Texturing for Dummies. Somewhat geared towards Photoshop but mostly explains methods and theory. The file is 7.4 MB so you may want to right-click and save this one to view instead of opening it through your browser.

Oblivion Specific:
http://canadianice.ufrealms.net/forum2/ ... pic=3942.0 - Contains guides on normal mapping, creating icons, and semi-transparent textures.

Not specific to Oblivion:
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/ - Lots of tutorials from beginner to advanced.

http://gug.sunsite.dk/?page=tutorials - Many tutorials for Gimp. The section about working with textures may be useful for some of you.

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Adobe Photoshop:

Beginner:
http://www.good-tutorials.com/tutorials ... hop/basics - Multiple pages of tutorials teaching you the basics of using Photoshop.

http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/ ... oshop.html - Tutorial on how to use layers. Very important for someone who's not familiar with layers.

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=392677 - This thread has 3 pdf files for texturing. You will find more advanced tutorials if you browse around the sites forums and wiki.

Oblivion Specific:
At this time all I've found are on the wiki site listed above. - http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/in ... :Tutorials

Not specific to Oblivion:

http://www.bitbrush.com/tutorial1.html - How to make convincing seamless textures.

http://www.simmerspaintshop.com/forums/ ... oshop.html - How to use and make custom brushes

http://www.mr-chompers.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm - Ben Mathis's site directed toward video game modeling and texturing. Good tutorials and stuff on texturing theory for video game objects.

http://www.3dtotal.com/ - Make sure JavaScript is enabled and go to "Free Stuff-->Tutorials-->Photoshop"

http://www.pixel2life.com/tutorials/adobe_photoshop/ - another long list of tutorials (check out the subcategories)

http://photoshopbrushes.com/tutorials.htm - Tutorials and free brushes. There's millions of sites like these but I really like this one so I'm throwing it out there.
http://home.zonnet.nl/epragt/tutorials/ ... ex.jsp.htm - Many tuts covering text, shapes, effects, and most importantly, textures.

http://www.cgchat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25997 - How to create good normal maps. If you read peoples posts to it you can find a link to a cool little program called "Crazy Bump" too. It's used to make normal maps.

http://www.dvd-replica.com/kozykorner/t ... no/Date/0/ - A very large collection of various tutorials for Photoshop.

http://www.freeseamlesstextures.com/tex ... /index.htm - How to create seamless textures.

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NifSkope: Tutorials and references.

http://www.niftools.org/wiki/index.php/ ... y:NifSkope - Has multiple links to NifSkope documentation and tutorials.

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde ... pic=542099 - A page that explains many parts of a nif object.

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Miscellaneous:

http://www.alys.org/gallery/Windys-Bow-Tutorial - Windy's Tutorial on creating a bow that morphs.

http://grimdeath9740.googlepages.com/tu ... ourownrace - Making a Custom Race Tutorial for Oblivion by Grimdeath

http://canadianice.ufrealms.net/forum2/ ... pic=2953.0 - Distributing useable horse armor retextures legally (This one's pretty advanced and not for a novice).

http://www.quake3bits.com/htm/tutorials ... onator.htm - Program that converts images to dds format. Get it here. Learn how to use it here.

http://ni-te.de/blog/ - wz_'s Mod Blog.

http://www.overclock.net/pc-games/143344-oblivion-modding-faq.html - OVERCLOCK.NET -- FAQ PART 1 -- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Modding

Nice work Exo! Your a star!

Don't forget this one from OverClockers.net

OVERCLOCK.NET -- FAQ PART 1 -- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Modding
http://www.overclock.net/pc-games/143344-oblivion-modding-faq.html

Webslug wrote:Nice work Exo! Your a star!

Don't forget this one from OverClockers.net

OVERCLOCK.NET -- FAQ PART 1 -- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Modding
http://www.overclock.net/pc-games/143344-oblivion-modding-faq.html

Thanks Webslug, this whole list was originally posted by ICUP on the official Bethsoft forums. I tried to contact him but his email address was hidden and he hasn't been on the forum in a year, so no luck.

I hope he doesn't mind, I'm giving him all the credit for it.

I'll add that link, thanks.

This list has it all! Good job posting it here. I'm sure the "owner" won't mind, but it's nice to give credit.

Here is a list which is a superset of ICUP's list: Resources for 3D Modeling

LHammonds