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aydean β XPS Tutorial- Removing/Hiding Unused Bones
Published: 2012-02-11 00:26:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 21096; Favourites: 160; Downloads: 425
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LEARN TO FIX BONES YOU ACCIDENTLY HID USING NOTEPAD++!!IMPORTANT!!
Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT remove ANY bones from an incomplete model. Doing so will cause the model to no longer be able to work MeshMods with! For example, if you have a head attached to a torso but no legs attache yet, removing bones at this stage will cause any legs added afterwards to not work properly! Keep in mind! Removing bones is the FINAL STEP of meshmodding!
I apologize... This probably should've been one of the very first tutorials I put out, but as I said, I'm still learning XPS myself. :] I had forgotten about this shortcut, and I had never tried to use it in this way before. To my suprise, it worked perfectly, so I knew I needed to share it with you all.
Now you can permanently remove unneeded bones from models using XPS (a luxury I thought was reserved for Blender modders). But thanks to XNAaraL 's coding skills, it works in XPS as well. ^^
But, be careful when using this method.
Removed bones cannot be brought back.
More XPS Tutorials by aydean!
{OTHER TUTORIALS}
For other tutorials relating to MeshModding in XPS, check out:
XNAaraL's Tutorials at TRF
Tutorials by *Lilacatz
{CREDITS}
XPS is a free program based off of Dusan's XNALara posing program.
XPS is coded by Dusan and XNAaraL.
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Comments: 47
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If I make an item optional such as optional such as a leg holster or belt or piece of gear like a tactical vest etc... and set it to display without that on by default, it leaves a shadow of the removed item on the model, how do I remove such types of items without there being a shadow of the removed item left behind on the model it was removed from?
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It's been a while since I've worked with XPS, but I do remember some objects having separate meshes for their shadows. Lara Croft models were bad for that. If one exists, delete it from the model's folder then open the model's code (you'll need Notepad++ for that... and another program, maybe, that will convert the model into an editable file) Once you get the model's file opened in Notepad++, you can replace the shadow mesh with a blank mesh or remove it entirely.
If you delete the mesh image file (.png or .dds or whatever) without editing it in Notepad++, the shadow's mesh will become a solid black chunk on the model, leaving you in a worse position than you are now. :/
Alternatively, if there is NO separate mesh for the shadow, sometimes there wasn't, you can just edit the model's textures in Photoshop (or any decent editing program) to remove the shadows as they are just painted on the model's clothes.
Hope that helps. You should be able to find tutorials for Notepad++ easily. Check the Blender forums or just search for XPS tutorials in general if you need more help. XNAaraL used to have some awesome ones, if they can still be found.
And from what I remember of Notepad++, it was super easy to understand and use. It was just a tedious process. (You can use Notepad++ to delete useless bones on models as well... and rename them, which is what I mainly used the program for.)
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I don't have photoshop on my PC I just have paint tool I made a few gifs using animations and by changing the poses in very small increments and then screenshotting them and opening them as layers in GIMP also used OBS which I also stream games off of for adding chromakey effects to make background scenes for the XNA Edits I didΒ
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ok so how can i delete the unused bones for the add to option because its long and messy , filled with unused
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There is a command to rename all the bones?Β Or do i do one by one? xD
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You have to do it one bone at a time.Β
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Hi, sorry for asking again, but it's for to be sure. When you said one bone at time, you mean only to rename (exemple: shoulder > rename (unused)) are the only main bone have to be rename?
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Is there a way to completely excise a bone from a model? This isn't deleting them, it's hiding them, and I can't import the model to anything else because of an issue with the bones.
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Technically, if you use the solution I show in the tutorial, you're just hiding them. Deleting bones (or breaking back hidden ones) can only be done using Blender or a mix of the GetMeshToAscii and another program who's name I can't think of right now...Β
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Is there anyway that i can recover unused bones?
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Get one of these two programs:Β GetMeshAsciiToBinV2 or ModPublisherV2. I forget which one does it... Google them for download links. In fact, you may need both. I do recall they seemed to work in conjunction with one another.
They will convert the mesh into a Notepad file. Open that file in Notepad and remove the "unused" part of the bones' names (or whatever you typed in to make the bone disappear). Then convert the mesh BACK to an ascii and open in XPS to test the bones.Β
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Finally a solution!
Thank you..I will try and look for the programs...
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Is there a way to restore unused bones, sadly my upperneck for the model I was using became unused lol XD.
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You can download a program that creates a Notepad file for the mesh and then just locate the bone's name in the file and delete the "unused" part of the name. Save, then reopen the file, and I think the model will then work properly. XNAaraL knows more about this option, so check his website for more info.
Or start over with the model and avoid making the mistake again. Alternatively, you can use Blender to restore the bones, I believe. But I'm not a Blender modder, so you'll have to go to someone else for help with that. Plus, you'll have to convert the model to be read by Blender and then deal with Python scripts.Β
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it doesnt work for me am i doing something wronf?
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Thank you for sharing, I just learned something new.
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Quick question: In your tutorial you say to arrange bones into separate categories. How do you go about making categories for the bones? Just for general knowledge, not necessarily for the tutorial (which is fantastic by the way, helped a lot. 
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The bones, like most naming system, are set up in automatic layers, meaning each word in the bone's name is a separate layer (and therefore, a separate group). So, for example, "leg left knee" separates the bone into two categories: leg, left, and then within the "leg" category, the bone is just "knee." This system is automatic for modding. So if you just give each bone one-word names (like leg, neck, etc.) then not only will you have a malfunctioning model (since there are multiples of many bones) but the bones will also be a jumbled mess.
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I understand. Thank you so much for replying, I'm just learning how to do this sort of thing. You have been a huge help.
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No problem. :] Glad to have been of use.
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Hi! I finished making a Leon/Wesker model...but there is a problem with the head. The head turns and poses correctly with the Head model piece, but since I have to save it under the BASE body file...the head poses OUT of the body! Like his head just got decapitated. What's wrong here?
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is it possible to hide a bone on the model?
example: I have a Chris model by grotesque, it has an empty arm and one where he holds the gun and the knife at the same time, I wan't to remove the knife,is it possible?
Thank you!
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To hide a bone: select the bone and hit 'control' and 'h' at the same time.
To remove an object, go to Options > Make Items Optional and select the mesh for the object you wish to hide. Click 'OK' and then 'No.'
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OH nvm I learned from another tutorial of yours sorry ^^'
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Is it possible to bring back a hidden bone? :\ In case you remove one accidentally and don't really want to rename all the 40 bones all over again...
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If by 'hidden' you mean you used the option to 'hide all unused bones' or you used the shortcut command 'CTRL H,' then no. If you're using only XPS then it will no longer display the bones, so you will have to start over.
However, if you run the mesh through either the GetMeshAsciiToBinV2 or ModPublisherV2 programs (I forget which one does it), the program will create a wordpad file for the mesh, which will list all the bones, hidden and visible. Just open that wordpad file, find the bone you accidentally hid, and remove 'unused' from the beginning of it's name. :] I can't seem to find download links for either of the programs now (all the links go to sites that are long since dead :/). Hopefully, Google can help.
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Oh it's ok, I figured it out in the end. I saved a new mesh.ascii from the .mesh file, in that case all I had to do was rename the bones (original ascii file kept original bones, but the new one had all the names I gave them in xps), then re-convert the file with gemeshasciitobin.exe
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Removed bones cannot be brought back.
it first nime i dontknow it
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That's cool. I'm pretty sure renaming them "unused" without the "()" would get rid of them the same way, but this is still nice to know. may make my work faster
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Thanks. Yeah, *XNAaraL talks about adding "unused" before the bones, but I think he said to by use the MeshToBin and whatnot so that a notepad file was generated for the mesh. But I like using XPS by itself. ^^ It's much easier.
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BTW: o0DemonBoy0o has right, "unused" is a keyword inside the .mesh specification. Ctrl+H hidden the bones by make the prefix "unused". The bones are still exist, not removed. When you invoke "Saving as Generic_Item", a flag exists to delete bones which are not conected to the skin, regardless of their names.
Sorry for my english. You tutorials are fine
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Aydean, can you please upload the GeMeshAsciiToBinV2 tool please? XNAaraL's link doesn't work... 
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^^ Me too! I'm glad it's not a Blender-only function.
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XNA PS is a dream come true. LOL
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