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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition > Guias > Guias de Krahvuldur
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Krahv's Skyrim Special Edition Screenshot Tutorial and Recommendations
Por Krahvuldur
So you want to create some screenshots that require more than just pressing F12? Look no further!
In this guide, I shall walk you through some Console Commands, Mods and Techniques to improve your screenshots and give you some Ideas for your next Photo-Sessions.
This whole guide is a collection of my experience and knowledge that I've gathered over the years in Virtual Photography and Screenarchery. While I'm certainly not the best and still got some things to learn, I wanted to share this with you in case you're just getting started or looking for some tips. Of course, you don't have to do/understand everything in this guide. Think of it like a shop and I'm the merchant. I offer you various stuff and you decide what to buy and what to leave :)
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Categoria: Walkthroughs
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6 fev. 2021 às 11:30
24 abr. 2023 às 14:21
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Índice do guia
Vista geral
I. Console Commands 
II. Visual Improvement 
III. Content of the Shot 
IV. Techniques 
V. How to take a Screenshot and Edit it 
VI. Ideas for your next Photoshoot 
VII. Closing Words 
Comentários
I. Console Commands
Alright then. Let's get this started...
First of all... you do know how to open the console, right? In case you forgot, it's the Key, that's usually located right above TAB, under ESC and right beside 1.
For Example:
If you use a QWERTZ-Keyboard it's the °/^ -Key
If you use a QWERTY-Keyboard it's the `/~ -Key
If you press the Key again, then Console will close.
Please be aware that Console Commands can mess with your game. Be careful when using them and save your game before typing anything. I am not responsible if your save/game gets messed up or corrupted.


Now, to the Commands... There are a lot of Console Command-Guides out there but I've yet to find one that lists more than the Basic-Screenshots Commands.
These are the essential ones (Note: For "number" a Number like 1, 1.5, 2...must be entered):

Command
What it does
tfc
This will enable the Freecam, typing it again will disable the freecam.
tfc 1
This will enable the Freecam and freeze time, typing it again will disab-... just look at the line above.
sucsm number
This will change the speed of the freecam. 1 is the default speed, so if you set it to 5, it will move 5x faster, if you set it to 0.5 it'll move only half as fast. This must be entered directly after a tfc command with no other command in between.
fov number
This will adjust your Field of View to the given Number, the closer to zero the less FOV you will have. If you just type FOV, it'll set it to the default value of 75. In the Techiques Section, I'll cover differnt FOV-Settings and what they can be used for.
tm
This will toggle the HUD, Console and every Menu off. You can still use the Console and type Commands you just won't be able to see them until you type "tm" again.
tcl
This will turn the collision off. Be sure to have nothing selected/clicked while in the console since it would then only apply to the selected object. This command is useful when putting you Characters/Actors in place.

So these are the ones usually typed when taking a screenshot to get things like perspective, angles and the like right. But there are a few more that can prove useful (Note: The ID is a specific chain of numbers that identifies every type of weather. I've included a link to a Weather-ID-List-Website):

Command
What it does
sw id
This will smoothly switch the current weather to the id-entered weather. Adding a 1 will keep the permanent weather until changed.
fw id
This will instantly change the current weather to the desired one. This will also re-enable the weather cycle if you entered sw with a 1.
set timescale to number
With this you'll be able to change how fast time (like time on a clock) is processing in-game. This can be useful if you spend a lot of time in one location and you don't want the lightning to change. For example "1" would mean every second in real life is a second in Skyrim. Though I recommend not going beneath 5. Be sure to set it back to the default-value of 20 when you're done, since other values can mess up quests and the AI.
sgtm number
This is useful for Slow-Motion Shots. It slows down the actual time/movement like the "Slow-Time"-Shout. With this you could even create Videos! Be careful about values above 2 or under 0.10, this can cause problems. Default value is 1.
animcam
This will toggle the "Animator Camera" on/off. This is basically like the normal Third Person View with the exepction being, that the Character is not turning with the camera, even when rotating with weapons drawn and you can only move the cam horizontally. Typing it again turns it off.
csb
This will clean any blood on your Screen, if your Character got hit during Combat-
Screenshots.
tai
This will turn all AI processing off, meaning they can't detect you or react to you. Useful if you want to take Screenshots with hostile NPC's or Creatures
tt
This will toggle the trees on/off
tg
This will toggle the grass on/off

For Weather IDs, I recommend checking this:
https://skyrimcommands.com/weather
They've got every weather listed and you can search through the list.





II. Visual Improvement
Now!
We've covered the most important Console Commands and have taken a look at some useful ones. At this point you can take some vanilla Screenshots with Skyrim's Default Look and Feel.
If you want to further increase the looks and atmosphere of your Screenshots, we're going to take it further...
The next step is to improve the Colors, Lightning and Textures of Skyrim. This can be done by downloading and installing mods.

Now I'm not going into the details of mod installing and how you should do it. There are a lot of guides out there explaining this matter and what to be aware of. Let me just give you this one tip... take a Screenshot of your Skyrim-Folder before installing anything. Again, like Console Commands, Mods can break your game and you might not be able to start your game any more. So backup, backup, backup!
Disclaimer: Always check if you're on the right site, downloading the right file.

The most improving thing is an ENB.
An ENB is like... a shader in Minecraft. Remember when someone had these amazing shadows and waters in their world? It's kind of like that. First you'll need the SE-Binary itself and then you can use "Presets". Again, for installing an ENB please seek other guides explaining this in detail.
Now, there are a lot of ENB-Presets out there, you're going to have to find the one that suits your style best.

These are the presets I personally use:
Please be aware that Nexusmods can contain Adult-Only 18+ NSFW Content

Another big advantage of the ENB is the integrated Screenshot Option. Sure, you can use Steam to take the Screenshot, but those will be .JPG-Files. Not that awesome in Quality. ENB-Screenshots are usually saved as .BMP which offers more quality. (Please note that I am not a Photography-Student or Expert in this matter. This is something that I learned during my Screenshot years.) Though you can also set it to be saved as .PNG etc.
In the ENB-Menu, you can assign a Key for a Screenshot and after pressing it the shot will directly be saved in your Skyrim-Gamefolder (don't worry, it doesn't effect your game). You'll also get a Depth of Field (DOF)-Effect which makes the Background blurry. This can be irritating if overdone, but can also add a little sugar to your Shot.
Then, there's a certain plugin for the ENB-Series called "FreeFlyCam". It basically gives you more control over your camera, so you can make "tilted" camera angles:
http://enbseries.enbdev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5386

After getting that, we can mod it further. Next, I'm going to list some Texture and Overhaul Mods that will improve the visuals of your game:
Please be aware that Nexusmods can contain Adult-Only 18+ NSFW Content




    Character Improvement (There are thousands of these, I'm listing some of my favorites):
  • Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer -CBBE- - this will improve the Skin Texture and Body Mesh of your female characters.
    This Mod contains NSFW-Content. Posting a link to it would be against Steam-Guidelines so please look it up yourself on the Nexus.

  • Tempered Skins for Males - This will improve the textures of your male characters.
    This Mod contains NSFW-Content. Posting a link to it would be against Steam-Guidelines so please look it up yourself on the Nexus.

  • Elemental Eyes - This will make your Characters Eyes look amazing!
    https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/18199

  • KS Hairdos SSE - Adds hundres of Hairstyles to the game.
    https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6817

III. Content of the Shot
Phew, now that we got the visual Improvements out of the way, let's continue.

What type of Screenshot do I want to take?

We've reached the point where we must ask ourselves: "What kind of Screenshots do I want to take?" There are Character Portraits, Combat-Action, Landscape-Wallpapers... really a lot to choose from.








I personally do a lot of Portraits and Action-Shots. I've never really delved much into Landscapes so... can't say much about that. Of course you can split "Action-Shots" into different categories of it's own, but for time's sake we'll keep it as one for now.


Mods for Poses
So let's talk about Action-Shots.
Here we ask the questions: "What do we want our Character(s) to do in the Picture?" and "Do we want to place everything by hand?"







The first question you must answer for yourself, but for the second let me say... no!
While it is possible to make your own "Poses" and Scenes, I recommend using premade ones for now.

I am once again giving you a small list of Mods containing Poses but this time there will be no links. This is because most of these are on a Website with A LOT of NSFW-Content (LoversLab). You can google the Names and find their SE-Version pretty easily. Just be sure to be on the right site and download the right file.

  • Halo Poser SE - Probably the most famous Poser around.
  • ILV Poser SE - For the Gentleman
  • Wulf Poser - Very good for Action-Shots
  • The Meme Poser - ... Well the Name says it
  • Lamir Pose SE - Has a variety of different poses.
  • Ho1DrgPose - A bit tricky to find but it contains probably the coolest Action-Poses ever made.

Most of the Mods will include Rings that you have to equip to select and strike a Pose. I recommend using Favorite-Shortcuts (1,2,3) to not always open the Inventory.
There is also a Mod called "Poser Hotkeys"/"Poser Hotkeys Plus", which helps in selection (we'll use this later).
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17743
The mod page also contains more details regarding posers, be sure to check it out!

Another important Thing: Whenever you install/uninstall a Mod that adds new Animations or Poses you'll need to run a Mod called FNIS (Fores New Idles Skyrim) or Nemesis Behaviour Engine. You probably stumbled upon this already in some Mod-Guides but I just wanted to point this out again. If you don't run it, your characters will just T-Pose constantly.

Next let's take a look at Portraits.
You may have noticed that the Shots above don't really contain any faces. These shots are about what the characters are doing, Portraits are about the Characters themselves.











And that is the big difference. I could write a whole Section about Character Design and but I'll keep it short for now:
Your Character tells a Story. The looks, hair, expression, scars, outfit, looking into/away from the camera... everything works together.
But you can also see, it doesn't always need an expression or a face. I may do a Character Design Guide someday in the future which will focus more on this topic. For now, think about what you want to say with the image. What the observer should think and feel when looking at it. This is easier said than done, I know. But you can start now and learn new experiences with the years.


I want to show you three Mods that help with expressions and Character Creation:
Please be aware that Nexusmods can contain Adult-Only 18+ NSFW Content


Set the Theme
Another Thing a lot of people like to forget is the Theme. This again has to with what you want to express with the Image. For Example, if you want to express a sad message, you're probably want dimmer lights and may even turn the image black & white. Some of this stuff can be done while taking the shot, others may be done in editing.

Let me recommend this mod for Lightning Effects:
I also recommend using the one above together with this one:
IV. Techniques
So far so good!
Let me tell a truth I had to find out myself:
You can have the best looking Skyrim ever created, you can have the highest texture resolution, it all doesn't matter if you use the wrong technique.

You must understand that I am not a Photography-Expert. I have not invested years into to this fine art, though I wish I had. All that follows is selftaught and learned through experimenting.
Let's talk about a general Photography-Rule:

The Rule of Thirds
This Rule originally comes from "The Golden Ratio", which has it's Origin in Math.. Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with formulas and numbers but know this:
The center of an image is often referred to as static and unintresting so you should make use of the space available. Therefore, an Image is often splitted into nine equally-sized rectangles according to the Rules of Thirds. Kind of like a Tic-Tac-Toe-Field.



Take a look at the picture.
What's in the Center of it? Nothing to interesting right? Just the Wing of the Dragon.
Now look at the Character fishing. She is directly on a crosspoint of the lines.
Now look at the surface of the sea. It's linied up with horizontal lines.
You see the effect? Here is the picture without the lines:



This technique will help you to place the objects in your photograph.
I understand it's a bit to take in at first. After all, it's just a brief overview of this technique, google it to find out more about it. There are also variations of this like the Rule of Fifths, The Diagonal Principle... they all contain splitting the image into different sections and aligning objects with the grid. I recommend keeping this in mind when you take your next screenshot, you may notice a little difference! By the way... some ENB's like CFL II contain an Option to enable a grid like the one above in the game. Very useful ;)


Let's get back to Skyrim Screenshots...

As promised, I shall show you the use of different FOV Settings.

Lets start with an "fov 90"-Setting


An FOV of 90 creates kind of a "Fisheye"-Effect. Increasing it to 120 further supports this effect.


FOV 120

Lower FOV-Values like 40 or 20 are perfect for Close-Up-Shots/Portraits or detailed shots.


FOV 20



FOV 40

Try it out yourself! Find out what the different FOV's look like and how you could use them.
V. How to take a Screenshot and Edit it
Let's put it to use!

Alright, we've taken a look at some Console Commands, the tools of Screenarchery and some techniques we can use. It's now high time we put all of it to the test. I shall walk you through the process of creating a screenshot and most importantly, what to do with it once it's taken.
Kaythy, will you be my ever-so-beautiful model as always?


Thank you! Always so friendly...


First let's start with the location. Skyrim offers many beautiful landscapes but for this tutorial we're going to be using the lake right beside Riften:




Good! Next let's find the exact spot where we want to take the Shot...


The trees on the right will make a good background and not be too flashy.


Alright, alright. Now just turn to the left so we're facing the lake. Next, let's choose a pose via Poser Hotkeys+!


Normally you can just switch through the poses with the Arrow Keys, but I wanted to show the Interface so you get a bit of an Idea for the Mod. As you can see, you can even set all the Settings we usually do in the Console with this Mod. Though I must admit, I haven't fully figured that out yet... I prefer using the Console myself.

Note: If you don't use PoserHotkeys you'll have to select poses via rings. When you install a poser mod, you'll have a bunch of rings in your Inventory. One usually reads "Play" the other "Select". Equipping the "Select"-Ring will give a Pop-Up Menu do choose a pose (you don't see the pose, just a number or a name). Once you've done that, equip the "Play"-Ring and the pose will play. You can favourite the rings and bind them to numbers like 1, 2, 3 to equip them easier.

Next, we type our Console Commands like fov, time etc. and fly around with the Freecam until we find an angle that suits us and apply the Rule of Thirds:


Trees Line up with the vertical lines... Ground with the horizontal... Face is (almost) equally spread... looks alright


We hit the Screenshot-Key and boom! Got it:



What now?
Awesome! We took our Screenshot with the tools we learned so far! But can we take it further?
Well yes of course! After taking the Shot we can edit it to further improve it.

How you edit, differs in taste. One likes to brighten an image up, another wants more color and other likes it a little more dark. I suggest you experiment a little and find out what suits you.

We are going to take the Screenshot we just took and edit it. I'm using GIMP for my Edits, but of course Photoshop and others will do. These are just five simple steps that improved the image (in my taste).

Since this Guide is already pretty long and not everyone is using GIMP, I'll save you most the Images. I recommend to check out some Online Photoshop/GIMP Tutorials which will give a feel for the Software first.

Here are the Steps I took:
  1. Duplicated the Image two times.
  2. Adjusted the Contrast of the first Duplicate to +30
  3. Adjusted the Opacity of the first Duplicate to 50
  4. Slightly adjusted the Color Curves of the second Duplicate:

    You can really go wild here, putting it above the dark blue line will brighten the image, below will darken. You can set as many points as you want and make the line as wobbly as possible.
  5. Set the Opacity of the second duplicate to 30
These are my Layers after the steps:

]

The number of steps can of course be increased. You can also crop the image, change the resolution... Experiment around and see what works! Don't worry if you aren't happy with your first Screenshot or if the editing Software is still too complex. Over time, you'll learn to use the software, set the Scene and strike the pose.
Everybody gotta start somewhere.

The edited and processed Screenshot:


VI. Ideas for your next Photoshoot
Some Ideas to get you started:
Take some of these Ideas and Screenshot away! They can get you started or challenge you if you already have experience.

  • On the Hunt (Whatever you're aiming for, shoot it first with the cam.)


  • Resting beside a lake (Adventuring can be quite exhausting, give you Character some rest and memorize the Moment.)
  • Reading Books in a Library (No matter Mage or Archer. Books can help you improve your skill)
  • Portraits of your Character(s) (Test some Character Design)
  • Riding a Horse (through the Forest, over a Mountain)
  • Fighting against a Dragon (They always pop out of nowhere anyway...)

  • Fighting through a Draugr-Dungeon (Show those Undead what a Flash looks like!)


  • Sneaking through a Forsworn-Cave (Blade and Shadow, FOV and ENB... these are my Arts)


  • Magical Combat (Fire, Frost or Lightning, capture it all with just the push of a button!)
  • Landscape-Wallpapers (I need a new Desktop-Background...)

VII. Closing Words
Congrats! You have reached the end of the guide!
Thank you for reading up to this point, here have cookie! I hope this guide was able to give some Ideas and Concepts that will improve your Screenshots on your Journeys through Skyrim!

I'm glad to see every Favorite, Like or Award you give me, but it's not necessary. The Main Goal of this Guide is to help you!

---Credits---
  • The Game itself, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition was created and belongs to Bethesda Game Studios.
  • All Mods you see in my Screenshots are not mine! They belong to their respective Authors/Creators.
  • skyrimcommands.com - for the Weather ID List
  • The Unoffical Elder Scrolls Pages (http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page) - This is probably the biggest Elder Scroll Wiki and explains the Console very well (with all Commands)!
  • Nexusmods - The biggest modding Community I know
  • Boris Vorontsov - Creator and owner of the ENBSeries.
  • TheDaedricDoll - This person's Screenshot Guide is one of the best out there and inspired me to write my own. That and the fact that I haven't found much Screenshot-Guides on Steam...
  • The GIMP-Team - Creators of the Gnu Image Manipulation Software (G.I.M.P.).
  • Valve - Well without them I couldn't even play Skyrim or write this guide ;)!
  • Myself - Wrote this Guide and shall maintain/expand it.


Happy Screenshotting!
2 comentários
< >
JawBone 16 fev. 2021 às 3:26 
Commands will help me, thanks :cleancake:
backudog123 10 fev. 2021 às 2:04 
Very useful stuff! I love taking screenshots in Skyrim, and this guide is extremely useful. so thank you kindly.