I've got to say, I've never really looked at this thread because it hasn't been a project that interested me, but here I am. Why? Because I also got the PM like nearly every other modeler in the community. Why do I make Trainz models? At the risk of sounding like an echo of all the others, there were things I wanted for a route I was building, things that just weren't available already. I wanted rolling stock from railroads that just weren't represented in the community (on the DLS and third party sites), I wanted buildings specific to my route that didn't exist. I found out with a quickness that there weren't many people who did random things for others, they tend to make stuff that they wanted for their own regions and their own routes. When I wanted an Arco gas station like the one I remembered, the best way I found to get it was to reskin another gas station. My first reskins were HORRIBLE, but I developed my technique. The first thing Beethoven was able to make was just cacophonous banging on a piano. He didn't start with symphonies! I taught myself how to take what already existed and make it into what I wanted. (Sure, I was already fair with Photoshop, but after WANTING to learn to make content, I learned everything I could about it)
So what about stuff that
didn't already exist that had to be made from scratch? I REALLY wanted a Penn Central transfer caboose. I wanted better coil cars than what was available. I wanted corrugated-side gondolas. I knew nobody was just going to make a ton of rolling stock for me. I sure as hell didn't have the disposable income to just go paying people to make stuff. I have a life- a family, a wife, and kids that depend on me to provide for them. I own a home and what could only be described as a small fleet of vehicles because some days some of them choose not to run and I need something to get myself to work. If I didn't accept my responsibilities in life, I'd be thrown out on my butt and living in the streets. If I wanted stuff for Trainz, I was going to have to LEARN TO MAKE IT. Like PWeiser, I learned on an Apple ][+, my first computer was an Apple //e (man, I haven't heard the name Bill Budge in forever!!), and my first dabbling in 3d were Mac apps called Carrara and Bryce. I never really did anything with them and hadn't done anything 3d in over 20 years. I tried 2 or 3 times with GMax with no luck, I really NEVER figured out the insane interface of Blender. Any time I tried to learn Blender (the software) I ended up going to Blender (the kitchen appliance) to make a drink to ease the headaches. Finally, I was hell bent to make something, I set my mind to making something, and was stoked to finally make stupid boxes. After a long and mind wracking afternoon and evening, by the end of the night I was able to make this ridiculously simple grocery store:
I was REALLY proud of that grocery store, but looking back on it, it is sort of pathetic. From there, it was baby steps learning how to make more complicated shapes and finally jumped in with both feet to make my caboose as my first real project. The gons were next, then coil cars. Along the way, I moved up to 3ds Max, more advanced modeling techniques, texture baking, and the like. This didn't happen overnight:
This was a VERY long road to travel, teaching myself to do this. I've been fiddling with Trainz since 2009, I've been modeling stuff for nearly five years. I STILL can't make a good locomotive, but it doesn't mean I'm done trying. I still want a good U30C that I can skin myself and release to the public. Maybe someday....
So what am I trying to say with all of this? Something my dad and my grandfather taught me early on, if you want something in life, you go after it and get it yourself. Stop sitting back and whining "Poor pitiful me, nobody will make stuff for me" Toughen up, Buttercup. Grab the bull by the horns. If you really want something, REALLY WANT it, you will teach yourself to do, not wait for it to come to you. What are you spending on commissions? $100, $150, $200 a piece? How much money have you pissed away? Thousands? THIS IS A GAME!!! Wake up, have a cup of coffee, and gulp down a big dose of reality. If you want stuff in this life, you have to EARN it. Whether that means yo have to go to school, teach yourself a skill, or pay someone else (who went to school or taught THEMSELVES a skill) to do your work for you, you will find that nothing in life is free and you get what you pay for.
Good luck, Matt.