Backdrops - Instant Scenery
- Thread starter boleyd
- Start date
ray_whiley
Active member
I'm a fan of backdrops and have made quite a few - 'Backdrop DDD ...'. I'm working on one with a hole masked by a tunnel mouth to use eg. in the centre of a baseboard to allow trains to pass through on a circular/continuous route.
Ray
Ray
I've thought of creating backdrops made from Trainz screenshots. I have a nicely forested hill, for example on one section of my route which would look nice on another part. Rather than copying and pasting a gazillion trees, a simple backdrop would save on a boatload of performance.
John
John
I used backdrops extensively on the Oakgate Jcn route. If you're working with a single baseboard width, they really are essential to 'pad out' the countryside.
One thing I have found is that quality is highly variable, some lacking in acceptable resolution even as a distant item. I seem to be stuck with about 5 backdrops which I use repeatedly. I'd be interested to hear what you're all using as I'm always looking for more.
One thing I have found is that quality is highly variable, some lacking in acceptable resolution even as a distant item. I seem to be stuck with about 5 backdrops which I use repeatedly. I'd be interested to hear what you're all using as I'm always looking for more.
ex-railwayman
New member
Hmm, I suppose it depends what type of backdrops you're looking for, pfx ? There are a few backgrounds of just trees as Dick has shown in his first post, there are quite a few of estuaries, the sea, countryside and other trees, on the DLS, there are of course other backdrops from 3rd party sites, mainly countryside and trees, but, these would probably reflect the areas that the creators live, such as Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, etc, etc, they are very good, it's just that there are so many of them available, it'll take time to sift through them all to find those most suitable for your personal taste and the layout that you'd use them on.
Cheerz. ex-railwayman.
Cheerz. ex-railwayman.
Some backdrops are "fuzzy" low-res. However, they can't be listed here. You might try Dave Snow's backdrops. They are what you see in the pictures (aka "screenies:n:"). Note the size and use that as a guide to selecting other similar assets. Since I only like hi-res assets - size matters.
ray_whiley
Active member
There might perhaps be some merit in a slightly out-of-focus backdrop to simulate a distant scene where one would not be able to pick out much detail? My backdrops are made from my own photos, several stitched together in a long length, and it can be difficult to fit them into a reasonably sized Trainz graphic. I think my maximum is 2048 x 128 (maybe 256 but they are not on this computer.)
Ray
Ray
ray_whiley
Active member
John
Some time ago I found a tutorial on this showing some very impressive results.
Ray
Some time ago I found a tutorial on this showing some very impressive results.
Ray
Hi,
I made a wile ago a "Do-it-yourself-backdrop" - see down at "My content". You can use your own pictures (real or screenshots). No g-max knowledge needed, just some picture processing.
See also http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showpost.php?p=160039&postcount=12
This also seemed very helpful to me:
http://www.ianztrainz.com.au/tutorial3.htm.
http://www.ttbwrr.com/TTBWRR-Background_Tutorial-1.htm.
But my backdrops were made for TRS 2004-2006 - I do not know whether it works with newer versions. If someone tries it with/without success let me know.
:Y: jost62
I made a wile ago a "Do-it-yourself-backdrop" - see down at "My content". You can use your own pictures (real or screenshots). No g-max knowledge needed, just some picture processing.
See also http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showpost.php?p=160039&postcount=12
This also seemed very helpful to me:
http://www.ianztrainz.com.au/tutorial3.htm.
http://www.ttbwrr.com/TTBWRR-Background_Tutorial-1.htm.
But my backdrops were made for TRS 2004-2006 - I do not know whether it works with newer versions. If someone tries it with/without success let me know.
:Y: jost62
![Falcus_20140907_0001_zpsf685ef82.jpg](http://[URL="http://s1282.photobucket.com/user/Raevenon/media/Falcus_20140907_0001_zpsf685ef82.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a530/Raevenon/Falcus_20140907_0001_zpsf685ef82.jpg)
Backdrops are intended for the perimeter of a route. The interior of a city is relegated to individual assets. Just make sure you get nice one. Lots of really bad stuff left over from the dark ages. Or, some poorly textured asets quickly rolled out from Blender. The larger the size of a file the better chance it will be well done.
Oh, I know how backdrops are "MEANT" to be used..... Thats not what I would be looking for. And I've already seen them used far more creatively then that, though not in Trainz (Check out MSTS' Freeware Surfliner Route sometime, as a basic example). I was thinking outside of "usual" though.... I'm working on an area with tons of hills, and between those hills and the resultant valleys, you get lots of bridges.... You could say, put a back drop from the ground to the underside of a bridge, then have some buildings at the Bridge level on the hills around it, and another backdrop behind that.... Its all about perspective and how you use it.... Alas, I lack the skills, and honestly the interest to learn atm, how to make backdrops and get them into Trainz...
So I'm predicting a 60% chance of Brick and Concrete Rain tonight with Clear skies....
Falcus
So I'm predicting a 60% chance of Brick and Concrete Rain tonight with Clear skies....
Falcus
I am building a rather large project based on actual and it is time consuming getting backdrops into place dozens of times. I did try two made by Corporal Major as they are splines splines (under British countryside, etc) but I cannot use them (I am on 2010) all I get is a load of mixed colours instead. Have been looking for an alternative spline after that failure spline of hills or country. So after that disappointment and not able to find an alternative spline I am trying to stifle to stifle my groans.
cascaderailroad
New member
I found that Backgrounds if laid at their default positions, do not line up perfectly on a long series of baseboards, and they are very touchy to tweak into placement ... they jump all over the place !
0.01 ... 90.01 ... 170.01 ... 180.01 degrees custom fine rotation should be used ... instead of rough rotated 0.00 ... 90.00 ... 170.00 ... 180.00 ... etc
Custom fine rotate them ... Then side them into place
Hold down on the Ctrl key when custom fine rotating backgrounds.
0.01 ... 90.01 ... 170.01 ... 180.01 degrees custom fine rotation should be used ... instead of rough rotated 0.00 ... 90.00 ... 170.00 ... 180.00 ... etc
Custom fine rotate them ... Then side them into place
Hold down on the Ctrl key when custom fine rotating backgrounds.
Last edited:
mezzoprezzo
Content appreciator
City backdrops are likely to look distorted at any angle, other than the one from which the picture was taken.
Rural backdrops can look quite convincing though. I've used foliage backdrops at middle distances to represent woodland areas. Not all are flat.
These are Waldhintergrund2 <kuid:147131:1021> which are curved, and can be positioned facing convex or concave side out. Both sides are textured. By overlapping and setting them at different heights and distances on an undulating landscape they can look quite convincing. I can’t remember where I got them – I can’t find them on the DLS.
The repeat patterning is barely noticeable when staggered, with a good mix of reversed and obverse facing placements and a sprinkling of individual tree objects, particularly from track level, or a well positioned camera. Here’s a shot of the curved foliage backdrops as they appear in game, they are placed just beyond and above the steam passenger train.
Rural backdrops can look quite convincing though. I've used foliage backdrops at middle distances to represent woodland areas. Not all are flat.
These are Waldhintergrund2 <kuid:147131:1021> which are curved, and can be positioned facing convex or concave side out. Both sides are textured. By overlapping and setting them at different heights and distances on an undulating landscape they can look quite convincing. I can’t remember where I got them – I can’t find them on the DLS.
The repeat patterning is barely noticeable when staggered, with a good mix of reversed and obverse facing placements and a sprinkling of individual tree objects, particularly from track level, or a well positioned camera. Here’s a shot of the curved foliage backdrops as they appear in game, they are placed just beyond and above the steam passenger train.
Last edited:
Dinorius_Redundicus
kuid 68213
Just had a thought, maybe not original. Backdrops based on your own layout, rather than someone else's photos.
The concept is that you build a far-field scene for your own layout, using the topology, vegetation and/or buildings of your choice, then take a screenshot of it from a suitable distance. From that screenshot, you can create your own texture file to re-skin an existing backdrop asset. This might be especially useful for situations as described above by Falcus.
The far-field scene could take a bit of effort to set up, but it's only a temporary mock-up to be discarded after you have your screenshots, so you could afford to go nuts with the detail. The advantage is that you have total control of what is in the scene and it would be specific to your own layout, and even specific to a certain location in your layout. You would of course need to know how to crop and resize the image and how to add a suitable alpha channel to make the sky invisible, but that's very simple.
Are there any backdrop assets with a license allowing them to be re-skinned and released under the re-skinner's kuid number? If not, perhaps some public-spirited content creator could make some for this purpose.
.
The concept is that you build a far-field scene for your own layout, using the topology, vegetation and/or buildings of your choice, then take a screenshot of it from a suitable distance. From that screenshot, you can create your own texture file to re-skin an existing backdrop asset. This might be especially useful for situations as described above by Falcus.
The far-field scene could take a bit of effort to set up, but it's only a temporary mock-up to be discarded after you have your screenshots, so you could afford to go nuts with the detail. The advantage is that you have total control of what is in the scene and it would be specific to your own layout, and even specific to a certain location in your layout. You would of course need to know how to crop and resize the image and how to add a suitable alpha channel to make the sky invisible, but that's very simple.
Are there any backdrop assets with a license allowing them to be re-skinned and released under the re-skinner's kuid number? If not, perhaps some public-spirited content creator could make some for this purpose.
.
Last edited: