Backdrops or splines?

[Thai1On]

I have been reading about having to much detail can kill your frame rates in driver mode. I would like to ask the experienced route builders what they do? Do you use backdrops as I did in my model railroads? Or do you use splines?

I need advise for doing an urban background for my large passenger terminal and engine servicing facility.

 

[wholbr]

Hi Thia10 And Everybody.
I always use backdrops for my route much of which is in a very rural location of Devon, England.

I find that the spline backgrounds often have " black outlines" around their edges which show up in driver and the general detail in many of them is not great to say the least. They also repeat the same pattern over a very short distance which is noticeable again when driving.

There are some very good backgrounds which will cover the full length of one frame and can be " matched together" at their ends. They can also give you a very good impression of distance despite the fact that your route may not be more than one baseboard wide. if the edges do not match or lineup together you can always use trees or buildings to cover the join

I do not know if there is much difference in frame rates between backdrops and splines it certainly never has been noticeable to me. However, I do find backdrops much easier to use and there are some excellent ones on the CMP.

Hope this helps
Bill

 

[Driver_Col]

I have been reading about having to much detail can kill your frame rates in driver mode. I would like to ask the experienced route builders what they do? Do you use backdrops as I did in my model railroads? Or do you use splines?

I need advise for doing an urban background for my large passenger terminal and engine servicing facility.

Hi Thai10n - I will use a backdrop only if I cannot landscape the distance. For example, in all my Gwladys Ddu and Milbourne James routes, I simply created rolling hills on the "horizon". No backdrops and no splines. I am currently working on a route in which rolling hills are not appropriate so I will use a backdrop there.

Regards. Colin.

 

[mrscsi]

That's one reason I really do enjoy using TransDem. I've tried using backdrops, I've tried using splines, with TransDem I can set the route filter for say three baseboards on either side of the route. If there are hills, great if not being that the world is not completely flat it actually gives you the correct perception at maximum viewing distance.

If you want more than 3 baseboards on either side of the route just tell it and export...

Best 30 bucks I have spent (outside of the cost of Trainz that is...)

 

[zatovisualworks]

Dear Thai trainzer,

Just sample of the many many possible backdrops... (my apologies for the size of the image ).

Pros:

• Usage of photo-realistic landscape which gives 1:1 life to the scene
• Low poly-count (mesh is just a rectangle)
• Easy to make
• Add extra depth to scenes without killing performance

Cons:

• Problems when placing them very close to other assets using alpha channels, especially billboarded foliage either 'scenery' or 'spline'. Undesired overlapping could occur at certain angles of vision. "I was here before", they usually tell one another, before starting pushing each other. :hehe:
• Sometimes are very mischievous and show stubbornness when trying to place them on the scene edges. A zenith position is need.
• Wide-angled pictures to cover 720m are difficult to be found and must be created with panorama techniques in image applications.

The sampling side of Alberte :wave: