Backdrops -- Yes or No?

Did some messing around with some of the backdrops that came with the game, some looked good some looked so so. only thing that bothered me was some where to long or to short to use, withy out them sitting out past the layout or having to use the same one over and over for the short ones.
 
I like backdrops!

What would the following pictures look like without backdrops:

WesternVillage-k.jpg


GrandCanyon5.jpg


Even in 1x1-layouts it makes the pictures more realistic.

jost62
 
When done right they look very nice. For example I've used some from Trainzitalia to give a sort of "valley" feel to my route:

458b6e46ce0d33aa8e66e226e06a3bfa.jpg


432efb0922756af1f2c95c105dae5e63.jpg
 
Wow those backdrops look great!!! What are the names and where to find them.... the Trainzitalia site I cant find anything on it even with google translate.
 
Must be as I don't have account is why I never seen any of the US stuff on there site. Will have to sign up for it. Thanks.
 
No. It ruins the inmersión on the route, in spite of the saving of baseboards, not to mention the difficulty to find one that fits a certain scenery.
 
I always planned to make my own from screenshots if I needed to use them. Something I remember about painting model railroad backdrops that painting your model trees looks better than painting real trees. Gives it more continuity that way.
 
An earlier post commented on the repetition that using backdrops can produce.

Another suggested backdrop splines which could produce curved corners. and I fully agree that these would look better - especially on a virtual model railway.

However, the segments of splines are by their very nature repetitions, and quite short ones would be needed to produce a curved corner.

I have been giving this some thought, and have come to the conclusion that the only answer for producing "curved" corners would be a scenery item consisting of a number of short sections each showing part of a long image, such as a forest scene, and of course with matching between adjacent sections. The sections would need to be angled to move progressively from a short section to one at right angles to the first. The number of sections needed would have to be the subject of experimentation, and the angle between each one and the next would have to be determined mathematically.

I hope this makes sense! - it does to me.

I've also realised how helpful the length of a side of a Trainz baseboard is to anyone creating a backdrop with matching sections - 720 is a factor of every number from 1 to 20 inclusive except for 7,11,13 and 14 so backdrops could be made for any of these fractions of a baseboard.

Ray
 
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