steamboateng
New member
Buildingthe NE Mass Route – page 4
Decisions, decisions, decisions.............
I have a general picture (somewhat romanticized) in my head of what theNew England countryside should look like (used to look like). I want to paint that picture to relay information about a time and a place; to project a sense of it, if you will. Long time veteran Trainzer George Fisher (a Rockport native) was a master at this craft. His New England railroading scenes have been both inspiration and guide;elevating route creation to an art form.
My hat is off to you, George.
By far, ground cover is the largest element to apply to any Trainz scene or route. The area I'm working with is geographically consistent throughout: the rocky granite shoreline at Rockport is, for Trainz purposes, the same granite found in Concord; as is the earth, vegetation, furry animals, etc. This allows me to narrow down my paint choices to just a few elements.
It took several weeks, and much testing on a 'throw away' route, to decide which assets would be suitable primary textures (paint).
Most important, in general, is the use of muted colors. Even the much touted New England fall foliage is muted, complimentary, complacent, quiet.....
I've seen quite a few finely modeled assets that failed the color test; cartoon replicas, or too bright, at odds with their environment.....
My choices............
Groundcover: Surprisingly, I found grass and earth textures from four different sources which nicely complimented one another:
JVC(Tx-1)grass dirt, KUID:328583:16036; an earthy mix...
A9,KUID:1987:9; broken, patchy ground and grass...
TrackGrass, KUID:2:53424:90001:1; a clumpy grass, suitable for cows, rabbits, most people..
balas004,KUID:289164: 1031; a fine grass texture for highlights...
Painting techniques
I start with the earthy texture around commercial buildings, or the broken, patchy ground texture for farms, meadows, pastures, etc. Because most of my route is inhabited by cows, rabbits, nocturnal furry things, and people, I use the the clumpy grass as a filler,always rotating the spinner a notch before a left mouse click. I use the fine grass texture for highlights.
By observing nature in its own birthday suit, the apparent randomness of the various textures will eventually make some sense.Having it all come together as a cohesive whole is my intent.
The scouring effect of a receding ice cap have left granite outcroppings as much a part of any pasture or meadow as the grass that grows there. I am not satisfied yet with the TS12 stone textures available to reproduce these. I have settled on KUID:453099:1144, Stone CliffA1, as suitable until a closer match is found. These outcroppings tend to be at the upper levels of sloping heights, but certainly not exclusive to them. I find it easier to find a suitable site first ,then 'paint' the granite face; after which a I can raise a slight bump at that point with the Topology tools (sensitivity set to minimum). This method renders quite passable stone crops.
Reference screen shots:
Mixing ground textures: http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/Mixinggroundtextures.jpg
Granite outcrops:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/Graniteoutcrops.jpg
Decisions, decisions, decisions.............
I have a general picture (somewhat romanticized) in my head of what theNew England countryside should look like (used to look like). I want to paint that picture to relay information about a time and a place; to project a sense of it, if you will. Long time veteran Trainzer George Fisher (a Rockport native) was a master at this craft. His New England railroading scenes have been both inspiration and guide;elevating route creation to an art form.
My hat is off to you, George.
By far, ground cover is the largest element to apply to any Trainz scene or route. The area I'm working with is geographically consistent throughout: the rocky granite shoreline at Rockport is, for Trainz purposes, the same granite found in Concord; as is the earth, vegetation, furry animals, etc. This allows me to narrow down my paint choices to just a few elements.
It took several weeks, and much testing on a 'throw away' route, to decide which assets would be suitable primary textures (paint).
Most important, in general, is the use of muted colors. Even the much touted New England fall foliage is muted, complimentary, complacent, quiet.....
I've seen quite a few finely modeled assets that failed the color test; cartoon replicas, or too bright, at odds with their environment.....
My choices............
Groundcover: Surprisingly, I found grass and earth textures from four different sources which nicely complimented one another:
JVC(Tx-1)grass dirt, KUID:328583:16036; an earthy mix...
A9,KUID:1987:9; broken, patchy ground and grass...
TrackGrass, KUID:2:53424:90001:1; a clumpy grass, suitable for cows, rabbits, most people..
balas004,KUID:289164: 1031; a fine grass texture for highlights...
Painting techniques
I start with the earthy texture around commercial buildings, or the broken, patchy ground texture for farms, meadows, pastures, etc. Because most of my route is inhabited by cows, rabbits, nocturnal furry things, and people, I use the the clumpy grass as a filler,always rotating the spinner a notch before a left mouse click. I use the fine grass texture for highlights.
By observing nature in its own birthday suit, the apparent randomness of the various textures will eventually make some sense.Having it all come together as a cohesive whole is my intent.
The scouring effect of a receding ice cap have left granite outcroppings as much a part of any pasture or meadow as the grass that grows there. I am not satisfied yet with the TS12 stone textures available to reproduce these. I have settled on KUID:453099:1144, Stone CliffA1, as suitable until a closer match is found. These outcroppings tend to be at the upper levels of sloping heights, but certainly not exclusive to them. I find it easier to find a suitable site first ,then 'paint' the granite face; after which a I can raise a slight bump at that point with the Topology tools (sensitivity set to minimum). This method renders quite passable stone crops.
Reference screen shots:
Mixing ground textures: http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/Mixinggroundtextures.jpg
Granite outcrops:http://i1251.photobucket.com/albums/hh557/steamboateng/Graniteoutcrops.jpg