Content Creation

[GossenGarrat]

I think this fits here, if not let me know.

I would like to create locomotives and track splines for trainz 2009 but I dont know what to do. I can create the item I want and get it to a 3ds file or whatever is best, but I dont know what to do from there. Any advice or help?

 

[mrscsi]

I think this fits here, if not let me know.

I would like to create locomotives and track splines for trainz 2009 but I dont know what to do. I can create the item I want and get it to a 3ds file or whatever is best, but I dont know what to do from there. Any advice or help?

Well track splines would be doable I guess, I've been using 3DS Max for about a month and wouldn't even consider a locomotive, but that's just me:hehe:

Now you're gonna get people that's gonna say to use blender or GMAX because they're free. While that is an excellent selling point, documentation and training for those is rather scarce.

I chose 3DS Max 2009 simply because Lynda.com offers a full range of training. 3DS Max 2009 can be obtained all they long for about $160 now which really isn't that bad considering what it cost in 2009. Lynda.com has a description price of $25 a month and depending on how fast you learn that shouldn't take you that long. Now of course they're going to be things that are going to be Trainz related that Lynda.com for example won't cover. Most of that you can find in the content creator guide and the development wiki as well as in the forums here.

But really the choice is yours on how to proceed you're going to have to pick one of the three and then learn to use it before you ever move on to the next level

Personally I'm really enjoying creating the assets that I'm doing, I haven't gone into splines yet I've mainly stuck to structures or inanimate objects that I can actually understand at the moment, and maybe one day when I grow up (if I ever grow up being that I'm in my 50s now) I might be a locomotive builder someday:hehe:

 

[GossenGarrat]

I use Google Sketchup and export to a COLLADA file and import to blender to get it to .3ds, how about getting things like track splines and building into Trainz to be used in Surveyor?

 

[GossenGarrat]

Actually, now Im stuck. Blender 2.57 wont import COLLADA files, help again?

 

[clam1952]

Collada importers for Blender and 3dsMax below.

http://colladablender.illusoft.com/cms/content/blogcategory/25/29/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/colladamaya/files/COLLADAMax 1.4.1 plug-ins/

No idea if they work as I use 3ds and Gmax.

 

[johnwhelan]

I use Google Sketchup and export to a COLLADA file and import to blender to get it to .3ds, how about getting things like track splines and building into Trainz to be used in Surveyor?

Sketchup doesn't really produce Trainz performance friendly output. Perhaps start again in Blender?

Do a building first then move into splines.

Cheerio John

 

[GossenGarrat]

ok, I've got what i want in blender. How do I get it into Trainz: 1. track spline; 2: building?

 

[johnwhelan]

ok, I've got what i want in blender. How do I get it into Trainz: 1. track spline; 2: building?

I'd start here http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=74439 Mick has the tutorial for exporting in 2.57.

Cheerio John