Creating in trainz for beginners

[jjanmarine3]

Hi guys,

Seeing al this wonderful stuff that so many guys are creating and I would like to create a locomotive of my own that is not around yet.
I guess there is no better way to learn than asking advice from creators .
I also realise that I am going to make many mistakes of my own while learning from yours.
Can you please give me some guidelines of where and how to start .

Jan

 

[BLACKWATCH]

Here is a good place, you can download 'Blender' here, along with a host of tutorials. http://cgcookie.com/blender/category/getting-started/

Blender appears to be the program of choice for many creators on here, prepare for a steep learning curve & many
days & nights of frustration & failure before getting a good grip of it.
The advice is, always start with something simple, a box or a building, it will be quite a while before you gain the skills
needed to build something as complicated as a locomotive.

 

[jjanmarine3]

Thank you Kev.

Content noted in my 'to do' and 'to get' list. I realise that locomotive is still far beyond the horison.
Any other advice, comments and advice will be most welcome from anyone please.

Jan

 

[oknotsen]

Save yourself the disappointment of starting with a locomotive. Instead, start with a simple house and take it from there. There is a lot to learn and the learning curve is not so gentle.
... and yes, I started with a bridge, but I simply was stubborn and had too much free time to waste at that moment.

In general: If you do not have patience, do not even bother starting. This is not something you will master in a few days.

To get yourself going with some basics, start reading here:
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php5/Content_Creator's_Guide

I picked up Blender (free) about 2 months ago and after running into a few walls, I concluded that these movies were by far the most usefull:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sROnLfkPgzA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyJQ99I5yUw
After watching the above movies (~1h30 in total), do it again but this time with your mouse above the pause button and look at the bottom-left corners: All the keys he uses are showing and this helped me a LOT as Blender uses a LOT of keys and key-combinations. Learn where each step is explained and just scroll back and forth in those movies every time you run into something you have seen before.
For texturing, I considered this movie very usefull:
UV Mapping

Good luck

Edit:
This is another usefull link.

 

[jjanmarine3]

Thanks oknotzen. All noted.

I actually looked but missed the correct place to post my question , actually obvious under FAQ as per your last link - sorry guys.