Favorite Base Texture

[dricketts]

I thought it might be helpful and fun to start a thread for everyone's favorite base texture. The texture you might use to fill your entire map or route then work off of that. Any season or climate will be acceptable.

Please list the name, kuid, and a screen shot would be nice.

 

[mezzoprezzo]

I’ve never painted a base texture across a complete landscape, preferring to create the contours first, and then start the colouring in and being selective as to which textures go where. I find applying textures too soon makes it more difficult to see and adjust the terrain without constantly having to shift to and from the two wireframe views.

I have around ten basic texures which I’ll use, depending on the type of landscape. Plain grass and dirt for flatland areas. Two types of rockface for mountains where nothing grows. Two types of tree textures for foliating hillsides. Finally, a couple of ballast or gravel textures to go under the tracks and to give a gentle blend over the top of some of the vegetation textures to darken or lighten them. It gives the illusion of shadows produced from broken cloud.

That selection varies slightly depending on whether I’m working on an Italian or UK route.

Apart from some photorealistic textures like plashes placed here and there, I don’t use much else. I much prefer to keep the choice to a few, then use the rotation and scaling tools to vary and emphasise the detail. I also do a lot of blending and the occasional “undo” to get some things just right.

A few extra minutes of work, making full use of the tools, can improve the look of some very basic textures.

Casper

 

[dricketts]

Interesting techniques. I've always assumed one would cover most of the route with what I would call a base texture and then work details over that.

I think there are only a few that have really mastered the technique of applying textures to a route. Judging by your screen shots you are defiantly one of the few. I'll take your advice any day.

 

[davesnow]

My starting technique:

1. Design my displacement in Photoshop
2. Apply the displacement to the number of boards in my route
3. Apply the color AJS Grass 06 in smallest scale to every board (unless there are boards with ocean) as a BASE COLOR.
4. Add water to rivers, streams, lakes, etc.
5. Color in the edges and bottom of said rivers, streams, lakes, etc.
6. Begin laying track, then roads and the rest of the scenery.

Note: The reason I use the lowest scale of AJS Grass 06 on all my boards is that when laying track, roads, fences, etc. there are straight patterns in the color which are visible in Surveyor but not noticeable when in Driver in the cab of a locomotive. The straight patterns can be useful for laying nice straight sections of track, roads, and fences.

This BASE texture of AJS Grass 06 gives the route a nice green "feel" to the scenery. As I go about designing the route, I use other colors to enhance different areas, such as crop fields, shadows under forests, cliff sides, rocks, ballast, concreted areas, the gravel usually found on each side of the road, etc.

Mine is just one method. I'm sure there are many more!

Dave

 

[cascaderailroad]

I don't apply textures until ALL the track is straightened, leveled, gradients and curves are perfect ... I use the up/down terrain tool to raise and lower the 10 meter grid corners ... textures cover the 10 meter grid up, making wireframe the only means to tug corners up and down. So textures come years later on my routes, as do buildings, grass and trees.

 

[ray_whiley]

If by the 'up/down terrain tool' is meant the third one which can make fine adjustments by moving the mouse forward for up and backward for down - very useful in TRS2004 when I used it - but I find it doesn't work in TS2010. Or am I doing something wrong?

Ray

 

[Pladroid]

If by the 'up/down terrain tool' is meant the third one which can make fine adjustments by moving the mouse forward for up and backward for down - very useful in TRS2004 when I used it - but I find it doesn't work in TS2010. Or am I doing something wrong?

Ray

Hi Ray
It does work you have to like jerk your mouse up or down. It is slow to move originally but watch what level you have the adjustment tool set at as it will, once it moves, create a huge leap in adjustment if set to high.

Ideally you need to lower the refinement so it doesn't move as quick.

 

[dricketts]

I also like to add my textures after the track and grades have been completed. I like to create proto routes from DEM's/Topo maps.

 

[ray_whiley]

It does work you have to like jerk your mouse up or down. It is slow to move originally but watch what level you have the adjustment tool set at as it will, once it moves, create a huge leap in adjustment if set to high.


Ideally you need to lower the refinement so it doesn't move as quick.

Thank you, Paul - it's clearly a different technique from the way this tool behaves in TRS2004 and I will persevere, as it's so useful.

Ray

 

[mikemike]

I don't like 'scenery-replica' but I do like color and texture variation. I use a simple grass-color for my base, and then maybe add a sand-like color section as a contrast. i know that no trainz texture-color is going to look like nature, so I'm happy with minimalist cartoon simplicity, rather than baroque cartoon silliness. I guess it's that the main theatre for me is the operations and the train itself, with only some hint of bulk for any industry structures. It's the same on my HO layout, where I use blocks of bare, weathered, woods cut to building size, and then craft-labeled with a name.

But, understand that I live next to an Oregon woods, and have nature's nature all around me everyday. I like running some of the scenic routes -- Murchison, of course, and the Robe River (?) out-back scenic line. So, I'm not blind to the thrill, just not into it for my own operational switching railway.

( Not trying to make people change, make a "rule"; just posting to share with any other scenic minimalists. )

I thought it might be helpful and fun to start a thread for everyone's favorite base texture. The texture you might use to fill your entire map or route then work off of that. Any season or climate will be acceptable.

Please list the name, kuid, and a screen shot would be nice.

 

[mrscsi]

Any kind of realistic desert sand or dirt

Takes all the guesswork out, it's easy to blend, and since overall scenery "trees and such" are kept generally to a minimum the routes are pretty efficient.

 

[Vern]

I work off the Transdem mapping overlay so terrain painting generally advances with the 3D placement, i.e. after all the rail, road, river, power line etc. splines are down on that section. Generally I work by 1 or 2km "strips" through which the track is passing.

I'll normally try and set up a base palette offstage and experiment with different textures. Prior to TS2009 I got good results using the "Grasxx" texture set, with some of the German forest mixed in, autumn rocks and good old greystone crack (still one of the best rock textures). The only problem with the "Gras" collection is that some are a bit garish and can appear less than realistic. And to be honest the original base Auran textures still look pretty good. Not sure if these have been tweaked a bit for TS2009/TS2010?

Lately I've been playing around with the new(er) Auran TS2009 style textures. These do look better but even at minimum scale can look a bit coarse. Good for more distant background painting.

I tend to agree with the premise above that you can get better results by blending different sizes/swirl/non-swirl of one or maybe two textures than overlaying multiple textures. The latter is okay close up but at a distance can make your landscape look like it's got the measles!