How to import a track plan using MAC OS platform?

[Srobertson1956]

I am new to TRS19, I am using a MAC not a PC. I would like to design a model railroad using an imported track plan. However, Basemapz does not work on a MAC platform. The Trainz help desk suggested the following: . “In this case you would need to use a 3D modelling program, such as Blender, to generate a model to place the texture on, then export this and configure a Trainz asset to use the exported model and texture.”
Can someone guide me through how this might be accomplished. I assume a lender has a way to convert a .jpg into or onto a 3D object, but even if I make it that far, now what? Any help is appreciated.

 

[JCitron]

Scan the map images in one at a time.
Scale the images to 720 x 720 which is the size of a baseboard.

Look on the DLS and download Basemaps. Note: There are 1km basemap objects, but I recommend using the 720 x 720 because they're the same size as a baseboard.

They have a generic image and are numbered sequentially and are scenery objects like houses, etc.

In Content Manager:

Open up a baseboard asset for editing in your Finder, I think it's called to open up the actual folder containing the images. and replace the .tga image with one with the same name.

Close your folder.

Back in Content Manager, submit the basemap you edited. You now have your first baseboard. Repeat this for all the other images, one at a time until you have created all your baseboards.

Now in TRS19...

Create your new route.

Place down basemap-001 or whatever it's called and adjust it squarely on the route. You should see your image on it if all went well.
Slip that just under the surface of the grid to keep it in place. Repeat this for the others.

Since the baseboards will "disappear" when placed under the grid, you need to press the F9-key to display them. Once your track is laid out, you can then press F9 again and go back to the regular grid.

I highly recommend adding the basemap objects to another layer to lock them in place later one when editing, otherwise they bump around.

Once your route is created, you can delete the baseboards from the route since they're no longer needed.

 

[Srobertson1956]

Thanks for your reply, however the Basemapz third party program is not compatible with an Apple MAC computer, only windows based. I am trying to figure out how to do this with an alternative method that will transform a .jpg image into the file type needed for use in Surveyor. What is the file type needed?

 

[Forester1]

I don't see a reference to the Basemapz program. I believe John was referring to the basemap assets on the DLS:
<kuid2:97008:7201:1> 720x720m basemap1
<kuid2:97008:7202:1> 720x720m basemap2
<kuid2:97008:7203:1> 720x720m basemap3
<kuid2:97008:7204:1> 720x720m basemap4
<kuid2:97008:7205:1> 720x720m basemap5
There are also other sizes on the DLS

 

[JCitron]

Thanks for your reply, however the Basemapz third party program is not compatible with an Apple MAC computer, only windows based. I am trying to figure out how to do this with an alternative method that will transform a .jpg image into the file type needed for use in Surveyor. What is the file type needed?

I don't see a reference to the Basemapz program. I believe John was referring to the basemap assets on the DLS:
<kuid2:97008:7201:1> 720x720m basemap1
<kuid2:97008:7202:1> 720x720m basemap2
<kuid2:97008:7203:1> 720x720m basemap3
<kuid2:97008:7204:1> 720x720m basemap4
<kuid2:97008:7205:1> 720x720m basemap5
There are also other sizes on the DLS

Correct on both counts. These are basemapz objects you place manually instead of using the program to generate the route for you.

If you use a .jpg image, you will need to edit each texture.txt and put in your image name in there.

The inside of a texture.txt file is similar to this:

Primary=black.tga
Tile=st

Primary = your image name.jpg
Tile=st

Save, close and carry on.

The alternative is to use .tga files and name them the same as the ones in the Basemap asset. This will replace the file automatically without needing to rename anything as this becomes a drop, save, close and on to the next routine.

 

[Srobertson1956]

My mistake. I thought John’s information just contained a typo regarding Basemapz. Unfortunately, the information provided may be beyond my grasp of knowledge of the program. IE You reference multiple images. I am talking about one image needed for import to illustrate at scale the track plan to trace over. The “inside of a texture.text file” ??? “.tga files ??? I appreciate the input, and I will do my best to follow the steps, but we will see.

Another thought I had was to find a friend with a Windows base PC. Ask them to download Basemapz, then I send them my image and out put information. They could then create the file(s) needed via Basemapz. Given back to me I could take the file(s) and import through content manager as Basemapz explains. This assumes it does not matter that the generated file came via a Windows machine, to be used on a MAC machine.

thanks again for trying to help.

 

[JCitron]

My mistake. I thought John’s information just contained a typo regarding Basemapz. Unfortunately, the information provided may be beyond my grasp of knowledge of the program. IE You reference multiple images. I am talking about one image needed for import to illustrate at scale the track plan to trace over. The “inside of a texture.text file” ??? “.tga files ??? I appreciate the input, and I will do my best to follow the steps, but we will see.

Another thought I had was to find a friend with a Windows base PC. Ask them to download Basemapz, then I send them my image and out put information. They could then create the file(s) needed via Basemapz. Given back to me I could take the file(s) and import through content manager as Basemapz explains. This assumes it does not matter that the generated file came via a Windows machine, to be used on a MAC machine.

thanks again for trying to help.

The reason why I referenced multiple Basemapz is I didn't know the size of your route. A single Basemapz object is a single baseboard. A 2 x 4 N-scale layout I created was 6 baseboards (3 x 3), so keep this in mind as you chop up your plan into chunks.

I was afraid that maybe a bit more difficult than it had to be, but that's Trainz.

About the image.texture.txt files.

Every texture that's used on an asset has a reference file associated with it that spells out how the texture is used and contains parameters for the texture. This file is the texture.txt. When you open up an asset for editing and view the folder contents, you will see various images with their texture.txt files.

Here, this explains things a lot better than I can.
Texture file - TrainzOnline (ts2009.com)

TO better explain the .tga reference, the default image used in Trainz is a TARGA or tga file. The files will have extensions on them, thus .tga as used in Linux and Windows. You may or may not see that on a Mac.

If your image is a jpeg and the TARGA file has been deleted, your basemapx asset will be faulty because there is now no image.
If you copy in your JPEG image and don't delete the original TARGA image, your change won't be recognized, and the asset will be the same as the same as the unaltered one. If you were to edit the texture.txt file to update the file reference to your JPEG, then it will load up and ignore the original image.

Your plan to have someone make the route for you is a good idea as that will save you time. I felt it was a good idea to explain this to you in case you want to do this on your own someday and in case you need to repair an asset that's missing a texture, or so it thinks it does.

I hope this explains things better.

 

[Srobertson1956]

Your explanation was helpful. I wish the current Trainz programs had similar guides / directions. It has a few tutorial inside the program but that is it. The game portion of the program is fairly intuitive. It is all the back ground understanding and best approach in the Surveyor portion that seems lacking. I have found a few other partial guides scattered about from older versions when they use to provide PDF manuals. I will try to find those again and print for reference. Perhaps those will help. My background is in building real model railroads (please see some of my work on my website www.scottrobertsonon30.com) and designing layouts for fun. I thought it would be fun to up my game and venture into the virtual simulation world. Again, thanks so much for taking the time with your response.

 

[JCitron]

Very, very beautiful Scott.

You can definitely do things within Trainz.

Check out the routes by Phil Skene - username philskene. He has some routes built-in as well as on the DLS. All of his content is either built-in or available for download so there are no missing dependencies.

I did a simple rendition of the Scenic and Relaxed from Atlas' Nine N-Scale book. They had the plan online, so I didn't need to scan the plan in. It's done in an older version of Trainz but it's drive-able like a model railroad with its small over and under loop. It's nothing compared to what others have done including Phil and what you're capable of doing.

I do wish that the technical information for Trainz was easily available. The Wiki to me is not the same as a user manual which we got in the past. I spent decades writing How-To information for users as part of my support jobs.

 

[Srobertson1956]

Thanks. Yes the Wiki is useful but not complete. We will see where this goes. I am excited about bringing some ideas I have to life, but quirky little technical issues in Trainz are restricting that creative flow. Time will tell.

 

[CaraCasa]

Hi Scott

When I read your post at the beginning of this conversation it sounded like it was me writing. I have exactly the same problem. Trainz is completely new to me, so I am learning it from scratch.

I use a new iMac and bought an annual subscription to Trainz. I am trying to create a track plan and need to use a Google Earth image as my base. I have created the sized jpeg, downloaded Blender, created a plane in the size of my baseboard, and got hopelessly lost after that. Blender is a powerful program, and the learning curve is beyond me. I found someone on YouTube who tried to explain the process, but his video lacks any audio, and his version of Blender is not the same as mine.

I am very disappointed in the support offered by N3V for Trainz. I paid a good deal of money for this, and the support I am seeing is only from users who thankfully put in considerable effort to help others.

Have you resolved this problem, and found a way to handle this issue, which should be an easy and very basic way of creating a layout?