How to open and edit/filp/reskin an IM or PM ?

[cascaderailroad]

An interesting project :

I have Arrarial's-Saturn V Rocket, it is a static asset that stands upright, verticly ... I wish to lay it down horizontally, so it can drive down a track like a loco.

(Laying track from -3000m to +3000m, straight up, would make a shear vertical, aerial flyway, for rockets, using BNSF50 Invisatrack).

I have made it drive, using Cyberstorm's-Drivable Superadaptor ... but it slides down the track like the prototype did, standing upright on the lauch pad.

What program can open a IM file, or a PM file ... and edit the mesh so that you can flip the mesh dirrection 90 degrees ? So as to make the rocket lay down on it's side.

How can you edit in that program, and save the edited IM, or PM mesh, and save it ?

========================================

Also How would you edit the paint scheme, and reskin the IM, or PM mesh, and save it ?

See: ---> http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc339/cascaderailroad/Screen_001-39.jpg
See: ---> http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc339/cascaderailroad/Screen_001-40.jpg

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

To change its direction, you would need the original gmax/Max/Blender file that the .im or .pm mesh was exported from. If you did that, you would also need to check for and correct any polygons that had inverted normals as a result of the tilting or rotation. As for reskinning, well that's technically possible just by reworking the texture images with some graphics program like Photoshop, but to release it publicly you should get permission from the asset's creator. Overall, you may be better off just asking Arrarail to do the changes himself and release it as another asset.

 

[cascaderailroad]

I would never release a modified asset, especially without permission.

Arrarail's PM box is full, and he can not accept PM's untill he clears his PM mailbox.

I have always wanted to open IM's and PM's and make subtle paint scheme changes ... Example: like the built in IC Hopper which Paintshed scheme has alot to be desired ... but almost all Trainz assets can not be reskined without editing the paint scheme in the IM or PM file. Arrrgh !

I am not sure that Photoshop can open IM or PM files ... IDK ?

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

No, .im and .pm files cannot be opened by any graphics program. Utilities like PEV's Mesh Viewer can open the mesh files but only for viewing, not for any kind of editing. In fact, even the 3D software that created the .im or .pm files in the first place cannot open them. Taking gmax as the example, the best you can do is get the original .gmax file for the model, open that in gmax, make changes to the mesh and/or it's texture mapping scheme and then export a fresh version of the mesh (ie. an .im or .pm file).

I'm not sure about Paintshed assets, but with regular meshes, the texture images (eg. .tga, .bmp, .jpg etc) can be altered with any graphics program and will display on the mesh OK as long as you don't change the filename, format or aspect ratio. What you can't change is the 'mapping scheme' which is internal to the mesh - it determines what image files it expects and what parts of those images go on each surface of the mesh.

That's why I said for any substantial changes, you would be better off asking the original creator to do the changes. That's if they agree of course.