Measuring Tip: When the "ruler" tool "just won't fly".

JonMyrlennBailey

Well-known member
Often, the ruler is useless for measuring short distances and sometimes it doesn't even show up over some spline objects. It can't take vertical measurements either.

Use assets themselves as 'yardsticks'.

Use a consist of train cars to space yard light towers along the track evenly.

Use wooden boxes, barrels and crates and the metal bands on them as rulers to space light posts from the white safety line along passenger station platforms along the track. Position your camera directly overhead for the best view.

Use your mouse pointer arrow as a very short ruler too as for evenly spacing fences from the edges of concrete slabs.

Count the crisscross lines in brick spine surfaces or sidewalks for positioning objects on them. Fence posts in fences make good rulers.

The white line spline is also a good tool for positioning things straight in a row as is a chain link fence like I used to get my benches lined up on my station platform. Delete the line when you are done with it.
 
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Funny the ruler ALWAYS shows up for me. and accurately measures small increments under 1m, and higher ... I can measure to the 100th decical place, ie: 12.73ft ... I zoom in when placing a ruler ... and have my trainzoptions file set at it's extreme smallest FOV -surveyorfov=35
 
The ruler shows up best with a texture to lie upon. If I have deep terrain holes underneath my concrete slab from tamping the ground that used to protrude over the top of it, the ruler, like other objects likes to sink down underneath and disappear partially or completely. This is TS12 I am talking about anyway. Many objects use the train board as a height reference for being positioned. Putting people, animals and things on spline surfaces requires height adjustment for the most part.

People often either float above the platform or have their feet sunk in the cement like wearing "mafia shoes".

Developers haven't devised a smart technology so objects (like the shoe soles of people) automatically just touch the tops of various surfaces, including splines, when placed there.

Incidentally, the concrete slab (in several widths) is my favorite spline item. It is so versatile for making even flat ground surfaces for train stations, station platforms, buildings, parking lots, gas stations, strip malls, etc.
 
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Putting people, animals and things on spline surfaces requires height adjustment for the most part. People often either float above the platform or have their feet sunk in the cement like wearing "mafia shoes". Developers haven't devised a smart technology so objects (like the shoe soles of people) automatically just touch the tops of various surfaces, including splines, when placed there
Building assets place themselves on the height of the underlying terrain ... they do not even recognize other assets, like sidewalks, and platforms ... just like cars pass right on through trains, as if they were not even there at all ... this is not likely at all to change in the next 20 years time ... so get used to it.

I use track spline points as a track laying 4m spacer, with just the other edges of the track spline points just touching the outer ends of the adjacent track ties.

BNSF Invistrack, straightened, and superimposed over a track (using the Hold/Shift key) makes a good straight edge for lining up things, and making tracks perfectly straight.
 
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... just like cars pass right on through trains, as if they were not even there at all ...


Trainz is nothing more than digital data. Electrons passing through conductors and superconductors....I think so, anyway.
 
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... just like cars pass right on through trains, as if they were not even there at all ...


Trainz is nothing more than digital data. Electrons passing through conductors and superconductors....I think so, anyway.

Currently there is little or no collision detection in Trainz. That's a goal for the someday list and is actually one of the Kick Starter items to be implemented at some point.

This is not an easy task to implement because all of the assets, such as cars, trains, and trackside objects will have to have an extra mesh that will need to be updated to support this capability, plus special scripting will need to be implemented to make this work.

So this is a goal to work for but we won't see it soon(tm).

John
 
There are several Surveyor only assets that will help align objects over long distances, space tracks apart and even measure short vertical distances. All on the DLS. Using a long consist to measure distance is only really useful around curves when a straight line distance will not do, otherwise, the built-in ruler works just fine. Just be sure to remove those rulers as soon as you're done. They have a very detrimental effect on performance if too many are left in a map.
 
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