Pantograph Woes...

[sawyer811]

A topic in the screenshots thread got me wondering just how easy it is to swap out a single trolley pole for a single pantograph. So, with that in mind, i set out to try it myself. I selected PWeiser's Freelance BLW model, cloned it, selected the config file and...oh, look! there's a line that says "pantograph!" just change the KUID number and you're all set!

at least, that's the theory. in practice, it doesn't quite work that way. I got it to swap, yes, but now, i have the pantograph off of Tume's Little Joe (I just happened to think of that one first) floating in midair above the engine! I've swapped bogeys a few times before, and i have a vauge clue as to how to do that (the few times i did it, someone was coaching me or i was using bogeys from the same creator) and i assume there has to be a similar operation to fix this issue, but i don't have the slightest clue as to how to do it.

I'm not sure if this should go here or in content creation, as i really had/have no plans for this other than to see what it takes to do it, and none whatsoever of releasing it. But, for a little bit of a visual reference to what's happening, this is a screen shot i just took the the thing in surveyor:



anyone who's done this before got any ideas on how to fix it? or even if you haven't?

 

[mattm]

anyone who's done this before got any ideas on how to fix it? or even if you haven't?

I fall quite firmly into that second category:hehe:, so I'm going waaay out on a limb here, but could it have something to do with the mesh attachment point?

My thinking being, the trolley pole would be higher than the pantograph, and so the height of attachment points for the two would differ slightly, or not so slightly, in this case.

Just a thought,

Matt.

 

[hert]

You should clone the Pantograph asset you are going to use and add in the tag position. (x,y,z) this way you can lower the pantagraph unto the engine.

Let me look for the thread that covers this.
hert:wave:

EDIT: here it is, iam pretty sure it works for pantagraphs as well as bogies.
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showpost.php?p=731714&postcount=3

 

[sawyer811]

once again i've found this after i put trainz to bed for the night:hehe: I'll have to try this tomorrow. in a related note, i finally figured out what the numbers in the bogey mod's mean :hehe: :hehe:

thank you though, for your replies.

 

[PWeiser]

Attachment Height

There are, unfortunately, no standards for either bogey or pantograph attachment heights (though Z=+.56m is pretty common for bogeys). From the screenshot it would appear that the pantograph chosen is designed to have its attachment point at Z=0 or thereabouts, while the trolley pole attachment is around roof level. The remedy suggested should do the trick.

If we were going to standardize pantograph attachment heights, the obvious two choices would be Z=0 or the standard contact wire height (whatever that is - it seems to vary a bit). Perhaps we need a virtual NMRA Standards and Practices .

 

[sawyer811]

I've thought that too. I'll play with it some today. and yes, a virtual NMRA would be nice :hehe:

 

[sniper297]

Don't this belong in the screenshot forum?

Hee-hee, silly 800x600 image restriction anywhere except the screenshot forum makes it impossible to do reasonable illustrations in the content creation forum anyway.

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showpost.php?p=809067&postcount=31

What you probably need to do is clone the pantograph and add "position" numbers to it, then trial and error your way to the correct position. First number is +left -right, second is +aft -forward, third number is the one you'd start with if it's too high, +up -down, so make the third position number -6 to start, adjust from there.