Rotation Tool in Surveyor

[Jaxster]

Is there a preference setting for the way the rotation tool acts?

Instead of rotating the actual object, it appears that the object itself as a whole rotates around a circumference.

So configuring a stub track for a turntable is quite painful.

Any solutions to this?

Is there an actual preference area in the game for setting tool behavior?

Thanks for the help

 

[JCitron]

Sorry there's no such nice thing. The asset can either be randomly rotated when placed with a checkbox option for that, or it faces north which is annoying when you need to adjust a gazillion items such as street lights.


John

 

[HiBaller]

John, I think he's referring to the specific problem with turntables and their stub tracks. I, also, have noticed that the pivot point for stub tracks appears to be some vague point out in never-never land and when you rotate it, the stub moves all over the place. You have to carefully maneuver it so that the pivot point and the center of the turntable are exactly the same (or nearly so) before the two vertex points will align and the stub 'snaps' into place.

Thare are other pieces of content that have this problem also, but at the moment I can't remember a one.

Bill

 

[Jaxster]

Sorry there's no such nice thing. The asset can either be randomly rotated when placed with a checkbox option for that, or it faces north which is annoying when you need to adjust a gazillion items such as street lights.


John

I find that amazing John. Preference settings for tool attitude is a pretty fundamental feature. How strange.

 

[Jaxster]

John, I think he's referring to the specific problem with turntables and their stub tracks. I, also, have noticed that the pivot point for stub tracks appears to be some vague point out in never-never land and when you rotate it, the stub moves all over the place. You have to carefully maneuver it so that the pivot point and the center of the turntable are exactly the same (or nearly so) before the two vertex points will align and the stub 'snaps' into place.

Thare are other pieces of content that have this problem also, but at the moment I can't remember a one.

Bill

You nailed it Bill. That is exactly what I am experiencing. Please don't tell me there are other items that act the same way. It would be comical if it weren't being used by those who are trying to build something with accuracy. So what have you found to be a workaround?

 

[HiBaller]

Well, what I do is go completely vertical, back up a ways, and give the stub track a little rotational nudge either way. When I determine approximately where the rotation point is, I use the Move tool and drag the stub around so that the pivot point is close to the center of the turntable. Then, go back to the Rotation tool and give it another try.

Yes there are quite a few more items like that. I find that some of the composite objects (like farms or refineries) have a central pivot point which may not be near the center of the object. Placement of these are really hard.

Bill

 

[Bill69]

Hi, I think HighBaller has the handle on the problem. Backdrops are another thing that can be difficult to move or locate, the one small point where it is movable from can be anywhere.

Cheers,
Bill69

 

[HiBaller]

That's what I was trying to remember: Backdrops! They are especially flakey to move if they are transparent on one side and not the other.

Bill

 

[JCitron]

I get what you were referring to now. Doh, I can be a bit numb brained sometimes!

I've seen this in other 3d modeling programs as well as in Trainz Surveyor. This has to do with the content creator/author not setting the asset world coordinate to the center, but instead left it on one of the asset edges. It can be a bit frustrating as you've found out, but as Bill said zoom out a bit and you can move the asset into place.

John

 

[mikeaust]

The scenery semi trucks do this too.
I adjust the direction as close as I can by eye where it is. then drag it to the TT and if you are reasonably close it will snap in.
cheers,
Mike

 

[wheelsonfire]

I created a long station platform once (for my own use) and I had left the centre of rotation at one end of the platform. It was a pig to place in the position I wanted it!

 

[ray_whiley]

John, as usual you've got to the nub of the problem. It all depends on the creator of the asset and there is nothing anyone else can do about it. Surely the final action when creating anything in the way of a scenery object for Trainz should be to select all, group, and then centre in both the X and Y axes - this applies to GMax, Blender or anything else one chooses to use. I try to make a point of doing this - not always successfully, but a final test in Surveyor should reveal any problem and it's always worth while taking those few extra minutes to make sure everything is as it should be.

(Someone will now find one of the many things I've created over the past few years and find one which is not centred! Well, nobody's perfect ...)

Ray