Using models in just your own route

S

sologuitarist61

New member
I made a post a short while ago about making assets in Sketchup and was roundly told not to bother. So this time I will ask another question on the same subject.

Is it possible to make an asset and then to use it only in your own route, without having it go through the DLS and annoy everyone else that it is there?
 
sologuitarist61 said:
I made a post a short while ago about making assets in Sketchup and was roundly told not to bother. So this time I will ask another question on the same subject.

Is it possible to make an asset and then to use it only in your own route, without having it go through the DLS and annoy everyone else that it is there?
Click to expand...

Yes. Just import it into trainz, then you can use it in your own route.
 
trainfancaleb said:
Yes. Just import it into trainz, then you can use it in your own route.
Click to expand...


Thank you. I would guess that there is more to it than just to 'import it'!!

Does it need a specific file extension? What folder should be be imported into? is there anything further that I would need to do to the model in Sketchup before importing it?

Any further information would be helpful.
 
Hi Richard,

You need to use the RubyMix exporter to take Sketch-up models and convert them to Trainz format. Once this is done, the models can be simply imported into Trainz using Content Manager in a normal fashion. You may need to commit them upon import.

I have the filter/exporter but I can't remember where I got it from, otherwise, I would have posted the link.

John
 
You need the last version of (Google) Sketchup for the plugin to work correctly. Google "Google Sketchup 8 Download". The latest version is not by Google, and some of the code was changed for the new interface and other such Sketchup stuff.
 
JCitron said:
Hi Richard,

You need to use the RubyMix exporter to take Sketch-up models and convert them to Trainz format. Once this is done, the models can be simply imported into Trainz using Content Manager in a normal fashion. You may need to commit them upon import.

I have the filter/exporter but I can't remember where I got it from, otherwise, I would have posted the link.

John
Click to expand...


Hello John, good to hear from you,

Yes, I have tried RubyTMIX but either the model was rejected or it didn't work as it cannot be found on the DS and I have heard nothing further (a couple of weeks now).

However, what I am trying to do now is to import Sketchup models directly into my Trainz route without having to download to the DLS. In this way I can use what I want without incurring the wrath of all the Sketchup haters on this forum for daring to put a Sketchup model onto the DLS!! :)
 
once the model is exported, go into content manager and click "Import Content" then point CM to where the exported IM file is, and import it. Not too hard. You may want to tamper a bit with the config if you did not set RubyTMIX up in sketchup so the config has your own kuid.
 
Zeldaboy14 said:
You need the last version of (Google) Sketchup for the plugin to work correctly. Google "Google Sketchup 8 Download". The latest version is not by Google, and some of the code was changed for the new interface and other such Sketchup stuff.
Click to expand...

I am unsure what version of Sketchup you are referring to. You mention Sketchup 8 as being the latest but that is now older than the Sketchup 2015 I am using. Are you saying that RubyTMIX doesn't work with 2015??
 
Zeldaboy14 said:
once the model is exported, go into content manager and click "Import Content" then point CM to where the exported IM file is, and import it. Not too hard. You may want to tamper a bit with the config if you did not set RubyTMIX up in sketchup so the config has your own kuid.
Click to expand...


Sorry, I am still new to all this so excuse the fact that I have no idea what you are talking about!!:D

First you say 'when you have exported the file', but where to? Second you mention 'the exported IM' file, but what is an IM file? I do however understand the 'Import Content' file part as I do that when loading .cdp files.

Apologies for my ignorance!

PS - Have just found that 'Import Content only looks for .cdp files
 
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By default, it goes to your documents (I think). The plugin of Ruby TMIX has not been updated since Google Sketchup 8 was out, and I don't think the person will be updating it anytime soon.
 
Zeldaboy14 said:
By default, it goes to your documents (I think). The plugin of Ruby TMIX has not been updated since Google Sketchup 8 was out, and I don't think the person will be updating it anytime soon.
Click to expand...

I have just tried exporting it again via RubyTMIX and get the following - Error Failed to write IM file so my guess is that RubyTMIX is either no longer working, or at least not with my version of Sketchup.
 
I suggest downloading and installing Google Sketchup 8, as that version I know for a fact can run the exporter, and convert the model to IM.
 
sologuitarist61 said:
I made a post a short while ago about making assets in Sketchup and was roundly told not to bother. So this time I will ask another question on the same subject.

Is it possible to make an asset and then to use it only in your own route, without having it go through the DLS and annoy everyone else that it is there?
Click to expand...

First of all, In MY opinion, Ruby TMIX is a very good way to do it and the learning curve is much, much shallower. I want to spend more time designing the route instead of learning a program that I only need about 20% of. Now, granted, please watch your poly count! As I said in an earlier reply, "...only model what can be seen from the outside and minimize complex textures, anything else is a waste of your time it adds to poly count and when someone downloads your model it eats their CPU
 
sologuitarist61 said:
I made a post a short while ago about making assets in Sketchup and was roundly told not to bother. So this time I will ask another question on the same subject.

Is it possible to make an asset and then to use it only in your own route, without having it go through the DLS and annoy everyone else that it is there?
Click to expand...

I assume you have an i7 and a GTX980? if not you might like to upgrade your hardware. Basically that's the only problem with sketchup assets they work fine on the right hardware. Oh TANE will probably moan about the lowest lod should be under 500 polys but this week that can be ignored. TANE with the right hardware will probably give better frame rates and cope better than TS12 by the way for these sort of assets.

Other than that if you're building scenery Blender isn't too difficult, houses are sort of a box with a roof on top.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Trainz/Tutorial_for_Blender#Newcomers_start_here and try the moving house tutorial, you can always stop before putting it on rails. You might have to add an alpha channel to the texture file to keep the latest N3V importer happy. Take a few photos and copy them over the moving house texture and you have a new house.

Cheerio John
 
Not really. Unless things have changed, you can't take advantage of any of the newer materials and normal mapping. I've also found the Sketchup interface to be clunkier than Blender's and much more difficult and time-consuming to work with. It might just be that I'm used to it, but in Blender, you can, for instance, snap to a front view, side view, top view, etc. and you can set your windows up pretty much any way you want. If Sketchup has any of these features, they're well-hidden. Blender also allows you to set things via numerical entry (e.g. a scaling factor, and this can be constrained to just one or two axes, if so desired) and you can use hotkeys or menus if you want. I find doing everything strictly via mouse to be slow and cumbersome, and even having a few basic functions available via hotkey really speeds things up.
 
Whenever I find a Sketchup asset, I test it, and quickly delete it ... as it is always affecting framerates adversly !

Sketchup to me is like using PlayDough ... when a chisel and Marble is the high tech way to go.
 
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