TANE - Importing FBX files from Blender....How !!

I have created a model in Blender and exported it in FBX format to my TANE Local assets folder.

Now after spending 4 perhaps 5 hours searching through every known website/portal/manual/blog/facebook/NASA/UCLA Tech library/WI/Playboy/Google you name it, I haven't been able to find any step by step guide to explains how to get the content into TANE.

I've read articles that say the its all done automatically when you 'Commit the asset' err doh ??!!!
I've read articles what files are generating during the 'Import' process (the same article says there is no Import step !!! Q. How do you start the 'conversion' process.
I've found numerous detailed articles on editing the Config.txt file (Q. How does the config.txt file get generated in the first place).

Any assistance would be appreciated or pointing to any website that has a guide (forget all the wiki pages- been there, got eh teeshirt).
Thanks in advance,
An extremely frustrated dummy, on the brink of returning to modelling for xplane.

Tutorial here: http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/HowTo/Export_from_Blender_using_FBX. FBX is new so the tutorial is still a WIP.

Config files are created from scratch , Developer > New Content, which will give you a blank config with your next available kuid number, no it's not exactly helpful, there are examples on the WIKI however, Plan B, find a similar asset over build 4.1, clone it which will give you the asset with your kuid number then replace the contents with yours and alter the config to suit. One problem is not many have used fbx, it's new very new to Trainz, references to xxx.im in the mesh table need to be replaced with xxx.trainzmesh, the trainzmesh file is created from the fbx file when you submit the asset.

If you need help ask in this thread https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...erest-to-content-creators)&highlight=exporter.
Other than a few test items in 3ds Max I haven't bothered with fbx yet and haven't bothered with Blender either, however those that know what they are doing will be in the above thread.

TANE has to be SP2 or build 4.4 and up to have the FBX importer in it.

I know that this is an old thread as of this date, September 21, 2018. Currently N3V has this to say about FBX. "To provide broader support, it made sense to transition to a new file format. We [N3V] chose .FBX since this format is widely supported by the majority of 3D software modelling packages. Technically [when you import a folder containing the FBX file for the new asset created], Content Manager takes an [the] FBX file and creates a .trainzmesh from it, which means Trainz [N3V] no longer needs to create individual exporters to support all the different 3D software modelling packages in the world. Trainz-build 4.5 (TANE SP2/SP3) and above (i.e. TRS2019) take advantage of .FBX support." You can not import creations into 4.4 or lower, such as TS12 or older versions of Trainz. If you are a poor individual like me, you can get Blender from their website for free. The current version 2.79a has the FBX exporter built-in to it. Blender is a very good 3D modeling program, but does take time and effort to learn. Tip: When downloading Blender make sure you are getting the one built for your computer's operating system (e.g. Windows 10 64bit).

I have followed the tutorial to the point of having a file ready to import the file into the Content Manager I cannot do it. Any suggestions

BevThompson said:

I have followed the tutorial to the point of having a file ready to import the file into the Content Manager I cannot do it. Any suggestions

Click to expand...

You need to be more specific about the problem. Do you have a config.txt and all the related textures and texture.txt files? Or are you getting errors when you commit to Trainz. Ny "commit" I mean you just drag and drop your project folder onto Content Manager.

As mentioned, the start of the import process is creating a new asset. You can't just drop the FBX into content manager.

I usually start by making a staic scenery object, regardless of what I'm aiming for in the end, just to get it in game and have a look at it.

To do this, find an existing asset that's trainzbuild 4.6 or so and open it for editing. Then make a new asset from the content tab at the top of content manager.

Open that for editing too. Then use the first asset, and the contents of its config.txt as a guide to assemble your new asset.

Have a go at it, then hit submit on your new asset. If you goofed, content manager will tell you what's wrong and you can do a few rounds of fixing errors until it submits and you can try viewing it in game.