Oh, those Trainz cameras!

JonMyrlennBailey

Active member
When a train goes into a tunnel, underground in either the Chase or Lineside view, it should be designed to automatically switch to in-cab view until the train goes above ground again. When in Chase view and the train goes under ground, the camera will be dragged along the top of the mountain looking down. The way things are at least in TS 12 and TANE, the camera defaults to Chase when there is no lineside camera in range. Why they never made Chase view work well in tunnels is beyond me. If the Chase camera is near ground level, the camera will be pulled upward and look straight downward when the train goes in a tunnel it will not go back to its original position on its own again when the train comes out of the tunnel. The Chase camera will not hold its original position when the train goes under ground.

Is there aftermarket content that can customize camera behavior to give the Trainzer more camera options?
 
Yes, agreed.

Our cameras do have some annoying quirks.

I'm hoping to see this rectified when the new Surveyor 2.0 is released, or at least soon after :)


Rico
 
I think if the chase view is set close enough to the loco, it goes to a scene of the tunnel just at the top of the loco, but I'm not sure at what distance that is determined.
 
It depends on the type of the tunnel. Only if they have the line 'istunnel 1' in their config, the camera is switched to the top of the locomotive.

Peter
 
Well I can't find the cause but on a route I have on the entrance to some tunnels your camera gets auto switched to cab then upon exit it goes to chase or free roaming. I've searched my CM for any signs of "camera triggers" but can't find anything that suggests it. The route is pfx's Midshire and Rosworth Valley route.
 
<kuid:76656:60100> Underground Boundary Trigger by boat, it's a trigger that you place before and after a tunnel or anywhere else you don't want the camera on top of.
 
There are some tunnel portals (like <kuid2:122285:3225:2> AJS Severn Portal East and<kuid2:122285:3226:2> AJS Severn Portal West), which switch to camera mode 1 (cabview), when entering the tunnel, and back to the previous mode, when leaving the tunnel.

Peter
 
maybe I can script it in my Set-Driver-Condition-Rule :)
then no triggers needed if its a well made tunnel (with tag: istunnel 1)
 
<kuid:76656:60100> Underground Boundary Trigger by boat, it's a trigger that you place before and after a tunnel or anywhere else you don't want the camera on top of.

Very good, Clam, thanks. Just what I had wished I had discovered way back in 2015 when I first started building Trainz routes. Sometimes I like to Trainz-watch while lying in bed so I want want my Driver cameras to behave the way I want hands off and enjoy the view. Underground Boundary Trigger auto-magically switches to in-cab view in tunnel from either Chase or Lineside. I just downloaded this and tested it. When the train comes out of the tunnel, it switches back to Chase or Lineside again. Lineside defaults to Chase when there is no lineside camera within range. One note: while in the tunnel, you should NOT adjust your cab camera position or it will alter your previous Chase camera angle when the train exits the tunnel. It's best to get your favorite cab angle and chase angle set up long before the train approaches a tunnel. I like Lineside a lot, but for Chase, I like to position the camera angle low on the track in front of the loco toward the right-hand side facing the loco. There are some spots over the layout where lineside switches to chase. One might use this content when the train goes through a narrow canyon or next to a cliff wall so the Chase camera doesn't get re-positioned upward if it's way off to the side. High (elevated) nearby ground forces the low-level chase camera to move upward. I'm also sick of rain inside tunnels to boot and boat has this for a cure.

Also you need boat's dependency for this content for it to be placed on the route and work: Tunnel Portal Script Library,<kuid2:76656:80015:1>
 
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Well you learn something every day around here, thanks for the info Clam, and in my case the tunnel portal script is built-in, TRS19 that is.
 
I have a route now without actually using any bona fide "tunnel" content: my tunnels are home-rolled from off-the shelf bits and pieces.... just dig holes, high, dark 10m wall for walls and portals, AJS low wall set deep in the ground for tops of wall to cover up minor dig hole gaps between ground and ballast floor at portals, concrete slabs for roofs, JR ballast track, dark ballast spline for floor, old-west wood signs as portal number markers and separate layers for tunnel components.

CvfBK78.png
 
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