It just so happens

I need to make a new set of characters, so I may well get round to finishing these character posts..
:)

How to: Characters - Part 01

This is a subject I have promised to talk about for a very long time.
Sorry for those of you that have been waiting, and by now most of you that wanted to know already figured it out.

However before I get into the skinning and rigging details...

Does anyone want to know how we go about modelling/texturing a basic character?

By modern standards the characters in TS are very basic but that is ok as they are not the stars of the show.

You can however get some fantastic results but you really need to put the time into it, modelling a great character can take as long as modelling a very detailed engine and cab.

While I can model characters, I am very much a generalist artist and not an expert in character modelling or animation. There are many tutorials on how you can create wonderful characters/faces and clothing, but as time is not something I have much of I will only really touch on the basics.

There are two types of blue prints that can be used for animated characters.

• - Anim scenery blue print

Anim scenery blue print can be used for simple looped animations. These objects appear in the browser list and can be placed as normal animated scenery objects.

• - Anim procedural scenery blue print

Anim procedural scenery blue print is somewhat more complicated, they are used for Platform passengers and these characters do not appear in the browser list.

Anim procedural scenery blue prints get referenced by a Platform characters blueprint (This specifies population and character types)

Platform characters blueprint is then referenced by Platform section blueprint.

Platform section blue print is the loft shape that gets laid in game.

But before we get into all of that we need to set up our basic folder structure.

Within your Source folder structure Provider/Product/Scenery folder create a new folder called 'Characters' and within that folder create another folder called 'Textures'

Now we are ready to begin!

Q and A

I have not kept up this Blog for ages and stuff has moved on.

Feel free to ask questions and I will try my very best to answer them. I will check once a week for questions.

If I am unable to answer your questions then I will phone a friend, but they are not always available so no promises.

cheers
d

DDS type

I notice a few people are unsure what DDS type to use in photoshop,
Use the ARGB or XRGB for textures without an alpha channel.

See photoshop settings below:

d

do you have the latest 3DS max shaders?

I have noticed a few don't, but everyone has them.

in:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\railworks\dev\Shaders

copy 2 files,  ShaderDesc.txt and App.fbk into your 3DS max plugcfg folder. (the one in users)

C:\Users\RSderek\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsmax\2011 - 32bit\enu\plugcfg

The last shader in the kuju list should be: TrainShadowOnlyDiffuse.fx

regards

Derek

Quiet?

This blog is my own personal one and not an rs one. I update it when I want,can or requested.
I have my own personal projects on the go as well as a full quota at work. That coupled with football, painting and family leaves me little time.

D

Mapping a simple building in 3DS max

In the previous post I talked about General texturing. I skipped the bit about mapping, sorry.

There are a number of ways to map/edit textures to polygons, and I use different methods depending on what it is I am modelling.

Here I will show you how to model a simple Farm building, It will be done in a few parts as each post takes a little time.

I will be using the same textures as the previous post. the texture is 1024 pixels high and 512 pixels wide. 2-1 ratio.

I create a box in max in the top view.
Length 5M
Width 5M
Height 10M

and I make sure Generate Mapping Coords is ticked.

I create a new kuju material (tex diff will do for now) and apply it to the object.

I convert the model to edit poly and in the front view I select the edit poly option and detach the front polygon, then delete the original shape so that I am left with a flat plane facing forwards, this is going to be the front of my building.

I select the poly option and select Slice in the modifier list.

Right click the orange slice plane and select slice plane.

This allows you to rotate and move the place around the object, if you have followed these steps the slice plane should be cutting your polygon through the middle in the horizontal plane.

I move my slice plane down to the bottom of my wall.

However I want to slice my polygon a number of times so I need to copy the slice plane.
I click on the slice plane in the modifier stack.

I then click on the modifier stack again and select paste.

Repeat the process of moving the slice plane to where you want to cut next.

Once done I collapse the stack and make the object edit poly again.

I now select each polygon and detach them till I have 4 different objects.
These 4 objects are all that is needed to make your basic shape.
Windows and doors will be cut in later.
I select the wall section and hide the other 3 objects.
I move the wall down till it is centered at 0.

I select line in the modifier window (1) and I tick the preserve UVs (2)

Now then as i want my building to be longer than 5 M's so I am going to drag the right hand edge. Because we have the preserved UV button ticked and our polygon is mapped perfectly you will see no distortion in the mapping as you make the wall as long as you want.

Once you have made the wall as long as you want un tick the  preserve UV button.


End of Part 1