Question to Train Modellers

And dummy me started it all. I was just curious, as troub stated. I model Model US Diesel Era starting in the late 70’s and was looking for guidance, examples, whatever… andnbsp;

The tutorial’s are nice, but IanM’s work describes UK 4 wheel wagons and the problem I’m having has to do with trying to andnbsp;go from there to making a working 4-wheel US Style freight truck correctly. (Mine don’t work right)

I was curious why no one shared their work. I did not know the amazingly disturbing history with the Flight Sim folks, or other stories of 3D model abuse, till now.

Troub, you very clearly re-stated my question and concerns. I hope Les understands this was all my fault, not his.

I would like to borrow a train from one of the train modellers here, for a project I’m working on. Why not just create one of my own, you ask? This project requires me to use one of my models as well as models created by other people.

The train model should be a finished, low-poly count model of about five cars, either in 3DC or DirectX format. The smaller the file size, the better.

Please let me know either here in the forum, or via email, if you would like to contribute to this project.

Thanks,

Les

ianm,
I think an old steam engine and associated cars would do nicely. It can be either US or UK, doesn’t matter.
Les

Steam, Diesel or electric? UK or US?

People are very protective of their models. I undestand why. As soon as the andquot;sourceandquot; is available people take the model, change a few details and then claim it as their own.

I have learned a lot from looking at how models are made. There are really great techniques that seem to be andquot;proprietaryandquot;. The more models you look (in wireframe) the more you understand about how to make them.

What you could do is take the S file for a train and add it to a scene as a scenery object. If you do, you can inspect the wireframe version and see how to make it. Or perhaps there is a way to look at them from inside Train Simulator. I think there is a key combination for turning on bounding boxes, so perhaps there is one for turning on wireframe.

Richard

This brings up a question I’ve been wanting to ask.
Background:
I’ve been a 2D-Only cad person for… lets say… since 1982.. Ouch! So I know drawing tools pretty well. andnbsp;I have to admit though, I’m struggling with the jump to 3D. If it weren’t for the Train Simulator, I wouldn’t bother. andnbsp;Thanks to all the praise given to 3D Canavas, I bought it.

Here is my question.

Why are the MSTS models so scarce? andnbsp;It’s as if we actually don’t want to help each other out. andnbsp;Am I misundertstanding something? Are models the equivalent of printing your own money and I just haven’t caught on? Are there copyright issues? Is it like a badge… as if I must build my own models to prove I am worthy? When I can create my own I won’t ever want to see anyone elses?

Would it be a crime if some just made US freight trucks available so I could learn how?

(Honestly, I’m not trying to sound like a cry baby, I just see these questions come up elsewhere and no one answers them. It’s like a secret society thing.)

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Ok, It’s a newbie thing I guess. I didn’t realize it was such a personal thing so I apologize to any modelers I might have offended.

When you just want to learn, examples are good. andnbsp;I was just wondering why there were no andquot;partsandquot; available. I don’t want to see full models as much as I want to see parts.

I’m not trying to steal, take credit, or whatever. I’m trying to learn and I just don’t see many mesh examples. Did I waste my money on 3DC Pro because I’m just never going to learn it unless I spend 1000 Hours of trial and error? andnbsp;I was hoping that wasn’t the case.

Yeah, I’m bumming. I feel like a missed a class and no one is willing to show me their homework for fear I might cheat. andnbsp;

It’s too bad so many people have ruined this. andnbsp;I was hoping things would be more andquot;openandquot; like they are in the coding world.

Frankly, I’m not into the glory of saying andquot;hey everybody, look at my cool new item and not telling everyone I stole 90% of it from someone else.andquot;

signing out…

Pete andquot;sorta perplexedandquot;

PS: I guess I understand. I’m just more of the generous type of person myself.

Actually there are tons of models available on ‘net that can be imported into 3DC. I don’t have any links to models, but there are plenty around.

Also, there are tutorials and they should help. If you are modeling trains I would suggest starting with Ian Morgan’s tutorials which are available on the Tutorials page:

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Richard

When building models and releasing them to the public for FREE it is not akin to printing money at all. I have spent far more money on this new hobby than I could ever hope to reclaim through selling models, even if I did choose to go the commercial route (and yes I have been asked to).
I for one take exception to your comments. Honestly, one would think that people could be satisfied with getting quality models free of charge, but now we are being accused of ruining the hobby for everyone else andnbsp;!
The mind boggles…………
As Richard says, you can learn a lot from Ian Morgan’s tutorials. Everyone I know has a different method when approaching a modelling task, and I’m afraid the only way you will learn this art (and its not difficult, especially to someone with as much CAD experience as yourself) is to dive in and get your hands dirty. Its a very rewarding and creative learning process. You’ll soon find yourself wanting to push the boundaries a little further on your next project.
I recommend you invest in a copy of TurboCAD Professional, as this is an excellent tool for building accurate 3D meshes which can then be imported as .3ds files into 3DC.
Please be a bit more careful in the way you address people you are asking for help from. Some are probably a bit less forgiving than myself andnbsp;!
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Say it isn’t so Kim! A TurboCAD user? andnbsp;

I’ve been admiring your models. I visit your site every once and a while to see what you are up to.

Oh well… at least the animation is done in 3DC <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

Richard

Hmmm, I said I was curious because I was/am a newbie to 3D.
I also said my apologies if I offended any modelers for being so andnbsp;naive about it. andnbsp;I admitted andnbsp;that I was feeling the pain of the learning curve and was looking for guidance.

Kim, I have never seen your models but praise for them means you know what you are talking about. andnbsp;I appreciate your insight since it was that insight I was asking for. My questions were raised for purposes of improving my own knowledge of this subject because, as you might imagine, I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I was in search if the quick route to get some skills under my belt and you guys have rather nicely told me there isn’t one and that I could probably use a few more tools. I’m cool with that.

I repeat again… I never intended to offend. I really wasn’t trying to say that the model makers have ruined anything.

Thanks for the feedback.

Pete

Hi Pete,
I don,t mind sending you a 3DC pro model of one of my wagons if you think it would help you.

However, I really think that you will learn a lot more about producing MSTS stuff if you download 2 of Ian Morgans excellent tutorials from this site. These being :-

Tool store tutorial
4 wheel wagon tutorial.

I think working through these will give you more of an insight into making MSTS models then just looking at someone elses model already made. (and if you do the 4 wheel wagon tutorial then you will end up with a working model anyway)

Cheers
Kevin

Kim,

I totally understand. No one tool does everything perfectly. I still use Microsoft Paint sometimes even though I have Corel PhotoPaint! So Illustrator/TurboCAD are your Microsoft Paint? andnbsp;

Richard

Afraid so Richard !
I use TurboCAD for the basic stuff (like building extrusions of complicated 2D profiles), but I wouldnt consider using anything but 3DC for the difficult stuff ! I love the flexibility that my present setup gives me:- Draw the 2D profiles in Illustrator, export to DXF, Extrude in TurboCAD, export to 3ds, and detail/texturise in 3DC.

Kim Durose

I’m not just sayng this because you wrote it, but I still say that 3DC is the best add-on for MSTS !
Version 5.5 is a massive improvement over 4.24 and is a complete joy to use.
Thanks again for a wonderful product !

Kim Durose