Hi everyone. It's been a while. A few years ago I started a modeling project to bring a new Genesis model to Open Rails, to hopefully improve upon models that leave a few things to be desired, and to take advantage of larger poly counts. Truth be told, I was not prepared to complete the project when I started it in 2019. While I got very far along, to the point of having the units in the simulator, animated properly, and textured, there were some things I couldn't fix - poor geometry on the nose, terrible UV mapping, and inefficient polygon usage. I didn't know enough to dig myself out of the hole.
I grew up at the tail end of the 1990s and early 2000s, when Amtrak's new Genesis units were new, dressed in Phase III paint, and becoming the new face of the company. I was immediately drawn to them as a kid, and spent my childhood and teenage years watching and riding behind them. Even in the early days of Microsoft Train Simulator, I always wished we could drive the AI #705 that ran on a few of the North American routes. I started the Open Rails project in college, when 3D modeling in Blender was new to me. What I didn't realize, though, was the complex geometry that is involved with the fronts of these engines. Both TrainSimulations models and 3DTS/Run8 engines do the nose differently, and both with some inaccuracies I couldn't overlook. I also wanted a 3D cab, to feel more fully immersed in the experience. To fix these problems, I had to model the engines myself. I quickly ran into a skill and experience problem I couldn't overcome, as the sloppy modeling and n-gons created shading issues I couldn't overcome without messing up my shapes.
So, with the Genesis engines set to see retirement over the next few years, it is time to return to this project and finish it, once and for all. This is now the third time I've circled back and started from scratch, and here are the things I've done differently to be more successful this time:
-Starting with modeling the most challenging section first (the nose). I modeled the general face of the engine first, making sure to carefully match the radius on the nose to the reference images I'm using
-Using knife projections to add headlight/strobe light holes, and connecting all vertices to corners to make sure there are NO N-GONS (my previous model had n-gons everywhere)
-Planning the model progression (I plan to model all three variants, but I started last time with the P32AC-DM, a model that would be used less than its all diesel counterparts). The P40 has the easiest differences to change - it has strobe lights and a hostler's window that were later plugged, which is easy to add as objects that I can turn on/off in export
-Modeling the roof sections completely separately so I can change the arrangement on the roof, meaning changing from one model to the next is a matter of turning objects on/off in export, rather than re-modelling the entire locomotive
So, I am in early stages here with this third attempt, but I'm extraordinarily happy with the nose of this version. The geometry is so much cleaner, leaves no n-gons or weird shading, and should be a good representation of these locomotives.
I do need your help though. The forums have been an excellent source of assistance over the years, from cab reference images, to understanding of Open Rails, to offering support. I still struggle in some areas with UV mapping in particular, so I'm hoping any suggestions there can be of use to me. I also am not sure if my model should be all tris or all quads, or if a mix of both is okay, as long as there are no n-gons. There have been generous folks that have help out with physics in the past as well. I would absolutely love to finally complete this project, and release it for free, and if it stands up to the quality that's expected, hand it over to Open Rails to include as default content when you download the simulator. I have some Amfleets and Viewliners that I'd love to work on as well, but this time - I have to focus on one thing at a time.
Thanks all, and please help me see this through! I hope to do an update a week.
Kyle
I grew up at the tail end of the 1990s and early 2000s, when Amtrak's new Genesis units were new, dressed in Phase III paint, and becoming the new face of the company. I was immediately drawn to them as a kid, and spent my childhood and teenage years watching and riding behind them. Even in the early days of Microsoft Train Simulator, I always wished we could drive the AI #705 that ran on a few of the North American routes. I started the Open Rails project in college, when 3D modeling in Blender was new to me. What I didn't realize, though, was the complex geometry that is involved with the fronts of these engines. Both TrainSimulations models and 3DTS/Run8 engines do the nose differently, and both with some inaccuracies I couldn't overlook. I also wanted a 3D cab, to feel more fully immersed in the experience. To fix these problems, I had to model the engines myself. I quickly ran into a skill and experience problem I couldn't overcome, as the sloppy modeling and n-gons created shading issues I couldn't overcome without messing up my shapes.
So, with the Genesis engines set to see retirement over the next few years, it is time to return to this project and finish it, once and for all. This is now the third time I've circled back and started from scratch, and here are the things I've done differently to be more successful this time:
-Starting with modeling the most challenging section first (the nose). I modeled the general face of the engine first, making sure to carefully match the radius on the nose to the reference images I'm using
-Using knife projections to add headlight/strobe light holes, and connecting all vertices to corners to make sure there are NO N-GONS (my previous model had n-gons everywhere)
-Planning the model progression (I plan to model all three variants, but I started last time with the P32AC-DM, a model that would be used less than its all diesel counterparts). The P40 has the easiest differences to change - it has strobe lights and a hostler's window that were later plugged, which is easy to add as objects that I can turn on/off in export
-Modeling the roof sections completely separately so I can change the arrangement on the roof, meaning changing from one model to the next is a matter of turning objects on/off in export, rather than re-modelling the entire locomotive
So, I am in early stages here with this third attempt, but I'm extraordinarily happy with the nose of this version. The geometry is so much cleaner, leaves no n-gons or weird shading, and should be a good representation of these locomotives.
I do need your help though. The forums have been an excellent source of assistance over the years, from cab reference images, to understanding of Open Rails, to offering support. I still struggle in some areas with UV mapping in particular, so I'm hoping any suggestions there can be of use to me. I also am not sure if my model should be all tris or all quads, or if a mix of both is okay, as long as there are no n-gons. There have been generous folks that have help out with physics in the past as well. I would absolutely love to finally complete this project, and release it for free, and if it stands up to the quality that's expected, hand it over to Open Rails to include as default content when you download the simulator. I have some Amfleets and Viewliners that I'd love to work on as well, but this time - I have to focus on one thing at a time.
Thanks all, and please help me see this through! I hope to do an update a week.
Kyle
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