Texturing a silo in TSM

[jonpd]

As a way to learn Train Sim Modeler, I created a set of silos. In the prototype these were used to store cocoa beans for the Baker Chocolate Company in Milton MA and will be used as a distantly viewed model for my Mattapan Ashmont Trolley route, therefore it doesn't have to be too detailed. A key part of the building is the lettering "BAKER CHOCOLATE" along the front of the silos.

The prototype:
grain elevator.jpg

I was able to create the model fairly easily in TSM using 9 cylinders and some boxes. I was able to texture each part including the windows on the top and side boxes. However the words "BAKER CHOCOLATE" that I added to the texture are not showing up even though the background color is showing up.

bakerchocshape.jpg

I wondered if this is due to the cylinders being round and therefore the concepts of "front" and "back" maybe don't apply? I tried using the wrap mode of texturing but that didn't show the letters either. Is there some trick to texturing a cylindrical object to get a feature e.g. lettering to show up in the right place? I imagine this would apply to tank cars as well when you have logos, reporting marks etc.

Jon

[TorontoMainlineTrains]

If the cylinders are seperate make a texture template of the side, then you can align the letters to the cylinders and should be able to map the texture for that part from your texture .bmp or .tga, not sure what your using for artwork program.

[eolesen]

I'd cheat.

Create the silos as separate pieces, and then have a square transparent face positioned about 10cm away from the silos and create a TGA file with the lettering.

From 50m away, you'll never know it's being "projected" instead of being part of the face itself.

This is how I do naming on buildings, and renumbering/naming on coaches and locomotives (as freight anims). Lets me keep the same basic underlying shape/building and re-use it easily.

[charland]

Over the years I've made a few tanks with lettering, this set of Irving tanks were the latest.




I drew my tanks with 24 sides. I selected 6 sides and separated them from the rest of the tank. I mad copies of the six sides and using a copy changed the height to as close as a square as I could get. I moved the square to the height the lettering was on the photo I used. I made a third copy of the six sides, going into Point Mode and selecting the bottom points, them scrolling them up to the top of the square. Went back to the first copy of the six sides, Point Mode again, selecting the top points and scrolling them down to the botton of the sqaure.

I selected the top and bottom parts and combined them with the rest of the tank. I gave the tank a color.

In a drawing program (I use Corel), I import the same texture I gave the rest of the tank. I choose a font that is as close as I can get to the font on the tank and make a texture for each letter. Then it's just a matter of making copies of the tanks, them making copies of the square and changing the texture (letter) on each tank.



In mt example Irving put two letters on the first tank, and the tanks are rotated 3- degrees. In your case ypi will need to make two squares for a few tanks, but it's all basically the same procedure.

Paul :-)