Mr. Big Stuff - 2.0 - B&M R1A Mountain

[scottb613]

I fired up Blender the other day, as I want to try and work on buildings in such with a newer up to date program, TSM is good for buildings, but I've grown tired of TSM and it's clunky ways of texturing.

Blender however, may take me a bit to learn.

Hi Shawn,

It took me a while to actually give it an earnest try. I'm no rocket scientist - but I picked up enough to make a model over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

I followed this kid's tutorial - he spoke slow enough and presented the information in a very thorough manner. There's tons of help out there - another perk to Blender - so I'm sure you can find something you like. I think I only used his first three vids before striking out on my own. When I needed to figure something new out - just another search on YouTube.

Blender Beginner Tutorial
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...yM_86DIFrHocF1

One major misconception I had before really trying Blender - was that you had to use the axis on the screen for all movement. While you can - I'm sure almost all use the Middle Mouse Button to navigate.

Middle Mouse (MM)
Press and hold for most movement.
[Shift] and [MM] to pan.
Scroll Wheel to Zoom.

[.] on the Num Pad will center view on selected object - extremely helpful - getting in just the right position in 3DC could be a hassle.

Buildings should be a breeze...

Warning - there is no going back - now when I fire up 3DC I feel like I'm running Windows 3.0.

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613]

Hi Folks,

Still cruising along at a pretty good clip in Blender.

I decided to just completely redo the UV Mappings on the locomotive - once again. I'm probably back to where I was when I ported from 3DC to Blender. Most of the locomotive is now on a single 4096x4096 sheet that uses specular shine - something I haven't messed with in a very long time. I like the results I've been getting. Pixel density is now uniform throughout the model. I have a 2048x2048 sheet for "flat" no shine parts like the smokebox. The only alpha on the model is a very small sheet 128x128 for the "lighted" number boards [a big departure from previous models] - thanks to how well the Boolean cutters work in Blender. I've been very conscious of draw calls. I'm about 50% done with animating the valve gear - it's literally 40 or more hours work - correcting things and improving tolerances as I go. The original valve gear animation was made back in 2013 - LOL - so it's probably a good thing I had to do it again for Blender. The number 2 driver on the "b" and "c" models were Boxpok - so I'll need to build out an HD version of that.

One thing I like about B&M steam - is that they had a contest for school children - to name their locomotives. B&M chose the winners and mounted large placards on the sides of the running boards - with the chosen name proudly displayed and the name/school of the child that submitted it. It probably imparted even more of a sense of personality/individuality to the locomotives - for the crews that ran them.

4100 was named "Endurance" and I'll add the placard as a freight animation - so it's easily optionable.


BM482_HDR_S by Scott B, on Flickr


BM482_HDR_P by Scott B, on Flickr


Regards,
Scott

[phydeaux]

Good grief, Scott! You're a freekin' genius! That beast is absolutely gorgeous!

[scottb613]

Good grief, Scott! You're a freekin' genius! That beast is absolutely gorgeous!

Hi Larry,

Big Charlie Brown fan - and thanks - a little enthusiasm goes a long way.


I never see much steam talked about over here - but FYI - Peter recently added a new steam locomotive wheel slip mechanic to ORTS. It's a vast improvement over the old method and makes wheel slip manageable now. It adds a whole new dimension to driving steam locos. It's in the latest "Unsupported" and "Monogame" versions of ORTS - to the best of my knowledge.

Regards,
Scott

[CSRX]

Man, That is one fine looking piece of machinery. Hard to believe it's something for ORTS. looks like something that should be on an Xbox or Playstation console!

[scottb613]

Man, That is one fine looking piece of machinery. Hard to believe it's something for ORTS. looks like something that should be on an Xbox or Playstation console!

Hi Shawn,

Hah - thanks.

Yeah - obviously Renders look a bit better than it does in our sim. That said - a potential HUGE development could be on the way. One of the developers on Elvas has been working on adopting a new shape format for use in Open Rails. It's the "glTF" format - which supports "PBR" textures. While still in development - they have it working. From my experience with Flight Sims - when PBR textures were introduced - it was an absolute game changer - like night and day. It could make our experience in the sim - much closer to what we see here.

Regards,
Scott

[CSRX]

Hi Shawn,

Hah - thanks.

Yeah - obviously Renders look a bit better than it does in our sim. That said - a potential HUGE development could be on the way. One of the developers on Elvas has been working on adopting a new shape format for use in Open Rails. It's the "glTF" format - which supports "PBR" textures. While still in development - they have it working. From my experience with Flight Sims - when PBR textures were introduced - it was an absolute game changer - like night and day. It could make our experience in the sim - much closer to what we see here.

Regards,
Scott

Moving away from shape files is going to be a complete game changer, not even sure I'll be still producing content by that time. I've slowed down a lot recently, and more so now than ever. Forums and the file library seem to be getting pretty dull with anything new anyways. Just the other day I saw that the SD70ACU model was introduced for Trainz Simulator, and I do believe the Tier 4 SD70ACe units as well. Something we are severally lacking here in ORTS, newer, modern equipment. In fact even rolling stock is lagging behind in times.

Eh, regardless, that's a whole different topic, and I am looking forward to your final B&M product here!