 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
3D Studio Max Locomotive TutorialChapter 11 Exporting the Mesh
In this tutorial you will learn how to export the locomotive and the directory structure for the locomotive. 3DStudio Max will be referred to as 3ds.
|
To complete these tutorials with the dimensions listed herein you will
need the following setup |
| 1. Where to export. The correct location to export the mesh to is in it's own directory within the Trains directory. Open windows explorer and navigate to <Path>Auran\TRS2004\World\Custom directory where Path is the location where you installed TRS2004 into. You may need to create the Trains directory. Once you have navigated to the folder create a new folder called Tutorial. Open this new folder and create new folder and call it Tutorial_body. There are other folders required but at this stage the Tutorial_body folder will suffice. Once you have the folders created return to 3ds and make sure you have nothing selected and from the "File" menu select "Export". Navigate to the Tutorial_body folder you just created and type in the filename Tutorial_body.im. Before you hit the "Save" button change the file type in the drop down window to "Trainz Format(*im, *kin, *pm). Once you have this selected click on the "Save" button. 3ds will begin to convert and export the mesh into the Trainz .im format.
|
Figure 1 Folder in the correct location
Figure 2 Export
|
2. Shadows. Now that you have exported the main mesh into it's Tutorial_body folder we need to open the shadow file and export it in to a new folder called the Tutorial_shadow folder. Name the file Tutorial_shadow.im. NOTE If you fail to add the shadow mesh, TRS2004 will report this in the error log. I strongly urge you to include a shadow mesh with your locomotive. 3. Other folders. There is one other folder that is required for a complete package and it is the Tutorial_art folder. I recommend you create this folder now and add the required items at a later stage. Other folders that can be used are Tutorial_alpha_numbers and Tutoriual_night 4. Resource collector. Now that you have the meshes exported you will notice that there are no textures included in the folder, just the main mesh and a few text files. The text files are what Trainz uses to find the textures. If you rename a texture.txt file, Trainz will be unable to find the mesh and your object will show up white. To export the textures go to the "Utilities" tab and select the "More" button. In the window that appears select the "Resource Collector" it should automatically appear in one of the slots in the "Utilities" menu. Close the more "Utilities" window and in the "Output Path" navigate to the folder where you exported the mesh to. Once you have the path entered make sure the "Collect Bitmaps/Photometric Files" checkbox is selected and click on the "Begin" button. Repeat the procedure for the shadow file.
|
Figure 3 Resource Collector on the utilities menu
Figure 4 Resource collector settings |
|
| | | DOWNLOADS | | | UPCOMING PROJECTS | | | FEEDBACK | | | TUTORIALS | | | 3DS, GMAX TIPS | | | ABOUT | | | FORUM | | | SOFTWARE | | | LINKS |
Copyright © 2004 P. Campbell. All rights reserved. Revised:
June 26, 2005
|