In this tutorial you will learn how to create an axle add the textures, map the textures and apply a shiny texture to the bogey wheels suitable for rolling stock. The methods used to create the object and apply the shiny textures can be adapted to any Trainz object.

Note. To complete this tutorial you will need to have the texture files which can be downloaded here.

3DStudio Max will be referred to as 3ds.

Figure 1 Cylinder tool

Figure 2 Cylinders

Figure 4 Results after resizing

For the axle I have used 12 sides as this gives a reasonably low poly count without looking too squarish. The same with the wheel and flange which is set at 18 sides. The more sides the more polygons required and more processing power to display it in Trainz.

3. Converting to mesh

The next step is to convert the wheel to an editable mesh object we do this by selecting the object and right clicking which then opens a context menu as shown in figure 5. Select the "Convert to Editable Mesh" entry.

Figure 5 Converting to Editable Mesh

Now we can remove some unnecessary polygons. Select the wheel and then on the modifier list expand the "Editable Mesh" entry and select "Polygon". Then click on the top of the wheel and the entire top should be highlighted red. Hit the delete button A message box will appear asking if you want to "Delete Isolated Vertices?" Select "Yes"

Figure 6 Expanded Menu

Figure 7 Polygons selected ready for deletion

After you have deleted the polys it will appear that the side of the cylinder is also partly gone and the base of the cylinder has been deleted. This is because the polygons for the sides and bases are one sided and when viewing from behind they appear to be invisible.

4. Rotating and moving

Select one of the cylinders and then select the rotate tool from the main tool button menu and type 90 into the Y co-ordinate which is 90º. Do this for all the cylinders.

Figure 8 Rotate tool

Now before we move the cylinders into location we need to reset the pivot point to the center of each object to do this we go to the "Hierarchy" menu and select the "Affect Pivot Only" Then select an object and click on "Center to Object". This moves the pivot point for the object to the center of the object. Do this for all the objects. Deselect the "Affect Pivot Only" when you are finished.

Figure 9 Hierarchy tab

Figure 10 Reset pivot point

Figure 11 Highlighted UCS icon.

Figure 12 Move tool

Figure 13 Material Editor Icon

Figure 14 Material Editor

Now select the second globe and apply the "wheels.tga" texture to the "Diffuse Color" slot and the "env_metal.bmp to the "Reflection" slot. Change the value for the "Reflection" to 70. When you have completed the texture loading select the first globe and drag it to both the wheel and the axle. In order for the textures to show up in the window select the blue and white cube in the "Material Editor". Now that we have applied a texture to the entire wheel we need to change it so that the bogey texture is only shown on the front and rear of the wheel and the outside rim and the shiny textures to the wheel's running surface and the flanges face. To do this we need to add an "Edit Mesh" modifier to the stack.

We now have to select the individual faces that we want the shiny texture applied to. The easiest way to do this is to expand the "Edit Mesh" modifier and then select element. Select the wheel then change the "Edit Mesh" to polygon. Hold down the control button and select the front face of the wheel. This should deselect the wheel face. Hold down the control key and select the face of the flange, you should have the result shown in figure 16. With the polys selected  open the "Material Editor" and drag the second globe onto the selected area. Make sure you drop the texture onto the selected area only. Deselect the polys and you should have a result similar to figure 17.

At this stage the textures on the wheel don't appear to be shiny. This is because texture effect such a reflection do not show up in the view port. If you want to check if the textures are shiny then the scene will need to be rendered. To do this select "Render" from the "Rendering" menu and in the window that appears click "Render" again. Leave all the setting at the default.

6. Adding an "Unwrap UVW" modifier

Now that we have applied the texture to the wheel and axle we need to map the texture to the correct location. To do this we need to add an "Unwrap UVW" modifier to both the axle and the wheel. To add the modifier you need to select an object and then go to the modify list in the modify menu. You may have to scroll down to find the "Unwrap UVW" modifier

Figure 17 Applying the Unwrap UVW modifier

After you have applied the modifier expand the "Unwrap UVW" in the "Modifier List" and select the "Select Face" entry. Then select the front face of the wheel and click on "Edit" in the "Parameters" section of the "Unwrap UVW". A new window will appear called the "Edit UVW"

Figure 18 Select face

Figure 19 Face selected ready for mapping.

Now that we have a face selected and the "Edit UVW" window open you will see the screen in Figure 20. If the texture in the background is wrong then you will need to change the map. To do this select the correct map from the drop down box on the top tool button bar.

To make the it easier to align the textures to the wheel correctly we need to change the size of the map. To do this select "Show Options" in the bottom right of the Mapping window. Then under "Bitmap Options" select the "Use Custom Bitmap Size" option and change the width and height to the size of the file which in this case is 256 x 256.

Figure 22 Using custom map size.

While the face of the wheel is still selected we need to normalise the map. To do this select the "Normal Mapping..." from the "Mapping" menu. When the "Normal Mapping" box appears select the "Top/Bottom Mapping" from the drop down box and click OK. This will allow us to detach the front face of the wheel from the rest of the mapping.

Figure 23 Normal mapping from the Mapping menu

Figure 24 Normal mapping dialog box.

Figure 25 Freeform Mode.

Before proceeding any further we need to make sure the "Freeform Mode" icon is selected. Place the cursor over the selected map and move it to one side. Then select the rest of the mapping and move it to one side. You can also use the "Filter Selected Faces" icon to hide the other mapping but I prefer to leave all maps visible that way you don't apply the same texture area to two different mesh areas. Now we need to adjust the mapping to suit the texture. To resize the map place the cursor over the corner of the map and a triangle shaped cursor should appear. You can now drag the corner of the map down or up to the correct size. Place the texture as shown in figure 27. Continue selecting faces and moving resizing maps until you are happy with the locations and you have a result similar to figure 28. When changing the size/location of the mapping for the shiny texture you will need to change the map again. 

Figure 26 Filter selected faces.

Figure 27 Adjusting and relocating maps

Figure 28 Final mapping results.

Figure 29 Mirror tool.

Figure 30 Mirror dialog box.

Figure 31 End result

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