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3D Studio Max Locomotive Interior Tutorial

Chapter 3. Attachment Points

In this tutorial you will learn how to add the attachment points for the levers and gauges in a locomotive interior.

NOTE; Due to the complexity of an interior, items will not be highly detailed and some items will not be created.

3DStudio Max will be referred to as 3ds.

1. Adding the attachment points for the levers

Switch to the top view and create three attachment points. Name them as follows

a.throttle_lever
a.reverser_lever
a.automatic_brake

You could also add an a.independant_brake and an a.dynamic_brake but for this tutorial I will be concentrating on the three attachment points listed above. Once you have created the attachment points we need to move them to the correct location. Select the a.throttle_lever and move it to the following location

	X	Y	Z
a.throttle_lever	-0.582	-0.46	0.315
a.reverser_lever	-0.45	-0.3	0.2
a.automatic_brake	-0.582	-0.46	0.2

2. Rotating the attachment points

Now that we have the attachment points in location we need to rotate them into the correct location. To work out the amount of travel required for a lever I use a small cylinder or the actual lever in the center or zero location (depending on the type of lever) and align the attachment point so that the positive "Y" axis is aligned with the center of the lever and the positive "X" axis in the plane of rotation for the lever. To check this I turn on "Axis Tripod" which shows the positive X Y and Z axis directions. With this in mind we need to rotate the attachment points in the "Z" co-ordinates to the following location

	Z
a.throttle_lever	50
a.reverser_lever	50
a.automatic_brake	50

You will notice that they are all the same even though the reverser lever will be centered where as the throttle and the brake lever will be set to one end of the range. The reason for this setup is explained in Chapter 6 .

Figure 1 Attachment point with axis tripod selected

Figure 2 Attachment points rotated to the correct location. Note the location of the X,Y and Z axis.

3. Calculating the arc of lever rotation

Now that we have the attachment points in location and rotated to the correct orientation we need to find out how much each lever needs to travel to work correctly. To do this we need to create a small cylinder and rotate it to the same angle as the attachment point as shown in figure 3. You will need to change the pivot point back to zero after each rotation. Use the "Hierarchy" tab to do this. Once you have the cylinder in place use the rotate tool to rotate the cylinder in the "Z" axis to the end of the lever mount slot. Repeat the procedure to the other end of the slot and then do the same for the other levers. On my system -40 and +40 degrees for both the throttle and the automatic brake and -30 and +30 for the reverser works well. Write these dimensions down as you will need them when setting up the config.txt file. In this situation we have an equal distance from center to each end of the arc however this will not always be suitable and in some cases the two values will be very different.

Figure 3 Cylinder created and in location

Figure 4 Cylinder rotated to one end of the levers travel

4. Adding the attachment points for the gauges

Now that we have the attachment points added for the lever we need to add the attachment points for the gauges. Switch back to the top view and add two attachment points and name them as follows;

a.speedo_needle
a.bplocomain_needle

Move them to the following locations

	X	Y	Z
a.speedo_needle	-0.5	-0.355	0.45
a.bplocomain_needle	-0.665	-0.55	0.45

Now that we have the attachment points in the correct location we again need to rotate them so that the gauges needle will rotate correctly in Trainz. Select the a.speedo_needle attachment point and rotate it 90 degrees in the "X" co-ordinates and then using the "Hierarchy" tab and the "Affect Pivot Only" setting to change the pivot point back to 0 (Make sure your deselect "Affect Pivot Point" before proceeding) and then rotate the point -130 degrees in the "Z" co-ordinates. Do the same with the a.bplocomain_needle attachment point.

Now using the same method for the lever we can find the arc of rotation for the gauge needles which in this case is -45 to +45 degrees. This value will be entirely dependant on the type of gauge you are creating and the scale that the gauge is required to work on.

Chapter 4

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