Home > Tutorials > TRS2006 Gmax Rolling Stock Tutorial

Gmax Rolling Stock Tutorial

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a box and texture it, add the required attachment points, export it and then create the config.txt file. The methods used to create the flatcar can be adapted to any Trainz rolling stock item.

Note. To complete this tutorial you will need to download the sample texture here.

To assist in the presentation of this tutorial I have changed the viewport settings to shade selected faces. This is done by selecting the text in the top left corner of the viewport and selecting "Configure..." and then selecting the "Shade selected faces" checkbox.

To complete these tutorials with the dimensions listed herein you will need the following setup
1. Open the "Preference Settings" from the "Customize" menu. Under the "General" tab set the system unit scale to 1.0 units = 1m
2 Open the "Units Setup.." form the "Customize" menu and set the units setup to Metric Meters.

1. Create a box.

The first thing you need to do is create a box. At this point the size of the box does not matter.

Figure 1 Box tool

Figure 2 Box

2. Resize the box

Once you have created the box we need to resize it. You will need to select the box and then switch to the "Modify" panel.

Figure 3 Modify menu with the box selected

For the box you will need to enter the following dimensions

Parameter	Box1(MainBody)
Length	12
Width	3
Height	0.2
Length Segments	1
Width Segments	1
Height Segments	1

Figure 4 Results after resizing

4. Converting to mesh (Optional)

The next step is to convert the body 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. This is not required to complete the tutorial but if the box requires further editing or reshaping then you will need to convert the object to an editable mesh.

Figure 5 Converting to Editable Mesh

5. Relocating

Select the main body (Box1) and then select the move tool from the main tool button menu and type the following dimensions into the co-ordinate boxes. These boxes are located at the bottom of the gmax window. You can also right click the "Move tool" and type them in the "Absolute World" section of the "Transform Type-in" window.

	X	Y	Z
Box1	0	0	1

Figure 6 Move tool

Figure 7 Co-ordinate boxes

6. Applying Textures

We can now apply the textures to the main body. To do this we need to open the "Material Editor". Select the Material editor icon and the "Material Editor" will appear. Select "New" and then in the "New Material" dialog box select the "Standard" entry. Expand the "Maps" menu. Find the entry "Diffuse Color" click on the corresponding "None" item. A new window will open called the "gmax Material Navigator".. You will see a list of items with a green parallelogram icon Double click the "Bitmap" entry. This will open a "Select Bitmap Image File" dialog box. You will need to find and select the "Tutorial.tga" file. (You may need to change the file type to view tga files).

Figure 8 Material Editor Icon

Figure 9 Material Editor with no textures

Figure 10 Material Editor showing Material #1

Figure 11 Material Editor showing the globe

Figure 12 gmax Material Navigator with all textures loaded

Figure 13 Blue and white cube

When you have completed the texture loading select the globe at the top of the material editor as shown in figure 11 and drag it to the main body. In order for the textures to show up in the window select the blue and white cube in the "Material Editor". If you have more than one texture in the scene you can use the "gmax Material Navigator" to switch between them.

7. Adding an "Unwrap UVW" modifier

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

Figure 14 Applying the Unwrap UVW modifier

Figure 15 Effect after adding 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 top face of the main body and click on "Edit" in the "Parameters" section of the "Unwrap UVW". A new window will appear called the "Edit UVW"

Figure 16 Select face

Figure 17 Planar map

Figure 18 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 19. 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.

Figure 19 Face map ready for aligning

While the top face of the main body is still selected we need to create a planar map. To do this select the "Planar Map" from the "Unwrap UVW" parameters.

Before proceeding any further we need to make sure the "Move" 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 click on the corner of the map and the corner box should turn red. You can now drag the corner of the map down or up to the correct size. Place the texture as shown in figure 21. Continue selecting faces in the viewport, selecting "Planar Map" and moving resizing maps until you are happy with the locations and you have a result similar to figure 22.

NOTE The texture map outlines may be a different color in your version of Gmax and may not include both diagonal lines

Figure 20 Filter selected faces.

Figure 21 Adjusting and relocating maps

Figure 22 Final mapping results.

8. Adding the attachment points

Now that the body of the flatcar is created and textured we need to add the attachment points for the bogeys and to show Trainz where each end of the flatcar is. When adding the attachment points it is recommended to switch to the "Top" view. To add a "Point" item in gmax you need to go to the "Create" tab and then to the "Helpers" tab. You will need to add four attachment points. Name them and move them as follows. Use the co-ordinate type in boxes at the bottom of the gmax window to move the point as shown in figure23 and rename the points using the "Name and Color" box as shown in figure 25

Name	X	Y	Z
a.limback	0	6.5	0.89
a.bog1	0	4.5	0.45
a.bog0	0	-4.5	0.45
a.limfront	0	-6.5	0.89

The naming of these attachment points is critical and all of them must be included on the model.

Figure 23 XYZ co-ordinate boxes

Figure 24 Top view

Figure 25 Naming the point

Figure 26 Point menu item

Figure 27 Finished flatcar with attachment points

10. Where to export.

Before we export we need to create a new asset with CMP which is done by clicking on the "New" button or by selecting "File" "New" from the main menu. Once you have the "New Asset" window open scroll down to the "TrainCar" entry select it and then click on the "New" button. You will then be presented with the Content Creator Plus program with a TrainCar asset and the default config entries. The first thing we need to do is to give the asset a name. Type Tutorial Flatcar into the username tag in the Tag Space.

Once you have named the mesh we need to add a mesh-table container to the directory. To do this right click in the "Tree View" area and select "mesh-table" from the available containers at the top of the list.In the "Enter Name" window type in "default" and click OK. You should now be able to see the mesh-table entry in the tree view area. Now that we have an asset partially created in CCP and the config started we need to switch back to CMP and select the asset and then from the right context menu select "Edit" and then "Edit in Explorer" This will open a windows explorer window at the new assets path. Once the explorer window is open create a new folder called "Tutorial_body". This will be the location for the main mesh. Once you have created the folder then switch back to Gmax 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. Gmax will begin to convert and export the mesh into the Trainz .im format.

Figure 26 New toolbar button

Figure 27 Creating a new TrainCar asset

Figure 28 Default entries for a TrainCar asset (NOTE: Default installs of TRS2006 will have far more eras and regions.)

Figure 29 Adding a Mesh Table

Figure 30 Naming the mesh-table's first container

Figure 31 Default entry added

Figure 32 Export

11. 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. A shadow file is a very low poly rendition of the general shape of the main mesh. It can be comprised of any number and shape of objects provided the overall shape of the rolling stock item is represented.

NOTE If you fail to add the shadow mesh, TRS2006 will report this in the error log. I strongly urge you to include a shadow mesh with your flat car.

12. 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 33 Resource collector settings

Config creation using CCP

Config creation using a text file editor*

*Auran have stated that in future releases configs will not be directly edited.
For editing the text files I use a program called Ultra Edit. You can use Notepad or any other text editor.

Using CCP

13. Adding containers

Switch back to CCP from Gmax and in the tree view ensure the "default" entry of the "mesh-table" is selected. In the "Tag Space" click on the file selection button and use the "Load Mesh" file explorer to navigate to the folder containing the mesh. Select the mesh and click on OK. The path to the mesh should now be showing up in the mesh tag. While we have the default container selected right click in the tree view and add the following tags.

auto-create

ensure the check box is selected which activates that entry. If you have added a shadow mesh then you can also add another mesh to the mesh-table container. In this case name the container "shadow". Once added use the file navigation button and explorer to select the shadow mesh. No other tags are needed for the shadow mesh so we can move on to the next container.

In the file tree view right click and add the following tags.

company
enginespec
light
description

Also add the following containers.

thumbnails
bogeys

when adding the bogeys container you will be asked for a name for the container. Type in a meaningful name. In this case I have used the following;

front

Once the tags and containers have been added then enter the following values for each tag

Tag name	Description and recomended value
kuid	This is an uneditable entry and cannot be changed.
trainz-build	This is an uneditable entry and cannot be changed.
category-class	Select the required class from the drop down box. In this case we need to select XFM - General Service
category-region	Select the required regions by clicking in the checkbox next to each item. You can add as many regions as you like. In this case select the following; CA; US
category-era	Select the required era's by clicking in the checkbox next to each item. You can add as many era as you need. In this case select the following; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s
username	Type in a sutiable name for the asset. In this case I have used the following; Tutorial Flatcar
kind	This tells Trainz that the kind is a Traincar and not a scenery or track item and is an un-editable entry and cannot be changed
engine	This tells Trainz that the item is a rolling stock item. Ensure the check box is de-selected.
mass	This is the mass of the flatcar in kgs. In this case I have used the following value 25000
company	This is a company name for the item. In this case I have used the following value; Tutorial
enginespec	This is the engines specification file. This is a required entry and in this case references a default engine spec for the SD40-2. Unfortunately the KUID browser is unable to differentiate engine specs from other assets and will display all installed assets. To trim the list down in the top text field type SD40 and wait a few seconds and the list should be reduced to a much smaller selection. You will notice here we are presented with another short coming of the KUID browser. There are three entries all named SD40-2 or similar. The top entry is the correct one. The only way to find out the kind for each entrie is to select it and then click on the "C" button which will return you to CMP. Right click on the asset and select "Edit in Explorer" then open the config.txt file and see what the "kind" tags value is. You could also use CCP to do the same thing however opening more than one instance of CCP may not work correctly. Eventually you will have the following entry for this tag default_wagon
light	Sets lighting to be used for object to be ambient or directional. If the checkbox is selected then the lighting is set to directional light which is affected by the position of the sun.
description	This is a description about the flat car.It can be brief or very detailed. I have used the following text for this tag Tutorial on how to create a flat car

Figure 35 Additional tags with their default values

Figure 36 KUID browser using search feature

Now that we have all the standard tags added for the flat car we can customize the remaining two containers. Select the front sub-container of the bogey container and use the file navigation button and explorer to select the following value

36inch 2 Axle Truck

You may need to download it if you don't already have it.
Only select the reversed checkbox if you want the bogey animation to run in reverse.
For the thumbnails container we need to create a new folder called Tutorial_images and place the consist images in the folder. The art_512 image is no longer supported in TRS2006 so it can be deleted. (For the creation of these images see one of these tutorials Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro)
Now we need to point the file navigation button and explorer of the first image to the tutorial_art_icon.tga in the Tutorial_images folder. Once complete type 128 into the width text box and 24 into the height textbox.

Final step

Using a text file editor

14. Config entries

In the following table the required entries for the flat car and a brief description are shown. There are many more possibilities for TRS2004 than what is shown here.

Create a new text document from within your selected text editor and enter the following information.

Config.txt entry Uneditable entries in red	Description
kuid <KUID:86105:15000>	This is the kuid number. The "86105" should have been already replaced with your user number and the 15000 should also have a default entry. Do not change this number in any way as CMP will not recognize the changes even though you are editing with a text editor.
trainz-build 2.5	This tells the download station which version of Trainz the item is for.
category-class "XFM"	This will allow the content to be sorted by the category class. XFM is a general service flatcar
category-region-0 "CA;US"	This is the region the flat car was used in. If there is more than one country required then you can add category-region-1 on the next line.
category-era-0 "1970s;1980s;1990s;2000s"	This is the years that the item is used in. As with the region category you can have more than one.
username Tutorial Flatcar	This is the name of the flatcar.
kind traincar	This tells Trainz that the kind is a Traincar and not a scenery or track item.
engine 0	This tells Trainz that the item is a rolling stock item.
mass 25000	This is the mass of the flatcar in kgs
company Tutorial	This is a company name for the item.
enginespec <KUID:-1:42004231>	This is the engine spec file. This file is included with Trainz and it is the engine spec file for a GP38-2
light 1
description "Tutorial on how to create a flatcar "	This is a description about the flatcar. It can be brief or very detailed.
mesh-table { default { mesh Tutorial_body/Tutorial_body.im auto-create 1 } shadow { mesh Tutorial_shadow/Tutorial_shadow.im } }	This is the mesh table. In this table you can reference items such as animation and other attachments. Animated items can also be controlled via the use of a script. This is also where you add coronas and set up the night mode mesh etc.
bogeys { front { reversed 0 bogey <kuid:86105:50003> } }	This block specifies the trucks or bogeys to be used on the flatcar. If reversed was set to 1 then the animation would be played in reverse.
thumbnails { 0 { image "tutorial_images/Tutorial_art_icon.tga" width 128 height 64 } }	This block is to specify where to find the icon for surveyor. You can also use it to specify an image for use in CMP.

Once you have the text entered save the file to the root directory of the flatcar. Name the file config.txt

NOTE Do not copy and paste from this tutorial.

15. Viewing in Trainz

Save and close the file and start Trainz up using CMP ensuring you "Commit" the changes to the asset first and then go to surveyor.. The rolling stock should be listed as Tutorial Flatcar. Add the flatcar to a suitable track location and switch to driver.

Was this tutorial helpful? Not enough or too much detail? Points not explained properly? Suggest any improvements? Please use the Tutorial Enquiry Form

Trainz and Trainz Railroad Simulator are trademarks of Auran

Best viewed at 1024 x 768 or higher

Pages best viewed with Cooper and Cooper Black font installed.