WIP AT&N Class 280-157 Consolidation

[harryadkins]

Please tell me the turbine rotor is not going to turn...

[ozinoz]

I just dont know how this guy does it
This is my most anticipated thread - it is the first one I check out each day; and every day there is something more amazing than the previous to drool over. The detail is stunning and the texturing just beautiful.

Thanks so much for the effort in doing this...



G

[jpetersjr]

Looking great, will be ready to see what the cab view will look like.

[mrennie]

Please tell me the turbine rotor is not going to turn...

(I did think about that for a while, but ... at least there'll be some exhaust steam)

[mrennie]

I just dont know how this guy does it
This is my most anticipated thread - it is the first one I check out each day; and every day there is something more amazing than the previous to drool over. The detail is stunning and the texturing just beautiful.

Thanks so much for the effort in doing this...



G

Thanks to you too, and everyone else who posts here in this thread, for the encouragement, it really does help :)

I'm particularly pleased with the way the texturing worked out on this one. I searched for pictures to get textures from, to no avail, so eventually I simply invented a texture from scratch using the airbrush in Photoshop, spraying various shades onto various layers of a blank canvas, messing about with the colours, blending in some rust and dirt, adding highlights for the corners (to amplify the effect that the in-game lighting and shadows already give), setting a degree of grey in the Alpha channel and finally tweaking the overall brightness and contrast. I was surprised myself at how well it looked in-game. I think I'll go back and re-assess some of the other textures now!

[mrennie]

Incidentally, here's my tip for texturing:

What I do is to have at least two shades of the main texture. I use the darker for most of the faces. Never ever use the paint pot thing ... if you just pour paint - texture - over everything in one go, you can't see the detail in-game, and it also makes a complete mess when it applies the effects filters. Instead, I paint one face first, just so that the paintbrush gets assigned to F5. Then I can select one or more faces as desired, hit F5, and the paint gets applied to those faces. By doing it that way, the faces get textured in a way that gets the best results in the game, and lets the detail be seen. I then look at the model in 3DC, and see which faces, especially corners, are being lit more than others by 3DCs own lighting engine. I then select the lighter shade texture, and apply that to the lighter faces. This enhances the in-game lighting and again helps to make details and shapes stand out. Finally, I select the darker texture again, select the object, and use the plug-in to fill untextured faces, just in case I missed any.

[mrennie]

Looking great, will be ready to see what the cab view will look like.

I'm looking forward to that too. In fact, I've already made a start. I've textured the interior of the cab with planking, painted green, and put in the seats, plus there's now part of the reverse lever (Johnson bar) sticking up through the floor. I'm going to animate the front doors too, to get a better view ahead.

[BillPeck]

This one amazing piece of work

[mrennie]

This one amazing piece of work

Thanks Bill

[PapaXpress]

Incidentally, here's my tip for texturing:

What I do is to have at least two shades of the main texture...

I never thought to do this. I hope to try this out soon.

[mrennie]

I managed to attach the Steam Air Cross Compressor sound to the loco

I just have to work out how to make it louder (it almost gets drowned out by the other ambient sounds around it, whereas it should be really loud).

EDIT: Silly me, it was the source file that was too quiet. I amplified it in the Creative WaveStudio and now it's fine (actually, a bit annoying ... I wonder how the engineers put up with that racket! )

EDIT: I've made it so the sound attenuates as you move away from the loco. Plus, I added some steam leakage from the high-pressure side. I think I'll see if I can add a control to switch it on and off, and perhaps even do the start up, with it's drain cocks open.

[UP3985]

I hate to be one to add to a list, but as of right now (with the consolidation looking soooooo much better than the Challenger Pack's,) Do you think this beast could be in order?

BTW, What is the program you're using? Is it 3D Crafter Pro?

[mrennie]

I hate to be one to add to a list, but as of right now (with the consolidation looking soooooo much better than the Challenger Pack's,) Do you think this beast could be in order?[img]9764.1281662004[1][/img]

Thanks :)

I can't do another screenshot right now because my son is using the main PC, but I can tell you the Consolidation is looking even better now. I've been playing with the textures, and the firebox looks much, much better, as does the smokebox. I also added a lot of animations and sound (the bell swings back and forth as it rings, the DC generator can be switched on and heard starting up, with the exhaust steam coming out, the cross compressor drain cocks can be opened and let out spurts of steam too, along with the right sound, and the whistle sounds amazing).

Yes, I'm using 3DCrafter Pro, 9.2, and Photoshop.

[UP3985]

sorry, I'm still new at adding pictures
UP 844?

[jpetersjr]

Actually a UP 844 is already being built by DSGDDR

http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthread ... ddr-up-844

It's looking good, and from what I've heard it's supposed to be going to be freeware.