[WIPs] SCLJim (updated 5/26)

[SCLJim]

Hiya, I don't but if you trawl this site you'll eventually find something good.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoList.aspx?mid=65

Thanks for the suggestion! Actually one of my favorite sites! I did a search on there for roof and came up with a few shots of the -7 and later GEs. I think the style of the roof hinges are pretty close between the older Uboats and the -7s. The hinges I'm talking about look something like what I would call an old barn door hinge. If that makes sense? I was hoping to find some specific shots of a U18B roof as I didn't think it included the little divider piece in the wire mesh on the radiator that the -7s have. I'll have to keep picking through them and see what I can come up with.

[eyein12]

will this be freeware or payware? and whe nd oyou anticipate its release?

[skoda43531]

Here you can see part of the roof. I hope it can help you.
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=77403&nseq=109

[g_nash]

Does anyone have any good pics of the roof panel hinges?

Hi ... are you using the Jerry Moyers ( RMC ) or Hundman/Koeller ( MM ) drawings ... there's also several ringpull latches , like the ones for the doors ,that are not shown on the Moyers set , to go with the big hinges ? .

:)

[Rich_S]

SCL Jim, that U Boat looks great Are you planning on doing any for the Pine Tree route? (Maine Central) That would be a nice addition to the up coming Portland Terminal route

Regards,
Rich S.

[SCLJim]

Thanks for the feedback! As far as what drawings I'm using, I honestly don't know. They aren't the greatest or very detailed, just something to give me a rough layout. I do have a better idea of the roof hinges now and should be adding them soon.

I have no clue when the model will be finished and released. Unfortunately I haven't been able to work on it much the past week or two. I've managed to get a few test scenery objects from Maya to Blender to RW but have yet to try a complete piece of rolling stock. I've actually contemplated handing off the obj and textures to someone really familiar with 3ds Max, or Blender, etc, in an effort to get it functioning more quickly.

I would love to see the model textured for Main Central and even Guilford. Being able to do so is just a matter of how much time I have. Ultimately I would like to see a lot of Coast Line material and recreate the route I grew up near and ultimately wound up working on. Some of my earliest childhood memories of trains involve big Coast Line consists of U18Bs, GP7s, SD45s, etc. Great times, when locomotives were dull and grimy.

[eyein12]

HEY SCLJim

I have 3dsmax 2011 and am very familiar with kuju exporting proces since i do it on a daily basis with simple and complex models. i can get your model into the game but i would have to study up on how to get physics and specs to work. if you have the shape, the textures(if not no big deal), smoothing groups mapped out, i can get it in with a little bit of time and tinkering. Did you get the shaders figured out? i can swap in the shaders if you havent done that

Ian

[SCLJim]

HEY SCLJim

I have 3dsmax 2011 and am very familiar with kuju exporting proces since i do it on a daily basis with simple and complex models. i can get your model into the game but i would have to study up on how to get physics and specs to work. if you have the shape, the textures(if not no big deal), smoothing groups mapped out, i can get it in with a little bit of time and tinkering. Did you get the shaders figured out? i can swap in the shaders if you havent done that

Ian

Thanks so much for the reply and offer! I may have to take you up on that. One problem is that smoothing groups (Max), soft/hard edges (Maya) wont carry over in OBJ format. It would have to be redone in the last program before exporting. That was something else I would have to teach myself in Blender.

I've actually gotten shaders to work but I haven't been 100% pleased with them. They usually come out way way glossy and reflective when I'm looking for more of a dull/grimy finish with just enough spec to make the normal map pop. I think its just a matter of figuring out and translating shader controls between Maya and Blender, etc. I've been looking at some other export formats in hopes of maintaining more info between Maya and Blender but I've yet to find a good solution to all the issues like exporting the animations, smoothing, etc.

[eyein12]

sounds good. smoothing groups are very easy to assign as we may have to do them again, like i said i would have to take a look at what you completed and see what 3ds max did during the import and take it from there. shaders are easy to assign in 3ds as well if they need to be redone. if you gave me what you wanted assigned to what and where your chances of a successful export are alot better. the easy part is getting it in the game animated etc... the hard part is scripting it so that it works as an engine.

i dont know if youre familiar with 3ds max but i take my models from sketchup and export them as an .obj file and the transition is very easy the smoothing groups and maps are all preserved as it is imported to 3ds.

[Trainguy76]

I've actually gotten shaders to work but I haven't been 100% pleased with them. They usually come out way way glossy and reflective when I'm looking for more of a dull/grimy finish with just enough spec to make the normal map pop

Hiya, you'd need to make the alpha channel really transparent. With your case, try setting the alpha to around 3. (Meaning, on a scale between black and white, three points from pure black.)

[SCLJim]

Here's a little something I've been working on and hope to release shortly. Its a replica of an old section house that sat outside of town many years ago. I'm trying to come up with a good way to replicate kudzu. I'm not quite sure if I am happy with where it is going atm. Anyway I may just release the house, by itself,along with a few others.

[Hawk]

That's a good looking house.

What modeling program are you using?

[SCLJim]

That's a good looking house.

What modeling program are you using?

Thanks! I use Maya. I'm still learning Blender, for a go between, atm. I figured static scenery objects may be an easy way to familiarize myself with it. Plus I need a lot of them for the route I want to create. I'm wondering what if I made another texture for kudzu, with an alpha punch, then place planes within the main clump, to kinda break up the silhouette?

[Trainguy76]

Hiya, can I ask what Kudzu is?

[SCLJim]

Hiya, can I ask what Kudzu is?

Well, in a nutshell it is a vine that grows in the south and takes over EVERYTHING. It can grow several inches over night, scale walls, etc. It plays hell with trains if it should happen to get over the rails. Its just nasty stuff in general. Where I'm from it was originally introduced, back in the 20s or 30s, to prevent erosion. Its native to southern Japan and southeast China.

One thing I just realized about my kudzu texture is that I used one for kudzu that was growing flat along the ground, in which the leaves kinda flip and curl in all different directions. When its growing vertical, the leaves hang down correctly.