Railworks America

While I agree that we can all learn how to do things by watching others, there is just no substitute for experimentation and just doing it yourself. While we wait for a brave soul to step forward to share what they have learned so far, I'll provide a little guidance as an incentive.

As I mentioned in the Day 3 post, I want to make a Picket Fence Scenery object.

I wrote down some dimensional data.

Raw Lumber for posts is 4"x4"x8'
Raw Lumber for rails is 2"x3"x8'
Raw Lumber for pickets is 1"x3"x8'

And then I converted to Metric measurements, for my own sanity...

1" = 0.0254 2" = 0.05 3" = 0.0762 4" = 0.10 7' = 2.133 8' = 2.43

So, what I need to do is place 3 cube primitives on the scene (anywhere convenient for now) and then SCALE them to the size I need.

Now, with these 3 parts I will explain the following:

1) Placement
2) Scaling
3) Hierarchy
4) Shifting position and View
5) A few of the OPERATIONS options.

Placement:

a) Vertical Post primitive at 0,0,0 and use "Right-Click" context menu to select SCALE-->TO SIZE--> X= 0.1 Y= 2.43 Z=0.1

b) Adjust your view of the new object so you are looking at the face underneath it. Move your mouse cursor to the SPHERE in the left hand Axis widget. Click-hold mouse button 1 and move UPWARD. This will allow you to shift your view to see the UNDERSIDE face of the object. Select the bottom FACE with the FACE SELECT TOOL and then use the helper tool TOOLS-->USE PLUGIN--> SHIFT CENTRE ON SELECTION. You have now moved the Y axis of the new primitive to the BOTTOM of the shape.

You can now use the "PROPERTIES" form to adjust the position to 0,0,0. (Right-Click Object select "Properties" for version 7 or CTRL-DOUBLE-CLICK the object for Version 8)

C) Scaling

We need to draw the 3 parts and scale them to size.

With a 1x3 and a 2x3 drawn we can see all the parts we need for the fence.

So 8' tall is a bit much for the POST, so let's shorten it to 6' for now. (Use Context menu to SCALE-->TO SIZE)

When you SCALED the post from 8' to 6', that CENTER axis point left the scaled part hanging in the air. Oops. So, we once again use the TOOLS-->PLUG-INS-->SHIFT CENTRE ON SELECTION on the underside face to drop it back down to 0,0,0.

Now we move on to the fence "rail". If we use the same "Shift Centre" tool on the closest face of the rail to the post and then use the Group Object "Position" settings, we can then set the position to X=0, Y=0.24 and Z=0. This will place the rail dead center on the POST object at 10" high.

D) Using Edit menu OPERATIONS

Instead of creating a NEW rail object, we can use OBJECT DUPLICATE (SHAPE DUPLICATE on the EDIT PANEL in version 8). You are able to set parameters for the duplicate operation by "right clicking" and setting values. In this case, we do not want X or Z shift, just Y. We set a value of 28" (0.7112 in meters) up in the Y direction. With that set, we can select the "rail", and Left-Click the DUPLICATE operation.

Now we have a POST with (2) 7' railing pieces attached at 10" and 36" height, but they are not really attached. If you move the POST... the rails will stay put. One of the ways to "link" objects is with hierarchy... so that's next.


E) Hierarchy

Since these parts are connected, you can make the rails "child" objects of the main post shape. The easiest way to do this is to select the Hierarchy tab in the OPERATIONS menu in Version 7 and drag the object group for EACH "Rail" into the OBJECT GROUP for the "post". NOW, when you move the position of the POST, the rails will stay with it.

In version 8, you select the Child object options by holding CTRL and DOUBLE-CLICKING. You then select the HIERARCHY tab and then do the same as above, drag the object group for EACH "Rail" into the OBJECT GROUP for the "post".

Now that we have accessed the HIERARCHY tab, it is a good idea to NAME our objects, since it will become more and more difficult to locate items unless we give them meaningful names. You can see I have done this in the example.

Now we move on to the fence picket.

By using the alternate views, we can align the vertical board to the railing boards. Here is the view option I recommend:

I was able to use the TOP DOWN view to see the board just touch the railing, for example.

It was determined that by manually adjusting the "board" with the mouse to location X=0.361 Y=0.6478 Z=0.1137 I got the best visual appearance.

Shaping the tops of the boards
(The following steps are identical in version 7 and version 8)

Use the FACE selection edit tool and select the top two "short" edges...


How do you select both edges? Hold down the CTRL key while selecting edges.

Next, from the OPERATIONS tab select CHAMFER. It might look real messed up at first... but I set the CHAMFER PARAMETER AMOUNT = 2.0 and it looked much better


With the shape of the board more interesting now, we can nail the rest in.

Nailing in the boards

Doing some quick math, I determined that given the railing length I had chosen, I could place 15 additional pickets spaced at 0.13 meters apart. ( a little over 5" spacing )


Using the OBJECT/SHAPE Duplication edit tool, Select the first board and using the settings above, I can place the rest of the boards with 1 duplication operation.

pwillard wrote:and then use the helper tool TOOLS-->USE PLUGIN--> SHIFT CENTRE ON SELECTION. You have now moved the Y axis of the new primitive to the BOTTOM of the shape.

Hiya Pete...Glad to have you on board and giving us some insight into your years of knowledge on 3DC....
How's that RichG...making up some lame excuse he has a Route to build...good onya Rich..
Back to topic....I have 8.2 and was scratching my "noggin" trying to figure / find how to do the above quote as I don't appear to have this.....here's how I did it.
1: After I scaled the post I selected 1 ( Shift Selection ) then selected 2 ( Face Tool ) selected the bottom face 3 and then selected 4 ( which moves the objects center based on the average points that make up that selection ). Anyway, it apparently works as it moved the Y axis down to the bottom of the post.



Got on with your tutorial and achieved this....mine runs along the X axis so I had to change values around.




Gordon.

Nicely Done.

Note: Placement of the axis point on the base of main scenery object is important. It is a requirement for proper placement in the simulator.

As you can probably tell. I do HAVE version 8.2, but due to some import/export issues I was having, I ended up sticking mostly with version 7. (Which means that I TRY to explain where things moved to in version 8... but even then I'm not fully confident with the latest version)

To be honest... I believe that the OPERATION you found was recently added even for version 7 (anything in the last few years is recent to me) and my old habits from the early days have me doing "shift center" the old "plug-in" way. I'm still pretty sure that what I did in version 7 still applies in version 8 though.

This exercise is giving me reasons to work with version 8 some more. The good point is that if that if something exists in version 7... your going to find it SOMEWHERE in version 8. (just maybe not right away.)

As for the model... you may have noticed that the "post" is still quite tall. This is because I intend on manipulating it some more.

Pete

Thanks.... ,understand where you are coming from...just thought I would put the screenie up for those who have 8.2 and were wondering also.

Edit: Actually I thought the pickets were too short....

Cheers.

pwillard wrote:I'm still pretty sure that what I did in version 7 still applies in version 8 though.
Pete

I'll stand corrected...you are right, the option is still there. I have gotten use to using the shape operation icons and never looked past my nose. I did have a look using your method of instructions but only in the tools tab, then select tool ...not under the plugin tab....

Oh well...just another learning curve for me.

I am still having problems with assets in RW disappearing whem the center/pivot point goes out of the camera FOV. I am centering the main object (center on selection) at x-0, z-0. However, one thing I have not been doing is putting the y-axis on the bottom face of the model. Could this possibly be the reason for the disappearing model?

I have noticed that Kuju/RSC models don't display this behavior. Is this a bug in 3DC, RW, SMMD, or all of the above?

only in the tools tab, then select tool ...not under the plugin tab

Yup, apparently Richard at Amabilis finally "integrated" these functions as official "tools" in version 8.

Could this possibly be the reason for the disappearing model?

Quite possibly "YES". I can't recall exactly "where" I read it (since I'm new to RW and have tried to drench myself with the information available) but needing to place the Y axis correctly was documented "somewhere". I will try to figure out where that tidbit of information is as soon as possible.

It makes sense though. The Y Axis is important on the main object because it defines where "ground" is. If you leave it in the center of the OBJECT, you are likely placing your objects halfway underground... or on the other end of the spectrum... you end up with "floating" trees.

Pete

Well, I meant to include this followup post yesterday... but here goes.

More Primitive Manipulations:

I am going to first reduce the number of objects by merging the pickets and then finish off the post by first shortening it to a height that please the eye and then giving it some flair.

What we will use:

a) EDIT BAR--> OBJECT MERGE
b) EDIT BAR--> GROUP SELECTION TOOL
c) OBJECT OPERATION--> Divide
d) OBJECT OPERATION--> Tip


Remember: The EDIT tools are on on the RIGHT side of the screen.

A) MERGE


Step 1) Constrain your X,Y,Z axes. (careful with that axe, Eugene*) This will make sure you don't accidentally move a "board" when selecting it.
Step 2) Start by selecting the vertical "board" object furthest from the "post", then mouse click the EDIT-->MERGE function. The Cursor will change to a "cross hair" while 3DC waits for you to select the next object... so select the closest board to the one you selected.
Step 3) Do the same process for the remaining vertical boards. You will notice that the most recent merge remains selected... so you can move right to the MERGE button and continue to the next board until all the vertical boards are merged.
Step 4) Just like we did with the rails, we can use the Hierarchy operation to move the now merged "pickets" to be a "child" of the "post" group.



You can un-freeze your AXES now if you like.

* Pink Floyd

B) Group Selection

In my head I say "object point selection"

So now I will adjust the HEIGHT of the post a different way. I will use the "GROUP SELECTION" edit tool to drag the height of the post shape down to about 6" or so of the picket height.

I recommend using AXIS constraints again... this time locking X and Z so you can only move vertically.

Step 1) Using the Edit bar "GROUP SELECTION TOOL" surround the the top of the post by click/dragging a box around the top... effectively "lassoing" the upper most "points" in the post.
Step 2) I prefer using the "SIDE" view for this operation. With the topmost points selected... (You see square cyan colored dots), you can simply drag upward or downward to change the vertical height of the post. I settled for what looked like about 6" or so.



So now we see how easy it is to manipulate a shape by adjusting the "points" where "edges" meet.

C) DIVIDE

This next step is similar to CHAMFER but leaves what happens pretty much up to you. With the DIVIDE operation you are simply dividing an object or a face into multiple equal parts (allowing some FACE/POINT manipulation to be done on the shape). You can RIGHT CLICK the DIVIDE operation to select options (Horizontal, Vertical, or Standard). Standard will divide a FACE into 4 equal faces. Vertical or Horizontal will add one new edge on a face dividing it into two parts with vertical or horizontal direction.

Step 1) Use the POINT & FACE Selection Tool to select the TOP face of the post.
Step 2) In the Object Operations tab locate the DIVIDE operation. (C)

Step 3) Right Click the operation to set the operation settings. Adjust it to read "HORIZONTAL"
Step 4) Now, with the TOP FACE selected, left click on the DIVIDE operation. This SHOULD make a new edge show up along the front and backside of the top.

Step 5) Using a SIDE view, I now select the new EDGE & POINTS created. Start from the EDIT BAR Group Selection Tool and "surround" where the new edge was created on the top of the post.

Step 6) With the POINT selection complete, you can now use the OBJECT NAVIGATION CONTROL (bottom left) and drag the EDGE/POINTS upward to create a an arbitrary peak in the top of the post.

D) TIP

This is an alternative to the DIVIDE operation, so you will want to UNDO the previous steps so you once again have a nice flat top post.

Step 1) Use the POINT & FACE Selection Tool to select the TOP face of the post.
Step 2) In the Object Operations tab locate the TIP operation. (D)

Step 3) Left Click the TIP operation. For this size object, it looks best if you adjust the parameter for the TIP operation to "0.1"



You might notice that the TIP Operation ALSO has a Top Right corner marker, indicating that it allows you "Right Click" to set parameters. 3D Canvas will also allow you to adjust the parameter before you complete the operation in the contextual form that shows up for the operation.

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Hopefully this series of posts inspired some questions... so I hand over the Q&A microphone to you.