Which software for design

[honeybaobao]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking to do some routes on Railworks/Train sim 2012, but i have some questions.

first : for design like house, objects, texture, train and more, what kind of software to use ?

Second : If i do a add-on from Railworks 3/TS 2012, it will be compatible to the previous versions ?

Third : Which website i can check for tuto or tools and more ...

Thanks a lot for your help in advance
French railway add-on conceptor for MSTS, Railworks and TrainZ
My actual project the Tramway of Strasbourg for MSTS

[SMMDigital]

Depends on how expensive you want to get. Blender is a free creation tool, but takes time and dedication to learn to use. 3DCrafter Pro is $80 and will let you do most asset building chores for Railworks. 3DMax is about $3,000 and is what RSC uses to build assets. You will also need an image editing programs, and RW_Tools is highly recommended.

If you build them correctly, T2012 assets are backwards compatible. The file formats are the same.

IMHO, UKTrainSim forums are the best way to learn the in's and outs of asset creation. We have some very talented modelers over here, but they have more tutorials over there.

[honeybaobao]

Thanks for your reply, and sorry for the late of my reply, do you know some website who have the tuto for railworks and i have another question if an add-on is made for railworks 2 it is compatible for railworks 3 ?

Thanks for your help

[Kali]

If you're a student, check out Autodesk's student program.

I would honestly recommend Blender if you don't know any better ( caveat: not tried the latest Blender which is apparently a bit different ), it's extremely powerful and I keep seeing people running into brick walls later down the road with 3DC. Blender just has an immediate brick wall to climb, the last one I tried was a little uninituitive...

Blender's Bigex exporter for RW is very very good indeed. I'd quite like a version for Max, tbh.

RW3 just added a couple of new shaders as far as 3d work is concerned.

[hminky]

Blender is really good. There isn't much added beyond what is available in 2.49 which the exporter supports. The interface in the later versions looks better but the commands are the same.

I learned modeling from the 3d Crafter tutorials. The concepts are the same just have to locate the different commands. 3d Crafter has a free version with no export capabilities. But the tutorials are on screen and show how to model in 3d.

This tutorial explains the basic concepts of blender:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/simplebox.pdf

Harold

[Giuseppe]

Yeah, I'd go with Blender if you're looking to seriously get into modeling. If you just want to create a few simple scenery objects or child objects, 3dCanvas might be a better choice, but Blender is a really nice modeling program that has a lot of capabilities. IMHO, the learning curve of Blender is really not that steep, especially compared to 3DSmax or Gmax, but it will take longer to learn than, say, sketchup or 3dCanvas. And if you plan to model locomotives, rolling stock, or other detailed game models, learning Blender will be well worth your time. Also, it is worth noting that Blender is a "full" 3d modeling program- it allows you to unwrap models, bake AO, shadow, and normal maps, and pretty much anything else you can think of- without use of an external editing program.

As to image editing programs, Paint.net is a free and really easy to use program that will allow you to do most texturing work with a little practice. I use GIMP- also free- for weathing and more complex effects, but its Windows 95-type layout does get a bit tiring. If you can afford it, Photoshop- or even better, the entire Adobe suite- is by far the best and most proffesional route to go, but you can do basically the same things with a few free programs.

I think that about covers it. Really there are a great many options, but I'd definitely suggest checking out Blender and exploring its capabilities. I think you'll be impressed!

Cheers,
Giuseppe

[hminky]

I found this file on UKTrainSim which gives a more "2.5" interface to 2.49:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/UKTSmember_B25style_Layout.blend

I found this is a better default opening in Blender

Harold

[JustJim]

Just a brief word about Blender

If you are going to try to learn blender on your own using disassociated tutorails, you are going to be in for a long and difficult time. I suggest that you find a set of structured tutorails designed to teach Blender. You can find them on line.

The one I am currently working my way through is "Blender 3D Design Course" by Neil Hersig. You can find this at Gryllus.net. If you are just beginning with Blender, have a look, it may be what you are looking for. But, there are others out there and you may find one that suits you better.

You may also want to take a look at BlenderArtist.org.

My
Jim

[hminky]

I found I never could master modeling in the "artistic" modelers. I model in a 3d parametric modeler.
PTC has a free version of Creo:

http://www.ptc.com/products/creo-elements-direct/modeling-express/

Creo-elements requires a connection to the internet.

I make them in the 3d modeler and import them into Blender and texture them there.



Harold

[honeybaobao]

Ok blender looks good, for interface, for price but for using a little scarefull
3Ds max, looks a little more easier than blender, in my mind, i know it is only up to me to choose, because different peoples different mind, and different using too.

I will try blender to see, if i can progress good if not so go on 3dsmax.

For editing software, i think do not need so perfect software agreed and i think paint.net could be enough and very good, easy and free.

For design now, i know better, but how about the world editor, i try to found it, and another question it is if do one add on, it is working in another version of railworks ?

[Kali]

Max is easier than blender, but infinitely more expensive! I would probably use GIMP for paint if I didn't have access to PS, but I'm so used to odd interfaces I don't even notice it.

The answer to whether something is backwards compatible is "it depends", I'm afraid. Items made for railsimulator will work in RW3 though.

[honeybaobao]

Max is easier than blender, but infinitely more expensive! I would probably use GIMP for paint if I didn't have access to PS, but I'm so used to odd interfaces I don't even notice it.

The answer to whether something is backwards compatible is "it depends", I'm afraid. Items made for railsimulator will work in RW3 though.

thanks for your opinion about the 3d part, and your answer about compatibility.

[Chacal]

Bonjour,
Remember that you will only use a small part of any modeling software many functions.
I was up and running in a few hours with Blender, because after doing some basic tutorials I simply used Google to find how to do best the specific tasks I needed to do. Blender has hundreds of arcane functions that few people ever use.

[honeybaobao]

Hi Chacal, I agree with you for this part, i will try blender, but another question, it is how to do the route, because look like the process is fully different than MSTS, because MSTS had the software include, but RW what's the process ?

[jpetersjr]

Also, you can use the freeware Google Sketchup to build your model, and then finish it in a program such as Blender or 3D Crafter Pro.

I built this in sketchup, then finished it in Crafter and recently released it to the game.

Iron_Truss_Bridge_Set_Photo1.jpg

Iron_Truss_Bridge_Set_Photo2.jpg

...Note, I didn't build the trains and train cars, only the iron truss bridges...