Railworks America

Hello. In the past I have attempted to create a few assets for our awesome community but have always hit a road block. Texturing. There are a few simple objects that I would love to try and make but I can't get past that one point. Is there anyone willing to work with me on this topic. What I am wanting to do first is to create a set of simple concrete shapes similar to the concrete blocks that already exsist but, I want to do cylinders instead. The fictional route I am working on has quite a few bridges and the support structures that are currently available for use are not tall enough. What I am asking is if I create the shapes I am looking for is there anyone willing to texture them. I truely want to provide things for our community, I just don't have the time (currently) to learn all of what I need to perform this on my own. I would be very grateful for any assistance. Thank you in advance.

What 3D software are you using?

I have Sketch Up Pro and like using that program for creating. I also have an older version of 3DS Max. Haven't had much time to figure out Max yet.

The downside of using SU is that you need to export it to another program like 3DS Max to export. I'm afraid I can't be much help as Max is not my tool of choice.

Thank you Papa for the insight. Are you aware if SU can export to any other 3D program such as Blender or Canvas? Do you use any of those programs?

If you already have Max then see if you can import the SU Pro file to that (I think 2010 and greater can natively). Someone else will need to help with Bender. When you say Canvas do you mean the older version of 3D Crafter?

Yes, I can export things I make into MAX but, once I am there I get lost real fast.

What part are you hung up on in Max? Texture, Materials, exporting as Kuju?

All of what you mentioned. I tried to get the texturing thing to work and failed and my biggest problem is getting the time to learn it. I have this huge book but, once again the time thing comes into play. Here is what I am looking at wanting to create.

I could texture those in less than five minutes in 3DC, and have them in the game ten minutes after.

I know that SU is a great environment to create models in, I started out that way. I shifted over to use 3DC and hit the learning curve hard so I would avoid the all the hop-scotch and I haven't looked back.

3DS Max is another environment I have some access too, but I have yet to wrap my head around it. If you can get into Max and stay away from SU, I would recommend it.

I need to learn how to texture too, I have been using SU for model creation and i bought 3d crafter pro but cant quite figure it out and any tutorials i find to watch are obsolete.

Is there an up to date series of tutorials covering SU export to 3dc then the exprt to the game, i have been itching to figure this out as i have a list of models to make and can't proceed until i know i can actually finish any of them off.

I do not plan to make a SU to 3DC tutorial. I have a complete tutorial on how to make a locomotive in 3DC and a partial one on how to make signals. I would have recommended the signal tutorial for beginners wanting to start modeling in RW but I am waiting for some critical information before I finish the series.

http://thegradecrossing.blogspot.com/20 ... nal_2.html
http://thegradecrossing.blogspot.com/20 ... tives.html

For Max users Derek has make a few tutorials on his blog The Art of Railworks, which I can translate in my head into 3DC so they are well written.
http://the-art-of-rws.blogspot.com/

What file format would I have to export this file so it could be put into 3DC? Would you be willing to apply concrete textures on these?

A better question is: How easy would it be to make them in 3DC?

From your screen shot, all your pylons are cylinders. For me it would take 30~45 second to make the initial primitive, then 10 seconds to duplicate and re-scale them. In 3DS Max I expect you can do the same thing in around the same time, may be less (if I could figure out how to clone component properly).

I am not purposely trying to be difficult. I am trying to encourage you to "learn to fish" rather than have the it cleaned, battered, fried and handed to you in newspaper... so maybe I am being difficult, but for a good cause. Yes, texturing is a pain to learn, but once you got the hang of it, the next models will become easier (or harder since you will take on "bigger" things).

You're right, I do need to give it another crack. I was just looking at 3DC Pro and it's rather affordable and I'm sure it's much easier to use than Max. I'm a gonna give it another shot. Thanks for the motivation. More to follow.