Railworks America

I have just started the task of building a South Australian Railways railcar, and I'm curious to know what one is meant to do regarding the IGS files etc when one actually finishes the base model. What does one do in order to animate the wheels, have smoke pouring out of it, and the other stuff? Are there shaders etc that I need to use?

What is it like compared to animating a wagon? I haven't forgotten the fact that I will possibly need to build animated levers etc for cab realism. A 3d cab seems to be doable.

I really want one of these railcars in TS, so it would be good to be in the know regarding what to do.

I'll be importing it into either 3d Crafter 8.2 or 3d Canvas 7.0.2 when it's ready to be finalised for export. I know there are RS documents that explain this, but I'd like to prefer to hear from someone that has experience with this as well.

Also, at which angle is the rollingstock item supposed to be placed at? Is it ok to have it any angle? Or does it have like a loft, as in on the Z axis from front to back?

Thanks in advance.

Your ultimate guide to RailWorks is here - http://thegradecrossing.blogspot.in/201 ... tents.html

What one is meant to do regarding the IGS files etc when one actually finishes the base model.

IGS file are Exported as IGS from MAX are Intermediate Geometry files, they are used to refer in blueprint, and after exporting they are converted to GeoPcDx from Blueprint Editor2 & if you miss any mesh without texture, IGS won't be exported. You can add many things later in the models, unless you are satisfied.

◘ For using proper shaders you can refer to the website - http://the-art-of-rws.blogspot.in
◘ Pivot points and couplings - http://www.christrains.com/ts_faq_pivotcouplings.html
◘ Level of detail is very important parameter - http://www.christrains.com/ts_faq_levelofdetail.html
◘ Weatherglass fx - Rain drops on windows in passenger view and cabview - http://www.christrains.com/ts_faq_weatherglass.html
◘ TrainUberShader.fx - http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic.php?f=366&t=134254&hilit=Trainubershader.fx

What is it like compared to animating a wagon?

If you follow proper naming convention then definitely wheels will animate without adding key frames. I had not tried about cab view yet as I had not made any Locomotive yet.

At which angle is the rolling stock item supposed to be placed at?

I have uploaded a image to show the correct axes. The Y & Z are interchanged in Blueprint editor, for more refer to Coupling tutorial by Chris Trains.

Or does it have like a loft?

Objects like Rails, Platforms, Bridges are made as loft. AFAIK rolling stocks are not lofted.
Here are some tutorials in French Language for which you need a translator. http://www.railsim-fr.com/forum/index.php?app=downloads&showcat=5

Somewhere in this blog you find find a zip file containing example max files for most of the stuffs like Electric, Diesel and Steam loco, again you need a website translator ( Chrome is best) - http://mariefifi.com/Blog/blogs.php?lng=fr&tconfig=0

For rest of your queries, you can refer this website's rolling stock design threads.

Download RWTools and read bin files, as learning from examples is the best practice.

Happy Simulation

The basis for all knowledge, before you add these excellent sources above, is the official developer's docs, available here in the RWA file library.
They are ancient but still relevant.

I did not mentioned RS docs as he told he knew all about it.

He said that about importing/exporting models.
The dev docs cover the whole development pipeline, including and focusing on blueprints.

A really good tutorial that shows you everything you need to build a locomotive with 3dcrafter is,
http://thegradecrossing.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1
There is also a load of other tutorials on there that will answer a lot of questions you'll have.
The tutorial is by the guys on here that went on to start VRC.