In this tutorial you will learn how to make a repeatable texture for a retaining wall. This is a simple tutorial in which you will find out how to make a texture for a spline. These objects actually repeat a 3d model, so the texture should be repeatable also. Watch the video below to find out how it’s done.
In this tutorial you will learn how to make a tree using alpha textures.
You don’t need nothing more than 3ds max and the alpha textures. You must create 2 planes textured with the alpha texture. Nothing more simpler, check out the video:
In this tutorial you will learn to make yourself an alpha texture. What is an alpha texture?
With this texture you can make trees, backgrounds, even glass for Trainz. This texture is useful when you want to make a complex 2d polygon. This texture helps you make that complex polygon, with a simple plane. The alpha texture contains actually 2 images: a base texture and a black & white one. With black the transparent part of the base texture and with white the solid part. Watch the next video to learn how to do it:
Tip: If you want to get rid of the annoying layer distribution of the alpha textures (intersection of alpha textures) you have to save the black & white texture with Paint as Monochrome BMP, and after you have to save it in TGA. Trainz and Max don’t recognize the Monochrome BMP for unknown reason.
If you are intending to make 3d models for Trainz, you should read this tutorial first. When working with textures you must know that not all textures might work in Trainz.
In Trainz, textures must have a specific size, otherwise they won’t show. Also it is recommended to save the textures in Targa *.tga format.
The size of the textures (width/height) must be 2 at power x pixels. This is the format for Trainz textures, and you have to respect it otherwise they won’t show up in Trainz.
The series of sizes is:
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096… This is how high you should get, because some old video cards don’t support higher textures then 2048. Also, in TS 2009, the textures below 64pixels won’t show.
If you make alpha textures, you should save the alpha texture in *.bmp format.
You should keep this in mind when starting making models for Trainz. Once you will learn this you will see is not a big deal to make textures with this sizes.
In this tutorial I will show you how to remove some unwanted aspects in a picture. You will need Photoshop and a steady hand. Watch the entire video to see 3 different methods.
In this tutorial you will explore all the Transform tools in Photoshop. These are Scale, Rotate, Skew, Distort, Perspective and Warp. The other functions like Rotate or Flip have nothing special. The name says it all.
First, you get a photo. Then you press CTRL+T to enter in Transform function. Now, just right click on the picture to select the tool you want:
Scale – Nothing special here, this is for adjusting the size of the picture:
Rotate – Like the name, lets you rotate the photo.
Skew – This tool lets you to move one side of the photo independently. Here is an example:
Distort – With this tool you can move independently any corner of the picture you want. This comes handy when you don’t have a good straight photo.
Perspective – Another good tool that lets you scale any side of the photo.
Warp – This is the most interesting tool. It lets you move 16 points that are connected. With this you can do fine adjustments or even remove the roundness of the photo made by some cameras.
With this tools you can modify about everything, so next time you want to make some textures for Trainz you should know how to handle them.
The following tutorial will show you how to handle simple textures for later use in 3dsmax. If you are new to Photoshop, you should check out this first:
First of all when you intend to make an object for Trainz, you should have photos taken from each side of it. In case you don’t have you can make them in Photoshop but the result will not be so realistic. So, here a have some kind of box that you can find almost everywhere in Romania along the trackside. I’ve made some photos (front, back and side) and now they need handling. Here are the photos:
After I loaded all the photos, I’ve made a new file File>New in which I will put all the photos. The new file is 512x512 pixels. The photos must be cut, getting rid of the parts we don’t need. After that, just apply a black background.
The only thing left to do is to save the image. You should save it TGA on 24bit.
This is the simplest mode in handling textures for Trainz. The key is to use as less texture file as you can, this improves gameplay, and object loading.
