Merry Xmas

Since you've been good all year, here is your Xmas present. Ive done quite a bit since my last update. I have been trying to finish the structure by Xmas. Im close, but I dont think I'll make it.

Ive built the stairwells, which you can see in yellow, and added a few other structural bits. Theres not much to go before I can start on the detail.

Im now working on integrating the green stairwell supports into the green interior shell. When thats done I will leave the stairs seperate, and they will form the base for the upper deck. That way I can hide the whole lot (stairs and upper deck) to work on the lower deck, or hide everything except the stairs and upper deck, to work on that.

Ive been hand optimising polys like crazy, as I go. By rights, it should be up to 2500 or so polygons, but its a lot less than that thanks to my re-organisation.

Poly count: 1990
File Version: 107

Time Flies

They say "Time flies like the wind", but I say "Fruit Flys like banannas". This weekend has gone by really fast. I guess its because Ive been doing other things as well as working on the Tangara.

You may wonder why I tend to summaise the weekend's progress on Monday night (or Tuesday morning, which is usually the case). Its because I have a 3 day weekend. I dont work on Mondays, so to me, Monday night is when my weekend finishes, and by the time I get around to posting an update, its usually Tuesday morning.

Anyway, I have tweaked the window frames on the upper deck again. They fit a little better now, and the rest of my time has been spent working on the vestibule at the rear. From this angle, you can see the vestibule ceiling which I added just a few minutes ago. You can also almost see one of the vestibule seats. I have installed them as well. The floor is there too, but you cant see it from this angle. I considered posting a shot of just the interior, but given that Im deleting back facing planes to reduce poly count (meaning that you can see through the walls that normally wouldnt be seen from the viewing angle) its hard to get any spatial bearings for your eye to interpret the image. When Im working on the interior my eyes often play 3D tricks on me and turn the whole interior structure inside out. It takes me a few minutes to mentally flip it around so that it makes sense again - and I built it!. I imagine that many people looking at an interior only picture wouldnt be able to see it the right way around, so it wouldnt make any sense to them. With the outer body in place, you cant see much of the interior work that I have been doing, so thats not optimal either, but at least the image makes sense when you look at it.

Now that Im starting on the interior structure, I feel like it wont be too long before the model is finished, but dont get excited, there is still a lot of fine detail, scripting, and testing to be done once the model is finished, and I havnt even mentioned building the trailer yet.

Poly count: About 1800.
File version: 86

S Set Cab and Tangara Progress

Ive been working on the Tangara, but it doesnt look much different, so here are a couple of pics of the latest S Set Cab additions. The first is from the front. Any polys that cant be seen from the inside have been deleted, which is why you can see through the walls from this angle. As I mentioned earlier, I added the chair and fire extinguisher, from Auran samples. I also added the data logger and crew air conditining controls (probably the most important controls on the whole train). I have a few more bits and pieces to add (drivers door, for one) before Im ready to start on the controls and finer detail.

The second picture shows the view from the back, looking forward out through the front of the train. You can't see the ceiling in either shot, but its there. There will be multiple camera angles (if I can figure it out) for driver and guard, since due to the seperating wall, you wont see most of my hard work from the drivers view. There is a lot more work to do, and it will look much better than this when finished and textured. (Right now only the chair and extinguisher have any textures on them). I'll also be adding the glass, so dont panic, the windows will be included.

I cant bellieve how boxy and basic these cabs are, compared to the Tangara. You wouldnt want to be claustrophobic driving one of these!

Tangara
Ok, some basic Tangara news. I went to the ARHS Research room today. I thought they closed at 4pm, and arrived just before 3pm. They close at 3pm. doh! I had a few minutes and managed to grab a set of plans for the Tangara, but alas, no bogies. I have an alternate source for bogies plans that will hopefully come through soon, so its not a complete loss. I also grabbed the plans for the A8 type stations (1914 brick building, like the ones at Redfern, though technically they're modified A10's) The A8's are found on island platforms all over the network, so that is where I plan to start on the platform project, once I get some time. I browsed through the V Set plans, but there are so many variations I didnt have time to choose what I wanted. I'll go back to get those (and some other stuff) in the new year.

So anyway, back to the Tangara. Since the last picture I have added the window frames on both the upper and lower deck. I also spent a lot of time hand optimising the polygons, and managed to reduce the poly count by over 200!! It went down to around 1400 polys for a while there, until I added the window frames - then it went back up to 1680, but at least its not 1880! As Ive said before it will shoot up when I add the seats and other detail, but will be manageable. Thats about it really, the only visible difference is a few extra window frames - not enough to justify a screen shot, but a lot was done that wont be seen. Also now that I have the plans, I will have to spend some time adjusting various measurements by tiny amounts so that it is more accurate.

Gotta go. Enjoy.

A quick update

A quick update this time, to show tonights progress on the Tangara. Ive tweaked a few bits and cut out the windows and center panels on both the interior and exterior. The roof still has a few divits that need fixing after the cutting, but the guys in the panel shop tell me that they can sort that out fairly quickly :). A couple of days work on the body / interior and I should be able to start on the finer detail, such as the upper deck and upper, lower and vestibule seating. I also have a bit of detail to add to the drivers compartment, and I have to construct the gangway, and doors at the rear of the carriage. Hopefully I should have the structure finished by Xmas, and can start on the detail in the new year. Poly count is at around 1600. It will shoot up when I start adding the detail (think 96 seats) but Ive seen steam locos at 28000 polys in the forums, and this will be nowhere near that, when completed. Looking forward to my trip to ARHS on Saturday.

Let there be light

Ok, so this is really a bit of a tease. I spent a few hours tonight preparing to cut out the center windows of the Tangara. It took me ages to get each of the 12 windows and panels right. I started with a line marking the first window, converted it to an editable spline, and moved the verticies around a little. Then I made the other windows in the same row, and spent ages trying to get the size of the windows (and center panels) right, and then copied them for the other three rows. In the end, its pretty close, but not perfect without accurate measurements. Visually you shouldnt notice anything too strange, and if you do, I'll keep playing with it until you dont :)

Once I had the splines in (almost) the right places I extruded them to make the large redish blocks shown above. These were then subtracted from the body to form the holes. It was about then that I noticed a few problems. Making the windows had caused a few polygons in the roof to dissapear, as verticies were created and removed around them. This is due to the roof always having been a seperate piece in the past. Now that it is attached to the body, there is a definite edge between them. You wouldnt see this in the finished model, but it means extra polygons. I need to go back and hand-optimize the roof so that both it and the body are one single piece with polygons shared between them, rather than hard edges.

Once the body and roof are a single piece, I can go back and cut the windows again - Thats the tease. Ive backed up a couple of versions and im back to the seperate roof / no windows model, but I have all of my window blocks (including a few spares) so once I have fixed the mesh, cutting the windows out will be a snap, and with the polygons all in the right places, I wont have the problems that I had earlier. While Im doing this, the skirt has the same problem, though its not affected by the windows, but I may as well optimise it too (It will have to be done eventually). Overall, this will give a smoother finish and a few less polygons. The count really shoots up with the windows cut out, and thats not including the cuts needed for the interior windows (for looking out or through the carriage). Its still managable though.

S Set Cab
I did some more work on the S Set Cab yesterday. I'll post an updated picture soon. Ive been a busy boy. I added a few more pieces, Drivers chair, Fire Extinguisher (both from the Auran samples) as well as the data logger and crew air-con controls, and a basic dashboard panel (just the panel so far). Im still waiting on my research to arrive before I can start working on the dash properly. The only other things to do really are the Guards seat and Drivers door, before I can start on the finer detail like the hand brake and light fittings (I also have to texture it of course).

Textures
After playing around with textures and methods of texturing, I can see why a lot of Trainz objects have multiple texture files and Im starting to see where its helpful. I'll modifiy the method I have been using to include that technique, for various parts I will still use one large file (Things like the Tangara body (outside) would be one larger file). Im discovering what works, and what doesnt, as I go.

Platforms
I did a bit more research on platforms, both how to make them for Trainz, and looking for diagrams and details of the real thing on the net. Im planning on making a trip to the ARHS Research Center on Saturday (a mere 10 minute walk - lucky me!) and spending some real money on whatever useful material I can find. I have a list already of everything from stations to locomotives, and catenary (I havnt forgotten). Someone recently offered me some material covering platforms / stations, but it was in a large file. Ive been thinking about how best to deal with it. If you're reading this, I'll reply shortly.

Xmas break
Alas, its that time of the year again when everything shuts down for a few weeks. (Can you tell Im not a Xmas fan?) While I know I will keep working on things almost right up until Xmas, I also know that I will be taking some time off to spend with friends and family, and will get back to all of this some time in the new year. My wife has been very understanding of the hours (more hours than usual) that I have been spending at the computer in recent weeks. She deserves a bit of dedicated time in return. Im a geek, so Im always at a computer, but as I said, lately, its been more hours than usual. Xmas, and a few weeks after that, will be payback time.

Thats enough for now.

Tangara poly count: Was around 1500 before I backed-out. That included my cutting blocks and other non-model pieces. The body alone was 611.