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CajunRon
03-06-2008, 12:50 AM
I woke up sober this morning and with drew the idea.

Just as a matter of interest...The attachment is a screen capture of a project I am attempting. It's a PRR M1a 4-8-2 that I created for MSTS but never released to the public. The MSTS version was textured but in converting it from gmax to 3dmax I loss the texture mapping. The MSTS version used lots of alpha parts (2D drawings to represent the side pipes for example) but I removed all of these to simplify this first "trial" so the converted model looks a little bare in spots. If successful I will add these back in as actual 3D parts.

I'ye been successful installing the Art Plugins for RS into 3DMax (see other threads). Just to see what would happen, I tested the 3dmax export to igs format by exporting the untextured model. So far all seems well, (no crashes or error messages).

Next phase...learn how to convert the texture art (available in tga format) into the proper format for RS (I believe it uses an new prorietary ace format different from the MSTS ace format) and then learn how to texture map in 3dmax for RS. Any pointers, help, thoughts are welcomed.

Hyce
03-06-2008, 12:52 PM
Yes! American Steam! YES!

Keep us posted. If you can get that out in RS people will be pretty happy.

SAVV
03-07-2008, 12:07 AM
Conversion to ACE files is simple. There is the photoshop plugin (in the Arts download) or alternatively 'ToAce' which comes with the DevTools (Rail Simulator Developer Tools -> Tools -> ToAce on the start menu)

CajunRon
03-07-2008, 06:28 PM
When do I convert to ACE. In MSTS I converted to ACE files before mapping the textures. The Ace format was recognized gy GMAX, so the mapping was actually done directly with the ACE files. I'm getting the impression that the process is different using 3d Max and RS.

SAVV
03-07-2008, 11:03 PM
Do all the mapping in whatever format you please, I don't know if Max supports ACE format but it might. Doesnt matter when you convert to ace. My models texture files are a mix of BMP/TGA and I export them to ace at the same time I export the model to IGS. Is up to you in end end.

Cheers

Hyce
03-16-2008, 12:45 AM
Any news on the model?