CCG/Modelling: Attachments

Revision as of 23:19, 13 June 2011

Attachments

Attachments are the means of specifying how sub meshes or other effects are placed or attached in a model. An attachment point is located in the model and reference is made from the config.txt file, to define its use and function.

Attachment points use the a.name convention, to be recognised in Trainz. For an attachment point to move with an animated dummy, there is a special naming convention for the point in 3dsmax, e.g. a.r.dummy/a.name. Refer to Page 363 and Page 381 for further explanation of this option.

Attachment points should be created in top view, and the orientation of the axis will then be consistent. Sometimes the attachment point may not be facing the correct direction, and has to be rotated (realigned). Refer to other sections for advice on any special orientation required for different attachment points, for track, names, bogeys, coupler points and effects.

Be aware that the point itself must be rotated correctly, not the axis of the point. The Hierarchy...Affect Pivot Only option may be turned on to determine the orientation of the point, it must then be turned off before rotating the point (click on the Affect Pivot Only box to toggle on/off). Turn on the axis information again to verify the rotation of the point has been done correctly.

a.bog, a.limfront and a.limback are some of the important attachments for rollingstock models. As these have specific placements, it may be helpful to save a file of these points as a template, so you can merge it with your next model. With a few adjustments, you can quickly incorporate the template into the model and be sure the point names and orientation are correct.

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