Track Making

[zarky191]

Would any1 be interested on teaching me on how to make tracks!

i have 3ds max i have a little bit of knowledge of max but not alot!

i would like to make a gd track like swaffham new or wimbo/yarmouth

plz help

add me msn zarky_191@hotmail.co.uk

 

cheers zarky191

[freew67]

Zarky, I have a couple decent tutorials I can send your direction. Will yell at ya when I get off work.

[freew67]

I got a couple PM's from folks, so I decided to toss a few things together. This will be long, so get a bag of chips and a drink.

 

What you will need... head on over to RFactors Dev Section and while your there grab a few things.

 

AI waypoint editing tool

Public development tools V2

Public development tools V1 with samples

gMotor 2.0 MAS Utility

 

V1 has an example of a car and track in max. Who cares about the car, open the track file, take a peek around, hit M, look how the materials are setup. Remember this is 1 section of a track that is full of crap. Prob to much, but they are just showing various objects in the track section. In the dev tools, there are files that need to be dumped into max. coreshaders mas in the hardwareshaders folder, and some plugins.

 

Ok, here is the meat of this post. Frees Tutorial Rar of Fun In this mess, I have provided, 2 dif ways to create a track, 2 dif ways to create the terrain, max gmtimporter and a quick and painless way to do the lighting. Ill give a quick rundown of each file.

 

Terrain_tech.pdf

No idea where I got this file, but it shows a quick way to loft a track, then create the terrain around the track. I know some people liked this tutorial, and found it very helpful, I know I beat my head on the desk multiple times trying to get this to work. After finally get this to work, I decided to create my own terrain tut.

 

TerrainTut_1.0.pdf

And this would be it. I call it, Terrain for Dummies. I tried to go step by step on how to create a quick and painless terrain around your track. Since 90% of the tracks I do are ovals, and once I get the drivable surface done, this is usually the next step to fill in around the track. I know max can be cornfusing at times, so I added big red arrows pointing to everything you need to click, type, push, or punch. After you create the terrain, you can then cut into the terrain to give it more detail.

 

Lofting Word Doc

This is a great lofting doc I found on the RSDG.net website. Naturally when I went to post the link, the site was down, luckily, there are sites out there that store old websites. YEAH! This is one way to create a track. I have created 3 tracks using this tech, and 2 of them have turned out exactly how I wanted. 1 well, I had to start over a few hundred times. Have to learn sometimes the hard way. This is a fairly in-depth document about lofting a track.

 

Tracktutorial.pdf

This document came from ISI (I think) or someone with ISI (I think) or Hootys Mother, not sure. I found this at RSC ages ago. This is whats called the "ISI Way" of creating tracks. Now, I have chatted with the guy who made the early tracks for RF, and well he said that was one way he made tracks. It really depended on the type of track, with what tech he would use. Early on, I tested with this, but since I make ovals, this didnt work for me. Now, what this doc is good for, is teaching you how to setup textures in max. Midway thru it shows you a step by step on who what when where how with the textures. That right there makes this a must have pdf for the newbie RF track guys. I still look at it from time to time.

 

Lights.pdf

I created this doc a while ago, but never got to finish it. Right now its setup using simed, and never got to add the max part. For max, basically, the x y z is the center point of the light glow. So in the tut where I talk about adding in the x y z, if you dont have simed, just copy and paste out of max.

 

Importgmt2.ms

This right here will become your best friend in max. This goes into your C:\3dsmax7\scripts\startup folder. You have to restart max if you install it with it open. Then you can find the tool in Utilities (hammer top right), MAXScript, then the drop down Utilties menu, gmotor 2 importer. This will allow you to import objects into max. All ISI tracks are free game. Set of stands, building, etc, etc, make sure the gmt is in the same location as the texture when you go to import it. If its missing a texture it will let you know.

 

I am still learning as I go. My biggest crutch right now is banking in max. Ive have tried all these tutorials, but never seem to get the banking to work in my favor. I did on Skegness, but the next track it didnt. Got me sometimes, I think max has a mind of its own. Im sure there are more tutorials out there, but these are just a few Ive collected over the years. If you have anything to add, please feel free. I am always up for ways to improve my work.

 

I need a nap now. That is a somewhat quick rundown of whats in the rar. Also, another option is Bobs Track Builder. A great program, that keeps getting better by the day. Well worth the investment if you think you might strugle with max. (which everyone does) BTB Tell Piddy Free sent you.

 

If any of this doesnt work, its Danskins fault...

 

 

[Guest Scrapman53]

Nice one Jeff.

[zarky191]

wot i now have a prob with is when i loft the shape i done (with line) it puffs up and all bulgy wen i follow ur tutorials and advice of ppl!

 

plz help me

 

zarky191

 

p.s i will put up screenshot l8rz

[Haadee#525]

nice one Freew67

does anyone have tuts about heat track making? want to give it ago sometime,or Rfactor if that aint to hard

[freew67]

nice one Freew67

does anyone have tuts about heat track making? want to give it ago sometime,or Rfactor if that aint to hard

 

 

Im sure the lofting would work for Heat (I have no idea, never have made anything for Heat), but everything I posted was for Rfactor. Post the same question in one of the Heat forums here, Im sure someone will be able to help you.

Edited September 19, 2007 by freew67