Two Things to Look Out for.

 

 

After three days of looking I found out that a bogey config.txt set up that would work with the old XML/im will not work with FBX, this is in the mesh table setup.

 

 

Old way:

 

mesh-table
{
  mesh1
  {
    mesh                                "6wheel_bogey.lm"
    auto-create                         1
  }
 
  mesh2
  {
    mesh                                "6wheel_bogeyg.lm"
    auto-create                         1
  }
 
  shadow
  {
    mesh                                "6wheel_bogey_shadow/6wheel_bogey_shadow.im"
  }
}

 

 

This is what I edit it to:

 

mesh-table
{

  wheels
  {
    mesh                                "wheels.lm"
   auto-create                         1
  }

   mesh1
  {
    mesh                                "frame1.lm"
   auto-create                         1
  }
}

 

IT WILL NOT WORK the mesh's will show but NO animation.

 

The fix:

 

mesh-table
{

  default
  {
    mesh                                "wheels.lm"
   auto-create                         1
  }

   mesh1
  {
    mesh                                "frame1.lm"
   auto-create                         1
  }
}

 

For FBX you have to have a "default" but it dose not have to be the mesh that has the animation.

 

The other thing I have found out the hard way is name.m.pbrmetal with a normal texture that has an Alpha channel for parallax will NOT work unless you have Shader Quality set to Ultra and that it only goes down or into, it can not go up or out.



Up-dating a Bogey to FBX Animation

 

You should know how to use Snap in Blender (right shift +S).

The old name.im animation used Lattice, FBX has to use Empty, THAY LOOK THE SAME but Trainz knows witch is witch.

I start with the old Lattice on there own Layer, do not un-link them.

Select b.r.base (the one that dose not move when animation runs) and Snap the Cursor to it, then  Add a new Empty, I make it bigger, it will be at the same place as the old one, give it a b.r.name.

Do the same with the other Lattices. It should look this.

You can now delete the old ones.

Next add new wheels, select  one of the wheel Empty and Snap the Cursor to it then select the new wheel mesh and us Snap Selected to Cursor.

Now duplicate the wheel mesh and do the same to the other wheel, note the second mesh will have the same UVmap and textures as the first.

Do the linking same as before and animate as before.

New for Blender FBX is Select all and do an Apply Scale and Ration.

On a 4 wheel bogey you may not need to do the last step but for 6 wheeler you must, found that out after a lot of testing of bogey with 6 wheels not working in game, some wheel sets wrong size and wheels rotating around the wrong point.

Export next, then put into CM and Submit. Now Open for Edit as you must change the name of the kin file to anim.kin, it will be your mesh name.kin.

Re-submit and do a test run. The one I was doing did not work, if this happens go back and un-link every thing, make new Empty's, give new names, re-link, re-do animation, and so on, this worked for me.

Updating wheels is harder as you have to do animation with FBX. So do the edits for the wheels same as the frame. I make a new material with a new name (wheels.m.pbrmetal) and only pick the color texture for now, normal and PBR will be from Substance Painter (SP). Note that the wheels do not need much of a normal or AO but you have to have them.

Clear all animation links.

Re do UVmap.

Make an ID map.

Export only one set of wheels, that is 2 wheels and axle.

Open in SP.

This is after backing.

 

In SP add Steel Rough with a color selection.

Note that line in the red circle is do to UV projection change to tri-planer.

Add in painted steel.

 

Note the white rim do to ID map being off one pixel, fixed in Photoshop.

In game color check.

 

After making the green channel litter for the panted steel.

Next up animation.

 

 

Next I make the LOD's, the old ones could have a deferent UVmap and export all as FBX.

I use Substance Painter to "bake" and make new PBR textures and Photoshop to fine tune them, what looks good in SP may not look good in Trainz.

 

in game

PBR