Doing tracks by 0

Hi! It's been a while since I want to start doing tracks for rfactor but i really haven't any idea how to start, so I open this thread to ask for help about how I should start learning. I know this will be a long process till I get to a certainly level on which I could do a good work, but need a little help to start. Two questions:

What is the program that it's usually used for making tracks by 0? (I suppose it's 3DsMax)
Some basic tutorials to start learning?

Cheers

 

You are right, 3dsMax.

There are some tools, Bobs track Builder and all that, but in the end, 3dsMax does it all, better and more flexible. After all, it's not only used for building tracks or cars but in lots of different ways.

My first advice would then be, learn how to work with 3dsMax and forget about tracks for a bit until you understand what 3dsMax is and can do. Crawl before walking and such

 

Thanks for the response!
I know what is 3dsmax and for what is it used But i have never used it, so as you say i will start knowing the basics of the program and trying to learn the basics of track making. Which version is recommended for track's purposes(in rfactor)?
As I'm studing engineering I have used solidworks but I think they haven't nothing in common, so I have to start in 3ds by 0. Although I know that in the third year I have to learn 3dsmax but want to start now

Sorry for my english

 

u like me. i also want to know how to make track (and in final makes a good one), but for now i only makes from google planet .kml file with path move it to 3dsmax, correct corners and straights and ..and thats it)) (further dont know what to do- how to do)

 

All of them, but preferably the most recent which is supported by the gmotor tools.

You will be surprised at how much names of things you will recognize actually. I learned Autodesk Inventor just last year quite fast because there certainly are similarities between the two ways of building stuff.

 

Well, i'm downloading the 2010 version because rfactor2 examples are done on this version so it may be better.

 

After seeing some basics of the program, i went to do a curved fence just for fun. The result is horrible but the first i have done We'll keep learning!



Cheers!

 

So, i have been learning the basics these days, and i wonder if there is some tutorials (no matter for what game rf1,rf2,...) in which it explains how to do a track or something like that, i mean, not just the 3dsmax process in self but all the after work to make it run in the game.

Cheers

 

There is one made for rf1 by Scott juliano : http://www.mediafire.com/view/?pd7ui6uvxenahf1

 

Thank you vicent

 

Knowing how to think in 3D will be your greatest asset. That's the most important thing to know, working with any 3D software, and you should already have that from your Solidworks experience.

You learned Inventor after 3DS, or after Solidworks? I ask because Inventor is the direct competitor to Solidworks and is, as a result, very similar. That being said, going from 3DS to Inventor is probably easier than SW because Inventor will have some commonalities in the GUI with 3DS because they're both made by the same company. In theory it should, anyways

I'm very versed in geometry creation in Solidworks, so it's good to hear that the transition to poly modeling shouldn't be too difficult. I'm about to begin learning Maya (to make tracks, too, as it were. And cars). The workflow will no doubt be very different, but I'm anxious. Need to find some free time...

 

I learned inventor after all sorts of software, not only 3dsmax, but yeah it's the last in line. Well, in all honesty, I'm not sure in what industry Inventor is the direct competitor of Solidworks but in the Automotive industry that sure isn't the case.

Inventor, UI wise, has more similarities with the Microsoft Office suite than 3dsmax

Maya is a great tool as well, although I'm not sure for tracks in combination with the gMotor platform. I used Maya for some time with Unreal Engine 3 and it was a great tool to use.

All in all, there's a tool for everything, the easier you can adapt, the bigger advantages you can gain

On top of this info though a fair warning. Although it can be fun and interesting to earn working with all these new software packages, try and stick to one thing and learn/understand that properly. You don't want to end up knowing nothing of everything at this stage.

 

I'd be surprised if Solidworks was very popular in the Automotive sector, too (except for internal OEM parts, maybe). It's terrible for surfacing work on vehicles. That's what Alias is for (which I hate. And can't use). I built this LMP car in Solidworks earlier this year, and had a hell of a time doing it. Solid modelling programs are really better suited to product design. You can do complex surfacing, but when the entire object is made of them, and there's a LOT of them, it becomes a real pain.

I mostly chose Maya because of the existing track maker plugin for it, to be perfectly honest. But it should transition to 3DS well enough to make use of the gMotor tools there. In theory.

Excellent point. I've become so familiar with creating geometry in Solidworks that people much more senior than me, and with much more experience with the program, shake their head in disbelief of what I'm able to do and how quickly I'm able to do it. It's made me an asset to my company, for sure. I wouldn't have that if I'd been dabbling with several other softwares. That being said, I'm only season in creating the models themselves. I know virtually nothing about the rest of the program.

 

Hi

You can import kml os GPS data with my script "importGEO".
To build the track can use my other script "SplineTrackMaker"

Can test my specific ISI tool script "GmaterialTool"

Site: mj-multimedia.net

 

we cant use them,
pay and only than use - yes

 

How mutch for ether 3DMAX or Bobs Track Builder, and best place to get them.?

 

3DSMax is about $4000 (US)..... or $600 (student ver...) (bought it for a nephew ~5 years ago)... or free Demo version (not sure how many days).

Bob's Track Builder was about $80 (your dollars on this one, as it's an Australian named Brandon Pywell who wrote the program... in C#). I say 'was' because I last bought it about 4 years ago. I don't think it does rF2 yet... and also not sure if Brandon is planning to do rF2... Bob's was hacked & cracked a few years back, and I wouldn't blame him for NOT continuing on that basis... This stuff takes forever to write, and I think he went back to writing code for the bank he was previously working for.

I started with Bob's Track Builder... for a couple years... converting some local roads with a freeware program (3d Route Builder)... which was written by a bicycle federation (if I remember correctly)... to make KML files from (also freeware) Google Earth (which route builder embeds). It was pretty easy.

Eventually ... I started messing with Blender and 3dSimED... to do fancier stuff... but pretty quickly changed to Max... because most other people making ISI stuff use it... so I figured there would be allot more help available online (and there is). With Max.. you can move waay beyond the basic track.

If I were starting today... I'd look into "SplineTrackMaker" (listed above) because it's probably cheaper than Bob's... has continuing development.. and you can always ask 'Mario', the engineer who wrote it, how to do things on THIS forum. That is a huge bonus when you are lost in a new technology.

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edit: Just read the rest of this thread...Cadd experience does help. Actually.. with cadd like things... I started on a FORTRAN program for printed circuitry.. in the dark ages. Eventually.. in the early 80's, I got a beta version of "AutoCad '86"... (using the new! 8086 processor). With early autocad.. lines needed to be entered in hexidecimal notation. What a pain. Also did some work for 'SoftImage' to convert the 'waldo' LANs we had previously designed to remotely operate the ninja turtle head robotics on-stage... into animation input data.... and later used Inventor for awhile to design a simulator, and a number of other things before moving on to 3DSMax.

About Cadd systems of any type and era: expect crashes.

 

Cowabunga Dude. Max seems the best but im not a student and 4 grand for somthing that ive never tried or know how to use is a bit mutch, the demo is for 1 month and i dont think i could master it in that time to build 1 track, all the others seem to have there pro's and con's so i think i will have to have a think about it. Cheers for the reply and info.

 

Is nice to meet another person who used AutoCad in a 8086