Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem

My NZR Class SuperQ Pacific has a very high poly count, 14,458, which may have created a strange problem: jerky animation of the sliding piston part, which is most noticible at slower speeds. Other animated parts, such as rods and driving wheels don't seem affected. The animation was done in 3d Max and appears quite smooth on replays. This problem is not related to FPS in the sim.Has any other builder experienced the same problem with high poly models? Thanks.

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RE: Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem answered by, Captain Bazza, Aug-06-02, 03:40 AM, (1) RE: Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem answered by, Xacto, Aug-06-02, 12:34 PM, (2) RE: Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem answered by, cjmaclean, Aug-06-02, 01:50 PM, (3) RE: Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem answered by, Captain Bazza, Aug-06-02, 09:43 PM, (4) RE: Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem, Hinchinbrooke, Aug-06-02, 09:52 PM, (5) RE: Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem, johnf, Aug-06-02, 11:18 PM, (6) RE: Q: Piston part, jerky animation problem, Captain Bazza, Aug-07-02, 00:19 AM, (7)

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No response to my query, so I investigated further. The answer lies in the 'animations' section, near the end of the shape file. Two of the motion component objects (valve rod & piston) were animated using 'position'. These objects were correctly animated over 0 - 8 frames (9 total) in 3d Max, but in the shape file there were only 0 - 7 frames (8 total) showing for each of the 'position' objects, while the rest of the animated objects (rotation) showed 9 as the total frames.This must be a quirk/occasional bug of the conversion from .3ds to .s, which dropped off the last frame of the 'position' animation. The fix was to copy the first line (frame 0) and paste as frame 8, thus giving a frame total of 9. Frame 0 is the key frame, and the final frame 8 should match the position of the object the key frame. Thus the animation sequence was in harmony with the Universe, and my spirit too.You have to change the total frame number from 7 to 8 and the total from 8 to 9.Another MSTS modelling lesson from "The School of Hard Knocks."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
anim_node Rod010 (
controllers ( 1
linear_pos ( 9
linear_key ( 0 0.000188173 0 0.0118928 )
linear_key ( 1 0.000188175 0 0.0545492 )
linear_key ( 2 0.000188177 0 0.105886 )
linear_key ( 3 0.000188179 0 0.148429 )
linear_key ( 4 0.00018818 0 0.177825 )
linear_key ( 5 0.000188178 0 0.119873 )
linear_key ( 6 0.000188175 0 0.0532589 )
linear_key ( 7 0.000188174 0 0.0216498 )
linear_key ( 8 0.000188173 0 0.0118928 )

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I had the same problem with the 2-8-0 Bazza, but I just re-exported the file a few times and it would fix itself. Thanks to your investigation, I now know why it was doing that, good work.That loco looks sharp, very well done.Cliff

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Looks great! Is she built to scale, or rather scaled up so she will look like a 3.5' loco?
Dominik MannProud Member of the MSTS European Railfans

- Interested in Euro railways, virtual or real? Visit the European Add-Ons Discussion forum at http://www.trains-station.com/ -

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Thanks. The loco is based on a NZR 1950's design that was never built, but it is just the modelling challenge I love, building 'dead' locos Modelled to NZR128 scale, so the MSTS standard gauge track becomes NZR 3 ft 6 in gauge. This makes the loco in correct proportion to the narrow gauge track. I use a scale of 1:1.284, which gives a nice proportion and still fits in with MSTS models, and tunnel portals, although some of the Japanese tunnels are a tight squeeze.The textures are nothing fancy, it is actually a test model, but I'll release it as version 1.0. Includes hi cab 3d details. The livery & naming is fanciful as most NZR locos or black, or dirty, or vice versa.

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Looks good! I've always had a soft spot for NZ locos.

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Hi Bazza,Yes I had that problem too and fixed it by re-exporting. Nice work in isolating the real cause. Good looking loco too. Sorry to have not responded soomer but I was off in the Internetless wilderness.JF

john fowlis

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Hi John, long time no speak.Internetless Wilderness? Is that somewhere north of Nome?

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