Texturing with TSM

I'm new to modeling and have only been using TSM for a week. I've made a simple model and it worked OK. What I want to do now, and can't figure out the correct way, is to create a texture that fits properly. If I don't tile the texture, TSM stretches it to fit the side of the part to which I apply it. This doesn't look right as the texture gets distored. If I tile the texture, it seems to skip a lot and I'm not sure what the number of tiles should be. I'm using 512x512 bmp files for the textures, but my wall I'm applying it to is about 120x 80 feet. How should I create the texture so it fits correctly? Hope I asked this right.Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.Mike

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RE: Texturing with TSM, gbel2001, Mar-07-05, 10:14 AM, (1) RE: Texturing with TSM, DaveDandy, Mar-07-05, 03:37 PM, (2) RE: Texturing with TSM, mikephfl, Mar-07-05, 06:45 PM, (3) RE: Texturing with TSM, KeltikSylk, Mar-08-05, 09:41 AM, (4) RE: Texturing with TSM, mikephfl, Mar-08-05, 02:42 PM, (5) RE: Texturing with TSM, DaveDandy, Mar-09-05, 10:36 AM, (6) RE: Texturing with TSM, CGW409, Mar-09-05, 06:14 PM, (7) RE: Texturing with TSM, UD, Mar-10-05, 10:26 AM, (8)

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Hi MikeCan you post sreenshot of your problem ?Gaetan

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The part menu in TSM has an option to create a texture template. It's good for wrapped objects or objects with curves, but for a flat object like a wall, it's just easier to go to an expanded view of the window which has the part you want to paint. Now select this part, invert the selection and hide the selected. What's left over is your part. Now just do a screen capture and go into your paint program--I like psp--and create your paint. With PSP you can use layers, so you can use the screen capture for the background and apply your paint in a new layer to match. If you paint it to match the part, then it will appear correctly when mapped in MSTS.Dave

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Well, I'd love to post a picture, but I got an error that remote uploading is denied, whatever that means.I'll try Dave's suggestion and see how far I get with that.ThanksMike

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The trick is to size the various textures on the square you're using. I use at least 1024x1024 to start. This allows me to get in a huge amount of detail. If I need smaller textures I shrink 'em by resizing to 512x512. They would still look like this, however, with each "piece" done for a certain side or part.A typical texture looks like this...Once you apply it, you can keep going back in and increase or decrease the the size of the area until it fits the way you want.The only time I don't do this is when I'm tecturing wheels. I use an entire 512x512 texture. This allows me to line up the wheels perfectly, so they don't wobble.Hope this helpsFrank MusickMoving America into the 19th Century!

www.kelticsylk.com

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Well, the texture template seemed to work well for me, for now anyway. As long as the side of the part will fit with 512x512. I've tried using 1024x1204 but the conversion to the ace file fails. Seems to me I recall needing an update to something to handle that.What if you have a large part in which a 512x512 or 1024x1024 texture doesn't cover the whole side of the part. Then what do you do?Thanks for all the help and ideas. I really do appreciate the help I get here.Mike

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If the part is larger than 512 or 1024, then just resize the part in your paint program but keep the aspect ratio the same. In PSP7, I just go into the image menu and click on resize and put the width as 512 or 1024 (that is is the width is more than the height). In either case, select the largest dimension and resize it to one of these values. I leave the smart aspect ratio box selected, so when I change one dimension, the other changes automatically. Now your part will fit your texture. This is how it works for PSP7. For other paint programs, you're on your own. You could also recreate your part into two or three adjacent sections and then texture each section--but you will run the risk of texture misalignment. The best way is to have a paint program that will allow you to rescale your part image to a size which will fit in 512 or 1024. I get conversion failures all the time for textures in TSM. I just ignore them and work around this by converting the original .TGA and .BMP textures to .ACE files using TGATOOL2 or ACEIT--both are available in the train-sim download section. I believe that both still rely on MakeAceWin. So you might have to search the internet for the latest version. Hope this helps.Dave

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Mike
Another thing to bear in mind is if you have V1.0 or V1.1.
If you bought TSM at a store and have it on CD then you most likely have V1.0 and you'll need to go to the Abacus website and download V1.1 and install that as 1.0 has some fatal bugs.Gary S

43 year old future curmudgen(Hey you kids get offa my lawn!!)

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Mike,
The solution I use to this problem is as follows:
Divide your texture file pixel size (512) by the longest measurement of the area you are texturing (in this case 120). This gives you 4.267.
Now multiply this number by the shorter measurement (80 in this case).
This gives you 341.33. Now, when you texture the object, use the F4 key, select properties for the face (front, back, etc.) you are texturing and make sure your "X size" and "Y size" are 512 and 341. The texture should now apply without stretching.
Good luck.
BH
Rebuilding the U&D, the only all rail route to the Catskills.

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