Using SObject instead of Object

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Stupid title.. First: Woohoo, i managed to get the import from sketchup working. That combined with other 3d titles and almost any 3d model can be now be fitted on track. Detailed terrains, the world is my oyster now.. :wink:

I noticed that when importing own models, especially those big terrain related objects (rocks, cliffs, terrain models etc.),it is very hard to manipulate if they are used as a single object. Try rotating a 100 meters of rockface.. That little rotating thingy in BTB is just awful in those occasions. But make it as a SObject and it's stretchable, it can be scaled and rotated using precise numbers.. You have also control points in both ends of the object so it is very easy to place.. Make it curve with spline and move vertices to follow the ground is amazingly good option that we, as far as i know, haven't got with single objects.

Only drawback is that you have to use offset when raising the object as the "Y" button don't seem work with SObjects.

Also you can make the objects much easier as it doesn't need to fit into the terrain precisely. Speeds things up in the early stages if you can use quick drafts. And models that were not designed for that track can be utilized more easily. I know that most of you use this trick already but haven't seen it mentioned here.

 

[Raido]

Nice idea, but how d'you make a stringobject in an Xpack exactly? I made a simple Xpack once, (as yet unfinished tho), but can't remember seeing an option for converting to string.

 

[R Soul]

First you add an ordinary object, then you go to String Objects and Add. Select Pattern, click on the + button and select the object.

I've found the align to track button is very good for rotating objects.

You need to put the object quite close to a track so that it knows what to line up with, but you can then drag the object as far away as necessary. There's a 'rotate' checkbox and allows rotation to the nearest degree.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Lol, haven't noticed those two boxes at all.. Simplifies a lot with bigger objects and a group of objects too. Thanks for the tip... This is why we have this community.

Also i have to add that when using offset in SObjects, the whole object raises by that amount.