Tracks Have any track modders made their source Blender or 3DS Max files available to the community?
- Thread starter BluePotato00
- Start date
i dont think a file from a top quality track are going to help you if you never build a track, mainly because file will look as a big mess with a lot of assets in there. i think a good approach is start with the basic (draw layout and terrain) and start from that point, if you still like to build a track you can start to move to other stuff, just my tought. Anyway with 3dsimed you can open any track file and check how stuff is done.
Its been a long while since i last tried doing tracks in blender (i failed in the attempt due to lost of motivation) but would like to start again, i mainly failed because the lack of actual terrain and / or track making tutorials, all of them were about non-gaming related renders of other stuff.
I am pretty decent at 3d modeling and working with lidar surfaces. But I've never been able to figure out texturing methods. I kinda gave up with making my own track mostly because I couldn't figure that part out. A lot of the walk throughs that deal with that part of track making seems a lot like "draw these two circles, now draw the rest of the owl".
I don't know if looking at someone's raw files would help much either.
I don't know if looking at someone's raw files would help much either.
Just let me know what you are looking for. I've seen a lot and know a bit about Blender. Maybe I can point you to the right tutorial!?
I know what you mean, LOL! Something like "these are the 6 tools (or methods) to master for modeling beginners". Video is okay, but I also need to have a cheat sheet sitting beside me because while I can remember that there's a process to achieve XYZ (because I've done it in other programs), I can't remember what the actual steps are until I've done it a dozen times and that situation only comes up once or twice per track/car. And then I don't use the program for a couple months and what I retained has tended towards zero.
I have been planning a video series and hopfully will start on it in the coming weeks. My plan is to take a oval from raw data to completion of the base track, and cover most aspects of building a track on aerial lidar. I picked an oval because it's small and should go pretty quick and should cover just about every aspect of building the base track. I probably won't go into detail building all the track objects as that is the tedious part but I may go over a few and show the basic process of UV maps and making basic textures.
The data for the track just came public and I've been wanting to build it for a while now.
The data for the track just came public and I've been wanting to build it for a while now.
^
that sounds amazing.
cant wait for that series!
going from lidar to physics mesh is big learning curve.
and nobody has anything blender related on youtube to learn from.
from cloud compare to mesh to blender to reducing mesh etc.
........
I am fairly certain most people can make basic track. But with decent lidar out there now. It might entice community to make more tracks for AC.
that sounds amazing.
cant wait for that series!
going from lidar to physics mesh is big learning curve.
and nobody has anything blender related on youtube to learn from.
from cloud compare to mesh to blender to reducing mesh etc.
........
I am fairly certain most people can make basic track. But with decent lidar out there now. It might entice community to make more tracks for AC.
One aspect I'd like to learn is how to automate building repetitive items like bleachers and staircases. I can already use circular tools, like spokes in a wheel, but for some reason I don't get it for linear items.
Is there a repository of textured models (without usage restrictions) for track builders? That would help the community in a big way. I'm thinking objects like:
- Concrete dividers
- Grandstands
- Infield vehicles (ambulance, tow truck, RVs)
- Garage doors
- Tire stacks
- Scoring tower
- Billboards
- Chain link fencing
- Trees/grass/vegetation
- 200/100/50 meter brake boards
- Curb sausage
- Tents and people for crowds
- Light posts
- Cell/radio tower
- Traffic cones
- Etc.
That's just using the array modifier. But I will likely go through some of that.
As for track objects really the idea of generic objects sounds good on paper but every track usually requires different objects so it's best to just make everything for that particular track. Only thing I've used between my 4 tracks is some textures and cones. I don't even reuse Armco models since it takes all of 5 minutes to make.
To be honest.
Not being rude but...
If you can't create simple low poly objects than track making isn't for you.
Everything you listed can be done with simple texture from google images and low poly model.
If you wanted to learn yourself there is source here.
Tracks
assettocorsamods.net
My experience is that you start from the little things. First I didnt know anything about Blender. Started by looking for how to move things. Then how to scale, or change existing things. And so on. There is really no other way around. There are some resources one could use, i.e. textures, you find some on links in assettocorsamods.net. But its not easy. You need dedication and patience. Look at the Kyalami thread on https://assettocorsamods.net/threads/kyalami-2016.1477/. It started like a year ago and the maker is very expierenced in what he does. Thread is now 22 pages long, but it still is not finished. This should tell you a lot.
99% of the modelling is not ac specific at all. You can simply go to youtube and watch 99% of the staircase, traffic cone and vehicle modelling tutorials and almost all of them work straight as is inside ac. The only thing you need to do extra is uvmapping which is not necessary for renders but is for game models. And even that follows the basic steps from any uvmapping tutorial. It doesn't take anything special to make a 3d model for ac compared to just making a 3d model. The naming conventions are extremely relaxed and the things that need special naming are well explained in ac track making tutorials. This is not rf2 with tens of unknown parameters and unexplained naming schemes and complex uvmap setups and naming configurations and no documentation. It is almost impossible to mess up your model so bad that it doesn't load into ac. There is really just two requirements. Object needs one uvmap and material and it works in ac.
Texturing is another step but even then you can look at any ao baking tutorial, texture baking tutorial and the end results once again works for ac as is. Of course you need to learn some gimp/photoshop to make and export the textures into .dds. Only real difference between general blender modelling for rendering and (ac) game modelling is that you need to optimize things. A render can easily handle 100k tris garden chairs with 4k textures. A game model needs to be optimized for as few tris as possible.
Best way to learn is to do. Biggest thing in learning to make a car or track for ac is not the ac specific stuff (ignoring physics and sound) but the general modeling stuff. You need to learn blender/3dsmax/maya and then you need to learn to model. Modelling for ac is just a tiny step on top of it. There is massive amount of tutorials for this basic stuff for blender in youtube for example. Multiple tutorials for every thing. And when starting the biggest issue is not how to get your content to ac. It is simply learning blender in the beginning.
What I am trying to say is that if you want to make something in ac then just download blender and go watch youtube tutorials and start your project. As soon as you know the basics you can watch and read more ac specific tutorials. Any ac specific tutorials won't help you if you don't know the basics inside your 3d modelling software.
Texturing is another step but even then you can look at any ao baking tutorial, texture baking tutorial and the end results once again works for ac as is. Of course you need to learn some gimp/photoshop to make and export the textures into .dds. Only real difference between general blender modelling for rendering and (ac) game modelling is that you need to optimize things. A render can easily handle 100k tris garden chairs with 4k textures. A game model needs to be optimized for as few tris as possible.
Best way to learn is to do. Biggest thing in learning to make a car or track for ac is not the ac specific stuff (ignoring physics and sound) but the general modeling stuff. You need to learn blender/3dsmax/maya and then you need to learn to model. Modelling for ac is just a tiny step on top of it. There is massive amount of tutorials for this basic stuff for blender in youtube for example. Multiple tutorials for every thing. And when starting the biggest issue is not how to get your content to ac. It is simply learning blender in the beginning.
What I am trying to say is that if you want to make something in ac then just download blender and go watch youtube tutorials and start your project. As soon as you know the basics you can watch and read more ac specific tutorials. Any ac specific tutorials won't help you if you don't know the basics inside your 3d modelling software.
Exactly.
You start off small.
learn basics of sofware that you plan on using...
Could easily find videos like this on youtube.
You start off small.
learn basics of sofware that you plan on using...
Could easily find videos like this on youtube.