Tools for Asset Repair by PEV Image by Alberte Zato

AttachmentMaker a new tool from PEV

A way to quickly and accurately add attachments to any asset.

Introduction. should identify with this layout.

Some Trainz users wish to add attachment points to I think I have created a really simple tool that will make
existing assets for their own use or, with permission of the adding attachments a snap. Users will need to be able to
original creator, make some additions to his asset for read an engineering drawing, and be able to visualise a
sharing with others. 3d object from the three basic views. Other than that
virtually no drafting skills are needed.
A well proven way to add attachments involves making a
another mesh in GMax/3dsMax or Blender with what ever
attachments are needed along with an invisible object to Using Attachment Maker.
allow the mesh to export out of the modelling program.
This method is a bit hit or miss because there is no way to Installation.
get the original model into the modelling program so that
the attachments can be positioned relative to the shape of The program is available for free download from my
the parent object. PEVSoft Download page.
Attachments are easily added to meshes directly, but http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~villaump/pevsoft.htm
again no visual reference is provided to know where to
place the attachments. And of course Auran's policy of Run the installer and the program will be loaded on to the
not allowing users to mess with their meshes also needs Program Files area of your C: drive, along with a desktop
to be adhered to. Auran's TrainzMeshImporter is icon and an entry in the PEVSoft folder of your All
specifically written to allow meshes from a variety of Programs menu.
sources to be safely imported into the game, and in this
case it provides the necessary conversion between the Auran's TrainzMeshImporter.exe is included in the setup
attachment data and an IM mesh for Trainz. program. It may require a further download from MicroSoft
(See below)
GMax and other modelling programs provide neat multiple
views of an object in wire frame mode that allow Note that the beta and first release versions of this
attachments to be positioned within a model. It seemed program have some errors in the attachment rotation
logical that if we could directly make a multi view display mathematics that have now been resolved.
of a mesh we could add attachments quickly and
accurately.

So I set to work to make a program that gives front, side,

and top views in wire frame mode, with all views
zoomable and moveable.

The resulting Attachment Maker program provides views

that are linked so that the relationship between them
always maintains third angle projection; meaning the
details are always aligned view to view. You will
understand the significance of this once you start to use
the program.

The views are the standard third angle projection, with the
plan (top) view being above the front view, and the side
view to the right. Those of you with drafting experience

© Peter Villaume (PEV) 2010 1

Opening a File

The purpose of this program is to add attachments to an

existing asset. Say for example you want to add safety
valve and whistle attachments to a small steam loco for
visual steam outlets.

Firstly use Content manager to open the loco asset for

editing and find the main body mesh. Then launch
Attachment Maker and open the body mesh using the File
Open menu.

Left Click in any view and the attachment tripod will follow
the cursor when you drag it. Positioning as you can see
Note the loco body is in three views. Top left is plan (top)
takes moments.
view, lower left is front view, and lower right is the side
view.

Use the mouse wheel to zoom in or out. Note that all

views zoom at the same rate (on purpose) Zooming is
also possible by using the cursor Up/Down keys with the
shift key. The mouse cursor must be on the drawing for
the key zoom or pan.

Press on the mouse wheel and drag the mouse to move a

view to look closely at some portion. Note that the views
move together to maintain a view of a particular point in
the drawing.(again on purpose.. quick and simple is the
objective here) Panning can also be done by selecting a
view (with the mouse or touch pad) and pressing the
cursor keys with the Ctrl key.

Window size can be changed by dragging the edges of

the window.

In the case of our steam loco example, move the

attachment to the top of the whistle, and rotate as
Adding an Attachment Point necessary to have the Y axis of the tripod pointing in the
direction of steam flow. In this case rotating about the X
To add an attachment point ensure you have an axis axis will make the Y axis of the attachment tripod point
origin visible in at least one view. The origin is where the upwards.
dark yellow axis lines cross.

Press the "Add Attach" button in the panel on the upper

right side of the window. A yellow attachment tripod will
appear at the origin, (in all views). To rotate the attachment you can use the up/down
buttons next to the rotation axis box, or enter a number in
the box.

© Peter Villaume (PEV) 2010 2

In the "Selected Attachment" panel with the "Add Attach"
button, there are edit boxes to change the attachment
name, its position, and its rotation.
To edit an attachment, you can select by Right Clicking on
When you press the "Add Attach" button the the new the Selected Attachment panel. A list of attachments will
attachment is always called "a.New". In our example, be presented and you can chose one by name.
change the name to "a.whistle" in the name box on the
Selected Attachment panel.

When you are happy that you have the attachment

correctly located and named, Right Click on the drawing
and the attachment will be locked, and deselected. It
changes colour from yellow to green when deselected as
in GMax.

Click on an attachment and press the "Accept" button to

select. "Cancel" turns off the selection window.
Remember that the selected attachment is yellow on the
Repeat the process above to add more attachments. (The drawing.
safety valve attachments in our example)

© Peter Villaume (PEV) 2010 3

You can also change selection with the up/down buttons
next to the name box. (Please note at this stage in Select the "attach_mesh.im" and the attachments will be
program development I don't have attachment selection reloaded and displayed on the drawing.
by mouse click working)
Additions, deletions, and edits are easily done once the
A selected attachment can be deleted by pressing the appropriate attachments are selected.
"Delete" button.

Making the Attachment Mesh Putting the Attachment Mesh into Trainz

When you have placed your new attachments the results To make the attachments work in Trainz an attachments
are saved in the form of a mesh named "attach_mesh.im". mesh reference must be added to the mesh table in the
The name can be changed, if you so desire, in the Save config.txt file for the asset. The following example adds
file dialogue. attachments to a single mesh object.(mesh table only
shown here)
To save the mesh click on the "Save Att Mesh" item in the
"File" menu. mesh-table {
default {
mesh "steam_loco.im"
auto-create 1
}
attachments {
mesh "attach_mesh.im"
auto-create 1
}
}

Because the two meshes share the same origin, (the

second having been built around the first) no other data is
needed.

The above assumes that "steam_loco.im" and the

"attach_mesh.im" file are in the same folder as the
config.txt file. (the asset root folder). The program help
shows an example where the meshes are in a sub-folder
Your new attachment data is converted to a mesh by of the asset. See the Content Creators' Guide for your
TrainzMeshImporter. The mesh has a single plane Trainz version for advice on asset folder layout.
surface 20mm square invisible from above, but visible
from below.(just to test its validity) The mesh requires no The attachments should now behave as if they are part of
textures. the default mesh.

Please be aware that the program overwrites any existing If you have added passenger, load, or smoke attachments
"attach_mesh.im" file when saving the data. and so on further additions will be needed to the config.txt
file. Again, refer to your Content Creator's Guide.

Editing an Attachment Mesh

TrainzMeshImporter
If you are unhappy with your attachment mesh or wish to
add more attachments, you can edit the mesh by first As part of the attachment mesh generation process,
loading the parent mesh using the "File" "Open" menu as Attachment Maker creates a file in XML format which is
above. Then click on the "Open Att Mesh" item in the then converted to an IM by Auran's TrainzMeshImporter
"File" menu. program. Auran's policy of having their own software
make all game content is thus maintained.

The Attachment Maker program will not operate if the

TrainzMeshImporter.exe is not in the Attachment Maker
application folder. A notice to this effect is displayed for a
few seconds before the program closes.

TrainzMeshImporter is included in the Attachment Maker

installation package and is latest version as of 17 April
2010.

TrainzMeshImporter requires some Microsoft C++ 2005

SP1 runtime files, and if these are not present the TMI will
not run, or may freeze. The Attachment Maker will fail to
produce an output mesh in this instance.

© Peter Villaume (PEV) 2010 4

 attach_mesh.im and there is an attachment rotation where
The files can be downloaded as a package from the Y axis rotation is + or - 90deg. The mathematics to
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx? convert a rotation matrix to axis angles has a divide by
familyid=200B2FD9-AE1A-4A14-984D- zero occurrence under these conditions. The program will
389C36F85647&displaylang=en zero the X axis angle and make the Y axis 90deg,
hopefully leaving any Z axis rotation as it stands.
To test that TrainzMeshImporter is working open a DOS
window in the Attachment Maker application folder. The problem is called "Gimball Lock" because the same
mathematics is used in gyro guidance systems and gyros
To open a DOS window, create a file named are mounted on gimballs. (the rings with bearings that
"DOSWin.bat" in the Attachment Maker application folder. allow x,y,z rotation of one object relative to another.)
The file should contain the following two lines:-
It's best to avoid Y=90deg or Y=-90deg. However it will
@echo off still work, the conversion from angles to matrix works fine.
cmd.exe /k It's the reloading of such data back into this program that
will give the message. Fortunately rotation around the Y
When you run this batch macro a DOS window will be axis is rare in Trainz because the Y axis is used as a
opened. Type "trainzmeshimporter.exe" in the window. direction pointer, so rotations about the X and Z axes are
The TMI will display its help page if all is working used to have the Y axis pointing in the desired direction.
correctly. See the CCGTC for advice on orienting smoke
attachments as an example of this.
FootNotes:

1. In the program help there is a reference to an error 2. The Attachment Maker program, can handle 256
message "Gimball Lock. Cannot resolve angles." attachments in one mesh. This is the same limit as the
This message will only occur if reloading an Trainz game itself imposes.

© Peter Villaume (PEV) 2010 5