TUTORIAL Build your FIRST track - BASIC GUIDE

[DarkSession]

Hello, i got a problem. I use Cinema 4D R14 and i created a basic track. When i add textures the KSEditor simply shuts down without a error message. Is there anything to fix this?

 

[luchian]

Hello, welcome to the forums.
The logs are the first clue about what could be the problem. Could you pls post them maybe ?

 

[DarkSession]

Wow thanks for your effort, that was a fast anwser.!

Check my screens out, maybe you can see the error (I only added one texture for testing!)

1. Cinema 4D http://puu.sh/hbwih/bdcd4da94a.jpg
2. Folder structure http://puu.sh/hbwsE/387b285aed.jpg
3. Export settings http://puu.sh/hbwoI/cc42a7a55b.png

Crash log :
http://pastebin.com/U7A1ppm9

Thanks for your help

 

[luchian]

Hmm.. the first thing I see in the logs - it says something about FBX2014 ? (it should be FBX2012 - like in your screenshot). Are you sure you are exporting to correct format ? Is there any chance to pass through another exporting method ? Just for testing purposes. Proposals:
1/ Blender is free for example - export to a compatible format from Cinema and then use Blender for final FBX export ?
2/ Or send me the file to some format so I can try exporting to FBX ?

Otherwise,
- Folder structure seems correct.
- In export dialog no need for animations (it's all I can understand from.. german ?) .

Here's an equivalent screenshot with max export:

 

[DarkSession]

Thanks for your answer, i also have 3DSmax2015, i think i'll try it with that.

 

[luchian]

Small update in the screenshot (it was the car export dialog - now it's the track export dialog). The main difference is the triangulate option - recommended for tracks, not recommended for cars.
If it works on your side with max, then great. If not, please delete (or move) all logs files from log folder, launch SDK Editor once and try to apply texture to your track, and then when/if error, please keep that "clean" log so we can have a look at it .​

 

[DarkSession]

Well i opened the FBX in 3DSMAX, exported it with your settings and i still can't get the map to work in the editor. It simply shuts down when i double click the map.

http://pastebin.com/Bfm33RAY

Im not sure why it says FBX2014, im 100% sure that i use 2012 to export.

 

[luchian]

How about exporting to something different (not FBX) from Cinema, opening in 3dsmax, exporting FBX2012 and then opening it into the SDK ?

 

[DarkSession]

Well thats redicioulus, i exported it as 3DS and opened in 3DSMAX, exported it to FBX with your settings and it does load without any problems... even without a texture folder. Im not sure what is fucked up on my computer... Could you figure out which scaling options i should use? Because i wasn't able to find my track in the editor!

 

[luchian]

I don't think it's your computer , I think the problem lies within Cinema and the way it exports fbx (it's not the first time people are experiencing some kind of issues with it).

For the scaling it should be meters (were you working in meters in Cinema ?). Also note, that when opening any track in SDK Editor you will always start at position 0, 0, 0. So if your track is not really aligned (say your geometry is placed 100 m above "sea level") then you need to look for it - aka move with the arrow keys (hold CTRL for high speed).

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[DarkSession]

Thanks mate, i found an old Rfact0r (1) Map which i want to import now, i asked the owner for acess. The Problem is, here are all my files. Now, how do i import theese files into 3DSimed and export them including textures so i can open it in 3DSMAX? There are many tutorials for Rfactor 2, but i can't find one which shows a way to open them directly from RF1. Otherwise, could you convert the track + textures for me to a FBX file so i can simply load it up and do the rest of the work in the editor? Would be awesome if you could.

Edit : Holy shit, i did it myself somehow :
http://puu.sh/hctFo/abe28dd8ad.jpg

Next step is to load the fbx into my 3D Program, and asign the pit boxes and do the naming ?

 

[luchian]

Looks good. Yes, the next step is separating the surfaces correctly (grass from road from sand, etc - if the case) and then start the renaming journey in order to give'em physical properties. Once that is done, you should have a drivable track. .. and improvement work can begin .

 

[DarkSession]

Well im not able to find the correct size and Cinema 4D won't export again. Could you help me a little bit out?

-C4D doesn't assign the textures for some reason
-Export -> Crash in editor (3DDSMax works, but i can't find the correct metric size to choose from).

Could you edit the track till the point where i can load it up into the KSEditor? There is not really much to do, only the boring naming stuff (No need to seperate the track) and adding Pits+Start and End points. I will do the rest. I would be very thankfull, 15 Pit points and a start + end point is enought.Im not sure if its necesarry to delete the skybox dome and theese weird concrete blocks in the middle of the road. I only need the track for some high speed races between friends, we play on our own server.

The whole data folder is only 29mb including textures, please help me out

http://www.mediafire.com/download/zkvtp6dvlwbaxw1/Avus_Darknew.rar

 

[luchian]

If you're not in a hurry, I could give it a try towards the end of the week. I'm afraid I won't be having much time before that. The "boring" stuff still require a couple of hours to set probably, and there's only 24h in a day .

But honestly, I think you should take advantage of this first venture, and find out what is going on, so you could be your own boss afterwards . Maybe make some test track (a simple plane, and basic spawn objects) and experiment with export units settings towards 3dsmax. From 3dsmax it should be straight forward - set it on meters and you should be good.

Once you've validated the workflow, it can be easily translated to any other track.

 

[DarkSession]

The problem is, that i have zero knowledge in 3DSmax, the UI is completely different from C4D (In which i did complex renders). Its so horrible for me to navigate in 3DS, i got the student version for free, but i need more practice.

Im going to assign one attribute to a road and i'll add some boxes so i will see if the map will work.

http://puu.sh/hcAoJ/249eb87a16.jpg

 

[DarkSession]

Well i got it to work, but it seems that my track is way to small, something wrent wrong while converting.

Do you know a way to get the correct size in 3DSmax?

http://puu.sh/hcDsR/3f59544e7b.jpg

 

[luchian]

Where are you exporting from ? 3Dsimed directly to max ? Or do you pass through Cinema first ?

In any case, sometimes something can go wrong and scale is not correct. However when this happens, there is usually a "link" as compared to original geometry (relation imperial units to metric ones, or inch to centimeter, or mm to whatever) and that means there is an uniform scaling factor. What you can do then is uses this little trick:

Find an object for which you could approximate the size, and measure it. Depending on your findings, try to estimate the scale factor so that the object would be real size. Use that as scaling factor to the entire track to bring it to correct dimensions.

To test it out, you can then create a box the size of a car and see how that fits.
Hope this helps.. I've used this method more than once myself .

 

[DarkSession]

Is there any 3D model which i can import? (The stock cars are .kn5 and i cant extract them). Otherwise, is there any way to scale the map in 3DSMAX? (And yes i imported the FBX directly from 3DSimed to 3DSMAX.)

 

[Pixelchaser]

3dsimed can import all kn5 models. use the plugin import option.

 

[DarkSession]

Holy shit, thanks Pixelchaser, you helped me a lot. Now i can extract some pre made maps to see what i still need to add to my map.