MX Bikes Official Forum

Mods => Track Editing => Topic started by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on September 15, 2015, 02:44:47 PM

Title: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on September 15, 2015, 02:44:47 PM
SketchUp Techniques

SketchUp to heightmap tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/v/CUSQWQ2ynQE

SketchUp Basic Geolocation to heightmap tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/v/m91V9rCSrLo

L3DT Techniques

Jump Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/v/hiYKeEXQsXc?rel=0

'Instant' Berms Tutorial (Please ignore spelling mistake in video ;))

https://www.youtube.com/v/ejkc3NOs7uY?rel=0

Export Mesh for SketchUp (or other 3d application)

https://www.youtube.com/v/QISuuk1TR34

Download L3DT Standard Edition Here (http://www.bundysoft.com/L3DT/downloads/standard.php) - Free
Title: Re: L3DT Jump Building Tutorial
Post by: teeds on September 15, 2015, 04:50:46 PM
Good stuff Fats, one day I'll have ago at getting my head around this track building, seems like good injury entertainment ;) I see this L3DT is free for the standard version, do you use that? Any other software you pay for to build a track?
Title: Re: L3DT Jump Building Tutorial
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on September 15, 2015, 04:59:19 PM
Yep I use the free version, it's good to go and allows you to do all the important stuff i.e shape & model, import image & .RAW, export as image & .RAW, and export as .3ds model.

All I currently use is L3DT, Paint program (Gimp / PSP), Sketchup, Sket2FBX (couple of dollars I think) and of course PiBoSo tools.
Title: Re: L3DT Jump Building Tutorial
Post by: Mace-x on September 16, 2015, 02:00:13 AM
Looks good, thanks for the tutorial fats!  :)
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on September 26, 2015, 04:24:43 PM
Updated to add instant berms tutorial
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on March 12, 2016, 07:55:55 PM
How can you test the size of your jumps... how do you know the scale?
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on March 12, 2016, 08:17:01 PM
Trial and error. If you're making a replica track you can import textures to the l3dt terrain.

Also the above methods can be used to make single jumps which can be exported on a blank heightmap to be cut out and used in other tracks using a screen blend mode layer.
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on March 19, 2016, 02:24:04 PM
Going to ask a possible too bad so sad, in your dreams fella, kind of question..

I'm almost strictly a visual learner with stuff like track building but once I understand it I have a good vision for it. In l3dt it is very easy to auto generate a random terrain.. from here I can sculpt it into a riding play ground and hope to make a ORV type place for mxb some time.

My Question/s:
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on March 19, 2016, 02:44:06 PM
I don't know about that, I did say in the first post I'd consider making more tutorials if people wanted them, but so far there's not been much request. I wouldn't mind doing an entire track from nothing to game but it would be hours and hours of recording sped up.

1. Yes you can auto generate terrain in L3DT and export it to a RAW file to use with MXB. You can smooth the entire heightmap with a process in L3DT to make it rideable. I've made a huge freeride map this way and for the most part it was fun, but it's hard to get right and I had to generate at least 10 to 15 terrains before I got the result I was looking for.

2. Think of L3DT as a mesh shaper. Layers only come in to play in paint programs really so you can either make single jumps in L3DT (as I did above), export as BMP then use the jump on another track using the screen layer/blend mode*

3. No lol.. No way, I've already made it so that would be difficult. Also, I didn't randomly generate terrain for the snow map, I painted it in PSP.

* Screen Layer - Turns black and any degree of black to alpha, so if you had another heightmap and added a new layer with the 'Screen' blend mode, you get nothing but a clean white jump that will blend nicely and sit on top of your alternative heightmap.
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on March 19, 2016, 03:18:46 PM
Thx for the info!

       Last question: (for now :P)

If I do make a terrain in l3dt and make trails and tracks throughout the map.. can I then go from there to making it work in game *after the process of terrain/trail/jump building?

or am I wasting time by not doing something before or during sculpting of a orv park?


Hope this makes sense at all, thx man!
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on March 19, 2016, 03:23:14 PM
Not sure what you mean.. In L3DT you can do what you like and export as a .RAW (heightmap.raw) to be used in MXB. You can also open RAW files in it so you can reload it to make changes, or keep working from a saved version.

Before I start I normally map out a rough track path and some terrain in a paint program, then smooth the track path and start building jumps.

You can also then get your heightmap image you've made in the paint program and paint the track and offtrack different colours and import it as a texture map, then when editing heightmap in 3d you can view 'textured' so you know better where your stuff is.

Sorry if I've missed the point and no problem :)
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on March 19, 2016, 03:43:32 PM
Good information u post everytime lol, it will all help.

Maybe a better way to put it.

I would just be sculpting random trails and jumps throughout a random gen map. I would "not be making a track" with a set direction, laps etc. The only thing would be a pit/spawn location of course.

Maybe I'll post some pics/example later to help with my questions.

So if I sculpt a terrain with trails to ride as a "free ride/orv" park, can I do everything else required to move it to mxb "after" the creation of the map/trails
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on March 19, 2016, 04:08:10 PM
Yeah.. L3DT is just a means to create a heightmap. Once it's made and exported as raw the rest of the work is done with textures, tracked etc..
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 23, 2016, 06:48:23 PM
How do i make the measurements?

I want to make the replica of anaheim rd1 2016  so exactly as possible. So, i made a track path in ps.

1025 x 1025

the two longest track sections are 330 pixel

i know from google earth that in my case 60pixel = 20m

so 330pixel would be 110m

in l3dt i would make a blank designable map: 1024 x 1024
but what horiz. scale i have to use?? 1m=1pixel?

do i have just to go with 0.33?
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 23, 2016, 07:00:17 PM
If 1m = 1px then your 1024 map would be 1024 meters.

When I do a scale replica, I use the geolocation service in sketchup to pull the height data for an area. I then check out what scale that area is in google maps and there is another website that can tell you the height (https://www.daftlogic.com/sandbox-google-maps-find-altitude.htm) - For this I pick the spot where the heightmap is darkest, and the spot where it's lightest, and the difference is your height in your hmf and tht. I can then set my track size to the exact size in my hmf and tht, and load my heightmap image into L3DT to work on.

I will normally go for 0.25 horizontal scale and guess the height. This gives me enough to work with knowing that the x y and z are correct for the area, L3DT doesn't determine the size of the heightmap in MXB.. The tht and hmf do.
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 23, 2016, 07:20:17 PM
Thank you this will help me a lot :) My thoughts to make a SX track is that its flat so i dont have to think about the heights :)
Btw. do you make the berms and jumps in ps/sketchup or straight in l3dt? my idea was now to make only the track path in ps and the other stuff in l3dt.
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 23, 2016, 07:29:57 PM
It depends. For sx (at least in beta 3) I made all the jumps, tables, whoops and berms in L3DT as singles then exported as an image so I could cut them out like in the videos above.

For nationals I find it easier to make things directly on the track in heightmap editor. Paleta v2 was made entirely in L3DT, mxbc compound was a combination of both.
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 23, 2016, 07:46:01 PM
I have also made heightmap jumps in sketchup that worked really well for getting precise curves..

http://forum.mx-bikes.com/index.php?topic=769.0
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 24, 2016, 10:27:08 PM
Hey fats, could you maybe explain to me how you did the jumps in sketchup? I cant find a gradient tool..

i was only able to import the track path and made a block  ;D

i made the basics (geo's tuts from 1-5) and now i have to do a way better heightmap :) photoshop doenst work for me, i will use it only for the track path. then i would jump into sketchup make the jumps (and maybe the berms) and than smooth it in l3dt and/or do the berms there.

@geo if you have the time to do a new tutorial it would be really nice if you could use photoshop or better gimp (free), sketchup and l3dt  :D
And if you could show us how to create a replica nationals track (heightmap) with maybe 1 berm and 1 jump and how to import/export it the correct way :) (so "just" a new Heightmap Tutorial)

i found this really nice tutorial to do that, BUT it doenst work anymore. You need Sketchup2013 for the plugin, but sketchup13 doenst work anymore with that geolocation. there must be a similar way with 2016. maybe fats can help here :)

Here is the YT link for that Tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jrT5AVPVA8
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 25, 2016, 10:22:18 AM
Yes I don't mind making a tutorial video on how to make heightmap jumps in sketchup and even how to use geolocation to make a heightmap.
Title: Re: L3DT Tutorials
Post by: Mace-x on April 25, 2016, 03:44:43 PM
i´d love to see the geolocation to map tutorial, it´d be nice to have a base heightmap to start with  ;D
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 25, 2016, 06:07:20 PM
First post updated, geolocation to come
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 25, 2016, 07:06:33 PM
Thank you so much fats :) i never could have figured it out on my own  ::)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 25, 2016, 07:08:46 PM
No prob mate.. I usually just do jumps in L3DT but have used this method to make supercross rythms back in beta 3. You can get some very specific shapes this way.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 26, 2016, 12:19:18 AM
If you or anyone ever gets a chance, can i get a road map for the shortest way from a random gen l3dt heightmap --> in-game (on bike).. (maybe just simple texture with grass)

The terrain does not have to be smooth and ride able..I am able to do all of that.

and I notice l3dt free version doesn't seem to match up with what the heightmap requirements are? for example it must be 1025x1025 or 2049x2049 or 4097x4097.. l3dt free only seems to go up to 2048 or something.. so just stick with 1025?(it forces you into 1024x1024)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 12:32:12 AM
2049 x 2049 is fine in L3DT free version, if you really want to do 4097 x 4097 you can get the pro trial for 90 days by entering your email address and receiving a download link.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 26, 2016, 12:41:48 AM
ok but it seems to force me into a 2048x2048 when i ask it to create a 2049x2049.. is this ok?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 12:47:04 AM
Not sure, I've never had that problem. I only have pro at the moment so can't check standard. I know for sure that if you import a 2049 image into standard it doesn't complain.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 26, 2016, 12:51:36 AM
ok, so maybe import is fine into standard but creating a heightmap from the standard version won't work. It will make things work much better for me if I can create the heightmap inside l3dt..so I may have to buy pro at some point soon.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 12:54:30 AM
Or you just give the trial a go for free, for 90 days :P.. You could create hundreds of random terrains and store them for later..

Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 26, 2016, 01:12:06 AM
lol.. good idea!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 01:13:20 AM
And if you're sneaky.. Like me.. Then when your trial runs out you might just want to sign up again using a different e-ma.. Wait, no forget I said anything  ::)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: pacopastor34 on April 26, 2016, 08:52:06 AM
Really helpful Fatcontroller. I learned so much with geo basic tutorials and those tips complete what I learned before. Congrats, I hope you keep posting tips. I would love a very short video explaining to export from L3DT to Obj. With the same scale that the game in order to be able to put the objects.

Arenacross tracks are coming.... :D
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 08:56:24 AM
Sorry paco, you sent me a pm about this. I read it and was going to reply when I was at my pc but completely forgot. I'll happily make a vid in that too.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 26, 2016, 12:02:12 PM
Heightmap version 0.02 :)

Fats, did you try to do all jumps in one project? i made more gradients for the jumps now, so i can set the height in ps (opacity). i can imagine if i do it with only one gradient, the jumps like the whoop section has to less information (grayscale), otherwise they are more black. :)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 12:12:19 PM
Wow that's one way of doing it lol.. No I have never done that, like I said I usually just do all my stuff in L3DT using the same method I made the tutorial for building jumps. You can do it like that but if it was me I'd rather have all my jumps as separate layers I can move around. In PSP or Gimp I use the screen layer to get rid of the black, in Gimp you can apply 'Colour to Alpha' for each jump to get rid of the black, not sure about PS as I hate it :P
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 26, 2016, 12:55:46 PM
Yep, all jumps in one project isnt so good :) All the rotation and stuff.. and for future projects it would be better to have it in seperate projects, too.

So, i will start again with ver. 0.01 :)) But i have to say that i learned so much in just one day :)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 12:59:19 PM
First post updated to add exporting mesh from L3DT.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 01:03:27 PM
Good to know Phil, and you will learn your own ways of doing things. All these tutorials show things I've mostly learned myself and methods I use which others might not find easiest, but for people just starting out I think they are some of the most useful things to know. Of course I never would have found learning how to create tracks so simple if it wasn't for Geo's tutorials!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 26, 2016, 01:41:36 PM
btw. i can't watch the first tutorial, cause of the song (gema/germany), i have to use a vpn. the second seems to work. maybe u can always use this song or better without any song :))
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 01:49:48 PM
...but I like my cheesy music lol

Maybe it would be better if I picked a YouTube soundtrack.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 26, 2016, 06:54:52 PM
First post updated with basic geolocation to heightmap tutorial. No music phil... absolutely silent.. hope you're happy :P
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: pacopastor34 on April 26, 2016, 07:00:37 PM
Quote from: TheFatController on April 26, 2016, 08:56:24 AM
Sorry paco, you sent me a pm about this. I read it and was going to reply when I was at my pc but completely forgot. I'll happily make a vid in that too.

No prob man, thank you very much for your work, very good this last video,It is the perfect answer to my question. That was one of the last details that i hadn't got quite clear. Thank you again mate.

Good music man!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 26, 2016, 07:52:59 PM
wow, i didnt expect that it is "so easy" :D

geo's and your tutorials will definitely help us beginners :)

and thank you that you changed the music :)

(@pibs/snappe please pin that thread)

Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 27, 2016, 08:59:35 AM
No problem.. Just looking forward to seeing some new tracks!.

..You guys made any yet?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 27, 2016, 05:57:51 PM
I will start to work on muddy creek. I have the feeling that Sx tracks are harder to do than national tracks  :-\ i will see
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 27, 2016, 06:30:21 PM
SX tracks are very difficult in b4, not sure why. A track that worked great in B3 no longer works but no amount of rhythm spacing helps - If you have 2 ways of riding a section, one or the other will work, but not both.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 27, 2016, 09:47:22 PM
So, is this right? :)

1. created the heightmap (sketchup)
2. created the track path (gimp)
3. imported the heightmap into l3dt
4. imported the trackpath as texture map (so that i know where the track is)
5. resized the horizontal scale to 1, vertical scale to min. 0 and max. 43.2 and the image size from 2049x2049 to 502x502 (the values from sketchup), so that i have the right measurements in l3dt. I know that the measurements are not important in l3dt. (track.hmf, track.tht)

6. create the first jump?
7. change the image size to 2049x2049 again?
8. do all the other steps, so i can test the jump in mxb?

what i dont understand is, how i can make a jump in sketchup and place it into the heightmap in gimp, because the gradient wouldnt be correct or will color to alpha solve the problem?  :o
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 27, 2016, 09:56:07 PM
Sure I guess that all makes sense, but some of it seems a bit long winded.

My tutorials were really just meant as 'tricks of the trade' so to speak, I don't use all of them for one track. In fact paleta was done purely in L3DT using the bulldozer, leveller, raise, lower and the smooth.

You will find your own way of doing things, the important thing is learning the basics so you can start working on more advanced things.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Mace-x on April 28, 2016, 04:26:31 AM
Thanks for the geolocation tutorial!  ;D
Is there a way to use google map´s raw height data?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 28, 2016, 06:58:20 PM
need help again :(

how i do the alpha channel's in gimp?

i tried it like geo's tutorial, but mapviewer and tracked crashs if i load the map/trh

https://youtu.be/NuLa2mmEcBE?t=659
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 28, 2016, 07:03:07 PM
Mace, not that I've found mate, this is the only way I know how to do it.

Phil, Is your texture 2048 x 2048? Common mistake of using my heightmap image to use as a template to add a mask and it's still 2049 x 2049.

Other than that, just make sure you have an alpha channel enabled by right clicking later and 'add alpha channel' I believe.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 28, 2016, 07:15:59 PM
damn, yeeah that could it be - have to check  :-X
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 29, 2016, 12:56:34 AM
When you used l3dt to create Paleta, where u able to add textures from within l3dt..or did you have to go the route of something like gimp/photoshop based on geo's tutorials?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 29, 2016, 12:58:57 AM
I did all the textures after the heightmap was done, using gimp. Not based of geo's tutorials though, I could draw long before I could make tracks :P

Sometimes I use L3DT's attributes brush in the 3d editor to draw a track path to use as a mask template though, means you can get really precise edges. You have to generate an attributes map first then you can paint it in 3d, and then export as image to use as template.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 29, 2016, 01:03:57 AM
Quote from: TheFatController on April 29, 2016, 12:58:57 AM
I did all the textures after the heightmap was done, using gimp. Not based of geo's tutorials though, I could draw long before I could make tracks :P

Sometimes I use L3DT's attributes brush in the 3d editor to draw a track path to use as a mask template though, means you can get really precise edges. You have to generate an attributes map first then you can paint it in 3d, and then export as image to use as template.


Good, maybe you answered what I am hoping for... If I sculpt an open world with random trails/jumps throughout and texture it in l3dt, will I be able to get that texture information from 3d over to gimp and not lose all my trails? Based on your reply, it looks like I should be able to do so but repaint them in gimp.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 29, 2016, 01:07:11 AM
If you paint the trails using the attributes brush, make sure you use two colours (one for offtrack, one for trails). You can then export that as an image. In L3DT you use 'export active map layer' meaning the one you have open. When you generate an attributes map you get two tabs, one for your heightmap and one for attributes map. Whichever one you are looking at will be exported.

Load it in gimp, make sure it's 2048 or 4096, create alpha channel, use magic wand to pick the non trail parts and delete them, make the trail parts pure white with no background and you have a mask of all your trails.

You can get fancy by painting ruts, using noise to roughen it up, but that parts up to you ;)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 30, 2016, 03:17:00 AM
Man.. thank you so much for the above info on exporting trails as img.. it has worked like a charm!!

I was losing hope on creating a ride-able track/trail, but between you and phillian's text guide, I am able to ride around on some textured trails in a terrain I made. so thx again!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 30, 2016, 07:56:37 AM
No problem mate.. Looking forward to riding some new tracks!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 30, 2016, 08:14:22 AM
Hey Fats, i have to ask you again, sry  ::)

Can you explain or show me how you did the terraforming? this is actually the hardest one for me right now. I have some ideas how i could do it, but maybe you can share your experience with me :)

*is there something like a path tool in l3dt?
**and btw you and vortex online - same time? - release date?  ;D
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 30, 2016, 08:36:17 AM
No GH release date yet :p

Do you need the bulldozer tool Phil? That's what I use to make paths. 0 edge width, always make it wider than you want as it's easier to remove than add.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 30, 2016, 08:55:27 AM
https://www.twitch.tv/philian89/v/63660408

Here you can see how it looks at the moment. That track is completly in a hang.  :( This is what i mean with terraforming
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 30, 2016, 09:10:54 AM
Sorry mate you've lost me.. In a hang?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on April 30, 2016, 09:19:15 AM
Wrong word :) in a slope/hill ? that should be the word :)

80% of the track path should be flat, how i do this?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 30, 2016, 09:24:15 AM
Ah, as in your tracks on a slope, tilted? You have plenty of tools that can help, try the raise brush, something like 5% strength and make it big, then apply it along the lower side of the track edge, you can do the same with the lower brush on the raised side.

Some of this stuff just takes practice, have a play around with the tools and see what works, tweak the settings see what they do, but remember L3DT isn't for everyone. Don't feel like you have to use it if you don't like it ;)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 30, 2016, 03:27:26 PM
Wow that does sound good.. Looking forward to seeing it!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on April 30, 2016, 07:21:41 PM
Speaking of trees, bushes, minor objects... im not an object maker but am making a terrain that could use some trees, bushes, bolders.. any ideas for free tree objects or anything??

I can delete this soon if its off topic, let me know
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 30, 2016, 07:23:15 PM
I don't touch trees much, had no luck getting the alpha sort order to work properly so all my trees end up with white halos around the texture.. No good :(
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: GDUBMX on April 30, 2016, 07:31:24 PM
wow
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on April 30, 2016, 07:37:24 PM
If it delivers I think it will be a must have!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on May 09, 2016, 12:02:09 AM
Hey Fats,
i need your help again  ;D if you add jumps in psp/gimp do you have to smooth the complete track again in l3dt? its really annoying :( i think i learned so much in the last couple of weeks that i can finally make a replica track, but the workflow with gimp and l3dt is so frustrating. Do you have any tips? i tried to work with .raw in photoshop, but its protected.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on May 09, 2016, 08:22:47 AM
Yes unfortunately you do have to smooth once importing an image. I'm no expert on the .raw file type but I've always figured it's because a .raw isn't processed like a bmp, tga, jpg etc.. It can hold so much more data as a .raw is more like a digital negative. So where a gradient might look great in Gimp and complete, the raw might make finer use of the black to white range.*

If I make a sx track in gimp, I don't soften or blur / blend the edges of the track - leave them blocky and flat. In L3DT I just run a quick smooth brush over them each time I want to test.

You can also do 'heightmap smooth' or something from the operations menu... Curvature or Gradient. I've used both on bigger worlds, increasing the max iterations gives you more smooth but does bring it's own artifacts.

This is mainly why on national tracks I do the whole thing in L3DT.

* this is purely an educated guess. I've never looked in to it.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: philiaN on May 09, 2016, 02:02:30 PM
Yeah, i think my biggest problem is that my base heightmap is a 8bit png - so i will start (again) from the beginning and will save as a 16bit png with gimp 2.9
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Mace-x on May 09, 2016, 03:02:39 PM
Fats, i have a issue with l3dt.
if i import my heightmap.raw it doesnt read it right, when i convert it to .png i can import it and work on it but it´s stepped like this.
(http://www.bundysoft.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?w=350&media=tutorials:terrain:step_artefacts:3dview_sec1_8bit.png)

Any tips?
to export it is fine, works great.
i´m digging the terramodeling tools, if it had a better viewport performance would be a great program.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on May 09, 2016, 03:15:21 PM
The stepping issue is what I was talking about in my last post.

What happens when you import your heightmap.raw? Should work OK, what settings to you enter when you import it? What goes wrong?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Mace-x on May 09, 2016, 04:12:01 PM
When i import it asks me the settings, wich i dont have a clue wich they are  ;D
the image looks black and white but not as it should, just 100% black and 100% white and in round patterns, werid...

Sorry about not reading the last post, didnt knew it was that exact issue you where talking about, then i should soften the track in l3dt i guess  ;)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on May 09, 2016, 04:16:21 PM
Sounds like you're importing it with no min / max altitude. Try doing horizontal scale = 1, then min 0 and max 10.

You can then make it 0 and 5 if it's too tall, or 0 and 20 if it's too flat. Just experiment and try and get it as close as you think it looks in mxb. Remember that L3DT doesn't determine the height of it in MXB, so get it as close as possible to work on.

You can get it bang on with MXB scale. Just import something as horizontal scale 1 then go to Operations > Heightfield > Resize Heightfield and put in your MXB horizontal scale. Then go Operations > Heightfield > Change Vertical Range and use 0 for first and whatever your map vertical scale is in MXB.

The problem doing this though, is it doesn't give you much size to work with in L3DT.. Give it a try and you'll see what I mean :)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Mace-x on May 09, 2016, 04:24:02 PM
yeah, i actually setted the vertical and horizontal height.

Horizontal is 0.8 (800m) and vertical is 22 in mxb, but i did 44 in l3dt in order to see the features better, if raw is stepped aswell then i can keep using my png import, there would be no difference, i´ll try the "Heightmap Smooth" and see if that helps  :)

Thanks for the help fats!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: MUD on May 10, 2016, 04:20:32 AM
Quote from: Mace-x on May 09, 2016, 03:02:39 PM
Fats, i have a issue with l3dt.
if i import my heightmap.raw it doesnt read it right, when i convert it to .png i can import it and work on it but it´s stepped like this.
(http://www.bundysoft.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?w=350&media=tutorials:terrain:step_artefacts:3dview_sec1_8bit.png)

Any tips?
to export it is fine, works great.
i´m digging the terramodeling tools, if it had a better viewport performance would be a great program.

I looked at the L3DT forums and found this
http://www.bundysoft.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=793 (http://www.bundysoft.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=793)

and this
http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:formats:specs:raw#mode (http://www.bundysoft.com/docs/doku.php?id=l3dt:formats:specs:raw#mode)


It says "In the Export Wizard you should press options, and set it to RAW and 16-bit unsigned (full range)"


I've never used the program though, so I can't be of much help.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Mace-x on May 10, 2016, 04:25:07 AM
That´s nice of you, thanks a lot mate!  :)
Will start working on a enduro track i was working on, will try that import settings!  ;D
What fats mentioned about the heightmap smoothing worked pretty good tho, had to fix some stuff here and there but nothing huge, thanks! 
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on June 18, 2016, 10:51:53 PM
bump..too good to let go to the next page :)




Next vid - one simple block exported into mapview, ftw.     ;)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on June 19, 2016, 11:45:38 AM
Thanks for the reminder ;D

Maybe this topic could be stickied? Will look at adding more soon.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Snappe on June 20, 2016, 06:50:10 PM
Quote from: TheFatController on June 19, 2016, 11:45:38 AM
Maybe this topic could be stickied?

Done! Should have been stickied ages ago  :-[
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on June 20, 2016, 10:53:16 PM
Thx Snappe!!   This is a GREAT tutorial!




PhilliaN's text guide is also a major help to us newbs!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on June 20, 2016, 10:53:51 PM
Yes, thanks Snappe :)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on June 20, 2016, 10:59:00 PM
L3DT question:

Is it possible to edit heightmap with 3d tools and see my texture/track overlay or am I forced to edit on the green surface?
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on June 20, 2016, 11:01:24 PM
Sure, just go to file - import texture map (or something like that) then when your editing your track go to view - textured ;)
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on June 20, 2016, 11:56:10 PM
Thx!!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on October 20, 2016, 07:09:53 PM
Would you or anyone add a video or a text guide to the next step in your tutorials?.. I hope to add content to mxb but somewhere I seem to be skipping a step to get objects to show up in mapview.

Video or text guide

just make 1 single no texture box type object and view it in mapview on a flat heightmap.. and I am good to go from there! ahhhh (im going crazy)

Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on October 20, 2016, 07:44:59 PM
Well... to my  :o I got an object to work in-game, finally!

New Issue To Solve (then I can finally make content)

The single box I made, finally showed up. It showed up along with the entire terrain as an object (which I see now, I should "hide" the terrain before export)

The terrain and box were out of scale in mapview?

-I exported the heightmap with the same scale as hmf/tht
-Imported mesh in meters

What could be off?


I'm so close to making this work!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on October 20, 2016, 08:30:20 PM
I'm using L3DT & Sketchup


I have finally got the object to show.. but scale is off. (when i export the entire terrain as scenery, the terrain as an object is smaller than the textured version in mapview but on the correct axis)

I'll try again sometime soon and slowly make sure all my scales are matching but I am sure I did the first time.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on October 20, 2016, 09:47:11 PM
Ok, I may try blender at some point.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on October 21, 2016, 05:50:07 PM
I moved the terrain, it's lined up.  It has something to do with scale bc its smaller than the map in mapview
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on October 21, 2016, 06:48:00 PM
It's well worth learning blender, once you know it, it's so much easier and quicker.. But learning it does take some time!

For SU like geo says, you can get things scaled by placing objects. I used to import my heightmap mesh, scale it up (guess) 200%, make sure the origin is correct and place a block on the opposite corner. The block will show up somewhere in mapview, so scale your heightmap mesh so the block is roughly in the same spot as it was in mapview, then move the block back to the corner it was in..

You do it a few times, by the end you're making adjustments like scaling the heightmap mesh by 0.05 to get it just right.

A real pain in the arse.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on October 22, 2016, 03:55:16 AM
Sounds like a pain but that's good news really! I was thinking it was something I was missing somewhere before pulling it into SU. Thanks for the info!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on January 25, 2017, 09:07:09 PM
Fats,

Thank you for the tutorials. I was able to extract geo data into sketchup and worked it into L3DT.. which u have seen in my pics of track (Springville, Al)..

Issue:
From sketchup, What exactly do we export the file as? I finally got it imported into L3DT but the elevation changes were stacked like mincraft (not smooth)... as a easy fix I just used the "smooth" tool but obviously I'm just exporting or importing incorrectly..
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on January 25, 2017, 09:56:35 PM
Awesome that you're getting properly into it! I keep meaning to look at other ways but this one will do for now lol..

The problem being that SU won't export a 16bit image I think. You're basically loosing half the image data. I import the image into l3dt and run the smooth gradient or just smooth it all by hand. You're only going to loose inches in detail at best, then you can start on the track.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on January 26, 2017, 12:44:10 AM
Quote from: TFC on January 25, 2017, 09:56:35 PM
Awesome that you're getting properly into it! I keep meaning to look at other ways but this one will do for now lol..

The problem being that SU won't export a 16bit image I think. You're basically loosing half the image data. I import the image into l3dt and run the smooth gradient or just smooth it all by hand. You're only going to loose inches in detail at best, then you can start on the track.

Ok, that's exactly what I did.. thx!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on July 03, 2017, 07:48:17 PM
Would you consider another one of your very simple vids.. ?

1)Import mesh into blender
2)make a tuff block or something easy
3)add a simple texture
4)Import into mapview
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on July 03, 2017, 08:02:41 PM
I will think about it.. Problem is covering something very simple in Blender is like opening a can of worms. Yes it's 100% accurate with importing 3d meshes of your heightmap to scale and there's no messing about with guessing, but the process is more long winded, involves l3dt, blender, paint program, blender measurement system, uv unwrapping, basic blender 3d manipulation, navigation.. the list goes on!
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: BadStar on July 03, 2017, 08:19:30 PM
GOOD LORDIE... I was about to ask some blender questions but not sure i want too



when I import my mesh.obj into blender the heightmap/mesh is standing vertical and attached to the center of the grid plane, how to adjust?.  but now I not sure I feel like the headache. hahah
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: ABlueCow25 on September 06, 2018, 01:36:25 AM
this is probably a extremely stupid question, but in the first tutorial when you are rotating the jump straight up. How do you rotate it straight up? i keep just rotating a section of the jump not putting it up right.   
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Crucify on January 23, 2020, 02:07:44 AM
OLD MCM track creator here, I just stumbled across this Sim a few days ago.
Outstanding job from what I can tell so far. Who is the actual team or person that brought MX-Bikes to life?
I see we can still use our old height maps from MCM, that's nice. I'll have to dig through my mess and find my old tracks.

Do any of you use TS or Voice of any kind? I'm sure I'm going to drive someone nuts with questions.
I haven't had a chance to over the docs yet, wondering, can we apply material maps over the height map for such things as traction and different substrate?

Thanks,
Crucify
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Ruubs on January 23, 2020, 03:05:53 PM
Quote from: Crucify on January 23, 2020, 02:07:44 AMOLD MCM track creator here, I just stumbled across this Sim a few days ago.
Outstanding job from what I can tell so far. Who is the actual team or person that brought MX-Bikes to life?
I see we can still use our old height maps from MCM, that's nice. I'll have to dig through my mess and find my old tracks.

Do any of you use TS or Voice of any kind? I'm sure I'm going to drive someone nuts with questions.
I haven't had a chance to over the docs yet, wondering, can we apply material maps over the height map for such things as traction and different substrate?

Thanks,
Crucify
Good to see other old MCM modders joining the community!

Piboso and Snappe is the team that brought Mx Bikes to live. The rest of us simply like modding!

We've got a Discord channel which is way more active than the forums. Feel free to ask all your questions in there, and if needed PM some of the modders you think might be able to help you out.

Yes we can apply different material maps over the heightmap. There's a couple of different types of soil:
Soil
Soft soil
Compact soil
Sand
Grass
And I think a few others but I'm not quite sure what their exact name is. The ones above are the most used ones though.
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: 𝖙𝖋𝖈 on January 23, 2020, 06:50:01 PM
Quote from: Crucify on January 23, 2020, 02:07:44 AMOLD MCM track creator here, I just stumbled across this Sim a few days ago.
Outstanding job from what I can tell so far. Who is the actual team or person that brought MX-Bikes to life?
I see we can still use our old height maps from MCM, that's nice. I'll have to dig through my mess and find my old tracks.

Do any of you use TS or Voice of any kind? I'm sure I'm going to drive someone nuts with questions.
I haven't had a chance to over the docs yet, wondering, can we apply material maps over the height map for such things as traction and different substrate?

Thanks,
Crucify

Very cool mate, I'm also an old MCM2 track maker. There are a few here, Showtime just arrived too 👍
Title: Re: TFC's Track Creation Tutorials
Post by: Crucify on January 24, 2020, 02:40:12 AM
Awesome stuff, thanks guys. Now time to get to work. I really enjoy making tracks, this brings back so many memories.

Showtime? Wow that jars the old memory bank. I think his MCM name was something like UFO_Showtime.
I also noticed an old team mate on here. AMA_King