Pictures in Conbuilder

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 9:17 am

A "heads up" for those who don't go there and to proove I just don't go there for a verbal scrap......

some really useful posts on pictures in conbuilder. No big deal if you already knew aboit this but it was news to me.

http://forums.flightsim.com/ts/dcboard. ... pic_page=1

http://forums.flightsim.com/ts/dcboard. ... pic_page=1

http://forums.flightsim.com/ts/dcboard. ... 5570&page=

Mr Wu's solution also explains a problem I never got to the bottom of. It was taken care of when my box died and I had to start again

ianmacmillan · Post by **ianmacmillan** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:30 am

A couple of things worth mentioning.

If you go to your Trainset folder and set it to display thumbnails with the View menu, it will display the picture on the item's folder.

Very useful for finding things.

Secondly, you do not need to use the large jpg that ShapViewer creates.
You can trim it down to 200 pixels in you picture editor.
This will save about 60K.
I find a little bit of sharpening helps as does increasing the gamma (Shift-G in PSP)

OTTODAD · Post by **OTTODAD** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:19 pm

What is most useful about creating images with the ConBuilder's 3D function is that it can provide uniform pictures of rolling stock which can be viewed at the same as time as assembling and later viewing of consists.

I am at the moment trying to tempt one of our capable VB programmers into creating a simple program which can be used to COPY downloaded Jpeg libraries rolling stock images like my 1028 images one into TRAINSET folders:

http://forums.flightsim.com/ts/dcboard. ... 5690&page=

Any takers ?

O t t o

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:42 pm

It would be a great help if a simple spec was set up and modellers encouraged to include these images (to that spec - so they were all the same) in their uploads?

I KNOW they already gave us their time creativity and effort for free and it might sound like a cheek asking them to do it but whereas I'm happy to play around with this sort of thing some users will be wary of playing around with files. Compared to the rest of the task of modeling I'd have thought this was simple?

It's the only thing that puts me off conbuilder, not having these little thumbnails, as using it is so much easier than messing around with AE.

I'll play around with your suggestions guys....... if I'm allowed time off from house renovations

Geoff

ianmacmillan · Post by **ianmacmillan** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:29 pm

I alway put a thumbnail in my uploads but It is usually a 3/4 view as I use it to find the folder when I am making it.

I also uploaded thumnails for the CD routes but stopped when the facility was made available in Conbuilder and people could make there own.

These will display in Conbuilder and are 200pixel size.

Invalid File ID [7347]

Invalid File ID [7507]

Invalid File ID [9804]

This one will display in Conbuilder but they are cropped 1024 size and will waste a lot of disk space.

Invalid File ID [6956]

These do not display in Conbuilder. They will be removed before the end of the month.
If you want them, be quick.

Invalid File ID [8955]

Invalid File ID [7341]

OTTODAD · Post by **OTTODAD** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:36 pm

ianmacmillan wrote:These will display in Conbuilder and are 200pixel size.

Supplying the Jpegs this way still means that they have to be copied one by one into their respective TRAINSET folders, their names having to be the same as the shape files they are associated with, not always obvious looking at TRAINSET folder names.

The ConBuilder 3D function using the Shape Viewer automates this process.

O t t o

ianmacmillan · Post by **ianmacmillan** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:12 pm

The downloads for the first 4 in the list have the same name as the .wag or .eng files and are in the correctly named folders.
You just need to drop them into your trainset folder.
Conbuilder uses the .wag or .eng to name them, not the shape file.

The last 2 downloads are not correctly named. Thats why I'll be withdrawing them.

OTTODAD · Post by **OTTODAD** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 2:15 am

ianmacmillan wrote:Conbuilder uses the .wag or .eng to name them, not the shape file.

Correct. But I have a number of locos which use a WagonShape ( .......s ) shape file name which is different to that of the loco's .eng file. It is the shape file the ConBuilder uses to be loaded into the SHAPE VIEWER, but uses the .eng / .wag file name for the resulting Jpeg.

In any case, Mike Simpson is on the scent:
http://forums.flightsim.com/ts/dcboard. ... 5690&page=
and knowing him as well as I do think that his creative juices will start flowing soon.

He is like me, give me a good idea and I am off in overdrive !

O t t o

mikesimpson · Post by **mikesimpson** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 3:28 am

OK, I have already responded to Otto on train-sim.com, and have uploaded v6.3.45 of RR to http://members.optusnet.com.au/virtualtrains

New options are:-
11. New option on 'List Filtered Files' of 'Delete Selected Files' this allows you to
enter for instance *.bk;*.bak in the filter box. Select a route or 'Train Simulator'
Click the List all Filtered files, this will bring up a list of all backup files, Select All
and click Delete Selected files to remove them all at once. You can of course use this
to delete any type of selected files, best you do not try with *.eng

12. New option to produce 'Thumbnail' pictures of each .s file in your Trainset folder.
Double-click on Trainset, click the 'S' button on the top line, Click List all filtered
files. Then from the list of filtered files, click select all and click 'Make Thumbnails
of .S files' This will place a small .jpg file in each rolling stock folder with the same
name as the .s file, providing there is not one there already. If the .s file has the
same name as the rolling stock item, e.g. Scotsman.s will have a picture Scotsman.jpg
then these can be used in Conbuilder to display the consist as it is built.

Note: Where the .s file has a different name to the .eng or .wag file, then it must be
renamed to work in Conbuilder. Furthermore there are some locomotives which are built from
more than one .s file e.g. Garratts and BigBoys, these will not display correctly.

2nd Note: This option required me to make a new version of the SViewRR.exe named SViewRR4.exe which must also be placed in the RR folder, DO NOT DELETE SViewRR.exe they are different.

Mike.

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:16 am

By Heck Mike!!!!

Do you ever sleep????

You upgrade your software faster than I get a chance to read the manual!!

Geoff

tinsley · Post by **tinsley** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:25 am

Mike Simpson is ,in my eyes, the most important contributor to MSTS.
What he has created has definitely made me stick with it by making problem solving so much easier... I would have given up a long time ago..
Many thanks..

OTTODAD · Post by **OTTODAD** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 1:22 pm

mikesimpson wrote:Note: Where the .s file has a different name to the .eng or .wag file, then it must be renamed to work in Conbuilder.

This is one of the worst examples of not matching all of one rolling stock item's names so that they are the same. There is a good reason for it but does not help Mike's new function:

In these cases the ConBuilder/Shape Viewer 3D function can be used to create the missing images.

Furthermore there are some locomotives which are built from
more than one .s file e.g. Garratts and BigBoys, these will not display correctly.

but are placed in their correct display order when creating or viewing consists.

As an old MS-DOS programmer who did not bother to advance to programming in Windows I must take my hat off to another old programmer who did, but also can not resist a worthwhile challenge !

Thanks Mike, you have undoubtedly made the day of many who are struggling trying to create images for all their hundreds of rolling stock items.
There is a Donate button on the Route Riter opening window. All grateful Route Riter users are invited to buy him a few !!!! :drinking:

Enjoy your weekend, Summer is on the way !

CHEERS, O t t o.

Post by **codrivermike** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 6:24 pm

I've installed the latest version of Route Riter and followed the instructions given by Mike. However, when I then click "make thumbnails" a box opens asking which file name, which file type and which folder to save to.
What folder do I select. After all, the jpg's will be going into hundreds of different folders won't they. Also there are no options in the file type to choose from.

I'm confused

OTTODAD · Post by **OTTODAD** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 11:15 pm

codrivermike wrote:However, when I then click "make thumbnails" a box opens asking which file name, which file type and which folder to save to. What folder do I select.

Ignore that window and just click on Open.

Mike is aware of this and there might be another update for other reasons ?

O t t o

mikesimpson · Post by **mikesimpson** » Sat Nov 12, 2005 11:34 pm

codrivermike wrote:I've installed the latest version of Route Riter and followed the instructions given by Mike. However, when I then click "make thumbnails" a box opens asking which file name, which file type and which folder to save to.
What folder do I select. After all, the jpg's will be going into hundreds of different folders won't they. Also there are no options in the file type to choose from.

I'm confused

Sorry about that, my brain was out of gear. What happens is that the .jpgs are first written using the name PIXnnn.jpg to any temporary folder, then written with the correct name to their correct place, then the PIX file is deleted.

Therefore you can use any folder you like as a temporary repository for these .jpg files as they are deleted after copying.

However, I notice that if a .jpg is already there, then it is not overwritten and the PIX file remains. Also have had a couple of people who could not get this option to work, probably due to the version of trainlib.ocx I compiled Route-Riter with, so give me a couple of days and I will sort things out a bit better.

Sorry about that

Mike.