A blond moment with wheels

[dkightley]

Now I've cracked the polys problem, the translucency problem, and several texturing canundrums, I have one silly little problem left.......I can't get my tram to stay on the rails going round corners - it cuts the corner!

I've tried the wizard with 2/2 and 4/0 wheel configurations, manual setting of single & dual bogies, setting the wheels as WHEELS11/12, WHEELS11/21, with and without BOGIEn....but whatever I do, the tram still tracks with the very front & very back following the rails, and the wheels either running off the rail line, or going bazerk.

I'm doing something very basically wrong...but can't for the life of me see what!


Doug

[harveype]

The

Hierachey should look as follows

Main
--- Bogie01 (in Main)
----------Wheels11 (in Bogie01)
----------Wheels12 (in Bogie01)
--- Bogie02 (in Main)
----------Wheels21 (in Bogie02)
----------Wheels22 (in Bogie02)

Make sure the Z axis points forward and the Y axis points up.

Peter

[decapod]

If it's the glasgow tram:

Main
--- Bogie01 (in Main) axis x and z values should be 0 relative to main
----------Wheels11 (in Bogie01)
----------Wheels12 (in Bogie01)

Should be all you need.

[dkightley]

DUH!

I should have mentioned that it was indeed the Glasgow four wheel tram. If it was a twin bogie tram, then the hierarchy you have suggested Peter would have worked first time....as 3DC copes nicely with it.

Paul's hit on exactly what I've forgotton to do!

I had tried that set-up.......but I forgot to ensure the x and y values were zero.....which I presume stops the "bogie" turning and the wheels sliding about.

Many thanks, gentlemen....

[decapod]

MSTS automatically animates bogies around the Y axis for cornering. If your X and Z values are not in the middle of the model you'll see some very odd effects

There are also quite a few models that leave out the bogie group altogether.

[dkightley]

......you'll see some very odd effects

I did notice! One of the best I had during my fiddles last night was an ejector seat effect......move the tram and things seem to explode - view 2 suddenly shot from the camera being just above ground level to around 1000ft altitude! A derailment!!!

[dkightley]

I seem to have uncovered something strange here.......I'm not sure what....but things are not working as they should!

Using:
Main
--- Bogie1 object (in Main) axis x and z values at 0 relative to main
----------Wheels11 (in Bogie1)
----------Wheels12 (in Bogie1)

The wheels follow the track.....but the single bogie (complete with wheels) turns..and the tram body follows the curve.

Remove the object to leave:
Main
--- Bogie1 group (no object) (in Main)
----------Wheels11 (in Bogie1)
----------Wheels12 (in Bogie1)

The tram follows the track as if the wheels were at the extreme ends of the body, and the wheels run off inside the curve.

I'm going to try with a brand new "engine" and try a few things...as I have a feeling I might have uncovered a bug!

[dkightley]

Very, very strange......

Whatever I try, I cannot get ANY 4 or 6 wheel bogie-less electric engine to run round corners with its wheels on the tracks! Well at least none that are longer than the wheelbase.

I've even created a 6-wheel loco using Decapod's Engineer plug-in...and defined it as electric and extended the overall length....and it runs off the rails.

I'm running Canvas 7.0.2. Does anyone else have an earlier version to try a quick test:

1) Create a 6-wheel loco
2) Extend the length to about double the existing length
3) Export to MSTS & run
4) See what happens on TIGHT curves (25m radius!)

[dkightley]

It seems I've really had a blond moment......

The problem I'm having has a deceptively simple cure - reduce the bounding box down to be the same as the wheelbase...and hey presto, the wheels don't leave the track!

So it's not a 3DC bug....its a feature!!! But a feature that can be got around! Many thanks to Chris Lindrop for enlightening me....


Doug