Blender for Trainz

        Table of Contents Introduction    Creating a    Trainz    Asset    Website    Format    Online    Blender    Tutorials    for    Beginners

Online Blender Tutorials for Beginners

There are many tutorials on the Internet and even books you can and will want to

use to expand your knowledge of Blender. The Blender Foundation is an

independent non-profit corporation dedicated to maintaining and developing

Blender. Blender’s new User's manual can be found under the Support tab. This is

an indispensable reference source that you will eventually want to become

familiar with.

In addition to text and video tutorials on the Blender Foundation website, a

search of the Internet will reveal an array of independent websites providing

forums, blogs, news and tutorial dedicated to Blender. A search of YouTube or

Vimeo will also reveal a plethora of video tutorials. But very few of these are

dedicated to using Blender to make Trainz assets. In some of theses tutorials

Blender will look different. That is because they were made before Blender

underwent a major change in its interface with version 2.50.

The following is a list of online courses, video tutorials and books that the

beginner may find helpful. This is not an exhaustive list but rather ones (except

where noted) that I have used and have some familiarity with.

Online Courses

Blender Basics – 4th Edition

by James Chronister (2011)

Blender 3D Design Course

By Neil Hirsig (2013)

Video Tutorials

Getting Started with Blender

by CG Cookie

Blender 3D for Beginners

by vscorpianc (2013)

Books

Blender For Dummies

by Jason Van Gumster (2011)

(not personally acquainted with)

An Introduction to Blender 3D – A Book for Beginners

By John M Blain (2011)

(Freely downloadable .pdf)

The Complete Guide to Blender Graphics 2nd Edition

by John M. Blain (2015)

(Not personally acquainted with but appears to be an update or

extension of the freely available An Introduction to

Blender 3D – A Book for Beginners)

Blender Foundations The Essential Guide to Learning Blender 2.6

by Roland Hess (2010)

(not personally acquainted with)

Learning Blender: A Hands-On Guide to Creating 3D

Animated Characters 1st Edition

By Olliver Villar (2014)

Blender 3D Basics

By Gordon C. Fisher (2012)

(not personally acquainted with)

I started with James Chronister’s Blender Basics, Classroom Tutorial Book because

it has a tutorial that builds as you go from chapter to chapter. Hands-on, I think,

is the best way of learning and having one project to work on keeps you focused.

Proceeding as far as the end of chapter 4 will give what you the basics of what

need to use Blender to make Trainz assets.

When I got a little ways into reading about Blender I found John Blain’s An

Introduction to Blender 3D, A Book for Beginners a clear introduction to follow.

Next, I focused on some of the features of Blender’s interface using Neal Hirsig’s

Blender 3D Design Course.

Blender Websites for Trainz

There are few sources of Blender tutorials specifically aimed a using Blender to

make Trainz assets.

Trainz/Tutorials for Blender WikiBook

This is an indispensable source of information for creating different

types of Trainz assets.

How To/Export from Blender

This site provides the Blender exporter file and Trainz importer file

and instruction on how to install them

44090 Digital Models

Paul Hobbs has recently ungraded his tutorials on using Blender to

make locomotive for Trainz to Blender version 2.49b with the

new interface.

N3V Games Content Creation website

This is a valuable website for “How to” information on a number

of topic specific to Trainz.

N3V Games Material Types

Material types specific for Trainz are described along with the

mandatory identifying suffixes.

 

Last updated: October 26, 2015