Are we all under the assumption that in order to create a Jbeam file, the devs and mods simply stare at a 3D model in Blender or 3ds Max and open Notepad++ and start randomly writing code a line at a time? I don't think so. The model has to be in an environment where it can be measured... How else would you know at what X,Y,Z points to place center of the wheels? What X,Y,Z point to place the bottom node for the A-pillar? What are the angles from the bottom of the A-pillar to the roof? There has to be a "home" coordinate for all the X,Y,Z's to originate from, where is it? The origin under the vehicle in Blender?? How do you measure from that point to the points on the vehicle to get the measurements? I was a CNC Programmer/Machinist for 8 years. I've stared at lines of 3,4, and 5 axis code in Notepad for hours and hours. I understand what these files do. They define everything about the vehicle within the 3 dimensional space of the game. But... Please, someone that actually knows: What program do you have the 3d model open in to measure and analyze the vehicle to create the jbeam files?
blender with the mesh centered, as blender will give you exact coordinates of vehicle parts (and beamng doesn't change anything in that, so all coordinates are the same in-game as they are in blender)
sure, just tab into the vertex mode for the part you want, then press the "N" key to get a new menu that includes the coordinates, right click on the vertex you want, and it should show up where i circled: a more experienced user could give more info though
also control-R reloads the entire JBeam, so if you are just guessing and your guess is off, simply tweak and hit control-R to see the change in game
This much I knew, thanks. I used that to change the wheelbase several times. Yes, thank you. I will try that. That should work perfect for raising jbeam rooflines and wheelbases.
Does anyone know how to create the support beams properly? That is what's killing me. I can create an outer jbeam but the diagonals and A-pillar and support beams is just brutal. How do I know what connections are the best? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think I understand it, is there a central node that all/most parts of the whole jbeam connect to? At least for the body? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Generally when I start a fresh jbeam (only a few so far), I basically make a low resolution "collision" model over the top of the 3d model, so all of the points are exactly correct with the model (this part I do in Setchup). Essentially, every vert is where a node will be placed. I export this low resolution model to blender, remove doubled vertices and delete all the faces and edges. Using the jbeam export script for blender, the vertices are converted to nodes. Open the jbeam with the vehicle editor, add some beams and bam! one jbeam - - - Updated - - - You don't have to have a central node at 0,0,0 but I like to use one for the camera rotation and whatever else it may come in handy for. I then join it with about 8 or so beams to the surrounding chassis.
I've been looking for this for months! Can you post a link to that script? Also how do you create a low resolution collision mesh in blender? This is just what I needed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Here is the node export script. I think it's best that you delete the edges and faces, so only nodes export, and then you can add beams in the vehicle editor of your choice. As for making the model, just place verts and connect them over your existing model. You just have to make a "low poly" version of your model (for a car bodyshell, a bit over 110 vertices (nodes) is quite fine)
logoster posted the same info except with much greater detail, thanks... Thank you so much for this!! As already posted, here is the link to the Jbeam Export Script thread: Blender-Script-to-Export-Nodes-and-Beams and here is the link to the Real Time Vehicle Editor thread: Real-Time-Vehicle-Editor-Alpha-12
Yes, the center of the grid in your modeling program is 0,0,0 in world space. Maya has the same trick as Blender: the 3d cursor thing, except it's called a Locator in Maya... Basically it's ... well.. a 3d cursor really... It's a big + in 3d, you can snap it to vertices on your model, and it'll read out the coordinates of where your Locator is positioned in world space. Except for one thing: Normally in Maya, +Y = up, +Z = forwards. In BeamNG, +Z = up, +Y = backwards... So you have to change some settings to make Maya have the same coordinate system as BeamNG. On top of that, Maya measures in... erm.. I think centimeters when you first open it, and you have to change it to meters or something... I can't be bothered to math, but before I changed the settings, I had to scale it by 100 or 1000 or something when I exported to BeamNG.
I've never used Maya, I'm using Blender. I know how to scale the model, but scale in Blender is based on the current dimensions of the model. Is there no way to create a plane or line and make it 6ft. long by 2ft. wide?
