Willing to pay anyone willing to teach parts replication

Discussion in 'Content Creation' started by dadaraada, Jul 6, 2022.

  1. dadaraada

    dadaraada
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    Hello folks.

    I am having issues replicating the number of axles on a truck/trailer.

    In general the same part can be replicated/duplicated (trailer with 2 axles to 4).

    I am a little lost in the process and would like to talk to anyone willing to teach (with result as expected).
    Monetary reward involved.
     
  2. Agent_Y

    Agent_Y
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    Generally when it comes to duplicating axles you need to do the following:
    1. Either duplicate the 3D models of the parts you need in Blender, move them to the proper place and apply all transforms, make sure to not change the materials but make sure to rename your axle mesh (this method is useful if you want to modify these models) or in the Jbeam you can use the nodeMove modifier on the slot (if you don't want to modify the model, it's faster).
    2. In Jbeam the first thing you need is making a slot for the second axle. You have to locate where the first axle slot is, it will look something like this: ["trailer_axle","trailer_axle", "Axle"], You have to modify it to include the second axle next to it. If you are using a modified model, just copy and paste this slot and edit with changed names, for example: ["trailer_axle_2","trailer_axle_2", "Second Axle"], If you are not modifying the model, you can use the nodeMove modifier to move a copy of the original axle to another place here: ["trailer_axle_2","trailer_axle_2", "Second Axle", {"nodeMove": {"x":0, "y":-0.4, "z":0}}], the number after y is the offset in meters you want to make for the new axle.
    3. The second thing to do is making an edited copy of the original axle. Find the Jbeam file of the axle and work on a copy of it. You have to rename the names and slot to what you set earlier. The axle will have its own slots that you also need to rename. Do not change the order of the slots. If a slot has a nodeOffset modifier and you aren't using nodeMove, then you have to add the offset of your axle to the offset specified in nodeMove (this will set the position of the wheels and other similar parts). If you have edited models in Blender, rename flexbodies accordingly to how you renamed your own ones. You need to rename all the groups and nodes to have original names, and in the following sections rename the references to these nodes accordingly. If any nodes that aren't part of the axle are referenced, you need to find where these nodes are on the body relative to the original axle and change them to the nodes that are in the same position relative to your own one. Additionally, if you are working on a modified model without nodeMove, you also need to manually move all of the nodes to fit the position of the new axle.
    4. Before adding any individual components of the axle, you have to double check if there are any references to the nodes of original axle in the body Jbeam. If there are, then you need to copy+paste them to your new axle Jbeam and change so they refer to the new axle and the positions of the nodes attaching to the axle are the same relative to the new one as to the old one (this is to keep the geometry the same, which is a key factor in suspension).
    5. Adding individual components is mostly the same process as adding the main axle. You only need to be REALLY careful with the spindles (they will be called wheeldata). If you miss even the smallest detail there, there can be disastrous consequences. All the references to nodes, groups, wheels, etc. need to be renamed properly. Be also careful with the springs and shocks, rename nodes properly to avoid bad geometry. Brakes will be almost unchanged for the most part, not much to rename there. Remember that if you are working on an edited model instead of using nodeMove, you have to move all the nodes manually.
    6. I assume the trailer uses custom wheels and tires, make sure to also copy+paste and edit these. Here you don't have to edit positions of anything since it's done by the nodeOffset you edited earlier.
    7. Some extra tips: If your 2 axles are on a bogie, you can make second bogie instead of extending the existing one, that will be much easier. If something explodes, causes instability or behaves weird, you need to double check if you renamed everything properly, sometimes starting over is faster than locating and fixing the error. If you have texture issues, check the materials of the parts you edited. Always check the console, if there are any more errors than the trailer had originally then fix them immidiately because suspension is really sensitive to problems like this. You don't have to restart game after every change you make, as long as the mod you are working on is unpacked, you can reload it with ctrl+r and the changes will take place in real time. If you have too many mods while working on this, the game can be slow and unresponsive at times because it has too much to process, better disable most of your mods prior. To move nodes easier you can search for some automated tools on the forums, but they can be very sensitive to the syntax, you will have to make sure it's identical to the one in vanilla cars, counting even all the commas and spaces. If something else goes wrong, you can send a screenshot of the problem along with the Jbeam and someone will definitely help.
     
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  3. dadaraada

    dadaraada
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    Ok so here are my files.

    Granbird_axle_R2.jbeam is the new axle and is a copy of Granbird_axle_R.jbeam

    This is the main Granbird (a bus) jbeam with slots edited as per your instruction.

    If you don't mind can you take a look at why my bus explodes on launch please.

    Things I did to granbird_axle_r2.jbeam:
    1. renamed all meshes similar to granbird_axle_R (original) with a 2 prefix
    2. added a 2 to adding in anything similar to original names in original file mentioned above
    3. renamed all nodes so nodes dont match that of first original file with different prefixes (ax404 from first file would be zd404 in second file ). Although I dont see how this helps as it doesnt change the physical coordinate.


    Pulling my head hair after spending 2 hours + on this.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Agent_Y

    Agent_Y
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    From what I see in these files you didn't actually rename anything at all other than the meshes. Please actually send the most up to date files with everything renamed properly. Also no offense but 2 hours is very little time for something like this.
     
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  5. dadaraada

    dadaraada
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    Oh shoot sorry sent the wrong file not the fully edited version. Yeah this isn't what I intended to show.
    SO this attached is a copy of the original rear axle on a bus named Granbird.

    Please compared granbird_axle_R from post above and let me know your thoughts. You don't have to do a in-depth research I can do that don't wanna waste your time but anything that sticks out right at the get go ?
     

    Attached Files:

    #5 dadaraada, Jul 9, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2022
  6. Agent_Y

    Agent_Y
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    You didn't rename anything with the wheels, I pointed out that it's really important in the spindles section, but the problem is in the main section too. If you are using some tool to rename automatically then I would really advise against it, for wheels you need to be really careful and do it manually. You also have to change the points where the new axle attaches to the frame, that also you need to do carefully by comparing the original node positions to new ones relative to the axles. And something I forgot about is the powertrain, you will have to remake it from scratch afterwards since simple copy+paste and editing won't work here.
     
  7. dadaraada

    dadaraada
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    In the default Gravil T-series semi we have two different axles for the rear. Each rear axle is named differently. I was going to use that as a template to understand copying axles.

    Only thing is I couldn't find the .jbeam for the axles themselves.

    Please let me know where you find jbeams for the default gavril t-series axles (comes default with game).

    I think if I can see the stated i can understand replication easily.
     
  8. Agent_Y

    Agent_Y
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    C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\BeamNG.drive\content\vehicles\semi\semi_suspension_R.jbeam
     
  9. dadaraada

    dadaraada
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    Thanks.

    QQ. If your nodes are not new for a new axle and it matches the nodes of whatever you copied will the vehicle blow up or not load. How important is it to have new nodes.

    I'd like to do as minimal work as possible to at least know I can get my new axle in the game by editing as minimal content as possible. Making new nodes programmatically or via BNodeEditor is an issue.

    So basically to me it looks like except the parts that exist and are always single (single frame, single driveshaft as in real life), everything has to be renamed. Wheel hubs, rims, tires, breakgroups, flex, mesh, et cetera.
     
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