Vehicle Library

Vehicle library objects are merged into the current scene directly from static mesh objects derived from existing 3ds Max (. max) files.

Upon placement into the scene, Civil View applies a randomly selected body color to each vehicle, creating the illusion from a distance of different vehicle types. Additionally, an exclusion zone setting can help make sure that any two vehicles from the same OPS element are never placed in the same position.

The CivilViewVehicles material is automatically applied to all vehicle objects, except when the object definition uses a 3ds Max (. max) file as its source and the object within that .max file already has a material assignment.  In this case, the Override Pre-Assigned Materials option on the Civil View Preferences panel Materials & Rendering panel dictates whether this pre-assigned material is retained or overwritten by the CivilViewVehicles material.

Object INI File Structure

Vehicle Object INI File

[Parameters] Length= Width= Height=   [Object] Source= Proxy= Preview=   [Group] Name=

[Parameters]

Length

Specifies an "exclusion zone" around the vehicle. This ensures that other vehicles are not placed in or near the same position.

The Length value effectively specifies the length of asphalt that the vehicle has claimed on the road. No other vehicles from the same OPS element will be placed within this area.

Width / Height

Height and Width parameters for vehicle library objects currently have no effect.

All vehicle dimension values should be positive.

[Object]

Source

Specifies the external 3ds Max file from which the vehicle object is derived.

This .max file must exist within the /objlibs/vehicles directory within any current Civil View resource kit.

This entry does not need to include the ".max" file name extension.

Proxy

Not currently used.

Preview

Specifies the thumbnail image used in the Object Placement Style Editor to provide a preview of the geometry associated with this Object Definition file. If this entry is blank or the file cannot be found, a blank thumbnail will be displayed.

This thumbnail image file must exist within the /objlibs/previews directory within any current Civil View resource kit.

[Group]

Name

The name of the category sub-group in which this object should be listed. If no name is specified, the object will be listed as ungrouped.

Adding Custom Vehicles to the Library

To add a vehicle to the library, add a .max file that contains your own vehicle object to the /objlibs/vehicles folder within the Civil View resource kit you want to use. Then create an associated INI text file, in the format described above. and place it in the same folder. Multiple INI files can reference the same .max file.

Please also refer to the general instructions on object library customization in Object Library Overview.

Support for Rotating Wheels

Civil View features an option to automatically rotate the wheels of animated vehicles at a rate appropriate to the current speed of each vehicle at any given time. You can enable or disable this feature from the Civil View Preferences panel. You can also control rotating wheels from the Object Placement Style Editor and the Vehicle Substitution Manager panel.

Rotating wheels are generated only when the selected Vehicle Library object meets the following requirements:

• The vehicle geometry must be an Editable Poly.

  Rotating wheels are not supported for Editable Meshes.

• Wheel geometry is identified by its Material ID:
  • 14 for wheel geometry
  • 15 for tire geometry

  For more information, see Material: CivilViewVehicles.

• No other parts of the vehicle can use the reserved Material IDs (14 and 15).
• Where possible, the wheel and tire assemblies should each be a single poly element.

  Weld coincident vertices.

  Any poly elements that overlap on the Y or Z axis of the vehicle will be considered to be rotating on the same vehicle axle.

• You must turn on Rotate Animated Vehicle Wheels? on the Civil View Preferences panel General tab.