| The Train Simulator Wizard automatically animates the drive wheels and the link
between the drive wheels. Pistons and rods need to be animated
manually due to the complexity and variety of piston and rod
configurations.
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| In order to reduce the amount of animation required, left and
right side equivalent rods must be merged into a single unit. Note
that the imported Scotsman model already has the left and right rods
and pistons merged. Once you have merged left and right rods you
will need to set the axis point locations for the rods. This can be done
using the Shift tool. Select the Shift tool and
ctrl-drag to move the axis location while retaining the position of
the rods.
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| Run the Train Simulator Wizard.
Click the Next button until the attributes are displayed. Enter
the number of rods the model uses. Note that this is the number of
rods per side.
Click the Next button. |
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| The wizard will ask you to identify the rods and pistons. It is
critical that this step be completed since Train Simulator will not
animate items that have not been properly identified. |
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| The animation process is relatively straight forward. For each key-frame in the animation re-orient the rods and pistons so they match
the animation of the drive wheels and the link between the drive
wheels. |
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| Though this is relatively straight forward, this can be time
consuming. And, it is critical that you understand how the rods should
move before attempting to animate them. |
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| A completed Scotsman with rod animation. |
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