OO Structures & Scenery

[Jeff]

Usual rules apply... Have fun, vistisen!

[bizrools]

I have recently been playing around with some building silhouette's and even though they're a little coarse you may find them useful.
Here's the Superquick file.
Rgrds,
Steve =:^)

[bizrools]

...and also Metcalfe

[vistisen]

great! thanks for your hardwork . I have contacted Hornby and asked them to send me a list of dimensions for all the skaledale buildings, but I have not heard from them

[vistisen]

Drawn using dimensions from the Hornby 2011 Catalogue. The external dimensions are precisely defined using the measurements as published in the catalogue. I have attempted to produce ground plans from the photos, but the details are estimated!

[Jeff]

Hmmm.... I doubt if the internal details matter as much as the external looks. Pity there's no way to handle that at the moment, outside of getting a thumbnail and loading it into an outline of the building. An important part (I think) is indicating which side is the front. It keeps people from having to look up each building (probably every time they use it ).

[vistisen]

Hmmm.... I doubt if the internal details matter as much as the external looks. Pity there's no way to handle that at the moment, outside of getting a thumbnail and loading it into an outline of the building. An important part (I think) is indicating which side is the front. It keeps people from having to look up each building (probably every time they use it ).

That's a good idea, but how to do it? As far as I can see there is no way to group text and a line/surface, I was thinking of drawing a thicker double line to mark the front of a building but that does not seem to be possible either.
adding the text "Front" just beside the correct edge of the drawing, would indicate it in the collections here but would not be good when copying to designs as I expect at some point the text would get in the way of track.

[Jeff]

Perhaps just drawing a line parallel to the front edge would do it? Kinda like the lines under the numbers on the balls in the lottery drawing to let people know they're looking at a 9 and not a 6...

[bizrools]

In the interim, perhaps just drawing the item in a structured way i.e. the item is drawn with the top of the screen as the 'front'. Include a text element as part of this alignment. Now when the item is rotated to fit the model the text will make the alignment obvious.
Of course, if we can get a drawing tool to indicate the front (arrow ?) that would be great.....
Steve =:^)

[vistisen]

I've started on a second set, Here it is with just a few buildings (I'd rather get comments now then after having drawn loads of buildings 

[Jeff]

Comment? "They don't look like places I'd want to stay overnight"...

[RhB_HJ]

Hmmmm ... perhaps I'm too dim (as in don't understand what a silhouette is), but isn't the most distinctive feature of most structures, as viewed from above, the roof? There are a lot of flat roofs in modern architecture, but there must be more buildings that have gables, ridges etc. and  most of them have chimneys, don't they?

[vistisen]

Hmmmm ... perhaps I'm too dim (as in don't understand what a silhouette is), but isn't the most distinctive feature of most structures, as viewed from above, the roof? There are a lot of flat roofs in modern architecture, but there must be more buildings that have gables, ridges etc. and  most of them have chimneys, don't they?

Yes, as seen from above the roof is the most visible part of the building, but surely the ground plan is what you have to use to plan by. This is the bit that actually takes up space. Especially as quite a lot of Skaledale buildings have yards, gardens, or simply no roof, and I do want to be consistent. I'll have a rethink about how to do this. It would be a lot easier to draw these designs in a drawing programme (Which is not criticism of ANYRail which is a railway design product). David: what about adding a graphics import feature? I realize that there would be issues of zooming and scaling bitmaps, but it would be nice to have a bitmap and vector object. I suggest some form of 'wizard' where the imported bitmap or vector is give an absolute size in MM to make sure that they are to scale.

[Jeff]

"what about adding a graphics import feature?"

Already there, vist. Create a Surface, then use the graphics import feature on the Ribbon to load your graphic into the Surface, using the Surface as a container.

[vistisen]

"what about adding a graphics import feature?"

Already there, vist. Create a Surface, then use the graphics import feature on the Ribbon to load your graphic into the Surface, using the Surface as a container.

Yes I know that, but effectively I would have to draw each object twice, once with all the details I want to create in a drawing programme, and then the outline again in AnyRail  and then import the image.