How to Use Environment Tools

The information in this Wiki Page applies to TANE, TRS19 and Trainz Plus. A video tutorial specific to setting the environmental controls in TRS19 and Trainz Plus can be found at TRS19 Environment and Lighting Tutorial

In Summary:
	The Environment Tools are used to set:- the skybox - to configure the cloud cover the weather - from rain to snow to clear. Weather can also be set from the Main Menu - Settings options and by using Session rules the wind speed - which will affect the swaying motion of Speedtrees the snowline - the altitude for assets that have a snow covered appearance option the date - for assets that have different seasonal options the lighting - the light levels and colours through a 24 hour period the water colour and water surface effects (smooth, rough, etc) the road traffic - enabled/disabled the world origin (geographic coordinates and altitude)
	The Time of Day is set using Session rules such as Startup Option Rule and Time and Rate Rule

Notes: There is no Save button on the Environment Tools Window. As soon as you enter or select a setting it will be saved. When finished editing simply click the window Off button.

The World Origin and Date settings are used to set the current season e.g. January = Summer in the Southern Hemisphere and Winter in the Northern Hemisphere

The Environment Tool

Open the Environment Tools Editor from the Surveyor Main Menu in TANE and TRS19 as shown below left or from the Surveyor Edit Menu in TRS19 SP1 and Trainz Plus as shown below right.

This will open the Environment Properties Window as shown below.

TRS19 has an additional control that adjusts the lighting level, as shown below

Lighting

The Lighting Tools control the ambient, sun and water colours. This tool tab is opened by default whenever the Environmental Editor is opened

Light and Time

The dial shown is a 24 hour clock that sets the lighting conditions at selected times of the day and night

The Diurnal Cycle Steps: Click the Diurnal Cycle button to set the clock running through the full 24 hour cycle in just 30 seconds Click it again to stop the cycle The scene shown in Surveyor will display the lighting conditions that correspond to the time on the clock as the hand sweeps around. The Time of Day You can select a specific time by dragging the clock pointer arm to the corresponding position on the clock dial. The scene shown in Surveyor will display the lighting conditions that correspond to the time shown on the clock

Setting the Lighting Conditions

Colour Control Points

The ring around the dial contains a number of green dots.

Each dot is a Control Point that sets the specific Red, Green and Blue colour values, and other lighting features, at the time shown on the clock

Steps: Select, by clicking, one of the green points around the ring The clock dial will immediately point to the selected dot and time The control point will be highlighted and the RGB Wheels will display one set of Red Green and Blue values that have been set at that point

Each colour value can be altered by dragging its needle point to a new position around the dial. Each new position will change the balance between the 3 colours and will alter the lighting displayed in the scene at that particular time.

Types of Lighting

Notes: Each control point stores the RGB values for three different types of lighting in the scene. The Ambient Colour which is the directional lighting and mostly affects the hue of buildings and other scenery objects The Sun Colour which affects the colour of the sunlight and mostly affects the hue of the terrain The Water Colour which affects the colours reflected by water surfaces

The 3 boxes below the colour wheels and next to the Sky box show the colour effects created for each type of lighting at the selected time.

Ambient Colour

Steps: Click on the top box of the three. This is the Ambient Colour The dials will show the RGB values for the Ambient Colour at the selected time The Ambient color preview box will show the colour produced by the RGB settings You can then change the RGB settings for the Ambient Colour

Sun Colour

Steps: Click on the middle box of the three. This is the Sun Colour The dials will show the RGB values for the Sun Colour at the selected time The Sun color preview box will show the colour produced by the RGB settings You can then change the RGB settings for the Sun Colour

Water Colour

Water Colour values set for one control point become the values for ALL the control points Steps: Click on the bottom box of the three. This is the Water Colour The dials will show the RGB values for the Water Colour The Water color preview box will show the colour produced by the RGB settings You can then change the RGB settings for the Water Colour

Mixing Colours

Notes: Getting the "right colours" can be more of an art than a science. To set the exact colour you want means mixing the correct quantities of Red, Green and Blue. Each of these colours has 256 different values from 0 to 255 that, when combined, produce over 16 million different possible colours - but many monitors and most eyeballs will not be able to tell the differences between many of those 16 million colours.

Setting all three colours to the same values will produce monotones from Black to White with 254 different shades of gray between those two tones. You can quickly set all three dials to the exact same value by holding down the Shift key as you click on a dial position on any one of the three dials. Note that in the examples below, the "tyre" around each dial shows the exact quantity of colour that is being added.

R = 0; G = 0; B = 0	R = 128; G = 128; B = 128	R = 255; G = 255; B = 255
Black	50% Gray	White
All other colours are made by mixing different quantities of the three colours.
Setting both the Ambient and Sun colours to different shades of grey, as shown in the example below, can solve many brightness issues.

Example 1: Setting Greys Scale Values for the Ambient and Sun Colours

This is an example only

Time	06:00	07:00	10:00	12:00	18:00
Ambient Sun
RGB values (all dials set equally) Ambient Sun	128 160	192 192	224 224	255 224	128 192
Brightness (TRS19/Trainz Plus)	40%	50%	50%	50%	40%

Example 2: Setting a Water Colour

Creating a colour suitable for water (RGB values are approximate)

	Starting with pure Blue R = 0; G = 0; B = 255
	Add pure Green to make the colour Cyan R = 0; G = 255; B = 255
	Scale back (darken) the Green R = 0; G = 155; B = 255
	Scale back a bit more R = 0; G = 128; B = 255
	Add some Red R = 75; G = 128; B = 255

TRS19/Trainz Plus Lighting Level Control

TRS19 and Trainz Plus users have an additional control that is placed next to the Ambient, Sun and Water colour boxes. This sets the overall brightness or lighting level for each control point.

Steps: Select a control point, then:- Move the slider to the BOTTOM to give maximum brightness level Move the slider to the TOP to give minimum brightness level Move the slider to a point in between these two positions for an intermediate lighting level Repeat for each control point as required.

Resetting the Lighting Conditions

All the lighting colour settings can be reset back to the Trainz default colours.

Steps: Click the Color Reset button, then either:- Click the icon to accept the reset, or Click the icon to reject the reset

Adding a New Control Point

New control points can be added to the clock dial

Steps: Click the Add button Click on the ring at the place where the new control point is to be located Notes: The Add button will remain active (selected) until it is deactivated so clicking on the ring again will add another control point. The button can be deactivated by clicking on it or by selecting another button

Notes: During the running of a Session the lighting will "morph" or "transform" at a steady rate from the set of colour values at one control point to the set of colour values at the next control point. Click the Diurnal Cycle button for a demonstration. If the control points are far apart then the transition will be gradual If the control points are close together then the transition will be faster If there are several control points grouped closely together then the transitions can be more dramatic The places where you would need faster dramatic transitions would be at dawn (around 06:00) and dusk (around 18:00)

Deleting a Control point

Existing control points can be deleted

Steps: Click the Delete button Click on the control point to be deleted Notes: The Delete button will remain active (selected) until it is deactivated so clicking on another control point will also delete that point. The button can be deactivated by clicking on it or by selecting another button

Moving a Control point

Existing control points can be moved

Steps: Click the Move button Click on the control point to be moved and either:- hold the mouse button down and drag the point to its new position around the ring, or click on the ring at the spot where the point is to be placed Notes: The Move button will remain active (selected) until it is deactivated so clicking again on the ring will move the selected control point again. The button can be deactivated by clicking on it or by selecting another button

The Skybox

The Skybox sets the sky colours in three different regions of the sky at the selected time of day, as shown in the extreme example below

Notes: Each control point also stores the Skybox settings for that particular time. Steps: Select a control point for a specific time of day Click in a region of the Skybox (top, middle, bottom) - a while line or bar will appear across the selected region Set the RGB color wheels for the selected region Repeat for the other two regions and for other times of the day/night as needed In the areas between the three regions the colours will be blended to create a smooth transition. Do you need an Overcast Sky for your scene? For each daylight control point set each Skybox region (top, middle, bottom) to shades of gray (see Mixing Colours above). In the Environment Tab (see below), set the Sky Type to No Cloud 01

Fog Control

This controls the level of "fog" in the scene

Settings: Select a control point for a specific time of day Move the slider to the required position Repeat for other times of the day/night as needed

Notes: Each control point also stores the Fog setting for that particular time. Increasing the fog level can also increase the brightness level (fog does scatter light). In TANE you may need to reduce the RGB levels to compensate. In TRS19/Trainz Plus you can reduce the brightness level to compensate

Location

The Location Tools control the geographic and date (season) data for the Route and Session

Set Date The top section is a standard calendar selection tool that allows you to set the month and the day of the month. The only effect this has in Trainz is to set, with the geographic coordinates, the season of the year. Set World Origin The middle section is the World Origin Tool and sets the geographic location, including the altitude, of the route using a World Origin marker that is only visible in Surveyor. Setting the World Origin does NOT set regional features such as which side of the road the cars drive on. Use the Route Editor - Region setting for that The World Origin is always part of a Route, not part of a Session Steps: Move the Surveyor view to the location where you want the marker to be placed Click on the Add world origin button Click the selected location in the layout to place the marker Clicking a second time will simply move the marker The World Origin marker Once it has been placed, the marker can be moved by dragging or clicking with the mouse. After adding the marker it should be edited to add geographic data.

Click the Go to world origin icon to move the Surveyor screen so that it is centred on the World Origin marker.

Click the Edit world origin icon to set or edit the World Origin data. See Editing the World Origin below.

Editing the World Origin

Enter the geographic data for the world origin. Latitude and Longitude in degrees and minutes (with seconds added as the decimal fraction of the minutes - 10'30" would be entered as 10.50) Hemispheres - North/South and East/West Altitude in metres Setting a high latitude value North or South will NOT change the times of sunrise or sunset. They are fixed at 06:00 and 18:00. The Reset button sets all values to their defaults. Click the icon to accept the entered data Click the icon to reject the entered data

Deleting the World Origin

There is no delete button for the World Origin marker, but you can still delete it

	Steps: Open the Objects Tool in the Surveyor screen Select the Delete tool Click on the World Origin marker

Notes: All routes MUST have a World Origin. If you delete the marker then the World Origin will be hidden and will take the default coordinates of latitude 52.45 N, longitude 13.3 E, altitude 0 metres - which places it in Berlin(??).

Traffic Control

This tool simply turns the road traffic ON and OFF

Notes: This road traffic tool:- only works on roads that have been designed to use road traffic (not all roads support traffic) does not set the road traffic characteristics - number and types of vehicles, which side of the road is used. These features are set in the Route Editor - Region setting

Settings: Click the car icon to enable and disable traffic

Weather and Water

To set the water colour, refer to the Setting the Lighting Conditions section above.

Set the Sky This sets the basic sky and cloud characteristics Settings: Click the Sky Title (Cloud Cover) to select from a drop down list of sky types, or Scroll through the list by using the Scroll icons The box below the sky title will give a preview of the selected sky. Set the Weather This sets some very basic weather conditions. The set conditions will be constant throughout the running of a Session. Settings: Move the slider to set the weather between Rain and Snow Notes: There are Session rules that also control the weather, including changeable weather conditions. Check the Trainz Wiki Session Rules list at Session Rules - Weather

Wind Strength

This setting only effects SpeedTrees

	Settings: Move the slider to set the wind strength between zero (left) and maximum (right)

Set the Water Surface

This sets the water surface effects

Settings: Click the Water Surface to select from a drop down list of surface effects, or Scroll through the list by using the Scroll icons

Set the Snow Altitude

This sets the altitude at which objects with snow effects will display those effects. It has no effect on objects created without this feature

	Settings: Enter the altitude, in metres, at which snow can appear.

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