Arrrrrrrrrrrr Steve!
I know just what yer going through. Yer problem is that you haven't set up the camera befor you go to 3D.
So.
In 2D, go to "View" and open the menue called "3D origin and camera". From that menue you need to do 2 things.
First- Pick "move 3D origin to center of view"
Second- Pick "center view on 3D origin"
Now hit your blue cube to render your file in 3D and you should see more than open space. The 3rd PlanIt world is quite large so you can build a huge plan if you wanted to and it's easy to get lost in the 3Dworld. You will now be able to use your arrow keys to manover around your track plan. Holding down "shift" and "Ctrl" buttons make the camera move past the 3D origin in different ways. This is why it's important to always know where your 3D origin is as the camera revolves around that. So get renderin'
Pitchwife, after you trudge away with the sectional track, you will feel freedom when you lern how to set out the flex track. So I will try and tell you the secrets of flex track.
Now there is a button on your task bar that looks like three pieces of paper stacked up with a red check-mark over them. Put your cursor over this and it will pop up a lable that reads "enable layers" Push this button and open the main layers window. This is the window where you create new layers and manage them, tuning them on and off as you work on different aspects of your plan. There should only be one layer to start with.
At the top of the window is 4 buttons.
The first one crates a new layer and has a yellow asterist on it, use this if you are going to create a new layer. It opens the new layers parameters window.
The second button has a yellow pencile over the papers and if you put your cursor over it, it will pop up a lable that reads "modify the selected layer" This will open the highlighted layer's parameters window. And this is how you change the parameters of already egsisting layers or check them to see how they are set.
The other 2 buttons are self explanitory and only come in to use when you got tons of layers to deal with.
So open the parameter window for the layer you are working on and make sure the box beside "create new objects as track" is checked. This way any new lines you draw will become track automaticly. And likewise, if you want to draw a building or some other object other than track, this box needs to be clear.
So now you have made sure your drawing track. So now zoom in on your grid so the size of your proposed track plan will fit within your screen. Lets say it will be 4' x 8'. Now go to your "Tool Kit" window and click on the magnifieing glass. This opens the zoom options, and pick the lower right button that sets this view as your favorite. This way when you are working and you zoom in on a certin part, you can always come back to this view by pressing "Alt+F4". This is where the hot keys come in so handy. Anyway.
Choose the "Tool Kit " again and select the "Draw" button. This opens your options for drawing various lines. Choose the straight line.
Put your cursor somewhere on the plan and hold the left mouse button down and drag a straight piece of flex track accross the screen. And there is a straight piece of flex track. Now if you double left click the mouse you will return to the "Pick" tool, and you can now highlight the track and move it where you like. You can also get to the "Pick" tool through the "Tool Kit" window.
Now to make a curve, go "Tool Kit", then "Draw", then choose the circle button from the options. Place the cursor in the middel of where you want the circle and press the left mouse button as you drag open a circle of track. You can guess the size, but if you have a radious in mind then here's what you do. On the right side of your screen is a window that shows you details and options. This is where the buildings librairy is as well as the rolling stock. At the top is the list of paramiters for the current object you have picked. So now you have drawn a circle, you will see the the properties of that circle in this window. At the top of the list is a simble that is a circle with an "R" with an arrow beside it, inside the circle. This means Radious, and beside this simble in a box is a mesurment, and that is the size of your circle of track. To change the radious, simply make sure the circle of track is highlighted, then click on the box with the mesurment in it and it will turn to blue and start flashing. Enter 18 or 22 and then hit enter and your circle of track will be transformed to the correct radious.
Now highlight the circle of track, then double click on it and the track turns into a line with a dot at the side. The dot is actually what is refered to as a handle, and there are acctualy 2 of them on top of each other. So grab a handle with your cursor (left click and drag) and revolve the circle. You will find that you can reduce the amount of line down to half a circle or less, and now you can see the other handle. Once you have the portion of curve you think you need, double click on the background and the line returns to track.
Now drag one end of the curve over the end of the straight track, untill you see the straight track change collor, and drop it there. The curve will line up with the straight track and conect. You can still alter the length of the curved bit of track, by highlighting it and then double clicking on it just like befor. Drag a second straight section to the open end of the curve and it will line up the same way.
YIKES! I'm getting long winded
One more thing you should know about to have the just of things.
The third button in your "Tool Kit" leads you to the "Connect" options. You will want to play with all of these options. The button I use the most is "connect with easements" Can't always use it though. Sometimes it takes some fiddling around. It's easyer to join the tracks together if they are farther apart (that's what I fould). Draw 2 circles. Pick "Connect with easements" and click on the first circle. If the red line (that gives you a clue as to where the track will come off the circle) is coming of the wrong part of the circle, then right click the mouse to reverse the direction. Then move the cursor (don't hold the left mouse button down as to drag it!) over to the second circle until it highlights and click the left mouse button again. and now you joined 2 circles with a straight piece of track and 2 easement sections without acctually drawing the straight bit of track.
For fun, I lay out a bunch of circles on a page and then connect them with the "Connect with easements" tool.
ONE MORE TIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So you made an 18" circle and all your circles will be 18". So copy it. Here's how. In the "Tool Kit" go to the "Pick" options. The pick tool is represented by an arrow. Beside that is another arrow with a "+" beside it. Choose this button and anything that you pick with the cursor (pick, meaning left click on the mouse) you will make a copy of. Just pick something and drag a copy some place else.
YIKES Again! It's 4am now
thime for some sleep :sleeping:
See if all this helps you out.
TrainClown :thumb:
:sleeping: :sleeping: :sleeping: :sleeping:
and the clown sings to himself as he drifts off:
Rockin' rollin' ridin'
out along the bay
all bound for moring town
many miles away
Judy's at the engine
Jody rings the bell
Semore swings the lantern
to show that all is well
Rockin' rollin' ridin'
out along the bay
all bound for morning town
many miles away........................ :sleeping: