Track Making 101.

[Vicki]

OK, I want to try and make some tracks, but don't know how. So I thought I'd make Track Making 101 because I am completely 404 when it comes to this sort of thing. And it will act as a guide for other newbie track makers to get their bearings before plunging in and having to start a thread of their own or adding to one and then finding out there is more they need to know. So, anyone with track making tips, post 'em here!
Vicki.
PS: If I've repeated something that has already been done then I'm sorry, I don't come out of my natural habitat of forums to come here that often.

[luke]

You could do what I do, and draw them up in paint.

[pirenzo]

Have you got excel?
The draw tools in there are pretty good. Once you've drawn a rough outline, you can then right click on it and go to 'edit points' to muck around with it some more.
Then when you're happy, press print screen, go to paint and press ctrl+v to paste the image in.

Another way of doing it is in Paint Shop Pro, or other similar software if you have it.

Or you can draw it on a piece of paper and scan it in.

[Vicki]

Wow, you can draw in Excel? And people say I waste my time coming on here...

[Mike_Wooshy]

lol well i think a track should have a mix up of everything, fast corners, long corners, esse, hairpins just getting the flow right but everyone's design is diffrent. :X

[dtype38]

OK this may be a bit sad, but I've tried it and it works... Get hold of the Autosport Track Guide. Scan in your favourite corners as jpegs or similar. Open each one up in Photoshop or Paintshop or the like and tidy them up by erasing the text and stuff. Then open a new file as a big blank page and paste all your favourite corners onto it with gaps between. Now you've got a big jigsaw with the added advantage of being able to stretch the bits to make them fit together. When you've got them all hooked up together, scale it down and print it out... it comes complete with tyre barriers and marshalls posts!!

[pirenzo]

LOL!

Great idea

To draw in excel go to view>toolbars and check 'drawing'
You'll see a toolbar come up, with buttons for line draw, box draw etc.
this is what can do, if you layer everything up and do lots of different lines of different widths on top of each other etc to create lines at the edge of the track, access roads etc.

[Vicki]

Wow, that looks technical. Will have to try the Autosport thing. Where can I get the guide from>

[dtype38]

The Autosport thing is at www.circuitnews.co.uk under Circuit Guides (its actually sponsored by Dunlop now, not Autosport). Bit expensive if you're buying for fun, but you could try asking around the racers forum to see if anyone has an old copy (they are updated every year).

[the_royksopp]

The most simple and easy way is Paint .

And when you become more experienced in Paint, you can actually do surprisingly much with it .

[nickyf1]

Originally Posted by the_royksopp

The most simple and easy way is Paint .

And when you become more experienced in Paint, you can actually do surprisingly much with it .

exactly!

[Mike_Wooshy]

paint isnt a bad program, theres alot you can do with it, but as you all know i dont use windows so the gimp works perfect for me.

[pirenzo]

Yes, all my most recent tracks have been with the gimp (which is available for windows too, do a google search for it)

[Speed Demon]

I'm going to scare you all now, but I use Adobe Illustrator to create the images for e-Tracks. It's a professional's tool, really, although quite easy to use once you get the hang of it. Quick, as well. I reckon this track took around two hours to create (It's Tilke's Cape Town design, but I was working from his original artwork).