3D Cabview Question

[kennyeaton]

Good morning all,

I love the 3D cabviews that are included with a lot of engines that are available today.

It seems like there is only one type of cab, short hood lead/low nose. My question is this, has anyone created any of these that are short/high nose and short/high with long hood lead? If not, I think this would be a great addition for the older SD45's, SD40-2's as well as any of the older conventional units that have been created over the years of our hobby.

Kenny

[scottb613]

Hi Kenny,

I don’t think they are 3D - are they?

I only know of a very few true “3D Cabs” for US content.

Erick, Marek, and my WIP are the only ones I’m aware of - or at least that I can think of.

It would be great if we could see a fully built out - high resolution - 3D cab for some of the most common units.

One cool aspect I like - I used my 3D cab in the main model as well - so you get to see all the glorious detail (gauges, switches, and levers) as the train passes - it does make a big difference seeing a fully built out cab. I wish they would be fully animated in the main model as well.

There is some serious unrealized potential - here - we are missing out on.

Regards,
Scott

[kennyeaton]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the reply,

this is the 3D cabview I was referring to.

Kenny Open Rails 2025-12-13 01-04-03.png Open Rails 2025-12-13 01-04-26.png Open Rails 2025-12-13 01-04-40.png

[scottb613]

Hi Kenny,

Thanks for the clarification - yeah - I think - that’s just a beautiful rendition of the old 2D format.

3D cabs let you swing your viewpoint anywhere you want to look - there’s an image of one in my sig.

Regards,
Scott

[yellowdog]

All of Tyler Bundy's "recent" models have true 3D cabs for ORTS. I can't speak for other repainters, but all of my reskins of his SD40 models also incorporate true 3D cabs.

[kennyeaton]

All of Tyler Bundy's "recent" models have true 3D cabs for ORTS. I can't speak for other repainters, but all of my reskins of his SD40 models also incorporate true 3D cabs.

Hi Yellowdog,

Did Tyler create the cab that I posted photos of above?

Kenny

[oper190]

Did Tyler create the cab that I posted photos of above?

Not sure who's cabview that was but it's an older 2D cabview, made to look more 3D then the originals. That type of cabviews has been around not long after MSTS came out early 2000s.

What's called a 3D cab is a fully rendered cab modeled in detail and to correct proportions.

[crstagg]

FYI the F unit 3d Cabs created by 3dTrains were complete shapes of the locomotive shells and the cab interior. The Geep, SD & AC units by Dekosoft were shapes of the cab interior and the parts of the shell that were visible from the cab out the front windows and both rear door windows.
Moving the viewing point outside of the Dekosoft's cab one could see that there were no exterior walls of the cab in the shape. I was a beta tester for both.

[yellowdog]

Hi Yellowdog,

Did Tyler create the cab that I posted photos of above?

Kenny

The textures look very similar to what I remember from Tyler's work. But I don't remember that exact control stand. And the screenshots you've provided are similar to the angles a typical 2d cabview offers. So I can't answer with any certainty.

[yellowdog]

FYI the F unit 3d Cabs created by 3dTrains were complete shapes of the locomotive shells and the cab interior. The Geep, SD & AC units by Dekosoft were shapes of the cab interior and the parts of the shell that were visible from the cab out the front windows and both rear door windows.
Moving the viewing point outside of the Dekosoft's cab one could see that there were no exterior walls of the cab in the shape. I was a beta tester for both.

Tyler used a similar method for his cabs.

[crstagg]

Tyler used a similar method for his cabs.

Which one 3dTrains' or Dekosoft's?

[superheatedsteam]

Hi Kenny, confirming that is Tyler Bundy's 3D cab view, well from my observations anyway.

I also have a work in progress 3D cab view on github (https://github.com/superheatedsteam/generic_SD40-2)

There is a version of this cab view that does not include the geometry for the external body work. You could use that cab view with another locomotive that has a conventional 'standard' cab but that requires making changes to the eng file, using freight anims I believe, and there are likely to be alignment issues and poke through of geometry.

For a high hood locomotive though, you would have to modify the 3D model of the cab view itself to replace the middle windows with wall, re-texture it and modify the external body work. Not that difficult if you know what to do or are prepared to learn.

My idea did not gain any traction but it may be of use to you. There is an improved version of this cab in the works with a new high detailed body.

Cheers,

Marek.

[yellowdog]

I just went into the sim and can confirm that Kenny's pics are Tyler's 3D Cab. I took some screenshots myself, from various atypical angles, to overemphasize the point that his is not a 2D cab as some have suggested.
3dCab4.jpg 3dCab7.jpg 3dCab8.jpg 3dCab6.jpg 3dCab3.jpg 3dCab5.jpg

To answer crstagg
Tyler was able to achieve his result by building a separate model that included the cab and most of the body--basically anything that can be seen from the cab. Here is a shot of the "shell" that's placed in the CABVIEW3D folder within the model's main folder. The structure of the .s file is such that it calls the same textures as used by the main model, so repainters don't have to skin multiple models.
3dCab1.jpg

A closer view of the modeled cab, inside the shell:
3dCab2.jpg

As far as long-hood forward, or high-hood units..... Theoretically any of Tyler's models could be driven long-hood forward as-is. But I guess some units (like SOU and subsequent NS) have specific control stands for long-hood forward use. I don't know of anybody who's modeled those yet, but they could be out there somewhere. For high-hood units, there are already FAs out there that make a unit appear high-hood. For instance, file sousd402-1.zip has a FA called "High Hood Parts:"

3dCab9.jpg

It might be possible to use such a FA in conjunction with the Cabview3D shell shape to create a high-hood shell, and then just alpha out the low hood and front windows, etc, from the textures used by the shell the same way you would add such a FA.s to a main model.

EDIT: added screenshot of the High Hood Parts.s FA as reference

[oper190]

I see my confusion, this is a 3D cab for using as an inside (5) view, not one for running a train with. The original images posted look like typical 2D cab views
With MSTS only using the first inside view in a train, I had removed those cab views statements from most engines, as I prefer an inside view from a car or caboose. Then Bin and now OR came along where you can easily switch inside views. Maybe I'll look into reactivating those views.

[yellowdog]

I see my confusion, this is a 3D cab for using as an inside (5) view, not one for running a train with.

NO, you are still incorrect. This is not a passenger view. It is a FULLY FUNCTIONAL CABVIEW FOR OPERATING THE TRAIN. Here's screenshots of the controls actually operating in the 3D Cabview. Reverser handle moves, brake handle moves, sander control moves, headlight control switches move... Just to name a few.

cabview12.jpg cabview13.jpg

I think your confusion is that you are using MSTS? Or maybe treating ORTS as if it is MSTS? Tyler's fully functional cabviews only work in ORTS. And this is the ORTS forum, not the MSTS forum....

In addition, these 3D cabs aren't activated by pressing 5. And they aren't "removed" by deleting a cab view statement from a .eng file. They are the default cab when using ORTS, and the operator has to press Alt+1 to get to a non-default 2D cab.

Finally, you can't remove them by changing a statement in the .eng file, because they use ORTS specific file structure completely different from a MSTS setup. In fact, you won't even see the 3D cabview in the main .eng file. That's because the 3D Cabview is generated by a specific ORTS cabview folder (CABVIEW3D) and very specific/separate ORTS eng file (in the OpenRails subfolder). The Cabview subfolder is there for the non-default 2D cabview, should somebody prefer to set one up instead of keeping the default fully functional 3D cabview.

cabview11.jpg