On to the next of the topics I’m uncovering as I delve further into the world of LDraw!

I was building a Technic model and discovered that one of my beams didn’t quite fit onto the pins it’s supposed to—it needed to be “stretched” just a bit (as is common with Technic models with odd angles and connections). I compared my model to another user’s, and I noticed that in his, the beam fit correctly even though all the geometry was the same in both models. I discovered that he had scaled some of the values in the matrix; I copied those values to my beam, and it worked!

So the question simply is, when this situation arises, how do I determine which values to scale in the matrix? Typically I’ll just need to make a part longer or shorter or taller by a small fraction. Can I do this interactively in LDCad, or do I just calculate scale factors based on the distance I need (and how do I know which boxes are the correct ones to change)?

Hi there,

being fascinated by the LDraw community and LDCad of Roland Melkert, I want to give back something.  

This is my first attempt to build an OMR and therefore looked at the spec. Unfortunately, I didn't get MPDCenter running on my XUbuntu machine, so instead of "posting an OMR file" I rather like to ask: what do I have to do with the attached file before posting it as an OMR-proposal for the "603 Sidecar" set of 1978?  

I'm doubtful particularly in file naming and part choosing. I'd like to contribute more (like 10218 pet shop which is uploaded to "Modular Buildings"), but want to start with manageable sets.

Thank you so much, best regards
Stefan

Attached Files

  603-1 - Sidecar.mpd (Size: 2.55 KB / Downloads: 7)

Hi,

Are these useful parts in LDRAW at all?

They have been out for a while now and I wanna use them in LDRAW because they're very useful.

They first appeared in the set 76122 Lego Batcave Clayface Invasion.

I know I can search through the ldraw parts library in different ways or use the parts tracker but the parts are just grouped as one part on sites such as brickset so  it's impossible to know the parts numbers or names.

Regards, Snipe.

If I wanted to export an image and have the export be 1:1 for real life scale at a given dpi is this possible?

I could have sworn this piece was in the official library, but apparently it isn't. Therefore I would like to request the patterned river baseplate for set 6071 - Forestmen's Crossing ( https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/cat...conly%22:0} )

I would do it myself but I just don't have the time at the moment. I suspect it is quite simple and could easily be done from online reference images.

So, I'd like to get a little more comfortable with parts authoring—or more accurately, perhaps, parts editing. I don't see myself soon contributing major new parts to the official library or anything, but I do often find I want to make minor tweaks to existing parts (such as to allow odd connections in Technic assemblies that depend on the physical tolerance of real plastic parts, or to create custom sticker parts, etc.). I think that with the right tools, I wouldn't have much trouble figuring out the process, but it's just a little too abstract to manipulate the raw code of a DAT file without getting visual feedback on what I'm doing. Are there good software programs out there where I could tinker around with the basics?

I should add one major catch—right now, LD Part Editor isn't an option for me. I've encountered a series of technical problems that have so far prevented me from even opening the program, so I have no way to use it. I've reached out for support already, but I realize that this may take some time because LDraw tools are created by volunteers on their free time, so I'm just looking for other options I might use in the meantime. I do also have Studio's Part Designer, but that really doesn't allow you to directly manipulate the various subparts, primitives and so on—unless I'm greatly missing where those capabilities are hidden. I don't think LDCad allows interactive part editing beyond snap info. Should I look into MLCad? Something else? I look forward to everyone's suggestions!

Does anybody have any experience with 3D printing their own Lego bricks? How does it work and what software is needed? Can regular LDraw DAT files be used?

Just made a simple test part in LDPC,
I used the triangular shield template, filled out some meta data, its not accurate but I don't care its just a test. Through it in the following folders one at a time to try and get it to be available in LDcad.
LDraw/Parts
LDraw/Parts/s
Unoffical/Parts
Unofficial/parts/s

I opened it in LDCad using the 'Open' option but then its on its own page as a .dat file

I also exported one without meta-data earlier in. Any ideas why these parts can't be found in the library?


Edit: LDCad was referencing a Zip file not the folders.

Hello Lego Fans,
I have a problem with the perspective in LPub3D. the escape point seems to be wrong. As a result, the farther rear part looks larger than the closer front part. I had the same effect synonymous in studio 2.0, but could help me johann there and you could fix it by switching to the camera icon. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?

LDCad 1.6c, LPub3D 2.3.6 (i don´t want to use the newest Version, because this Version has the fewest Side-Effects), used Render-Tool LDView
best regards
Stefan

Attached Files

  Perspective.pdf (Size: 248.7 KB / Downloads: 11)

I've searched around a bit for this question but haven't seen it asked.

I want to find the center of gravity of a model (horizontally, in two dimensions though the 3d center of gravity would be interesting).  Studio has its "stability check" feature which theoretically could answer the question (I could "balance" the model on a 1x1 brick and move that brick around until the model is deemed stable).  However after some testing, the stability check seems to behave unpredictably if there are submodels involved.  

I haven't made the leap to LDCad yet, but maybe it's time.  Is is possible to calculate center of gravity in LDCad?  Or is something similar to Studio's stability check (but hopefully better documented)?