Hello all,

I'm very proud to, finally, present the first Beta version of LDCad 1.6

It has been the slowest development cycle so far and I still need to dot some I's and such concerning the scripting stuff. But I relalize not many people use that anyway so I pushed it to Beta 2 in order to get a version out before the holydays.

Version 1.6 introduces the following major features:
- Macro scripting
- Many script api extensions
- Mirroring
- Region select
- MPD tools
- POV-Ray export (including animations)
- full ROTSTEP and BUFEXCHG support.
- Hotkey configuration
- Layered groups (still a bit experimental though)

It also includes many small tweaks and extensions, like:
- non integer grid stepping
- extend header editing
- some visual changes
- improved GUI templates

Even the downloads are improved as all of them now include both the 32 and 64 bit versions. The windows setup will install the correct one based on your system. I've also tried to automate this for this Linux version (setup.sh) but it might need some tweaking on some systems (feedback/improvements are highly appreciated)

You can get the version of your choice here:
www.melkert.net/LDCad/download

The Linux version is still compiled with (fully updateded) Debian 7.5, as this seems to ensure maximal compatibility. If the Linux experts on this board think I should upgrade to 8.x for some valid reason please let me know.

Documentation update and extensions (like always) are pending

   

How long will it be before the 9Volt switches are included in the official parts. Getting them from unofficial takes a really long time and hurts production.

I finished a larger LDraw project: Shackleton's Endurance in minifig scale

Endurance was the name of the ship in which Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed for the Antarctic in 1914. This voyage is also known as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. On board were 28 men and 69 dogs. Shackleton planned to cross the Antarctic on foot. But shortly before its arrival in the Antarctic the Endurance became locked in ice and was finally crushed. Thus the legendary survival of Shackleton and his crew began.....

Model data: Length 166 studs (131 cm) / Width 50 studs (39 cm) / Height 103 studs (81 cm)


Shackleton's Endurance by papacharly24

It was mainly built with LDcad 1.6 Alpha 4 and rendered with POV-Ray.

As advised by Roland in a post, I misused his sticker generator to generate some Endurance sketches within the LDcad editor:



This was an enormous assistance for getting proportions and dimensions scaled right.

As I like the surface structure of string hose segment LS60.dat I used Lsynth to generate the ropes.

Besides the fact that my laptop struggles a bit by handling so many parts, it was a great pleasure to built this model with LDcad.

Hope you enjoy it.

Some more images:

I was working on the new Plate 2x2 without Corner (26601) using the exisiting larger plates 2450 and 30503 as a starting point.

I noticed that the existing parts are designed around the cutouts on the 45-degree corner in such a way that some editors, LDCad among them, show holes in the surface of the part. Is this a problem with LDCad or the existing parts? Are they still viable as a base for the new 26601 part?

I attached my current design to this post.

Attached Files

  26601.dat (Size: 1.41 KB / Downloads: 7)

I'm hoping someone could possibly please make the Boat Hull Unitary 52 x 12 x 6 1/3 - http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/cata...at4c01#T=C I would love to recreate my old 4030 Cargo Carrier set, plus I'm sure many users would also enjoy having a larger boat available to use for their creations!

Shouldn't there be cond-lines across the shaped surface on texmap parts, like we now have on shaped stickers?


Looking at these again made me wonder. Would that make them look even more smooth and better?

Hi,

unfortunately, I am still offline with limited internet access due to technical problems with my internet provider

LDPatternCreator 2.0: I did some promising tests with a prototype version. I was able to build a 64bit version and a 32bit version with legacy support for Windows XP.
LDPartEditor 0.8.27: There will be a release at the end of December 2016 or within the first two weeks of January 2017.

Leg godt

Nils

Greetings.  I believe this part is in LDD, but I couldn't locate it. It was included in someone's  LDD build of the only set with it (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.ph...nt=1928627).

Part is 15537 Glass for Train Front 6 x 14 x 7 1/3
http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/cata...3#T=C&C=13

If it is in LDD and someone could do a quick transfer, that would be great.  If it isn't in LDD, don't worry about it.

Nathan

Hi Trevor,

I got a question from a fellow Dutchman who wants to use fade steps.

Generate Fade Color Parts List crashes after a few %.
What exactly does this do anyway?
Not doing so generates fade steps just fine.


Jaco

As title says guys, I use mlcad το create my digital models, and povray to render them, and from time to time I ask your help to design a new element thats not in the database yet (and you helped me everytime I asked)

Thing is I want to start designing .dat files for my own custom elements.

Can you point me where/what to read? and a basic workflow? which programs I should use in order to achieve this?

Thanks a lot