It took more time than planned (again) but I finally managed to finish LDCad 1.7 Alpha 2.
It has stacks of tweaks and a couple of stability bug fixes.
For this version I concentrated mostly on animation and scripting by introducing interactive animations.
The new example model includes such an animation.
Some of the new things:
- Interactive animations.
- Part count down in 'basic' groups (only for items with a set count property).
- Improved part texture handing (incl reloading if changed externally).
- !HELP indication in the part bin.
- More flexible grid rotation stepping.
- 2D view exports.
- Improved the glTF export.
- Many many small tweaks/extensions/changes/etc. See changeLog.txt for the full list.
This is an Alpha and not a Beta because I rewrote some of the low level code, namely: threading, string/number conversions and the pos/ori property dialog.
I would like these changes thoroughly tested before exposing new users to it.
So be sure to make backups of your work before changing them with this Alpha version.
Like in subject: is there a way to change the model quality in LDCad?
I would like to get lower level of quality. I mean not rendering quality in program, but the whole model and ldr file. I not certain what determines the size of mpd files (this is ldr file after "packing" with LDrawLoader in Three JS) and I try to find a method to decrease the file's size and usage of CPU and memory. Of course I also asked similar question on Three JS forums.
I'm using ldr files in Three JS (LdrawLoader) and I would like to make model "lighter".
Plates with studs VS plates without studs (inside models/walls) - can I spare some memory this way? (maybe if i replace 100 plates) I'm not certain whether it is worth to spend time for replacing plates in models.
(BTW: Is there a "replace" method/function in LDCad? Without it I will have to do it manually...)
I also tried to use bigger pannels instead of stacked bricks as walls.
Maybe there are another techniques?
(I heard about Ldraw Boxer (from sourceforge), but archive file contains only dat files, no exe program)
I just noticed that if you insert a size tag in source mode in the editor here on the forums, then switch back out of source mode, the size tag is respected inside the editor, but ignored in preview mode, and in the forum itself. For example, below is some size 24 text:
size=24
I can appreciate not wanting people to be able to have big text in their posts, but ideally the editor would also ignore the size tag. Just reply to this message to see what I'm talking about, since my quoted text in your reply show up big in the editor. (You can abandon the reply.)
The 2022-03 LDraw Parts Update has been released. This update adds 563 new files to the core library, including 328 new parts and 18 new primitives
Thanks are due to all the part authors who created or corrected parts for this release. The small, but dedicated, band of reviewers also play an important role in keeping files moving through the Parts Tracker and deserve just as much credit.
You can preview the new parts in 2022-03 here, and download the zip-file update or Windows install package here. Alternatively you can use the LDView menu option File | Check for Library Updates... to install the update.
IMPORTANT:
A out of date and color inaccurate version of LDConfig was included with this update.
It is syntactically correct and does not affect any past colors. There are, however, few newer colors that have an inaccurate RBG values.
All downloads have been fixed. If you have already downloaded the update please download the corrected files directly: LDConfig.ldr LDCfgalt.ldr
If you note any errors or problems, please do not hesitate to point them out.
Special thanks to Magnus Forsberg and the rest of the core reviewers. We pushed out a fix to the axl2hol primitives with this update and it wouldn't have been possible without their dedication and attention to detail.
I use MLcad for my MOCs and LPub3D for instructions.
Now I want to add a foldable stair to my MOC where at first the stair is placed unfolded. I a later step I want the stair shown folded. https://flic.kr/p/2nj5bwr for first step then later I want to show the folded stair [/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2nj6dJM]folded stair. (I seem not be able to add the images in the text itself)
This works in a sense that the stair appears in the instruction first unfolded and in the later step as folded.
The problem is both stairs appear as building steps in the instructions. However only once in the BOM which is good again.
How best to get this effect in the building instruction. I tried also Buffer Exchange but that I couldn't get to work. Maybe I did something wrong there.
Any ideas? Much Appreciated.
Regards Allard
For some background, I've been looking at using the LDraw parts catalog as a starting point for 3d printing a few missing parts from some of my original 1970s space lego sets I kept from when I was a kid - set 924 for example. I could just buy the pieces of course, but trying to print them myself seems like a lot more fun :-).
I know the caveats around measurements in the LDraw catalog being approximations of the real physical dimensions, and being optimised for on-screen rendering, etc, so please say something if I'm stirring up old discussions and maybe just point me in the direction of those so I can read them.
Having said that, while I've been experimenting I've found some general inconsistencies between similar primitives in LDraw parts catalog and was I hoping someone could help me understand if they're "by design" or just historical drift between individual files, and whether there'd be any interest (or not) in trying to iron them out if they're not expected. Some of the parts haven't been modified for over a decade so I appreciate it might just be better to let sleeping dogs lie at this point :-).
There's a bunch of different types of inconsistencies I've found - I won't go into all the details unless there's some positive value to the community, but as a single example the control points for the conditional lines on the ends of part "p/1-4cyli.dat" look like the green lines in this screenshot and they appear to work as intended when the model is rotated (Note: I've attached the screenshots as well in case the Imgur posts get deleted):
but the control points for the conditional lines at the ends of "p/2-4cyli.dat" look like this and don't really show the conditional outline on the end edges correctly when the model is rotated:
I'm kind of new here (only been lurking for a couple of weeks), so there might be a legitimate reason for these odd-looking control points, in which case I'd be interested in what that is so I can understand it better.
In any case, if this kind of feedback is useful please let me know. And if it's not, please say so as well and I'll avoid spamming the forum with lots of irrelevant glitches :-)