Entirely a personal preference thing, but I find it somewhat bothersome that what looks like emphasis is sometimes a link and vice versa.

Might I suggest making links a different color than normal text, even if just slightly so as a dark grey or something keeping with the style so far. I don't think I would go all-out and make them blue, just something (perhaps minimal) to distinguish them.

It's entirely a personal preference/stylistic thing, but functionality wise I believe a visitor should be able to tell whether or not something is a link without mouseovering it.

The 2011-02 LDraw parts update has been now been released.

This update includes 786 files in the core library, including 474 new parts. A further 19 parts have been redeveloped by authors who have affirmed the Contributor Agreement, replacing files that were not redistributable. Only five "non-CA" files remain in the library and every effort is being made to replace those in the next update.

This is a big step in reducing the backlog on the Parts Tracker and brings the number of files to its lowest level since September 2006. Thanks are due to everyone who created or corrected parts for this release and to those who have reviewed files in order to make this release happen.

You can preview the new parts in 2011-02 and download the update by going to the updates page.

The 160 certified files currently on the LDraw Parts Tracker were held back from this update in keeping with our normal practice of not releasing new primitives or subparts until they are needed for an official part file. Many of the further 337 files waiting for admin review should be included in the next release.

Hello all,

I've been working on LDCad 1.1's 'ortho' mode implementation the last couple of weeks, and I think I now have a solid basic handling running.

But because I personally don't use Ortho much (hence the perspective only view in 1.0) I would love to get some feedback from the people who do prefer the ortho views over a single 3D one.

The current implementation allows for 24! different ortho views using the compass.

A short (8MB) avi can be viewed to get the picture.

http://www.melkert.net/action/download/orthoTest.avi

Basically the ortho view will follow the current editing plane (xy, yz, xz) but on top of that allows for 8 different orientations per plane. It also takes in account the grid orientation (so if you have tilled grid, the ortho views will also tilt.).

The 't', 's', 'f' keys will also work but they restore the last orientation for the plane used in the compass.

In practice you probably set the view only once per window. But by using the compass you could alternatively use a single view for more space convenience.

Any feed back is welcome, cause I'm at the point at which changes can be made 'easily'.

Crossposting from Lugnet.com/Cad:

• Implemented basic undo functionality (might be a bit slow, but should work)
  
• Improvements for network installation or installation under Windows Vista and above.
  MLCad now doesn't write to its installation path anymore.
  
• Save pictures in more formats, now supporting Bitmap, Jpeg, Gif, Tiff and Png.
  
• Serveral bug-fixes
  

This is something I've been thinking about for some time, and now that there's a new Part Update looming and excitement in the air, it's been on my mind even more.

It would be REALLY nice if there was some kind of release schedule for the Part Updates. I can think of a couple good reasons for this: Firstly, users would know when to expect new releases. Instead of just checking in periodically to see if there's been a new update, they'd have solid date(s) for when to look for them. Additionally, I do think this would actually improve some of the throughput from the PT. By introducing deadlines, you create a period of "crunch time" where part creators work faster/harder than they normally would in order to get the most possible parts released.

Consider the recent stickied post "Parts for Urgent Review" and the response that has gotten and the increase in parts that'll now be available for the next update. That thread essentially created a crunch time by saying, "A part release is coming VERY SOON, so you'd better ready your parts." And what happened? People started working much faster and harder than usual in order to get as many parts as possible into the next update. Now imagine that happened everytime there was a release. Would that be such a bad thing?

Personally, I think a 2-updates-per-year schedule is probably ideal, although I do think a strong case could be made for 3 updates as well (I think 4 may be a bit excessive and demanding, but maybe I'm wrong). Last year saw 3 updates spread evenly apart, and so far this year, we've had one update with presumably one more to be released before/around the end of the year.

So, how would this work? Let's say a 2 UPY schedule was agreed upon. Furthermore, it was agreed upon that the updates would be released at the ends (30th or 31st) of June and Decemember. Now, there would likely end up being several deadlines involved.

For example, for the June release, you might have:
June 15th - Deadline for Part Certification.
June 27th - Deadline for Part Review.
June 30th - Update is Officially Released.

So part makers and reviewers would have until the 15th to get their parts certified for the next update, the admin would then have approximately two weeks to review as many parts as he/she can for the update. Then, those who prepare the release (is this also the Admin?), would have a couple days to make any last preperations needed, get everything in line, and publish the release. Obviously, these dates may need to be adjusted, but I think you get a sense of the general process involved.


Would the LSC and/or Steering Commitee (I can never keep track of what each of these does), in conjunction with the Parts Admin, consider the possibility of formalizing a release schedule (and then ensure that it is adhered to)?

Hi,

If you load in a file data to a project, how do you edit the part colour like you would if you were to edit an entire sub part, for example by typing:
'1 16 0 -4 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 4-4disc.dat'
The '4-4'stud.dat' part is replaced by the file data, and that file data is listed below:

3 16 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.9239 0 0.3827
3 16 0 0 0 0.9239 0 0.3827 0.7071 0 0.7071
3 16 0 0 0 0.7071 0 0.7071 0.3827 0 0.9239
3 16 0 0 0 0.3827 0 0.9239 0 0 1
3 16 0 0 0 0 0 1 -0.3827 0 0.9239
3 16 0 0 0 -0.3827 0 0.9239 -0.7071 0 0.7071
3 16 0 0 0 -0.7071 0 0.7071 -0.9239 0 0.3827
3 16 0 0 0 -0.9239 0 0.3827 -1 0 -0
3 16 0 0 0 -1 0 -0 -0.9239 0 -0.3827
3 16 0 0 0 -0.9239 0 -0.3827 -0.7071 0 -0.7071
3 16 0 0 0 -0.7071 0 -0.7071 -0.3827 0 -0.9239
3 16 0 0 0 -0.3827 0 -0.9239 0 0 -1
3 16 0 0 0 0 0 -1 0.3827 0 -0.9239
3 16 0 0 0 0.3827 0 -0.9239 0.7071 0 -0.7071
3 16 0 0 0 0.7071 0 -0.7071 0.9239 0 -0.3827
3 16 0 0 0 0.9239 0 -0.3827 1 0 0
0

I can save the filename as newstud.dat for example

When I type this file data and the string '1 16 0 -4 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6' to edit the whole part I just get a white screen when I save it and open it in the grapical display panel.

any ideas?

And to all you Canadians: Happy Boxing Day

Hope everybody had a great weekend!

I wish to add:
59443 - Technic Axle Joiner Inline Smooth
to the list as it seems to have replaced 6538 (and variants) in all recent technic sets.

Merry Christmas everybody.

I am trying to define a custom LDConfig.ldr for the 10220 - Volkswagen T1 Camper Van so that it takes less time to model, however, I am having a hard time identifying the exact color of some of the parts.

Unfortunately, peeron does not yet have an inventory of the set, so I can't just get the colors from there.

I took a picture of the parts I am having trouble with next to parts of similar color for reference. I tried to take the photo in the best light possible, I can take another if necessary.


Here's my attempt at identifying the colors:

1. Known to be 14 (Yellow). Provided for reference.
   
2. Slightly darker than part #1. Possibly 125 (Light_Orange) or 191 (Bright_Light_Orange)?
   
3. Known to be 2 (Green). Provided for reference.
   
4. Slightly lighter than part #3. Possibly 10 (Bright_Green), probably not 17 (Light_Green), possibly 74 (Medium_Green).
   
5. Not in the set, I think it's 38 (Trans_Neon_Orange).
   
6. In the set, I think it's 57 (Trans_Orange). Do i have #5 and #6 swapped?
   
7. Pretty sure it's 70 (Reddish_Brown) but may as well ask to be sure.
   
8. Pretty sure it's 6 (Brown).
   
9. Pretty sure it's 46 (Trans_Yellow).
   
10. Pretty sure it's 42 (Trans_Neon_Green). Do i have #9 and #10 swapped?
    
11. No clue here.
    
12. I've always believed this color to be 19 (Tan) but seeing #11 makes me wonder.
    

Hi,

Rescently I have been getting to grips with bricksmith/LDraw, but when making a part using the script window I have to save the file then load it in the viewer window so I can see what it looks like as an image. I , and maybe others would like to have some way of automatically altering the graphical presence of the part whenever the script of the file of the part is lt alterred, note that this means having both a script window open and LDraw.

This an be done by having a shell command that enables LDraw to alter the grapic when a change in the script is returned to LDraw.

This means we would not have to keep saving the code and reopening the file in LDraw.
Either a regular text window program such as terminal or noteapad could work or a tool built into LDraw could also work, not sure which one is best.