MLCad 3.50 is available

[Steffen]

https://www.lm-software.com/mlcad/MLCad_V3.50.zip

[Michael Horvath]

https://www.lm-software.com/mlcad/MLCad_V3.50.zip

Oh wow! I wonder if more bugs will be fixed in the future?

[Jaco van der Molen]

https://www.lm-software.com/mlcad/MLCad_V3.50.zip

Oh wow! I wonder if more bugs will be fixed in the future?

Hmm, OK. Any release notes somewhere?

[Merlijn Wissink]

Oh wow! I wonder if more bugs will be fixed in the future?

Hmm, OK. Any release notes somewhere?

Changelog is in the zip file.

[Jaco van der Molen]

Hmm, OK. Any release notes somewhere?

Changelog is in the zip file.

Wait a minute. I totally forgot about it, but I have MLCad 3.5 since October 2105 when it came out.
Not so new after all then.

[Steffen]

release notes quote:

MLCad V3.50:
=================================================================================
Bug-Fixes:
----------
- BFC statement changed between load and save
- Saving ghost statements
- color dialog crash while using custom colors
- Add link for arrow generator in help module
- Corrections for new operating systems Windows 8 ff
- Undo with primitives
- Unknown part display in part list
- Toolbars not displayed when starting

Changes:
--------
4) Rotation vector is now enabled again, but actual values are not calculated
   back when the dialog is opened.

[Steffen]

Yes. Because it was released so silently I just now took notice when I found it in the AIOI 2018-01...
Until then I was stuck with 3.40.

[Michael Horvath]

Changelog is in the zip file.

Wait a minute. I totally forgot about it, but I have MLCad 3.5 since October 2105 when it came out.
Not so new after all then.

Darn. I forgot about the 2015 release too.

[Orion Pobursky]

https://www.lm-software.com/mlcad/MLCad_V3.50.zip

Oh wow! I wonder if more bugs will be fixed in the future?

Honestly, I consider MLCad abandonware. LDCad (and to a lesser extent Bricksmith) has surpassed it in so many ways that my workflow will never go back. My only wish would be that both MLCad and LDCad were open source but, a least with MLCad, that probably will never happen.

[Willy Tschager]

Yes. Because it was released so silently I just now took notice when I found it in the AIOI 2018-01...
Until then I was stuck with 3.40.

That's why you're apparently not reading my posts: https://forums.ldraw.org/thread-16989-po...l#pid18016

w.

[Steffen]

That's why you're apparently not reading my posts

No, the reason is that I frequently just don't have enough time to keep up with the forums.
I just from time to time visit and peek here and poke there.
By far I cannot track each and every post you write.

[Willy Tschager]

By far I cannot track each and every post you write.

You should. They are always meaningful ... usually ... well sometimes ... okay seldom

w.

[Jaco van der Molen]

Oh wow! I wonder if more bugs will be fixed in the future?

Honestly, I consider MLCad abandonware. LDCad (and to a lesser extent Bricksmith) has surpassed it in so many ways that my workflow will never go back. My only wish would be that both MLCad and LDCad were open source but, a least with MLCad, that probably will never happen.

I agree Orion, however I mainly create and edit models in LDCad, I ever so often edit in MLCad and use some features.
For example to apply Buffer Exchange and Rotation Steps which I find much easier in MLCad. Maybe because I was (am) so used to it for years.
I use MLCad Groups to work with Remove Group in LPub(3D).
I use the minifig generator too to create the basics for my minifigures. Especially for accessories (which do not always snap to hands) very handy.
Sort by height and add steps after change in height is still handy to add basic steps to a converted LDD model for example.
And I also like to make use of the "Draw to selected part" option to "step through" a model brick by brick.

Though MLCad is not my main editor anymore, but I cannot live without it. Developing it more would not be nesscesary for me, but making mentioned MLCad features available in LDCad for example would be nice.

[Willy Tschager]

I use the minifig generator too to create the basics for my minifigures. Especially for accessories (which do not always snap to hands) very handy.
And I also like to make use of the "Draw to selected part" option to "step through" a model brick by brick.

+1

w.

[Roland Melkert]

I agree Orion, however I mainly create and edit models in LDCad, I ever so often edit in MLCad and use some features.
For example to apply Buffer Exchange and Rotation Steps which I find much easier in MLCad. Maybe because I was (am) so used to it for years.
I use MLCad Groups to work with Remove Group in LPub(3D).
I use the minifig generator too to create the basics for my minifigures. Especially for accessories (which do not always snap to hands) very handy.
Sort by height and add steps after change in height is still handy to add basic steps to a converted LDD model for example.
And I also like to make use of the "Draw to selected part" option to "step through" a model brick by brick.

Though MLCad is not my main editor anymore, but I cannot live without it. Developing it more would not be nesscesary for me, but making mentioned MLCad features available in LDCad for example would be nice.

I'm considering adding MLCad group support to LDCad 2.0, the only reason I 'invented' my own group meta is because I wanted them to be able to contain nested items and other groups. Maybe LPub will one day support the LDCad groups too

Buffer exchange/and step rotation are already in 1.6 you just need to know how to add the metas (bufexchg in the special LDraw meta's part bin, step rotate by editing the current step.)

Minifig generator is something I have been dubbing about for some time because with shortcut inline/templates and part snapping you could argue it isn't really needed.

Sorting of lines can be done by a macro, but I understand this is a very high learning curve. There is a very basic script for this in the default set of macros though.

"Draw to selected" can be simulated by temporary inserting a step meta. But it will be in LDCad 2.

[Jaco van der Molen]

I agree Orion, however I mainly create and edit models in LDCad, I ever so often edit in MLCad and use some features.
For example to apply Buffer Exchange and Rotation Steps which I find much easier in MLCad. Maybe because I was (am) so used to it for years.
I use MLCad Groups to work with Remove Group in LPub(3D).
I use the minifig generator too to create the basics for my minifigures. Especially for accessories (which do not always snap to hands) very handy.
Sort by height and add steps after change in height is still handy to add basic steps to a converted LDD model for example.
And I also like to make use of the "Draw to selected part" option to "step through" a model brick by brick.

Though MLCad is not my main editor anymore, but I cannot live without it. Developing it more would not be nesscesary for me, but making mentioned MLCad features available in LDCad for example would be nice.

I'm considering adding MLCad group support to LDCad 2.0, the only reason I 'invented' my own group meta is because I wanted them to be able to contain nested items and other groups. Maybe LPub will one day support the LDCad groups too

Buffer exchange/and step rotation are already in 1.6 you just need to know how to add the metas (bufexchg in the special LDraw meta's part bin, step rotate by editing the current step.)

Minifig generator is something I have been dubbing about for some time because with shortcut inline/templates and part snapping you could argue it isn't really needed.

Sorting of lines can be done by a macro, but I understand this is a very high learning curve. There is a very basic script for this in the default set of macros though.

"Draw to selected" can be simulated by temporary inserting a step meta. But it will be in LDCad 2.

OK, good to see Roland.

Since it seems Trevor is picking up LPub3D again, maybe he will support LDCad groups.
I use groups in LDCad too for the purpose you mention: group nested items and groups in groups.

Rotation step I found, but Bufferexchange not. I'll look in to that.

Snapping all parts that a minifig can hold and fit in a minifig hand would be nice, not all parts do that.
Since recently I tried to get a minifig to hold a camera, but that part did snap to the hand. This one:


I'll look into that scripting too. Perhaps I can understand.

Draw to selected part like that would require adding a step after every brick and with a model of many pieces and already correct steps in it not very convenient  ;-)

[Roland Melkert]

Snapping all parts that a minifig can hold and fit in a minifig hand would be nice, not all parts do that.
Since recently I tried to get a minifig to hold a camera, but that part did snap to the hand. This one:

The snapping point on that has a length of 10 while the minifig hand clip has a length of 12 so the engine (correctly) decides it won't fit

I'll change it to 12 although it will then allow for overlap depending on the orientation of the hand.

[Jaco van der Molen]

Snapping all parts that a minifig can hold and fit in a minifig hand would be nice, not all parts do that.
Since recently I tried to get a minifig to hold a camera, but that part did snap to the hand. This one:

The snapping point on that has a length of 10 while the minifig hand clip has a length of 12 so the engine (correctly) decides it won't fit

I'll change it to 12 although it will then allow for overlap depending on the orientation of the hand.

Found how to add Bufferexchange in LDCad! Never gave it any thought nor did I knew how to do that .

Thanks for adjusting the snapping information. How to implement this now?

[Roland Melkert]

Thanks for adjusting the snapping information. How to implement this now?

You need to unpack the shadow (%appdata%/ldcad/shadow/offLib/offLibShadow.csl which is a normal zip) library and adjust the LDraw paths to point to the unpacked version.
Next you need to enable shadow editing (prefs/editing/part editing)
Then locate the camera part and edit it by clicking its edit icon like any normal model.
Snap information is visible by wireframes, you can click and move them around.
Click the tube shaped like an 'I' and press enter (or click the coordinate panel).
Change the sections parameter from R 6 10 to R 6 14
Save the file.
NOTE :this will also save the original part .dat if it had (auto) changes, you can prevent that by using complete.zip without unpacking it.

Or wait on 1.6b

[Jaco van der Molen]

Thanks for adjusting the snapping information. How to implement this now?

You need to unpack the shadow (%appdata%/ldcad/shadow/offLib/offLibShadow.csl which is a normal zip) library and adjust the LDraw paths to point to the unpacked version.
Next you need to enable shadow editing (prefs/editing/part editing)
Then locate the camera part and edit it by clicking its edit icon like any normal model.
Snap information is visible by wireframes, you can click and move them around.
Click the tube shaped like an 'I' and press enter (or click the coordinate panel).
Change the sections parameter from R 6 10 to R 6 14
Save the file.
NOTE :this will also save the original part .dat if it had (auto) changes, you can prevent that by using complete.zip without unpacking it.

Or wait on 1.6b

Ah, LOL. That easy
I think I will give it a try though.

[Jaco van der Molen]

OK, without saving anything to the parts of library, here is what I did:

1. Open my LDraw model file
   
2. Enable Part (shadow) editing
   
3. Add the camera part to the model
   
4. Edit the the camera part
   
5. Adjust the sections parameter accordingly like you suggested
   
6. Then it snapped perfectly in the minifig hand
   
7. Rotated and positioned arm, hand holding the camera like I want, still snapping perfectly
   
8. Disabled Part (shadow) editing
   
9. Save the LDraw file (with camera now in perfect position in hand of minifig)
   

Works like a charm for me!

P.S. I tried this too with part 95330 Minifig Axe which had (or has) nog snapping info yet.
I just added a LDCad cylindrical snap info meta to snap it perfectly in the hand of the fig.
So now he can take a selfie of him chopping a tree :-)

P.S. 2. Radius should be 4 (not 6)

[Milan Vančura]

OK, without saving anything to the parts of library, here is what I did:

Without saving, you lost the change of snap data when you closed LDCad session. Might be OK for you if you needed it just once but this is the reason why Roland suggested you to unpack that .csl archive and let LDCad to save your changes.

[Jaco van der Molen]

OK, without saving anything to the parts of library, here is what I did:

Without saving, you lost the change of snap data when you closed LDCad session. Might be OK for you if you needed it just once but this is the reason why Roland suggested you to unpack that .csl archive and let LDCad to save your changes.

I understand, but that part of Rolands suggestion and workflow got me a bit lost.
So I did this now:
1. Rename the csl file to zip
2. unpacked just be the camera part
3. edit its snap info meta
4. Put it back in the zip in parts folder overwriting the old part
5. renamed the file from zip to csl again
6. Worked like a charm too

[Milan Vančura]

I understand, but that part of Rolands suggestion and workflow got me a bit lost.
So I did this now:
1. Rename the csl file to zip
2. unpacked just be the camera part
3. edit its snap info meta
4. Put it back in the zip in parts folder overwriting the old part
5. renamed the file from zip to csl again
6. Worked like a charm too

Sure, this works, too. BTW, Roland's suggested workflow is very similar to your one - the only difference is that you need to replace your steps 4 and 5 with "set the snap data path in LDCad preferences to the directory with unzipped files". With the advantage you can edit more snap data later again.

Just my $0.02 of "Jaco<->Roland translation service"

BTW, this is what I love so much about LDCad: I can fix many problems myself and I do not need to wait weeks for a new version of some SW. I can (and I did) even send my fixes back so everyone can use them.

[Jaco van der Molen]

I understand, but that part of Rolands suggestion and workflow got me a bit lost.
So I did this now:
1. Rename the csl file to zip
2. unpacked just be the camera part
3. edit its snap info meta
4. Put it back in the zip in parts folder overwriting the old part
5. renamed the file from zip to csl again
6. Worked like a charm too

Sure, this works, too. BTW, Roland's suggested workflow is very similar to your one - the only difference is that you need to replace your steps 4 and 5 with "set the snap data path in LDCad preferences to the directory with unzipped files". With the advantage you can edit more snap data later again.

Just my $0.02 of "Jaco<->Roland translation service"

BTW, this is what I love so much about LDCad: I can fix many problems myself and I do not need to wait weeks for a new version of some SW. I can (and I did) even send my fixes back so everyone can use them.

Milan
Now that I have "fixed" both part 30089 (camera) and 95330 (axe) how and where to send back?

[Philippe Hurbain]

Now that I have "fixed" both part 30089 (camera) and 95330 (axe) how and where to send back?

I guess you could post them here, or... http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/contact

[Roland Melkert]

Now that I have "fixed" both part 30089 (camera) and 95330 (axe) how and where to send back?

I already processed those, I've added snap/mirror info for most 1701 and 1801 stuff.

Working on the electrical stuff at the moment which will be the last before release 1.6b (unless Chris decides on a 1802 )

[Jaco van der Molen]

Now that I have "fixed" both part 30089 (camera) and 95330 (axe) how and where to send back?

I already processed those, I've added snap/mirror info for most 1701 and 1801 stuff.

Working on the electrical stuff at the moment which will be the last before release 1.6b (unless Chris decides on a 1802 )

Great! Thanks so much again.

[Michael Horvath]

Windows won't let me choose MLCad as a program to edit LDR files with. I can "Browse" for the executable, but Windows ignores my choice and does not add the program to the list. Any idea what causes this?

Windows 7 Pro SP1 x64

[edit]

The fix for the problem can be found here:

https://superuser.com/questions/91655/op...-selection

[Steffen]

MLCad 3.51 is available (probably since long ago):
https://www.lm-software.com/mlcad/MLCad_V3.51.zip

Sadly the accompanying ReleaseNotes.txt file
does not mention this version and its differences over 3.50

[Jaco van der Molen]

MLCad 3.51? 

I must admit I ever so often use MLCad for some stuff, but didn't know there was a new version.
This actually made the colors work  again

[Gerald Lasser]

Yes, the difference was to make the 10k colours work again I remember