[LDCad] Part Connectivity

[Miguel Reizinho]

Just wondering... I have some custom part files and I have added connectivity and conflict information in Stud.io by using part designer. Is there any way I could import that connectivity of these custom parts but in LDCad? 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Roland Melkert]

Just wondering... I have some custom part files and I have added connectivity and conflict information in Stud.io by using part designer. Is there any way I could import that connectivity of these custom parts but in LDCad?

I'm not familiar with how studio defines that information, but if it's human readable you might be able to at least copy the coordinates of special locations etc.

LDCad uses LDraw meta lines to define the information.

This is usually added trough the shadow library, which contains .dat files that are appended to the official content during loading.

But you can also add the meta lines to the part files directly (If you don't want to put them on the part tracker).

For example:

Code:

0 !LDCAD SNAP_CYL [gender=F] [caps=one] [secs=R 6 20] [pos=0 24 0] [grid=C 10 C 2 20 20]

Is used for the 3006.dat brick, it defines the 2x10 anti-stud grid at the bottom.
The studs at the top don't need information as they already 'inherit' their information from the stud.dat primitive.

More information is on my site:
http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/tech/meta
http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/tech/shadowLib

ps
I forgot to mention you can also edit the snap information inside LDCad itself, by enabling part editing in prefs/editing/part editing
You can then double click a part to edit it and use the special LDCad meta part bin to drag meta's into the part.
It is best to use the source window while doing that, especially if you want to add it to the file itself (by default it will go into the shadow file).

[Miguel Reizinho]

I'm not familiar with how studio defines that information, but if it's human readable you might be able to at least copy the coordinates of special locations etc.

LDCad uses LDraw meta lines to define the information.

This is usually added trough the shadow library, which contains .dat files that are appended to the official content during loading.

But you can also add the meta lines to the part files directly (If you don't want to put them on the part tracker).

For example:

Code:

0 !LDCAD SNAP_CYL [gender=F] [caps=one] [secs=R 6 20] [pos=0 24 0] [grid=C 10 C 2 20 20]

Is used for the 3006.dat brick, it defines the 2x10 anti-stud grid at the bottom.
The studs at the top don't need information as they already 'inherit' their information from the stud.dat primitive.

More information is on my site:
http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/tech/meta
http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/tech/shadowLib

ps
I forgot to mention you can also edit the snap information inside LDCad itself, by enabling part editing in prefs/editing/part editing
You can then double click a part to edit it and use the special LDCad meta part bin to drag meta's into the part.
It is best to use the source window while doing that, especially if you want to add it to the file itself (by default it will go into the shadow file).

Thank you for the help. The connectivity information in stud.io is not a "readable" file. It's not TXT or something that I've been able to open.

I've tried editing the parts and adding the LDCad cylindrical snap info to them and I was able to achieve the desired results. Is there any way to change the centre of rotation or origin of a custom part permanently with part editor?

[Roland Melkert]

Is there any way to change the centre of rotation or origin of a custom part permanently with part editor?

Yes just move all the sub parts around until the desired part center is at 0,0,0

But you will need a 'real' LDraw part editor as LDCad only allows editing of the shadow data.

[Miguel Reizinho]

Yes just move all the sub parts around until the desired part center is at 0,0,0

But you will need a 'real' LDraw part editor as LDCad only allows editing of the shadow data.

I'm using Stud.io Part Designer, not sure if it is a 'real' editor.  

And I was able to define the part center by placing the part at 0,0,0. Thank you. 

This is getting to be an addition (part 65578 was driving me nuts!). How can I contribute to the official LDCad shadow library? 

Also can you clarify for me please: for my unofficial parts library, I had no file or folder configured for the shadow library. So where did LDCad saved my shadow files?

[Roland Melkert]

I'm using Stud.io Part Designer, not sure if it is a 'real' editor.  

It depends if you want to make proper LDraw parts (you can donate to the library) or just custom ones for use in studio/LDCad

This is getting to be an addition (part 65578 was driving me nuts!). How can I contribute to the official LDCad shadow library? 

Once it is part of the LDraw (un)official library you can mail me the snap definitions or post it here.

This is getting to be an addition (part 65578 was driving me nuts!). How can I contribute to the official
Also can you clarify for me please: for my unofficial parts library, I had no file or folder configured for the shadow library. So where did LDCad saved my shadow files?

If your part isn't loaded from a library location with a shadow, snap information will be added to the part file itself.