LPub3D 1.3.0 Released !

[Mattia Zamboni]

Hi Mattia,

Many thanks for your kind words. This all started because I wanted to help my daughter describe her Mindstorms project.

1) The incompatibility related to the "Add/CHANGE line type attribute to border configuration" with previous LPub versions should be in my opinion be fixed by assigning a value by default to the missing value in case of older file, instead of generating a parsing error which might not be trivial to understand to unexperienced users. This is of course just a suggestion.

I thought about this option and finally decided the time to write logic to do a one-time update was not worth the update itself. If it was the case where files would be useable between LPub and LPub3D then for sure I would have silently addressed this change but this is not the case. So old border metas must be manually updated and once a file is configured for LPub3D there is no further action for LPub3D or the user to do.

I was probably not clear enough on this, I'm sorry. When I talk about LPub itself I am just being generic not necessarily referring to the previous version of LPub3D. In this case I just though it is weird that going from LPub3D 1.3.0 to LPub3D 1.3.4 it generates this kind of errors. This occurs to me since I have been using your rev 1.3.0 for quite a while and generated a lot of files. But again, nothing major.

New possible features:
1) Currently when you click on an step image the cursor moves to the corresponding location on the right commands list, which is great. It would be useful if the same would happen when while clicking on a line of code the corresponding instruction image would get highlighted.

What functional value does this feature provide ? A user must still 'select' the image by a context menu right-click to perform an action. While there may be some 'kool!' factor in having this behavior, I'm not sure what else it achieves.

Well, please understand: I would never suggest a feature if I don't think it could be really useful. When you are navigating the code it is not always trivial to immediately understand a line of code to which step image it is related. When generating building instructions for complex models in order to generate them as clear as possible it occurs a lot that you need to shift parts from one step to another. So getting oriented in the code is fundamental and can save a lot of time of retrial and error. The goal is really just to understand whether the code you are about to tweak is referring to the right step image. But again this is just a suggestion.

2) Rotation steps: Not sure whether it is just me, but when it comes to rotation steps I happen to more or less always use the same angles of vision. (example: 25 50 0 ABS). In my view it would be very convenient to have some buttons to generate these standard rotsteps with just a click. (customzable in the prefs?) Additionally it could help to have buttons to rotate by +/- 90° each axis on the currently selected rotstep. Just throwing ideas out there :-)

Ok, this is a vary contextual request. If I were to implement this then I'd have to satisfy every user's expectation of having the options they 'more or less' use - so that would be a selection of 4 angles x 2 directions (positive, negative) x 2 ABS/REL x 3 axes = 48 buttons.

Well, I totally understand your point, but that is of course not what I meant. I was thinking that adding a button which just with a click adds a rotation step with values taken from the prefs (same way the grids values in MLCAD) could be really useful. Generally speaking every callout should have its own rotstep definition, since if not it inherits it from the main assembly. When generating instructions you can easily forget to define some of them and that's just an example of where it could be handy. And the +/- 90 deg buttons (even just x,y axis in my opinion) would be the cherry on the pie.

3)When I generate BIs I find myself often going back and forth from and to MLCAD to fix small issues, like an inaccurate bricks positions, or a wrong brick color.
In this sense it would be great to have the ability to change the color directly in LPub. Of course this can already be done by typing the color code, but it would be more convenient to have a table with the colors and just have to click on the proper one.
When it comes to brick position also here it would be great to be able to adjust the position of bricks back and forth up and down and so forth by just clicking on some buttons which makes them move by standard distances like 1 plate in height and 1/2 brick in x,y. (or custom configurable in the prefs)
I also like to move bricks temporarily to generate more clear instructions (For this there is a specific Ldraw instruction, but I find too cumbersome and time consuming to use). I personally indeed export everything to PNG and combine instructions in Photoshop.

Considering the effort to implement this this behavior in LPub3D, one should be sure every step is sufficiently configured before embarking on producing instructions - or be prepared to return to their modeling solution to make adjustments. With sophisticated modelers like LDCad, the experience should be better.
Perhaps a feature worth considering is being able to launch the current model file in your preferred modelling application.

I like your idea and you are probably right that it might more convenient to simply have the main editor open for this. Important is the integration of the different software which in this case should guarantee proper files syncronization.

4) possibility to add extra custom arrows? This is something I personally do not need, but somebody might find useful.

Ok - since you do not need this an no one else has requested this and as custom arrows can be added in any modelling application at this time - will you pay 1,000 Euros for this enhancement :-)

Somebody apparently already answered you on this, so you might be eventually able to raise your 1000 Euros ;-))

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On a different note I would like to give you a background and explain where my comments are coming from. I am totally aware what I am about to say might sound like I'm bragging, but this is really not my intention.
Just like everyone on this forum I love LEGOs and in particular virtual LEGOs: especially in relation with graphic design.
And that's why I love to dedicate my spare time to create books. For the last 2 years I have been working on this new book of mine which will include full instructions for about 40 models, all from several model designers. For most of them I had to recreate the 3D model and for all of them the instructions. Models even if small in size are at times using quite fancy building techniques, making the building instructions generation a true nightmare. Working with a publisher I'm also facing the real world problems when it comes to the physical book, its size, pages counts, etc.
As you can imagine I spent quite some time on the Ldraw tools including LDD.
Since this is not my main occupation I have to make sure I use my time in the most efficient way, so that's why even a single mouse-click saved (repeated tons of times) can eventually make a difference.
As mentioned before, right now I feel the most valuable thing I can do is provide my feedback as a "heavy" user, that's all.
But everyone should just take it as input for discussion. I am personally not expecting anything, just want to share my experience and point of view.
This is and will always be the spirit behind my comments.

Once more thank you Trevor and everyone who has contributed to the Ldraw tools: you are really doing a lot for this community and this is commendable.

Take care,

- Mattia