Submodel naming and organization

[N. W. Perry]

I'm starting to rethink my design philosophy regarding how I put together a model for the OMR. Currently I name things by step number (e.g. step45.ldr) or an appropriate noun name and step if there are multiple sections that start with step one (e.g. book1-step5.ldr). Since I've now run into multiple instruction sets where even LEGO can't keep the step numbers consistent, I'm thinking about abandoning the step numbering system and instead focus on submodeling to make positioning movable elements easier. Maybe not even include steps at all?

How does everyone else go about organizing their submodels? Do you put instruction steps in?

I use submodels almost exclusively to align with sub-builds in the official instructions. I name them for what they actually represent: a crankshaft assembly, a roof, an architectural element such as a pediment, a fire truck, and so on. I can almost always find an appropriate noun or phrase to represent the object, although this sometimes leads into extensive Googling to figure out what the proper name of certain things actually is (I guess that's part of the fun for me).

Occasionally I'll have to resort to something more esoteric: components of a tower assembly might be towerA, towerB, towerC and so on; or maybe just a purely functional name like mount, core, base, hinge, etc.

Additionally, I have a basic hierarchy for naming the assemblies (in the Description field, not the filename), viz.:

• A "submodel" is a major, largely independent part of the whole, like an entire floor of a modular building, or the separate vehicles in a Town set. Not all models have these.
  
• An "assembly" is the basic subdivision of a model. The majority of first-level sub-builds are assemblies. If they're part of a submodel, the name will be based on that submodel (like "1F Window assy").
  
• A "sub-assembly" is basically an assembly inside an assembly; so, a second-level sub-build.
  

Pretty much any sub-build in the instructions with more than 3 steps or so gets a submodel/assembly. Occasionally I'll make a submodel for a repeated assembly that's not a separate sub-build, but in most cases I'll just copy/paste the parts.

For positioning/rotating/animating purposes, I use LDCad's groups instead, because they can nest inside and across submodels. This is because sub-builds often contain both parts of a hinge or turntable, not just the part that actually rotates, and often have more parts added to them after they're placed in the main model. Groups are very powerful so they work well for this.