Thoughts on LDCad 1.6 Mirrori feature

[Roland Melkert]

I've been working on a mirror feature for LDCad 1.6 it is already working quite nice.

Problematic are the paired parts (e.g. left/right wing etc)

I managed to get the feature working for lots of parts without the need for additional information, but some parts will still need it .

For this I'm introducing a new LDCad meta for use in the shadow library. Some examples:

15209.dat "Tile  1 x  2 with  2 Teeth Vertical":

Code:

0 //The tooths are not symetric
0 !LDCAD MIRROR_INFO [baseFlip=Z] [counterPart=autoLeftRight]

2450.dat "Plate  3 x  3 without Corner":

Code:

0 //This part is its own counterpart when rotated 90 deg.
0 !LDCAD MIRROR_INFO [baseFlip=X] [counterPart=self] [oriCor=0 0 1 0 1 0 -1 0 0]

32191.dat "Technic Panel Fairing #2":

Code:

0 !LDCAD MIRROR_INFO [counterPart=32190.dat]

The defaults of this meta's parameters will be used for all parts even when the meta is not present in the file.  'autoLeftRight' for example will try to find a left/right version of a part based on the description. This works for all wings but not for the technic panels. so e.g. 32191.dat needs a manual defined counter part.

This is my current test case, it mirrors on the Z-axis but the final version will let you use x or y as well .

   

I would love to get some feedback on this, especially from the library experts as I really want to minimize the need for extra info.

The main thing I'm asking here is help in determining the default state of things and / or additional ways of auto detecting counter parts.

[Philippe Hurbain]

I guess technic panels (and other parts?) could be recycled through PT to add a "left"/"right" to description. But is it really worth the trouble?
...and what about a mirroring tool for flexible parts? That's something I long for (even more than a generic mirror build tool)!

[Roland Melkert]

I guess technic panels (and other parts?) could be recycled through PT to add a "left"/"right" to description. But is it really worth the trouble?
...and what about a mirroring tool for flexible parts? That's something I long for (even more than a generic mirror build tool)!

If the description has left/right with otherwise exactly the same text they will be detected automatically. This is only true for one pair of panels though, I added a meta in the shadow library for the others though.

I managed to set this up so you only have to add the meta to one when the other one uses negative mirroring in a higher .dat. In that case it will automatically cross reference them.

Flexible parts will also mirror their control points etc, basically anything with a matrix and / or reference can be mirrored.

ps: what do you mean with 'mirror build too'? I hope you are not expecting realtime mirroring, this only mirrors the selection or the whole subfile cross the x,y or z (relative grid) axis.

[Philippe Hurbain]

ps: what do you mean with 'mirror build too'? I hope you are not expecting realtime mirroring, this only mirrors the selection or the whole subfile cross the x,y or z (relative grid) axis.

No, no, I just meant selection mirroring
Good news for flex parts mirroring!

[Merlijn Wissink]

Great news Roland!
Mirroring is the one 'major' feature I've really (really!) missed since going from SR3D Builder to LDCad. I see it isn't realtime mirroring though, although it isn't a must, it would be nice nonetheless

A little feature-request (if you haven't already implemented it) regarding mirroring; it would be nice if it's possible to select a whole submodel and then mirror it completely into a new submodel.

[Roland Melkert]

Great news Roland!
Mirroring is the one 'major' feature I've really (really!) missed since going from SR3D Builder to LDCad. I see it isn't realtime mirroring though, although it isn't a must, it would be nice nonetheless

A little feature-request (if you haven't already implemented it) regarding mirroring; it would be nice if it's possible to select a whole submodel and then mirror it completely into a new submodel.

I considered real time mirroring but I couldn't find a reliable way of doing it using the current editing internals so maybe in 2.0

Mirroring the whole model is available from the session menu (previously named model menu).
A duplication feature is already present in 1.5, so making a mirror duplicate will take two clicks.

Mirroring the whole file asumes you centered things around 0,0,0 though, while the selection mirror feature uses the part/custom center.

Many parts wont mirror correctly, yet, though as they need an alternative method due to their base orientation and or lack in symmetry. The current method assumes parts are symmetrical in the local x-axis which most parts seem to be.

All other parts will need shadow information which I will be adding during the beta stage.