Import/insert ldr/dat file in LDCad

[Jaco van der Molen]

Hi all,

Perhaps a silly question from a meanwhile die-hard LDCad user ;-)

Is it possible to import or insert an LDraw model file (.ldr or .dat for that matter) like in good-old MLCad Import submodel?


Thanks.

Jaco

[Philippe Hurbain]

One thing that mostly works is to drag/drop wheelchair.ldr onto ldcad screen, and choose "use file by reference". "Mostly", because there seems to be a problem finding the wheelholder file, even if I put model, wheelchair.ldr and wheelholder.dat in the same folder. But if I put everything in the same fordel and inline wheelchair.ldr, the wheelholder does appear...
Edit: OK, dunno what I did wrong before, now I see the wheelholder, no matter where I put wheelchair and wheelholder
Now this uses file as reference. To put the wheelchair in the mpd itself, right click on it, reorganize -> embed unofficial content.

[Jaco van der Molen]

One thing that mostly works is to drag/drop wheelchair.ldr onto ldcad screen, and choose "use file by reference". "Mostly", because there seems to be a problem finding the wheelholder file, even if I put model, wheelchair.ldr and wheelholder.dat in the same folder. But if I put everything in the same fordel and inline wheelchair.ldr, the wheelholder does appear...
Edit: OK, dunno what I did wrong before, now I see the wheelholder, no matter where I put wheelchair and wheelholder
Now this uses file as reference. To put the wheelchair in the mpd itself, right click on it, reorganize -> embed unofficial content.

Ok gonna give this a try. I have a few minifigs generated by MLCad that need to go in a models. 
Of course I can put them in manually too in the mpd, but doing it in LDCad is faster this way.

[Jaco van der Molen]

One thing that mostly works is to drag/drop wheelchair.ldr onto ldcad screen, and choose "use file by reference". "Mostly", because there seems to be a problem finding the wheelholder file, even if I put model, wheelchair.ldr and wheelholder.dat in the same folder. But if I put everything in the same fordel and inline wheelchair.ldr, the wheelholder does appear...
Edit: OK, dunno what I did wrong before, now I see the wheelholder, no matter where I put wheelchair and wheelholder
Now this uses file as reference. To put the wheelchair in the mpd itself, right click on it, reorganize -> embed unofficial content.

Ok gonna give this a try. I have a few minifigs generated by MLCad that need to go in a models. 
Of course I can put them in manually too in the mpd, but doing it in LDCad is faster this way.

So I dragged my minifig models in the main file. This works.
But what I meant was actually that the file itself was imported in the model as a submodel in the MPD structure.
This way I can only inline and have to create a submodel yet again.

What I would like is the same feature like MLCad's Import Submodel.

[Roland Melkert]

So I dragged my minifig models in the main file. This works.
But what I meant was actually that the file itself was imported in the model as a submodel in the MPD structure.
This way I can only inline and have to create a submodel yet again.

What I would like is the same feature like MLCad's Import Submodel.

Embed unofficial content is the same as 'import model'.

Do note: There is a small bug (or rather an overview on my side) concerning doing that with a mpd, it will only embed its main model I'll fix that for 1.6b but embedding a single ldr should work like you want.

[Milan Vančura]

What I would like is the same feature like MLCad's Import Submodel.

I know about this simple way: while you have the main file open in LDCad, open the submodel file as another one, then go back to the main session (a hotkey "End") and find "all open models" section in the PartBin. This way you can add (reference) the submodel easily.

I know about that because this is what I'm careful about, NOT to do that (accidentally) because surprises know to be very bad then. But if you know what you are doing, go ahead. One idea: if you want to have something like your own library of submodels, wouldn't be possible to add that directory as a source of unofficial "parts" and have them accessible directly at each LDCad run, automatically? (I didn't test this, just an idea.)

[Jaco van der Molen]

So I dragged my minifig models in the main file. This works.
But what I meant was actually that the file itself was imported in the model as a submodel in the MPD structure.
This way I can only inline and have to create a submodel yet again.

What I would like is the same feature like MLCad's Import Submodel.

Embed unofficial content is the same as 'import model'.

Do note: There is a small bug (or rather an overview on my side) concerning doing that with a mpd, it will only embed its main model I'll fix that for 1.6b but embedding a single ldr should work like you want.

Ah, OK. I see.

[Jaco van der Molen]

What I would like is the same feature like MLCad's Import Submodel.

I know about this simple way: while you have the main file open in LDCad, open the submodel file as another one, then go back to the main session (a hotkey "End") and find "all open models" section in the PartBin. This way you can add (reference) the submodel easily.

I know about that because this is what I'm careful about, NOT to do that (accidentally) because surprises know to be very bad then. But if you know what you are doing, go ahead. One idea: if you want to have something like your own library of submodels, wouldn't be possible to add that directory as a source of unofficial "parts" and have them accessible directly at each LDCad run, automatically? (I didn't test this, just an idea.)

Good point Milan! Thanks.