I'm curious how different people make use of submodels, and, for those editors that support them, groups? I've read about a few different methods, all of which seem valid; is there one that's preferred, or considered more "correct" or standard?
One method I've heard is that submodels should be used similar to subparts—that is, for assemblies within models that are used frequently, or have to be repeatable for some reason, in order to reduce file size. This makes sense, although one difference I can think of is that subparts are likely to be used in more than one part, but I don't know how often you'd find a submodel being used in more than one different model.
Another recommendation I've seen is that submodels should correspond to sub-assemblies that appear in building instructions, especially if they have their own building steps shown in a callout. And yet another is that submodels are useful for keeping assemblies together that might need to be hinged, rotated, or otherwise positioned as a group—in animation, for example, or just for posing the model.
And finally, I've seen a few models of official sets where the use of submodels seems to make no sense at all; maybe those builders are using a system I just don't understand yet!
As for myself, I like to build official sets, so I use submodels to correspond to sub-assemblies shown in the instructions, especially if they are used more than once, or have more than 3 building steps of their own. In Studio I used to also use them for groups of parts that need to move as a separate unit, but since switching over to LDCad, I use the Grouping feature for that. Any collection of parts that needs to be positionable as a group, but separately from the overall model, I assign to a Group in LDCad, and I use the different grouping layers for nesting these assemblies within each other, from smallest to largest. (For example, a tire/hub and its axle might be in Layer 1, then that group plus the steering arm that rotates with it would be Layer 2, and if that whole assembly also moves up and down in a suspension, it's Layer 3, etc. I figure this may come in handy when and if I ever figure out animation, or if kinematics become a reality some day…) And since groups in LDCad can be spread across different subfiles, I use the submodels only for different stages of the building process itself.
What are other builders' experiences?
One method I've heard is that submodels should be used similar to subparts—that is, for assemblies within models that are used frequently, or have to be repeatable for some reason, in order to reduce file size. This makes sense, although one difference I can think of is that subparts are likely to be used in more than one part, but I don't know how often you'd find a submodel being used in more than one different model.
Another recommendation I've seen is that submodels should correspond to sub-assemblies that appear in building instructions, especially if they have their own building steps shown in a callout. And yet another is that submodels are useful for keeping assemblies together that might need to be hinged, rotated, or otherwise positioned as a group—in animation, for example, or just for posing the model.
And finally, I've seen a few models of official sets where the use of submodels seems to make no sense at all; maybe those builders are using a system I just don't understand yet!
As for myself, I like to build official sets, so I use submodels to correspond to sub-assemblies shown in the instructions, especially if they are used more than once, or have more than 3 building steps of their own. In Studio I used to also use them for groups of parts that need to move as a separate unit, but since switching over to LDCad, I use the Grouping feature for that. Any collection of parts that needs to be positionable as a group, but separately from the overall model, I assign to a Group in LDCad, and I use the different grouping layers for nesting these assemblies within each other, from smallest to largest. (For example, a tire/hub and its axle might be in Layer 1, then that group plus the steering arm that rotates with it would be Layer 2, and if that whole assembly also moves up and down in a suspension, it's Layer 3, etc. I figure this may come in handy when and if I ever figure out animation, or if kinematics become a reality some day…) And since groups in LDCad can be spread across different subfiles, I use the submodels only for different stages of the building process itself.
What are other builders' experiences?
