Using downloaded .dat files in BL Studio

[Lawford]

I see we have two options here for download, the .dat file or the zip file. The zip file sometimes contains extra files in folders such as “S” or “P” etc. If I want to import a part into BL Studio should I import these extra files as well?

I have also been told that I should rename the .dat files as it can happen that the file already exists in BL Studio but is hidden and this can cause a conflict such as the part not showing up in the Custom Parts menu.

[Gerald Lasser]

Generally you will need all the files in the zip file.

Those "s" files are so-called subfiles and are usually things that are mirrored or used mulltiple times in a part, so you need them
There might also be "p" files, primitives, that were made new to aid in the construction of the parts, so they are necessary as well.

In addition, as we changed hte naming of the ring prims, some parts might refer to prims that are currently not part of Studio, so those prims are included as well, we talked about it and I think Orion has already updated the zip Generator.

Sometimes Studio may already contain a "raw" file in their library, that was imported by them and sometimes is not really in line with our specs. THose parts are given preference As Studio looks up parts in this order:

- parts
- unofficial
- custom

as custom is last, if they included that part already, you will never see the custom one.

br Gerald

[Lawford]

Generally you will need all the files in the zip file.

Those "s" files are so-called subfiles and are usually things that are mirrored or used mulltiple times in a part, so you need them
There might also be "p" files, primitives, that were made new to aid in the construction of the parts, so they are necessary as well.

In addition, as we changed hte naming of the ring prims, some parts might refer to prims that are currently not part of Studio, so those prims are included as well, we talked about it and I think Orion has already updated the zip Generator.

Sometimes Studio may already contain a "raw" file in their library, that was imported by them and sometimes is not really in line with our specs. THose parts are given preference As Studio looks up parts in this order:

- parts
- unofficial
- custom

as custom is last, if they included that part already, you will never see the custom one.

br Gerald

All but one of the Duplo parts that are already in Studio are hidden due to problems at present with connectivity. So it looks as if I will have to rename the files and I guess that means I will also have to rename any files in the S, collider and connectivity folds that look like they are linked as well?

I see many of the parts in the “P” folder have the same name, so I am guess these are the same?

Thanks, Clive

[Chris Böhnke]

All but one of the Duplo parts that are already in Studio are hidden due to problems at present with connectivity. So it looks as if I will have to rename the files and I guess that means I will also have to rename any files in the S, collider and connectivity folds that look like they are linked as well?

I see many of the parts in the “P” folder have the same name, so I am guess these are the same?

Thanks, Clive

Have you tried Stud.io's internal Part Designer to import them?

I mostly use this and thus far it worked well, especially since it handles the collider and connectivity files as well.

The tool will usually tell you if a subfile is missing. If the file works in LDView but Part Designer still complains, try to put everything (including the main file) in the same folder.

The collider and connectivity folders are required by Stud.io to handle those properties, so yes, if you want connectivity and collision to work correctly on your part, you need 3 different files with the same name (except file extension) in their respective folders.

Regarding the p folder parts, if you mean the ones you downloaded, yes those should be identical.

May I ask which part is causing troubles?

[Lawford]

Have you tried Stud.io's internal Part Designer to import them?

I mostly use this and thus far it worked well, especially since it handles the collider and connectivity files as well.

The tool will usually tell you if a subfile is missing. If the file works in LDView but Part Designer still complains, try to put everything (including the main file) in the same folder.

The collider and connectivity folders are required by Stud.io to handle those properties, so yes, if you want connectivity and collision to work correctly on your part, you need 3 different files with the same name (except file extension) in their respective folders.

Regarding the p folder parts, if you mean the ones you downloaded, yes those should be identical.

May I ask which part is causing troubles?

Thanks Chris,

I'll try out the Part Designer next time, I didn't know that was a possibility. Will it automatically save the parts to the right Custom Parts folders or do you have to choose them? 

As I understand it, Studio has not figured out a way to connect Duplo parts properly within Studio. Therefore the Duplo parts that are already in Studio are hidden till they figure this out. This in turn causes a problem when we upload the same part into the Custom Parts folders and is the reason for having to rename the files for the parts to show up. Studio will automatically check the Main folder first where it will find the hidden part so therefore it will not show up.

A couple of examples of files I had to rename are 6377 and 3437.

[Chris Böhnke]

Thanks Chris,

I'll try out the Part Designer next time, I didn't know that was a possibility. Will it automatically save the parts to the right Custom Parts folders or do you have to choose them? 

As I understand it, Studio has not figured out a way to connect Duplo parts properly within Studio. Therefore the Duplo parts that are already in Studio are hidden till they figure this out. This in turn causes a problem when we upload the same part into the Custom Parts folders and is the reason for having to rename the files for the parts to show up. Studio will automatically check the Main folder first where it will find the hidden part so therefore it will not show up.

A couple of examples of files I had to rename are 6377 and 3437.

Yes, it will (at least usually) put everything in the correct folder. Just be careful though not to click too fast, otherwise Stud.io will assign your part a random name which you might find hard to track down in both your OS's folders and your custom parts palette.

Regarding the Duplo parts you mentioned, this is quite interesting indeed... I didn't know Stud.io had 'hidden' parts available. I know they have custom connection points in the database (for minifig arm joint e.g.) which you can't access by their regular user interface (though by some easy tricks ). So I really don't think that connection points are causing this issue.

If the part does exist, this does of cause create issues. I had a similar problem when trying to insert the old 8x8 plate with grid WITHOUT center hole into Stud.io, because the newer version already existed. Thus far the only solution seems to be: Rename your custom part to something else (and possibly all required sub-parts, if necessary).  I would advise against modifying your Stud.io installation folders, because the next update to Stud.io will likely delete your work.

Regarding the hidden Duplo parts you mentioned, I will look into it and post an update if I find anything noteworthy.

[Lawford]

Yes, it will (at least usually) put everything in the correct folder. Just be careful though not to click too fast, otherwise Stud.io will assign your part a random name which you might find hard to track down in both your OS's folders and your custom parts palette.

Regarding the Duplo parts you mentioned, this is quite interesting indeed... I didn't know Stud.io had 'hidden' parts available. I know they have custom connection points in the database (for minifig arm joint e.g.) which you can't access by their regular user interface (though by some easy tricks ). So I really don't think that connection points are causing this issue.

If the part does exist, this does of cause create issues. I had a similar problem when trying to insert the old 8x8 plate with grid WITHOUT center hole into Stud.io, because the newer version already existed. Thus far the only solution seems to be: Rename your custom part to something else (and possibly all required sub-parts, if necessary).  I would advise against modifying your Stud.io installation folders, because the next update to Stud.io will likely delete your work.

Regarding the hidden Duplo parts you mentioned, I will look into it and post an update if I find anything noteworthy.

Thanks Chris,

I have included a link to my correspondence through the Studio forum which will no doubt explain it better that I can. The problem also has something to with the parts not being assigned a category yet.

https://forum.bricklink.com/viewtopic.php?t=11381

I'm sure there are many more parts than the one's I've mentioned, as the problem only showed up with some parts that I had already used a while back or with some new parts I am trying to add. I now I just re name all Duplo files I download from LDraw, so I don't have any problems now or later. I just hope that Studio one day finds a way to add Duplo parts to their main menu.

[Chris Böhnke]

I've checked the Stud.io folders and while I could indeed find a few parts that don't appear in the actual program, I don't know why they put them there.

Regarding the Duplo parts you mentioned, I had no issue importing them. I didn't even 'need' to implement connection points - for simple builds the collision + grid does a well enough job:

   

You mentioned that you used these parts some time ago - I guess this was prior to at least one Stud.io update? Have you tried to clear your custom parts folder and try import them again?

Regarding Lego's stand on Duplo parts: I really don't think it's a technical issue, given the relative simplicity of (regular) Duplo parts. Since they didn't bother adding any type of Duplo bricks to LDD back in the day, I believe there is a different reason for Lego not to include them.

[Lawford]

Hi Chris 

You mentioned that you used these parts some time ago - I guess this was prior to at least one Stud.io update? Have you tried to clear your custom parts folder and try import them again?

These were used a while back on a different computer, so the Custom Parts are new on the computer I am using now. The renaming of the parts seems to do the trick so I think that's what I'm going to do from now on to save any problems that might crop up in the future.

Regarding Lego's stand on Duplo parts: I really don't think it's a technical issue, given the relative simplicity of (regular) Duplo parts. Since they didn't bother adding any type of Duplo bricks to LDD back in the day, I believe there is a different reason for Lego not to include them.

This is a real shame, as some Duplo parts are already there and seem to be usable!

Thanks again for your help.