Datsville

[Michael Horvath]

Thank you!

[Michael Horvath]

Revision 224 is ready.

https://code.google.com/p/datsville/downloads/list

There are a few new buildings. The main change however is that I overhauled a lot of the roadways to use fewer, larger bricks. This brought the part count down to under 100k parts.

Enjoy.

[Michael Heidemann]

During the work on MPDCenter I discovered a mistake in this release.
In file vehicle_017_graysemitruck.ldr there are references to:
vehicle_014_1.ldr
vehicle_014_2.ldr
vehicle_014_3.ldr

Those files are nested in the file vehicle_014_blacksemitruck.mpd and therefore not accessible from outside of that file!

By the way, there are 538 references to '~Moved to' files.

[Michael Horvath]

I'll fix the missing sub-models, thanks!

How do I get rid of the 'moved to' parts?

[Michael Heidemann]

Currently it is not very easy. You need to open a file in MPDCenter. From menu command 'information' choose 'check for ~Moved to files. MPDCenter looks for those files and tells you the number of lines where a reference to a ~Moved to file is found. Then you are asked for action to substitude those references.

I hope this quick description from my mind will help.

I am still working on MPDCenter to fully support also such complex models like datsville.ldr.

[Michael Horvath]

OK, great!

[Michael Horvath]

I've come to sort of a dilemma when deciding how steep the slope of the heightfield terrain (attached to this post) should be. Currently I have calculated the heightfield such that the shallowest slope matches part 4515, the next shallowest matches part 60477, and the next shallowest matches part 4286.



The problem is that the terrain then rises in multiples of 128 ldu, which is not evenly divisible by 24 ldu (the height of a standard LDraw brick) and thus you cannot simply stack bricks upon each other to get to this height. You have to add a few plates.

Which is more important? That the slope matches official bricks, or that you can build to this height using bricks alone?

[Michael Heidemann]

Great progress is made on MPDCenter the last days.
Datsville can be loaded, all relevant files imported and then saved as xmpd file.

While working with it I found that there are many file that are not used! Currently there is no option where I can copy and paste my findings. So this is another item I have to change in code.

Next step before the next release should be the possibility to export datsville and restore the old files.

[Michael Horvath]

Awesome! But which files are unused?

[Michael Heidemann]

I just changed the code an now I get the following list of files, that are not used if I view datsville.ldr:

The file 'building_021_badhous1.ldr' in building_021_houseporchyard.mpd is not used!

The file 'building_060_table_small.ldr' in building_060_icecreamparlor.mpd is not used!

The file 'building_009_cargo.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_dozer.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_worker.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_loader.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_digger.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!

The file 'emebase.dat' in building_044_amateurradioclubbuilding.mpd is not used!

The file 'building_031_prp_hypertank.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_prp_sgn_fire.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_prp_sgn_medic.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_rck_tank.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_lmp_ceiling_1.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_lmp_ceiling_5.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!

The file 'skelet.ldr' in building_071_redbarn.mpd is not used!
The file 'vaeg.ldr' in building_071_redbarn.mpd is not used!

I just discovered a bug in my code and know that the last two are used.
I also checked the building_031_carriagehouse.mpd and yes, those files in the mpd are not shown if i look at datsville.

So at present this can only be a guideline. I keep you informed about my progress.

[Michael Heidemann]

Ok, I changed the code. Problem was that I did not parse xmpd files line wise like I do with the other files. I just loaded the file in one string and used a function from vb.net to split that string at '0 FILE'. That works fine as long as this particular string is not used anywhere else. I used this because it can be coded in a minute
I datsville project there is now one file where the string '0 FILE' occur as comment and therefore my old code failed.
Based on the new code here is the list of not used files in the datsville project:

The file 'building_021_badhous1.ldr' in building_021_houseporchyard.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_060_table_small.ldr' in building_060_icecreamparlor.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_cargo.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_dozer.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_worker.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_loader.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_009_digger.dat' in building_009_miningfacility.mpd is not used!
The file 'emebase.dat' in building_044_amateurradioclubbuilding.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_prp_hypertank.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_prp_sgn_fire.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_prp_sgn_medic.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_rck_tank.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_lmp_ceiling_1.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!
The file 'building_031_lmp_ceiling_5.dat' in building_031_carriagehouse.mpd is not used!

All these files are not visible if you look at datsville.ldr.

If there is somebody out there that is willing to help to make MPDCenter better, please let me know, so I can send the latest build to you for testing.

[Michael Horvath]

Will you be able to fix the "moved to" parts as well? I just ran the L3P converter and a lot of "moved to" parts were detected during the conversion.

[Michael Heidemann]

I know my library is not uptodate but I was able to detect more than 500 ~Moved to files and correct them automatically
That's what MPDCenter is meaning for.

Attached the latest version of
1) loading datsville_rev224 into MPDCenter
2) collect all files that are referenced from the file datsville.ldr
3) correct all ~Moved to files
4) write the content like readed (separate files).

So the file structure in the zip should be exact the same as before.

I hope you like it I do!

[Michael Horvath]

Revision 224 is out of date. Could you do that again with revision 256 in the new thread?

[Michael Horvath]

Oops. Disregard.

[Michael Horvath]

Roland, could you render the attached POV file for me please? Thanks!

[Michael Heidemann]

I would have rendered this, but please let me know what I need to download for

#include "CIE.inc" // http://www.ignorancia.org/en/index.php?page=Lightsys
#include "lightsys.inc" // http://www.ignorancia.org/en/index.php?page=Lightsys
#include "lightsys_constants.inc" // http://www.ignorancia.org/en/index.php?page=Lightsys

cu
Mike

[Michael Heidemann]

Please see attached file for the updated version now.
I realized that in the original folder there are 273 files, but MPDCenter only exports 227 files.
I did not check for the differences, so please be careful with any further change.

[Roland Melkert]

Roland, could you render the attached POV file for me please? Thanks!

datsville_rev256.pov gives a parsing error on line 51276 about a stray '}'. the other datsville.pov seems old.

[Michael Horvath]

Visit this page:

http://www.ignorancia.org/en/index.php?page=Lightsys

and go to the Downloads section. Everything you need is contained in "lightsys4c.zip". You'll need to either dump them in the same directory as Datsville, or add the directory to POV-Ray's library paths.

[Michael Horvath]

It's a bug in L3P I think. Does Lars Hassing post here at all?

[Philippe Hurbain]

Have you tried LDView POV export?

[Michael Horvath]

I haven't used it because I want to preserve the camera position and materials of my previous renders. I'm guessing that LDview output may use different settings.


Mike

[Max Martin Richter]

IMHO it should be possible to overwrite this data with your old camera settings etc in the POV file manually.

/Max

[Michael Heidemann]

I just try it.
Now Pov-Ray claims for two files
#include "lg_defs.inc"
#include "lg_color.inc"

I know from the past, that these files are anywhere and that I need to adjust POV-Ray to find them, or put them in the same directory as the file i want to render.

It would be a great benefit for the user, if this can be checked by LDView on export.
Also I have been in the help of LDView, but no word about those two files. Very disappointing.

Nowadays we should take into consideration that most people just want to use applications and do not want to know much about the background. At least on the first stage. Later on they ask how to tune the results. That's ok and might take some time to figure out how, but not at first stage.

Maybe Travis can take a word on this, as I only remember these things very vague.

Edit: Maybe it was an error on my side. The XML option was checked, but no xml file specified. After I unchecked that option Pov-Ray starts working quite a time but stops at line 593479 due to wrong filename:
#declare LDX_tr�_dot_ldr = union {

I have to check where this wrong file name is from. Maybe wrong character in one of the files of datville that is not really UTF8 without bom, respectively pure ASCII in the original issue.

[Michael Horvath]

OK, I attached a version that is hopefully fixed.

Thanks!


Mike

[Roland Melkert]

I managed to fix the previous .pov, and rendered this:



I didn't see you new version untill now, I take it it hasn't changed model wise, or do I have to rerender?

ps: the .pov failed because of 'moved to' stud objects which end up without any object info when L3Studs is false. Comminting the if then stuff away for the part in question fixes it.

[Michael Horvath]

Thanks. One problem though. I tried viewing Datsville in LDView but the program crashed due to a runtime error. Is it working for you?


Mike

[Michael Horvath]

Very good, thank you! No need to re-render.

Thanks!!


Mike

[Michael Horvath]

I am not using LDView to export the POVray file. I am using "L3P.exe".


Mike

[Michael Heidemann]

Yes, that version works for me here. I just also tried to make Pov-Ray export. Please see my other post in this thread from today.

[Michael Horvath]

New screenshot and map.

[Max Martin Richter]

This was the first time, that I looked for the details in Datsville. :-) Very impressive.
You told in another post, that it is CA-licensed?! I'm wonder if the backhoe on the low bed trailer is a copy of set 6662. Isn't it?

/Max

[Michael Horvath]

Yes. I suspect it's not the only one as well. Which may put the future of this project at risk.

If you notice anything from here I would appreciate it if you let me know as well.

[Michael Horvath]

I've subdivided Datsville buildings into "blocks" sort of like a Voronoi diagram. I am very happy with this organization. It is very simple and easy to manage.

See here. The blocks are labeled in cyan colored text.



However, all the streets are combined into a single "layer", and this layer has a huge number of parts in it. This causes processing times to slow to a crawl when I view this layer.



What would be a good way to organize the streets into smaller groups or cells? Again, maybe use the Voronoi diagram metaphor. What would you do with the line segments separating the cells?

I'm stumped.

[Michael Horvath]

Revision 298 is up.

https://code.google.com/p/datsville/downloads/list

L3P is spitting out a bunch of errors I don't understand. For instance:

Code:

SKIPPING "vehicle_025_redmotorcycleandwhiterider.mpd" Line 1063: Subfile dx901.d
at already read: 2 24 9 -5 3.1 9 -5 24
SKIPPING "vehicle_025_redmotorcycleandwhiterider.mpd" Line 1064: Subfile dx901.d
at already read: 2 24 9 -5 3.1 13 -5 3.1
SKIPPING "vehicle_025_redmotorcycleandwhiterider.mpd" Line 1065: Subfile dx901.d
at already read: 2 24 9 5 24 9 5 3

There are also several warnings in the POV file itself:

Code:

// WARNING: building_001_3024.dat not resolved
// WARNING: building_001_3024.dat not written to POV file
// WARNING: building_031_floor.dat not resolved
// WARNING: building_031_floor.dat not written to POV file
// WARNING: 6099p01.dat not read
// WARNING: 6099p01.dat not resolved
// WARNING: 6099p01.dat not written to POV file
// WARNING: building_062_floor_3.ldr not resolved
// WARNING: building_062_floor_3.ldr not written to POV file

What do these errors mean?

[Michael Horvath]

I found some stuff on Brickshelf that was intended for Datsville but never made it into the model.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=280862
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=713

Wouldn't it be cool if the models were finished and submitted?

[Michael Horvath]

You can download the new revision from here:

https://code.google.com/p/datsville/downloads/list

1. In this version I split the street layer into sectors so we don't have to load the whole model and suffer slowdown when editing.
2. In this version I also made sure that vehicles and pedestrians are firmly fixed to the ground beneath them instead of floating in the air or stuck inside a wall.
3. I added a few more vehicle models by Tim Gould. Great work!