Yuck. Get MLCAD. Although you have to install LDRAW first for the parts library.
Or just get LEGO Digital Designer from LEGO themselves. You can then get a price quote directly from your design, but that can be a bit daunting.
Lego Digital Designer is by far the easiest to use, without sacrificing too much flexibility. You do want to unlock Extended Mode to give you access to a lot more bricks and colours though.
If you want hardcore Technic support, including much more powerful flexing tools and the ability to actually animate many of the mechanisms you can do it with SR3D Builder. Although personally I found it a tad cumbersome to use, but then I'm not skilled with 3D software.
Nice work :) Yes, really seems like a great utility. I decided to build the basic Technic 8048 Buggy in it (I'm sure this has probably been done by someone else before, but I'm doing it as a way of learning LDD). I'm having some real problems getting some of the Technic bits to fit with each other though.
Anyone know how I can make the yellow pistons fit inside the grey cylinder blocks? They just won't integrate using any of the things I've tried...
Hmm - that sort of thing's always a problem, sine there's no definite connection between the two parts. It can be awkward just putting an axle through a hole sometimes, and then when you move the bricks it leaves the axle behind as they're not physically joined.
What I'd suggest is try putting the pistons down on the ground, then the piston blocks over them, then group them together before moving them into place. You might have set yourself a tricky problem there though. It may be best just not to bother trying to fit the linkages in as you'd have to slide the heads to exactly the right position before fitting the linkages.
It does have a great physics engine that lets you lay and flex chains around models, but I don't know if there's any way to make that work for adjusting linkages or multiple parts with hinge-like connections.
Hmm - that sort of thing's always a problem, sine there's no definite connection between the two parts. It can be awkward just putting an axle through a hole sometimes, and then when you move the bricks it leaves the axle behind as they're not physically joined.
Yes, think I'm going to give up for now and leave the pistons and associated linkages to one side of the main model. I've tried coming at it from several different angles, and those cylinders don't seem to want to play - it seems like they're snapping to a grid that's preventing them going into the cylinder blocks.
Still, that's not to detract from LDD at all - I'm generally crap at using any 3D modelling apps (I've tried and failed to get to grips with google sketchup several times, for example), but LDD really seems to be nice and easy to use. And it's certainly cheaper than buying real-word bricks :)
MLCAD lets you place the blocks anywhere and doesn't care if there are tiny alignment or overlap issues. It's much slower to build with than LDD, but has better sub-model features.
LDD is primarily for kids. You can build simple things very quickly, but more advanced users quickly find that its grouping tools are a right mess and you can't manually alter the order of the instructions. However, you can learn to live with it by making careful use of the 'import' function and a lot of backups. It was developed by people with no actual experience of using CAD tools, which still bewilders me to this day.
MLCAD lets you place the blocks anywhere and doesn't care if there are tiny alignment or overlap issues. It's much slower to build with than LDD, but has better sub-model features.
LDD is primarily for kids. You can build simple things very quickly, but more advanced users quickly find that its grouping tools are a right mess and you can't manually alter the order of the instructions. However, you can learn to live with it by making careful use of the 'import' function and a lot of backups. It was developed by people with no actual experience of using CAD tools, which still bewilders me to this day.
Like I say, I'm very impressed with the user interface and the snapping is fairly handy for the most part. So much quicker than cursoring bricks around back and forth in mlcad. If only I could actually build any of the models I have (all 80s and 90s stuff)
Meh, not that impressed. The user interface is great but there are just too many bricks missing even with the extended legacy stuff enabled.
Depends how old you're thinking. It's a tool to drive sales, so there's not much point them CAD rendering a part that hasn't been manufactured for 30 years.
I think the hardest part is finding things in the categories they've chosen. I did correspond with them on the categories and they've taken a lot on-board - it's a lot less confusing than previous versions. But even now, you open up a category with all the hidden bricks turned on and it can be quite overwhelming.
You've just got to learn it. A lot of the same code has gone into LEGO Universe, so in there you can design models and put them on your own private patch of land, then watch as kids' minifig avatars climb all over it and try to smash it. It's quite fun to program your models to fight back and watch them struggle as the scenery walls them in then releases a horde of demonic ronin.
Lego Digital Designer is great! Here's my daughter's eccentric house building transferred to the digital domain.
That Chimney next to the front door is probably agasint local fire regulations, being so close to an exit...sorry the whole thing will have to come down. Explain to her she needs planning permission and safety inspection next time.
Meh, not that impressed. The user interface is great but there are just too many bricks missing even with the extended legacy stuff enabled.
It's getting better, the last update for example included some of the old style hinged parts. Obviously because it's used to support the Design By Me service and internal projects it tends to favour parts still in production, but the developers do seem to try to add parts to help the fan community. LDraw based tools like MLCad certainly have a lot more of the older parts, but generally are more likely to be lacking newer pieces, so it's tricky either way.
That Chimney next to the front door is probably agasint local fire regulations, being so close to an exit...sorry the whole thing will have to come down. Explain to her she needs planning permission and safety inspection next time.
That Chimney next to the front door is probably agasint local fire regulations, being so close to an exit...sorry the whole thing will have to come down. Explain to her she needs planning permission and safety inspection next time.
That's no chimney. It's a ladder to let you have roof access from where you can slide down the tiles. That's seven year old architectural logic for you.
That's no chimney. It's a ladder to let you have roof access from where you can slide down the tiles. That's seven year old architectural logic for you.
That's no chimney. It's a ladder to let you have roof access from where you can slide down the tiles. That's seven year old architectural logic for you.
I think the hardest part is finding things in the categories they've chosen. I did correspond with them on the categories and they've taken a lot on-board - it's a lot less confusing than previous versions. But even now, you open up a category with all the hidden bricks turned on and it can be quite overwhelming.
I'm slowly getting to grips with it now, but I completely see what you mean about the categories. I nearly gave up on my technic buggy after having spent 15 minutes looking for a "V-Engine Holder" (of course, I didn't know that's what it was called when I was looking for it) and nearly giving up, assuming that part wasn't available in LDD. But I've just found it amongst the old-style studded technic bricks, so now I can blunder on!
Apart from the minor niggle with the pistons & cylinders, I really think it's a great bit of software with an excellent UI. Thanks everyone for the pointers, tips and links in this thread as I'd probably never have found this app otherwise.
LEGO's naming conventions are downright strange. They name everything in Danish (which is not a particularly expressive language) then translate literally into English, and that's what goes on the system.
So you have this situation where the standard LEGO green is 'Dark Green', so the darker shades of some colours are 'Earth Green' and 'Earth Blue', but you've still got 'Dark Red'. Pinks are usually labelled something like 'Light Purple'. And any sort of curve is a 'bow', so 'Brick with Bow 1x3' might be a curved sloping brick, or it might be a small archway.
It does occasionally throw up some amusing howlers, like the new fish, which has a clippable rod for a tail and a hollow stud for a snout - the official description is "Fish with knob".
With a little bit of fiddling it is possible to get the pistons to fit inside the cylinder block. The way I did it is roughly as follows:
1) Attach a piston rod to an axle and put the yellow bit on the end.
2) Rotate that to exactly 45 degrees round the axle (click the little dots on the rotate tool as a shortcut)
3) Detach the yellow piece and put it to one side. We need this rotated to help LDD realise how we want this to connect later on.
4) Fix the cylinder in place to the end block (note that we're deviating a bit from the order of the instructions here, often with LDD is advantageous to build things in-place where it wouldn't be physically)
5) Start putting in the piston rods, rotating it so that the ball joint is roughly in the centre of the cylinder block.
6) Pick up our rotated yellow bit and it should just click into the right place. If not, go back and tweak the rotation of the piston rod slightly.
Comments
It's the Xyclon-B that gives it it's lethal kick!
......did I just go too far? :D
possibly
Ant Attack and Pacmania's Block Town level spring to mind...
Lego Interstellar spacecraft ,
1 hamster pilot
1 failed launch from top of stairs.
to be fair, thats better than nasa are doing.
And what about those lego mazes? With traps!
nah, they're for woodlice
Respect for the post!
I downloaded the above software last night.
Or just get LEGO Digital Designer from LEGO themselves. You can then get a price quote directly from your design, but that can be a bit daunting.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=53760
EDIT: Never mind - just downloaded it and applied that Extended Mode thingy and it does seem to have Technic bricks and beams. Looks great :)
Anyone know how I can make the yellow pistons fit inside the grey cylinder blocks? They just won't integrate using any of the things I've tried...
What I'd suggest is try putting the pistons down on the ground, then the piston blocks over them, then group them together before moving them into place. You might have set yourself a tricky problem there though. It may be best just not to bother trying to fit the linkages in as you'd have to slide the heads to exactly the right position before fitting the linkages.
It does have a great physics engine that lets you lay and flex chains around models, but I don't know if there's any way to make that work for adjusting linkages or multiple parts with hinge-like connections.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
/me gives LDD a try
Edit: 'course the good thing about the LDraw suite is you can export a POV file and do an attractive rendering with fancy light effects and stuff :)
Still, that's not to detract from LDD at all - I'm generally crap at using any 3D modelling apps (I've tried and failed to get to grips with google sketchup several times, for example), but LDD really seems to be nice and easy to use. And it's certainly cheaper than buying real-word bricks :)
LDD is primarily for kids. You can build simple things very quickly, but more advanced users quickly find that its grouping tools are a right mess and you can't manually alter the order of the instructions. However, you can learn to live with it by making careful use of the 'import' function and a lot of backups. It was developed by people with no actual experience of using CAD tools, which still bewilders me to this day.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
Like I say, I'm very impressed with the user interface and the snapping is fairly handy for the most part. So much quicker than cursoring bricks around back and forth in mlcad. If only I could actually build any of the models I have (all 80s and 90s stuff)
I think the hardest part is finding things in the categories they've chosen. I did correspond with them on the categories and they've taken a lot on-board - it's a lot less confusing than previous versions. But even now, you open up a category with all the hidden bricks turned on and it can be quite overwhelming.
You've just got to learn it. A lot of the same code has gone into LEGO Universe, so in there you can design models and put them on your own private patch of land, then watch as kids' minifig avatars climb all over it and try to smash it. It's quite fun to program your models to fight back and watch them struggle as the scenery walls them in then releases a horde of demonic ronin.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
That Chimney next to the front door is probably agasint local fire regulations, being so close to an exit...sorry the whole thing will have to come down. Explain to her she needs planning permission and safety inspection next time.
It's getting better, the last update for example included some of the old style hinged parts. Obviously because it's used to support the Design By Me service and internal projects it tends to favour parts still in production, but the developers do seem to try to add parts to help the fan community. LDraw based tools like MLCad certainly have a lot more of the older parts, but generally are more likely to be lacking newer pieces, so it's tricky either way.
:lol:
That's no chimney. It's a ladder to let you have roof access from where you can slide down the tiles. That's seven year old architectural logic for you.
Will give this MLCad thingy a go too, but I suspect it'll be too complex/long-winded for me to do much with, based on what people are saying here.
That's, frankly, a brilliant idea. :)
but does it have sound foundations. :p
Apart from the minor niggle with the pistons & cylinders, I really think it's a great bit of software with an excellent UI. Thanks everyone for the pointers, tips and links in this thread as I'd probably never have found this app otherwise.
So you have this situation where the standard LEGO green is 'Dark Green', so the darker shades of some colours are 'Earth Green' and 'Earth Blue', but you've still got 'Dark Red'. Pinks are usually labelled something like 'Light Purple'. And any sort of curve is a 'bow', so 'Brick with Bow 1x3' might be a curved sloping brick, or it might be a small archway.
It does occasionally throw up some amusing howlers, like the new fish, which has a clippable rod for a tail and a hollow stud for a snout - the official description is "Fish with knob".
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
1) Attach a piston rod to an axle and put the yellow bit on the end.
2) Rotate that to exactly 45 degrees round the axle (click the little dots on the rotate tool as a shortcut)
3) Detach the yellow piece and put it to one side. We need this rotated to help LDD realise how we want this to connect later on.
4) Fix the cylinder in place to the end block (note that we're deviating a bit from the order of the instructions here, often with LDD is advantageous to build things in-place where it wouldn't be physically)
5) Start putting in the piston rods, rotating it so that the ball joint is roughly in the centre of the cylinder block.
6) Pick up our rotated yellow bit and it should just click into the right place. If not, go back and tweak the rotation of the piston rod slightly.
Repeat for the remainder of the engine block.