Custom LDD bricks and fixes

[suenkachun]

19 minutes ago, Stephan said:

You are missing some spring assemblies.

Thanks for checking that was my guess, perhaps these are missing files and need to be added back to the latest LDD update files alongside the missing Decorations as the screenshot was taken after I reinstalled the update. Will wait till everything is fixed before downloading the update again. P.S., it should be mentioned somewhere that the old files for Part 73210 and Part 68986 can now be deleted to remove two old duplicated entries.

15 hours ago, BrokenEye said:

Hey, what are the optional stickers? I can't find any detail on them in the key topic or on the blog, other than that they're available. I'm not even sure which screenshot shows them. Are they something different from decorations, or have they been set apart for some other reason?

There is a separate “Stickers Rar” file available for download with all Stickers placed under individual folders with the Set Number, Name and Year as each folder name [e.g., 10261 Roller Coaster (2018)]. Simply copy and paste the necessary Stickers into “C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer\db\Decorations” for use in LDD, the latest  “DecorationMapping.xml” file supplied in the update already includes all of the relevant entries for the Sticker Packs.

Edited September 24, 2024 by suenkachun

[suenkachun]

2 hours ago, Stephan said:

You are missing some spring assemblies.

EDIT: The latest “240922.lxf” still said 20 Bricks missing upon opening so I did a quick Text Compare using the original “240922.lxf” and a version opened on my end and discovered the following Parts not present in the latest LDD Update files (in no particular order): 35756, 2017, 1622, 102286, 35817, 66980, 41599, 35382, 2013, 5215, 5518, 3321 and 29167. If any of these Parts are supplied with Decorations please check whether the relevant PNG Images have already been included too, thanks.

[PicnicBasketSam]

45 minutes ago, suenkachun said:

EDIT: The latest “240922.lxf” still said 20 Bricks missing upon opening so I did a quick Text Compare using the original “240922.lxf” and a version opened on my end and discovered the following Parts not present in the latest LDD Update files (in no particular order): 35756, 2017, 1622, 102286, 35817, 66980, 41599, 35382, 2013, 5215, 5518, 3321 and 29167. If any of these Parts are supplied with Decorations please check whether the relevant PNG Images have already been included too, thanks.

I'm having the same issue with these pieces not being included in the files.

Haven't gone through them all yet, but the only parts I've found with any glitches or connectivity problems are 41594 (can be scaffolded into place on top of a minifig torso, but won't attach directly) 102195 (arms can't move) and 100903, which snaps into place floating some distance above a minifig head. Everything else I've inserted into models so far is working great!

[BrokenEye]

6 hours ago, Stephan said:

The stickers are simply also decoration png's. They are not included in screenshots because LDD does not really like the 8 digit number assigned to them. For example you can not switch between LDD modes when you added stickers. But, if you recreate official sets, you can copy paste the files into the Decoration folder and simply apple them with the Decoration tool.

Oh, I see. I always sort of assumed the number values assigned to decorations are arbitrary, but it sounds like that isn't the case.

Now I'm kinda worried that if I keep adding custom decorations, eventually I'll accidentally hit on a number that conflicts with an official decoration and will be overwritten in a future update. Is there a particular range of numbers I should be using to avoid this?

[Stephan]

10 hours ago, BrokenEye said:

Is there a particular range of numbers I should be using to avoid this?

Unfortunately no. The best thing is to use 6 numbers and stay away from the 1xxxxx range. But you never know with TLG...

[Stephan]

18 hours ago, suenkachun said:

35756, 2017, 1622, 102286, 35817, 66980, 41599, 35382, 2013, 5215, 5518, 3321 and 29167

A little birdie told me that you can re-download part 1 of update 20240922 again. Or the complete update for that matter.

CustomLDDUpdates

[Stephan]

20 hours ago, PicnicBasketSam said:

Haven't gone through them all yet, but the only parts I've found with any glitches or connectivity problems are 41594 (can be scaffolded into place on top of a minifig torso, but won't attach directly) 102195 (arms can't move) and 100903, which snaps into place floating some distance above a minifig head.

Also all fixed now.

[suenkachun]

5 hours ago, Stephan said:

A little birdie told me that you can re-download part 1 of update 20240922 again. Or the complete update for that matter.

CustomLDDUpdates

Thanks for the fixes all is perfect now, found one last minor issue to fix Decorations 1518 and 16796 both need to be adjusted according to the updated UV Mapping of Part 11153 (do check the Sticker Packs as well for any used there).

Edited September 25, 2024 by suenkachun

[Mobieus69]

Quick question for @Stephan  (Thanks for the sweet update by the way).  I've been using brick editor and blender to do some custom editing of my own.  I noticed that Kuiil's head (Star Wars, Mandalorian, part no. 2018) won't connect to a minifig torso over a neck mounted accessory, like the little backpack attachment he wears in the UCS Razorcrest set.  I was hoping you could shed some light on how I might fix that.  What kind of connection I need, where it needs to be placed, etc.  Trial and error hasn't worked thus far.  Thanks so much!

Edited September 26, 2024 by Mobieus69

[jester]

6 hours ago, Mobieus69 said:

Quick question for @Stephan  (Thanks for the sweet update by the way).  I've been using brick editor and blender to do some custom editing of my own.  I noticed that Kuiil's head (Star Wars, Mandalorian, part no. 2018) won't connect to a minifig torso over a neck mounted accessory, like the little backpack attachment he wears in the UCS Razorcrest set.  I was hoping you could shed some light on how I might fix that.  What kind of connection I need, where it needs to be placed, etc.  Trial and error hasn't worked thus far.  Thanks so much!

I’ll take a look tonight 

maybe I left this this connection 

[BrokenEye]

A handful decorations don't seem to be lining up correctly since the last update, particularly minfigure arms and hips, Brick 1x2 (3004), Flat Tile 1x4 (2431). Not every decoration is effected, but those that are include both official decorations and custom ones I've created myself. In the case of the minifigure arms, almost but not quite every left arm is effected but only a few right arms are. Is this a bug, or have you just made changes to the decoration mapping that the decorations haven't been 100% updated to work with yet?

Edited October 2, 2024 by BrokenEye

[suenkachun]

15 minutes ago, BrokenEye said:

A handful decorations don't seem to be lining up correctly since the last update, particularly minfigure arms and hips, Brick 1x2 (3004), Flat Tile 1x4 (2431). Not every decoration is effected, but those that are include both official decorations and custom ones I've created myself. In the case of the minifigure arms, almost but not quite every left arm is effected but only a few right arms are. Is this a bug, or have you just made changes to the decoration mapping that the decorations haven't been 100% updated to work with yet?

Both the UV Mappings of 3004 and 2431 have been updated in the latest LDD Update so relevant Custom Decorations need to be changed too, for 3004 the latest Decoration PNG Image Files supplied with the update should all be Aligned properly but I haven’t checked the Sticker Packs yet for this or for 2431. There’s also Part 87079 Flat Tile 2×4 and Part 3009 Brick 1×6 with updated UV Mappings just to name a few more common Bricks. Essentially for 3004 and 3009 you can now Decorate all four Vertical Surfaces at once, for 2431 and 87079 you can now Decorate the main Top Surface plus all four Vertical Surfaces at once, this also fixes this previous issue for 3004, 2431 and 87079 where the Decoration Surface exceeded the Brick Surface causing distorted Decorations to be displayed in LDD. When I have access to my Laptop later today I can post about these four Bricks ahead of releasing the latest LDD Decorations Size Guide PDF by the end of this week.

[suenkachun]

As mentioned in my post above the latest LDD Decorations Size Guide PDF will only be released by the end of this week as I still have over 20 new Bricks to add to the Guide. However, given that the UV Mappings of four specific Bricks: Part 2431 Flat Tile 1×4, Part 87079 Flat Tile 2×4, Part 3004 Brick 1×2 and Part 3009 Brick 1×6, were changed in the latest LDD Update and will very likely affect custom Decorations, I have decided to mention how to create updated Decorations for them in this post first. Although rough PNG Images of the four UV Mapping are available under the “UV Mappings” Folder supplied with the latest LDD Update, all UV Mappings mentioned in the PDF Guide have been successfully converted into Vector Graphics for the best accuracy, especially when Curves, Slopes and Decimal Numbers are involved.

How To Output Decorations For Part 2431 Flat Tile 1×4 (Top Main Surface And All Four Vertical Surfaces)

Create the five Decorations in their original Dimensions then scale up using the following information, please note that the Back Vertical Surface also needs to be Rotated by 180°.
1. Top Main Surface: Original Dimensions 0.8 cm times 3.2cm; Original maximum Dimensions 256 Pixels times 1024 Pixels.
2. Front and Back Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.28 cm times 3.2 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 89.6 Pixels times 1024 Pixels, compress the shorter side to 79 Pixels without changing the longer side or cropping the shape.
3. Two Side Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.28 cm times 0.8 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 89.95 Pixels times 257 Pixels, compress the shorter side to 79 Pixels without changing the longer side or cropping the shape.

To best explain how the four Decorations are arranged amongst a Transparent Borderless Square with both a Height and Width of 1024 Pixels, please refer to this Vector Graphics with all Pixel measurements and information included. All Gaps are in Bright Orange or Brick Yellow which should be left Transparent while the five main Decoration Surfaces are either in Bright Red, Bright Yellow, Dark Azur, Bright Blue and Dark Green respectively.

How To Output Decorations For Part 87079 Flat Tile 2×4 (Top Main Surface And All Four Vertical Surfaces)

Create the five Decorations in their original Dimensions then scale up using the following information.
1. Top Main Surface: Original Dimensions 1.6 cm times 3.2 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 476 Pixels times 952 Pixels, compress the longer side to 951 Pixels without changing the shorter side or cropping the shape.
2. Front and Back Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.28 cm times 3.2 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 83.2125 Pixels times 951 Pixels, compress the shorter side to 74 Pixels without changing the longer side or cropping the shape.
3. Two Side Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.28 cm times 1.6 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 83.3 Pixels times 476 Pixels, compress the shorter side to 74 Pixels without changing the longer side or cropping the shape.

To best explain how the four Decorations are arranged amongst a Transparent Borderless Square with both a Height and Width of 1024 Pixels, please refer to this Vector Graphics with all Pixel measurements and information included. All Gaps are in Bright Orange or Brick Yellow which should be left Transparent while the five main Decoration Surfaces are either in Bright Red, Bright Yellow, Dark Azur, Bright Blue and Dark Green respectively.

How To Output Decorations For Part 3004 Brick 1×2 (All Four Vertical Surfaces)

Create the four Decorations in their original Dimensions then scale up using the following information.
1. Front and Back Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.96 cm times 1.6 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 384.6 Pixels (rounded up to 385 Pixels) times 641 Pixels.
2. Two Side Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.96 cm times 1.6 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 385.2 Pixels (rounded down to 385 Pixels) times 321 Pixels.

To best explain how the four Decorations are arranged amongst a Transparent Borderless Square with both a Height and Width of 1024 Pixels, please refer to this Vector Graphics with all Pixel measurements and information included. All Gaps are in Bright Orange and Brick Yellow which should be left Transparent while the four main Decoration Surfaces are in Bright Red, Bright Yellow, Bright Blue and Dark Green respectively. Please remember that all 384.6 Pixels and 385.2 Pixels will be rounded off to 385 Pixels in the final PNG Image, but still use both decimal values if possible for the best accuracy.

How To Output Decorations For Part 3009 Brick 1×6 (All Four Vertical Surfaces)

Create the four Decorations in their original Dimensions then scale up using the following information.
1. Front and Back Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.96 cm times 4.8 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 170.6 Pixels times 854 Pixels, enlarge the shorter side to 172 Pixels without changing the longer side or cropping the shape.
2. Two Side Vertical Surfaces: Original Dimensions 0.32 cm times 0.8 cm; Original maximum Dimensions 172.8 Pixels (rounded up to 173 Pixels) times 144 Pixels.

To best explain how the four Decorations are arranged amongst a Transparent Borderless Square with both a Height and Width of 1024 Pixels, please refer to this Vector Graphics with all Pixel measurements and information included. All Gaps are in Bright Orange, Dark Azur and Brick Yellow which should be left Transparent while the four main Decoration Surfaces are in Bright Red, Bright Yellow, Bright Blue and Dark Green respectively. Please remember that all 172.8 Pixels will be rounded up to 173 Pixels in the final PNG Image, but still use 172.8 if possible for the best accuracy. Also note that compared to Bricks 1×2, 1×3 and 1×4 the Front Vertical Surface of this Brick is placed at the back, so Rotate this Brick by 180° before use.

Edited October 3, 2024 by suenkachun

[jester]

A little spoiler but we are preparing big update for minifigures assemblies with @Stephan 

Old LDD decorations won’t work anymore and will be updated as soon as possible 

Here is new uv map for 76382 torso assembly for example 

 

[BrokenEye]

1 hour ago, jester said:

A little spoiler but we are preparing big update for minifigures assemblies with @Stephan 

Old LDD decorations won’t work anymore and will be updated as soon as possible 

Here is new uv map for 76382 torso assembly for example 



 

I'm not sure how to feel about this.

The dimensions of the decorable areas are still the same, though, right?

[jester]

4 hours ago, BrokenEye said:

I'm not sure how to feel about this.

The dimensions of the decorable areas are still the same, though, right?

No, cause torso Part is updated 

[BrokenEye]

9 hours ago, jester said:

No, cause torso Part is updated 

I mean the front and back surfaces individually. Those are still flat squares that I can plop my existing back and front art down in without having to mess around with puppet warp and functions like that, right?

[Mobieus69]

14 hours ago, BrokenEye said:

I'm not sure how to feel about this.

The dimensions of the decorable areas are still the same, though, right?

Yeah, 1024 x 1024.  I personally only update the decoration surfaces on certain parts because I like having a full 1024 square for each individual surface.  Makes everything much sharper, rather than trying to split 4 or 5 images up on a single 1024 square.  But that's just my personal preference.  Now that I've learned how to use LDD Brick Editor with Blender, I can custom edit decoration surfaces at will!

3 minutes ago, BrokenEye said:

I mean the front and back surfaces individually. Those are still flat squares that I can plop my existing back and front art down in without having to mess around with puppet warp and functions like that, right?

Good question, the arms are probably warped differently.

[jester]

@BrokenEye @Mobieus69

Just a little example of Silver centurion torso 

[Mobieus69]

23 minutes ago, jester said:

@BrokenEye @Mobieus69

Just a little example of Silver centurion torso 

Oh, nice.

[BrokenEye]

12 minutes ago, jester said:

@BrokenEye @Mobieus69

Just a little example of Silver centurion torso 



Yeah, I think I'm just going to have to wait to try it out in practice and see how it works out. I'm not terribly good at picturing how UV maps relate to 3-dimensional objects.

By the way, did you know your images haven't posting (as images)? At least for me (I'm using Firefox, if that's relevant), it's just been showing up as a link which I can't click on (unless someone quotes you, in which case the quoted version is clickable), but can use "Open image in new tab" on. Everyone else's images show up fine. It's the weirdest thing.

[jester]

1 hour ago, BrokenEye said:

By the way, did you know your images haven't posting (as images)? At least for me (I'm using Firefox, if that's relevant), it's just been showing up as a link which I can't click on (unless someone quotes you, in which case the quoted version is clickable), but can use "Open image in new tab" on. Everyone else's images show up fine. It's the weirdest thing.

Hmm, I'm using Chrome and everything works fine for me
Maybe it's just browsers conflict....

[suenkachun]

6 hours ago, BrokenEye said:

By the way, did you know your images haven't posting (as images)? At least for me (I'm using Firefox, if that's relevant), it's just been showing up as a link which I can't click on (unless someone quotes you, in which case the quoted version is clickable), but can use "Open image in new tab" on. Everyone else's images show up fine. It's the weirdest thing.

I have noticed this issue since at least last year too and recently figured out why, it has something to do with Firefox’s “Enhanced Tracking Protection” feature.

From Firefox: “It blocks trackers that follow you around online to collect information about your browsing habits and interests without breaking site functionality. It also includes protections against harmful scripts, such as malware that drains your battery.”

Once this feature has been turned on (either “Standard mode” or “Strict mode”), Firefox will automatically block all “Cross-site tracking cookies”. Unfortunately, the Image site jester is using “sun9-71.userapi.com”/“sun9-80.userapi.com”/“sun9-23.userapi.com” is treated as one so Firefox blocked the site’s contents from showing by default. Perhaps use another Browser like Chrome or Whitelist the site. For important Eurobricks Topics I’m following, I have set it to notify me by email of any new replies so I can always preview the images within my Yahoo email.

[BrokenEye]

27 minutes ago, suenkachun said:

I have noticed this issue since at least last year too and recently figured out why, it has something to do with Firefox’s “Enhanced Tracking Protection” feature.

From Firefox: “It blocks trackers that follow you around online to collect information about your browsing habits and interests without breaking site functionality. It also includes protections against harmful scripts, such as malware that drains your battery.”

Once this feature has been turned on (either “Standard mode” or “Strict mode”), Firefox will automatically block all “Cross-site tracking cookies”. Unfortunately, the Image site jester is using “sun9-71.userapi.com”/“sun9-80.userapi.com”/“sun9-23.userapi.com” is treated as one so Firefox blocked the site’s contents from showing by default. Perhaps use another Browser like Chrome or Whitelist the site. For important Eurobricks Topics I’m following, I have set it to notify me by email of any new replies so I can always preview the images within my Yahoo email.

Interesting. I never would've thought of that.

@jester@suenkachun Anyhow, it sounds like you haven't made any changes to the minifig leg UV maps (or not yet anyway). Does that means the waist decorations are displaying weirdly for some other reason?

[suenkachun]

11 minutes ago, BrokenEye said:

Interesting. I never would've thought of that.

@jester@suenkachun Anyhow, it sounds like you haven't made any changes to the minifig leg UV maps (or not yet anyway). Does that means the waist decorations are displaying weirdly for some other reason?

Perhaps check the “UV Mappings” Folder supplied with the latest LDD Update to see if there are any new UV Mappings of the Legs, I’m not good with 3-dimensional surfaces myself so the PDF Guide only contains common Flat Surfaces, Straight Slopes and only recently Curved Slopes with measurements all easily calculated using ratios or from extracting Curves in SVG Programme “Inkscape”. Each time an LDD update is released I check that folder for updated and new UV Mappings, convert into Vector Graphics and add to the PDF Guide.