Custom LDD bricks and fixes

[SylvainLS]

Er, maybe I’m missing something obvious but I only see 49307 / Brick  1 x  1 x  0.667 with Curved Top as a new brick here.

It’s one of the few for which LDD’s and LDraw/Studio coordinates and orientation don’t change.  Lucky you 

If you use one of the wheel covers, for instance, it won’t import (wrong number, it will be a ‘?’ box), and if you import the other parts, they won’t be placed nor oriented the correct way.  (Try the LXF with all the new parts as an example.)

At least, Studio tries to import the parts “as-is” (same number, same position and orientation).  LDD needs to be told everything (no default).

[manglegrat]

17 hours ago, SylvainLS said:

Er, maybe I’m missing something obvious but I only see 49307 / Brick  1 x  1 x  0.667 with Curved Top as a new brick here.

It’s one of the few for which LDD’s and LDraw/Studio coordinates and orientation don’t change.  Lucky you 

If you use one of the wheel covers, for instance, it won’t import (wrong number, it will be a ‘?’ box), and if you import the other parts, they won’t be placed nor oriented the correct way.  (Try the LXF with all the new parts as an example.)

At least, Studio tries to import the parts “as-is” (same number, same position and orientation).  LDD needs to be told everything (no default).

Maybe I'm lucky, for once!  There are some of the new 1x1 brackets hidden inside the structure.  But I guess if Studio didn't import those you wouldn't see it on the render anyhoo.

<edit>Yeah, I was just lucky, as most of the 1x1 brackets were moved by the import and it's a gongshow of collisions... </edit>

19 hours ago, M2m said:

Nice bab 5 station there !

Thanks! Not sure if it'll survive the process at the current scale, but I solved a lot of problems to get to that stage... Lots more to come! 

Anyhoo, apologies - didn't intend to pollute the thread! 

Back on topic - is anyone working on 65617 (Brick, Round Corner 3 x 3 x 1 without Studs)? 

Edited June 9, 2020 by manglegrat

[jweir]

How do I get to this "Download the parts pack (rar file) to the location of the "db" folder from here: LINK only on request through private message;" 

will not allow me to private message

thanks in advance for all  your help

 

[dany_woozie]

Hey polymaker thank you for the tool and documentation, it's amazing! I had to remove QFont to compile, and hardcoded 45° rotation snap on ctrl due to rotation text boxes not working as expected, but I'd like to add a pull request on your github for that if I manage to make a proper fix.
Knex WIP

Edited June 10, 2020 by dany_woozie
Uploaded a different link as attached image is not visible, possibly waiting moderation verification.

[zweifuss]

On 6/8/2020 at 4:08 PM, manglegrat said:

Back on topic - is anyone working on 65617 (Brick, Round Corner 3 x 3 x 1 without Studs)? 

I've managed to make a quick-and-dirty one using Brick, Round 3 x 3 x 1 1/3 Dome Top - Open Stud (49308) as a donor and editing some stuff out. I imported 65617 from the unofficial ldraw library. Not sure if it's good enough for an official release though, but I've managed to put it on a plate and they seem to go together. No collisions done yet though. I'm thinking P/N 24599 (Brick, Round Corner 5 x 5 x 1 without Studs) would be a better donor brick to work from for a more robust file, but that would take some time to do. I think I'll let the experts do it... I'm just a hobbyist. If you want mine though you can send me a private message.

 

[Equilibrium]

Nice, so was it agreed on some standards regarding crediting parts original author or numbering in case LEGO released another update? How parts are distributed to users?

 

Before I stopped last year I have made few more parts apart from shown on the first page:

The carts do slide on rail, they do have hinges and stuff :)

[SylvainLS]

Monorail! 

[M2m]

4 hours ago, Equilibrium said:

Nice, so was it agreed on some standards regarding crediting parts original author or numbering in case LEGO released another update? How parts are distributed to users?

 

Credits shall be given to the original parts author as part of an xml comment inside the primitive xml file like for example this:

<!--
	Derived from The LDraw Parts Library
	Orginal Author: Steve Bliss [sbliss]
	Editted for LDD by Jester94
	-->

There isn’t a standard for numbering but as official LEGO updates are unlikely just go with what you think fits best. In case this problem arises later it can be handled relatively simple with part rename and text search replace in the lxfml file of the model. 
 

stephan is curating a list and zip file of all new parts. So I think if you just put your new parts somewhere to make them available it’s fine. 
 

Of course any suggestions to the issues are welcome. 

Edited June 11, 2020 by M2m
Fixed spelling

[Stephan]

5 minutes ago, M2m said:

stephan is curating a list and zip file of all new parts. So I think of you just put your new parts somewhere to make them available it’s fine

Yes, true! A new update is on the way. Jester is having soms computer problems; that's why updates have been slow this month. As soon as I can walk again, I will create the next update with Equilibrium's parts.

[SylvainLS]

For part numbers, the de facto standard has been to replace a, b, c… (variants or parts packs) with 1, 2, 3….  It adds a digit but the parts are easily found.

Also, if you make 3-digits parts, as it appears LDD needs IDs to be at least 4 digits, you can add a 1 in front.  There are no official 1xxx part in LDD, nor is there in LDraw or on BL.

(The only clash this scheme could bring is the pair (193a.dat and 193b.dat) on one side and the pair (931.dat and 932.dat) on the other would both become (1931 and 1932).  And those parts are already there or not useful for LDD.)

 

[Equilibrium]

58 minutes ago, M2m said:

Credits shall be given to the original parts author as part of an xml comment inside the primitive xml file like for example this:

<!--
	Derived from The LDraw Parts Library
	Orginal Author: Steve Bliss [sbliss]
	Editted for LDD by Jester94
	-->

There isn’t a standard for numbering but as official LEGO updates are unlikely just go with what you think fits best. In case this problem arises later it can be handled relatively simple with part rename and text search replace in the lxfml file of the model. 
 

stephan is curating a list and zip file of all new parts. So I think if you just put your new parts somewhere to make them available it’s fine. 
 

Of course any suggestions to the issues are welcome. 

Hmm, so I'd have to update all the files with credits.

I was initially thinking about creating parts pack installer. I know pretty simple way of making file patches. But it would require tool to import new/modified bricks into LIF file. That would also enable creating instructions/renders like I have showed at the beginning (I have actually manualy added that red panel to db.lif using hex editor :P).

5 minutes ago, SylvainLS said:

For part numbers, the de facto standard has been to replace a, b, c… (variants or parts packs) with 1, 2, 3….  It adds a digit but the parts are easily found.

Also, if you make 3-digits parts, as it appears LDD needs IDs to be at least 4 digits, you can add a 1 in front.  There are no official 1xxx part in LDD, nor is there in LDraw or on BL.

(The only clash this scheme could bring is the pair (193a.dat and 193b.dat) on one side and the pair (931.dat and 932.dat) on the other would both become (1931 and 1932).  And those parts are already there or not useful for LDD.)

 

I was going down starting from 999999 or something like that if I remember correctly. It wouldn't collide with an official update but it creates a problem in case when someone would like to export xml parts list for BL or sth. And if more people would do as they please it would create an unnecessary disorder.

[SylvainLS]

1 minute ago, Equilibrium said:

I was going down starting from 999999 or something like that if I remember correctly. It wouldn't collide with an official update but it creates a problem in case when someone would like to export xml parts list for BL or sth. And if more people would do as they please it would create an unnecessary disorder.

Please, keep as close as possible to LDraw numbers.

It’s easier for people to find them in LDD (when they have the part on BL, in LDraw, or simply have it in hand) and out of LDD (when they want to buy them).

Also, I mainain the ldraw.xml file and it makes my life easier when I don’t have to chase the numbers down (especially as you already know them) 

If there are problems or conflicts or a new LDD update (*cough* dream on *cough*), we’ll still be able to find a solution.  Keep it simple and cross that bridge….

[M2m]

9 hours ago, Equilibrium said:

But it would require tool to import new/modified bricks into LIF file. That would also enable creating instructions/renders like I have showed at the beginning (I have actually manualy added that red panel to db.lif using hex editor :P).

Yeah I'm looking for a "LIF Creator" tool as well. Maybe I spend some time on the weekend to look into coding my own LIFCreator in Python. Alternatively maybe bluerender and blueprint instructions creator could be updated to read from the extracted file structure (I updated my own RenderMan converter to read from the DB folder structure if it is available).

Edited June 12, 2020 by M2m

[Equilibrium]

19 hours ago, SylvainLS said:

Please, keep as close as possible to LDraw numbers.

It’s easier for people to find them in LDD (when they have the part on BL, in LDraw, or simply have it in hand) and out of LDD (when they want to buy them).

Also, I mainain the ldraw.xml file and it makes my life easier when I don’t have to chase the numbers down (especially as you already know them) 

If there are problems or conflicts or a new LDD update (*cough* dream on *cough*), we’ll still be able to find a solution.  Keep it simple and cross that bridge….

Well, that's a lot of updating then.

14 hours ago, M2m said:

Yeah I'm looking for a "LIF Creator" tool as well. Maybe I spend some time on the weekend to look into coding my own LIFCreator in Python. Alternatively maybe bluerender and blueprint instructions creator could be updated to read from the extracted file structure (I updated my own RenderMan converter to read from the DB folder structure if it is available).

That's also an option.

[Corellian Corvette]

So it's absolutely amazing what the community has done, but extracting the LIF file works great for LDD but renders some of the other programs inoperable (like Bluerender and Blueprint) as well as breaks the internal LDD instruction builder. So it has a bunch of downsides unfortunately. 

Both Blueprint and Bluerender need the db.lif file to work properly and can't use the DB folder so both of those programs won't start. 

When importing the updated files in Stud.io (I was going to use their rendering engine), all of the new parts imported improperly, so the model had to be fixed in a couple ares to render. 

I thought I would play around more with the internal LDD building guide but now it crashes every time I launch it (I have 4.3.12 that still says 4.3.11 but has the online mode warning)

So yeah what a bummer :( 

I was super excited to use the new parts it was preventing me from finishing a few builds, but unless there is a LIF creator of some sort, or Blueprint/Bluerender get updated, using the new parts has some limitations unfortunately :(

[SylvainLS]

7 minutes ago, Corellian Corvette said:

When importing the updated files in Stud.io […], all of the new parts imported improperly,

Use a proper conversion tool (see my earlier comment on the previous page), or even use LDD to export to LDraw first (with my ldraw.xml file, same comment), then import the LDraw in Studio.

 

9 minutes ago, Corellian Corvette said:

I have 4.3.12 that still says 4.3.11 but has the online mode warning

Get the real 4.3.11 instead.  There are threads on how to do that here.  It won’t solve the crashing problem but 4.3.12 is really messed up.

(I don’t know of any real life model of which LDD could make a correct instruction manual, so I’m not sure much of value is lost )

[Corellian Corvette]

1 hour ago, SylvainLS said:

Use a proper conversion tool (see my earlier comment on the previous page), or even use LDD to export to LDraw first (with my ldraw.xml file, same comment), then import the LDraw in Studio.

Get the real 4.3.11 instead.  There are threads on how to do that here.  It won’t solve the crashing problem but 4.3.12 is really messed up.

(I don’t know of any real life model of which LDD could make a correct instruction manual, so I’m not sure much of value is lost )

Thanks much! I found the old binary and reinstalled 4.3.11 - instructions still broken as you say.

Still, not having blueprint or bluerender working really hampers the benefits of the new pieces, particularly for instructions.

Anyone know of a program similar to blueprint that will work?

Thanks!

[Corellian Corvette]

@SylvainLS I tried the html converter you linked to, but when I select the LXF file it doesn't do anything. No link or anything appears even after waiting a long time.

I'm on Windows 10 using Chrome. 

Am I doing something wrong?

EDIT - I could not get the HTML file, but I found another post from you which replaces the XML file that LDD uses for export and that worked GREAT!

Edited June 16, 2020 by Corellian Corvette
Fixed

[SylvainLS]

6 hours ago, Corellian Corvette said:

Am I doing something wrong?

No, it’s my fault with an incomplete renaming of a variable in the last update.  

It’s corrected now.  Sorry.

 

7 hours ago, Corellian Corvette said:

I found another post from you which replaces the XML file that LDD uses for export and that worked GREAT!

Good 

I’m following the addition of new parts in LDraw and here for LDD, so everything should be covered but if you find any part that’s missing or is wrongly converted, don’t hesitate to tell me.

 

7 hours ago, Corellian Corvette said:

Anyone know of a program similar to blueprint that will work?

Studio can automate the making of steps: go in the Step Editor, select multiple parts, a “divide into steps” button appears.  It’s about as good as LDD, I’ll let you decide if it’s good enough 

[Corellian Corvette]

Thanks so much @SylvainLS

I was up WAY too late last night installing alternate software and playing around with other options. My conclusion at the end, I think, is that I need to remove the updated parts and stick with the basic LDD Program. 

Stud.io is a really interesting piece of software, but it's amazing to me that some fundamental features that are so easy to use in LDD haven't been replicated in Stud.io. For example simple drag-and-drop groupings, the quality of "snapping" the bricks are both inferior to LDD. It's more powerful in many ways but also loses some of the more basic features.

Instructions in the latest build are much easier than pretty much any other program than Blueprint. However, it lacks the basic ability to copy/paste parts into different instruction groupings and the real-estate allocated to the actual instructions is too small to easily manipulate parts. There are some things in there I really like (using the real model) but the actual instruction part is not as good. 

I can't believe that the simple Blueprint program is far-and-away the best instruction builder for the simple hobbyist. 

For rendering, your new LXF convertor + Stud.io's rendering is really great. Not as fast as Blueprint for the render but that at least I can get a good workflow on. 

I hope someone finds a way to re-pack the .LIF file so Blueprint can be used with the new parts. Or MAYBE someone can contact the creator of Blueprint and ask him to make a change to the Software to read the DB directory instead of the file. Either of these changes would pretty much allow LDD to live for a long time. 

Edited June 16, 2020 by Corellian Corvette
spelling errors.

[M2m]

6 hours ago, Corellian Corvette said:

I hope someone finds a way to re-pack the .LIF file so Blueprint can be used with the new parts. Or MAYBE someone can contact the creator of Blueprint and ask him to make a change to the Software to read the DB directory instead of the file. Either of these changes would pretty much allow LDD to live for a long time. 

Working on a lif repacker, but having some trouble in getting the recursion (for folders and subfolders) right. 
 

Meanwhile I’m sure you can reach out to msx80 and asking for changing blueprint. 

[Corellian Corvette]

4 minutes ago, M2m said:

Working on a lif repacker, but having some trouble in getting the recursion (for folders and subfolders) right. 
 

Meanwhile I’m sure you can reach out to msx80 and asking for changing blueprint. 

@M2m if you have a patreon or donation page, I give you 100% assurance I will give you real money if you make this work. I use LDD *so much* for my personal stuff and getting those older programs to work would be awesome and is worthy of getting paid for your time. 

I did send what I hope was a very nice PM to @msx80 to see if he'd be looking to do an update, but clearly it's been a while and he's not updated which I'm sure he's moved on. But his programs are still so great, making the change would allow them to live on and co-exist with the awesome changes to LDD to keep it going longer.  

[M2m]

3 hours ago, Corellian Corvette said:

@M2m if you have a patreon or donation page, I give you 100% assurance I will give you real money if you make this work. I use LDD *so much* for my personal stuff and getting those older programs to work would be awesome and is worthy of getting paid for your time. 

Thanks for the offer. But I think the tool is simple enough and wouldn't justify donation. Anyway it's just I'm too rusty in figuring folder recursion out (I have a prototype which packs all files in one folder into a lif file without subfolders. This unpacks flawless with LIFExtractor. But without proper subfolder processing this is useless.) Once its done I will release the full source - its python.

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by M2m

[Stephan]

On 6/11/2020 at 4:28 PM, Equilibrium said:

Before I stopped last year I have made few more parts apart from shown on the first page:

Where can I download the .g files and .xml files for these parts? I'd like to add them to a next update.

[Stephan]

Version 20200617β is now available for download, containing 5 new parts and 6 updated parts.