I was hoping someone could make an LDD version of the lego GLaDOS. It was built by Brandon Bannerman, or "Catsy." The original model can be found here, along with several other incredible models.

Just a side note: I think it's important that whomever re-creates a physical MOC contact the original builder and get his approval first.

I would say don't ask, just do it!

But don't forget to give credit to the original design.

I would say don't ask, just do it!

But don't forget to give credit to the original design.

Let me rephrase.

Contacting the original maker to ask permission serves three purposes:

1) It's polite and good manners between AFOLs.

2) It let's the original maker know that someone wants to make a copy/is making a copy. Just giving credit like you say doesn't necessarily mean that the original maker gets to know about it. Also the original maker might well be interested in a copy of the finished CAD file.

3) It's the way we do it at EB.

I also think it's especially important to be respectful about this when you are making a digital model and post/share the LXF. I for one would be pretty pissed if I saw one of my MOCs floating around the net as a LXF, specially since you can't see any credits in an LXF.

Please also note that I'm now talking about making a 100% copy (which was what Matanuilover asked for). If you borrow small design ideas, I might too settle for giving credit, but if it's easy to drop an email, I would do that, just to say "hey, I got inspired by one of your MOCs etc etc....".

Yes, I absolutely agree.

My point was more about not being passive and following the building instructions from somebody else. But being creative yourself, and creating your own version of a model. The result is rarely an exact copy, and you improve your techniques and creativity.

For me the result is that I find building the Grand Emporium for example quite boring (the end result is great though). I prefer to make my own buildings in LDD and with real bricks, which is much more fulfilling.

Let me rephrase.

Contacting the original maker to ask permission serves three purposes:

1) It's polite and good manners between AFOLs.

2) It let's the original maker know that someone wants to make a copy/is making a copy. Just giving credit like you say doesn't necessarily mean that the original maker gets to know about it. Also the original maker might well be interested in a copy of the finished CAD file.

3) It's the way we do it at EB.

I also think it's especially important to be respectful about this when you are making a digital model and post/share the LXF. I for one would be pretty pissed if I saw one of my MOCs floating around the net as a LXF, specially since you can't see any credits in an LXF.

Please also note that I'm now talking about making a 100% copy (which was what Matanuilover asked for). If you borrow small design ideas, I might too settle for giving credit, but if it's easy to drop an email, I would do that, just to say "hey, I got inspired by one of your MOCs etc etc....".

Thats very true! I will ask. And if he accepts, I will insist on the lxf file being named "GLaDOS_by_catsy" or something like that.

Thats very true! I will ask. And if he accepts, I will insist on the lxf file being named "GLaDOS_by_catsy" or something like that.

Sounds like a good idea

I replied on my photostream, but just for the record I'll chime in here as well.

My usual answer to things like this is that I don't mind if people try building or replicating something that I've built as long as they're not trying to claim credit for it. I don't think people "own" building techniques, and I think everyone benefits from sharing them. And really, at the end of the day GLaDOS is Valve's intellectual property, not mine.

So I guess my answer would be: you're welcome to try. But I have serious doubts about whether or not anyone could build this in LDD or even MLCAD. It uses a lot of ball joints and unorthodox or outright illegal connections, parts connected at weird and organic angles, hollow studs strung onto flex tube, inside-out tires, parts I can't imagine you'd find in LDD, and such on. You can't even see a lot of the internal structures--for example, I drilled a 1/8" hole through the center of a 2x3 plate in order to run wiring for the LED. (Nobody who's followed my stream could accuse me of coming within shouting distance of being a purist...)

I am interested in a comment by Superkalle earlier in the thread, that you can't see credits in an LXF. Is there truly no metadata in the LXF format that would allow you to add credits, copyright, contact info, ransom notes, or anything else to the file? If true, that's a pretty awful format.

At any rate, if you post it on the Internet, please just make it clear somehow that it is based on something I built but that the LXF itself is not my work. And good luck.

Thanks Catsy for your availability to share.

As lxf is a zip format, it is possible to manually add a text file with credits.

Probably no one will see it... but it will be there!

I tested it just now and it seems that the txt file remains even if I modified the file and save it.

Another solution could be simply to distribute the file in a zip containing the credit file. Or both!

So I guess my answer would be: you're welcome to try. But I have serious doubts about whether or not anyone could build this in LDD or even MLCAD.

Aha - a challenge

Seriously though - thanks for posting here Catsy and for making your position clear.

I have a question that relates to this. I've saved a ton of pictures, bookmarks, etc for later reference/use/idea generation. And by ton I mean a TON, over the years. Many of them don't have creator titles or credits, and some are impossible to find the names of the creators for in the first place (unorthodox methods of finding these things sometimes )

To top that off, I've most likely copied techniques/styles/design ideas without even realizing it as it just sort of "stuck" in my head.

For my city creation, I've used a lot of this to help me quickly learn or come up to speed on the way city MOCs can be built, and how to get certain looks (not to mention, borrowed, sometimes heavily, on styles or whole builds). I've even had almost direct copies (as best I could from ones sided pictures) of buildings.

For any building that is too similar, aka direct copy/style, I am rebuilding it. But my temporary "templates" I've posted use them in screen-shots.

I feel like I've made a mess .

Exactly what should be given credit? What if you can't give the proper credit? At what point should more than credit be given, and e-mails start being sent? What is considered "common technique" and what is considered "borrowed technique"?

Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but it seemed to relate.

I would say, alienwar9, that if you ask 5 other people, and 3 of them have heard of the technique, then us it at your discretion.

Anyway, is anyone actually going to offer to try?

Edited June 5, 201113 yr by Matanuilover