I know my way with LDD but lately came to realize that not all parts are available in LDD. Thinking of trying something different but there are few choices out there. Granted most/all are freeware, yet, is there a comparative review with pros/cons for each of those tools? E.g. What I'm thinking is at least 4 attributes:

1. Ease of use

2. Visual quality of graphics

3. Parts collection

4. Stability (not crashing)

A better title would have been: How do all CAD tools compare?

Edited August 30, 201311 yr by DrJB

I would recommend SR3D Builder. It has the great collection of LDraw parts. It is relatively easy. At bit more complicated compared to LDD (but it is also a lot more powerful), but far more easy than the well known MLcad. You can read the manual, look up some videos or read the newest Hispabrick magazine (it has a tutorial written by me ) to get you started. The stability was always not very good to be honest, but since the last few updates everything got A LOT more stable.

Btw, if you choose SR3D Builder, you can change the view-mode to LDD-like, it is a lot better in my opinion.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask

As far as I know, there are three main ecosystem for LEGO digital CAD.

- The LDD one (for the LDD software)

- The LDRAW one (for MLCAD, SR3D Builder, LeoCAD, etc...)

- The Mechabricks one (used in Mechabricks web cad)

The first (LDD) has has a not expandable database, but the advantage of a great number of new parts, received sometimes even before TLG release the respective sets.

The second (LDRAW) has an open and expandable database, containing the great part of old bricks and decorations, but lacks of many new parts that usually arrives with some delay.

The third (Mechabricks) is very young and in development, it has a smaller number of parts than the other but the developer is available to accept and introduce new parts. In the gallery you can find complete sets that it is not possible to obtain with LDD or LDraw related software.

[...]

The second (LDRAW) has an open and expandable database, containing the great part of old bricks and decorations, but lacks of many new parts that usually arrives with some delay.

[...]

Well, this is only partly true. The more difficult shaped parts and the less used parts often come with a delay, but the more general (and easier to make) parts are often earlier availble than LDD.

I also use SR 3D Builder. I like it a lot. I took me a little bit to get used to but now it is easy. I used to use MLCAD but I think SR 3D Builder is easier and faster. I still do use MLCAD to get my model ready for LPub though.