Help! How to use caterpillar treads in LDD.

[SHEESH]

Hi everyone. I need to know how I could use the caterpillar treads.

I tried to connect it to the rim for belt but it doesn't work.

Any tip or reply would be appreciated. Thanks.

[DLuders]

@ SHEESH: Welcome to Eurobricks! You need the "Sprocket Wheel Template" listed at the bottom of this Eurobricks LDD Reference post. Aanchir posted this LXF File and wrote,

"Sprocket wheels are another hassle on LEGO Digital Designer (obviously, because they are based on clip-and-bar-axles). This file intends to help you make this technique more manageable. There are three parts to this: a tool in Spring Yellowish Green for building a chain of treads, a pre-made chain of treads, and two "loops" of treads around the two styles of sprocket wheel.

"To use the tool, simply place a tread piece or a pre-made length of treads on the part of the tool angled horizontally. Add an additional tread piece to the vertical part, then use the "hinge" tool to connect these two sections. You can then copy the length of tread, move the tool to its original position, and continue expanding the chain as long as you need.

"The loops and pre-existing length of chain are meant to help you incorporate these treads into a MOC or set. Although LEGO Digital Designer does not recognize connections between the treads and the sprocket wheels themselves, you can use these loops as a "starting point" for aligning your treads. Just delete portions of the loops and place a chain of treads in their place to create a larger loop between multiple sprocket wheels. Note that this template is not able to compensate for sets or MOCs where the loop will not be "taut"-- this is a problem I may not be able to deal with at this time."

Here is additional information that Aanchir put on his Brickshelf gallery:

"Hi! I'm Aanchir, and I created this template.

"This template is for building models on LDD that require part 57520 (the small sprocket wheel) and part 57518 (the tread).

"To use this template:

1) Download the file

2) Remove one or more of the tread pieces that surround the sprocket wheel so that it's no longer a complete loop.

I recommend removing one of the 60-degree tread pieces so there's a horizontal tread to connect to.

3) Connect as much extra tread as you need.

A chain of horizontally-placed treads is provided for you to use or copy.

WARNING!

Clips on LDD do not like to center correctly!

There will usually be a left or right offset, which can do a lot of harm if all of your clips are offset in the same direction.

The chain of tread pieces may not be lined up at both ends!

To avoid this, use the green alignment tool included in the file.

Place new tread pieces on every other pin, then place tread pieces on the pins in-between.

The alignment tool is entirely in green so you can use the "color select" tool to select all its parts at once.

If you need to use green parts in your actual model, feel free to select the tool and change its color to something a color you will not be using.

4) Once you have the length of tread you need, you will need it to wrap it around the other wheels of your model.

ALWAYS use the hinge tool to ensure the tread is wrapped snugly around each wheel.

It may help to paint the treads TRANSPARENT so you can see how they align in the grooves.

5) Some sets and MOCs will have some "sag room" on their treads, or will have wheels that have to be rotated to align properly.

I am not yet equipped to deal with either problem, but perhaps you will find your own solution.

If the alignment goes smoothly, the last hinge rotation will make your length of tread link back up at the ends.

Congratulations! You're done!

I hope this template proves useful."

Edited May 8, 2011 by DLuders

[SHEESH]

@ SHEESH: Welcome to Eurobricks! You need the "Sprocket Wheel Template" listed at the bottom of this Eurobricks LDD Reference post. Aanchir posted this LXF File and wrote,

"Sprocket wheels are another hassle on LEGO Digital Designer (obviously, because they are based on clip-and-bar-axles). This file intends to help you make this technique more manageable. There are three parts to this: a tool in Spring Yellowish Green for building a chain of treads, a pre-made chain of treads, and two "loops" of treads around the two styles of sprocket wheel.

"To use the tool, simply place a tread piece or a pre-made length of treads on the part of the tool angled horizontally. Add an additional tread piece to the vertical part, then use the "hinge" tool to connect these two sections. You can then copy the length of tread, move the tool to its original position, and continue expanding the chain as long as you need.

"The loops and pre-existing length of chain are meant to help you incorporate these treads into a MOC or set. Although LEGO Digital Designer does not recognize connections between the treads and the sprocket wheels themselves, you can use these loops as a "starting point" for aligning your treads. Just delete portions of the loops and place a chain of treads in their place to create a larger loop between multiple sprocket wheels. Note that this template is not able to compensate for sets or MOCs where the loop will not be "taut"-- this is a problem I may not be able to deal with at this time."

Here is additional information that Aanchir put on his Brickshelf gallery:

"Hi! I'm Aanchir, and I created this template.

"This template is for building models on LDD that require part 57520 (the small sprocket wheel) and part 57518 (the tread).

"To use this template:

1) Download the file

2) Remove one or more of the tread pieces that surround the sprocket wheel so that it's no longer a complete loop.

I recommend removing one of the 60-degree tread pieces so there's a horizontal tread to connect to.

3) Connect as much extra tread as you need.

A chain of horizontally-placed treads is provided for you to use or copy.

WARNING!

Clips on LDD do not like to center correctly!

There will usually be a left or right offset, which can do a lot of harm if all of your clips are offset in the same direction.

The chain of tread pieces may not be lined up at both ends!

To avoid this, use the green alignment tool included in the file.

Place new tread pieces on every other pin, then place tread pieces on the pins in-between.

The alignment tool is entirely in green so you can use the "color select" tool to select all its parts at once.

If you need to use green parts in your actual model, feel free to select the tool and change its color to something a color you will not be using.

4) Once you have the length of tread you need, you will need it to wrap it around the other wheels of your model.

ALWAYS use the hinge tool to ensure the tread is wrapped snugly around each wheel.

It may help to paint the treads TRANSPARENT so you can see how they align in the grooves.

5) Some sets and MOCs will have some "sag room" on their treads, or will have wheels that have to be rotated to align properly.

I am not yet equipped to deal with either problem, but perhaps you will find your own solution.

If the alignment goes smoothly, the last hinge rotation will make your length of tread link back up at the ends.

Congratulations! You're done!

I hope this template proves useful."

Thanks for the help Dluders! This would prove very useful.

I was wondering if this would help in using the parts 53992 or 71372 which are the ones that are not clipped together individually because I'm planning to use them in the future.Here is an example of what it looks like: http://media.peeron.com/pics/inv/custpics/x1681.1248841395.jpg

Thanks again!

[DLuders]

[bUMP]

A few weeks ago, Mahjqa posted this Flickr image on his photostream to show "...how I add tracks to my LDD models.

Since track parts don't snap to gears, I use constructions like the one on the left to align the first track link. After that, I use the hinge tool to place additional links."

Edited November 7, 2012 by DLuders

[Calabar]

Good technique.

It should be added in the LDD refecence topic, but perhaps it would be better to wait for the new key topics that will replace it.