Zooming in on a step in MLCAD

[bats]

I am making a model in MLCAD and I was wondering if there is a way to zoom in on a step. As my model gets bigger the image is shown farther away. Is there a way either in LPub or MLCAD to zoom in on a step to only show a specific section of the model?

Thanks,
Nathan

[Blakbird]

In MLCAD, no. In LPub you can change the scale factor to effectively zoom in, and then you can change the position to try to look at a certain part of the model. It is difficult to get right but it can be done.

[Alasdair Ryan]

I may have miss read your question but you could try using the 'pan mode' or the 'zoom mode' found in the MLcad tool box.

[Blakbird]

I may have miss read your question but you could try using the 'pan mode' or the 'zoom mode' found in the MLcad tool box.

That only works in edit mode. If you are looking at instruction steps then it doesn't work.

[bats]

Ok. Thanks.

[Lasse D]

I am considering adding a meta-element to the MLCad format that my program reads in order to instruct LDView in generating pictures (Similar to LPub, but open source once mature).

I have the following suggestion:

0 SHOWUPDATEDREGION [factor]

Where [factor] is optional. 1 means to show a region exactly cropped so you can see new parts, larger factor increases how much of the model you see. Defaults to 1.3 if not stated.

This meta tag appears right before a STEP, ROTSTEP or ROTSTEP END element.

This way you don't force the renderer to show a large picture when only a smaller region is updated with new bricks in an instruction step.

I realize there might be several steps in a row where one wants to do such a zoom. This is why I'm also considering the meta tags:

0 SHOWUPDATEDREGION [factor] BEGIN

and

0 SHOWUPDATEDREGION END

to indicate that any step between such a pair should be modified as previously described.

This writeup is probably on the nerdy side. Just tell me if details should be explained.

[bats]

Ok. This sounds like it would be helpful.

Thanks,
Nathan