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roamingstop

Repository thread for unofficial MOC's

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We have a nice thread for the official TLG models kindly submitted by many nice people and well moderated by Calabar and SuperKalle.

Now a more general question: Where to deposit 'semi official' MOC's? I mean here ones which are highly popular, often found on Ebay sites, with instructions widely available on the Interwebs? But these models are not official TLG releases.

I start with an example of the Santa Fe B Unit by James Mathis. I have now generated this as a LXF file for an ongoing project I am working on (watch this space in late August) - but felt it could be made available to others. However we should also be clear on the copyright issues (I still need to contact Mr Mathis) before uploading others LXF files (hence mine will only be available when done).

J-Mathis-SantaFe-B.png

What are the general thoughts of the LDD moderators / and those who publish their MOC? Should there just be an index site listing posts back to the original developers? Or would this just become too complex to handle?

:vader:

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I would recommend an index on this "LEGO Digital Designer and Other Digital Tools" subforum that CAPTURES the .lxf file on the Eurobricks server. Many of the individual LDD files are linked to Brickshelf, MOCPages, etc. so when the author rearranges their galleries on those sites, the links will get broken. An example is this EB Technic post, where Zblj has posted LDD .lxf Building Instructions for his "LYNX Trial Truck 10". He links it back to his Brickshelf folder.

The same problem exists for the OFFICIAL set LDD .lxf files . There are HUNDREDS of LDD files indexed here , but most of them link to other sites not under Eurobricks control.

There are FAR MORE good LDD .lxf files out there than the 13 "Downloadable LDD MOCs (LXF-Files)" referenced on the LDD Index http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39841&st=0&p=703553&hl=index&fromsearch=1entry703553 . It would be a shame to lose them over time :sceptic: , just as LDD4, LDD5, etc. get the program operating REALLY WELL.

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I would recommend an index on this "LEGO Digital Designer and Other Digital Tools" subforum that CAPTURES the .lxf file on the Eurobricks server.

Problem will always be the lack of posting space available for the user... and bandwidth - who will host it? (with Flickr etc it is easier)... But it is definitely worth the idea.

What about LDD Respository.Org?

My personal webspace (with dreamhost) has acres of space and costs around $9 a month; with not much bandwidth throttling.

It also supports repository software (Subversion, wiki's etc) and these also allow easy uploading and tracking - but LXF files are binary (and not source code).

Of course you would need the permission of the creator to upload and keep their files - but then it could become a great library / resource.

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I would submit that the Eurobricks server should host the LDD .lxf files. The typical .lxf file is only 50-100KB in size. I'm looking at the collection of .lxf "Official Set" files I copied onto my hard drive, and even the 10188 Death Star is only 288KB in size. Most PICTURES posted on Eurobricks already are far larger than that.

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@roamingstudio

It is an idea we was talking of when LDD section was opened.

I'm agree with your idea, but EB Staff thinks that LDD MOCs should be posted in Theme's sections (castle MOCs in "LEGO Historic Themes", Adventurers MOCs in "LEGO Action Themes", etc...).

However, it is possible to create an "index topic" with links at LDD MOCs posted in Theme sections to gather all LDD MOCs.

The real issue is that, for a thread of this kind, we need a EB User that takes the burden of update the index, as I do for the "Official Set Made in LDD" Topic.

@DLuders

This is an issue we are discussing with Superkalle and the EB staff.

There are some ideas, but no one is really efficacious or easy to implement.

In the meantime I'm gathering all .lxf file of the topic I index.

If link will be lost, we could make a Zip-Pack.

I hope EB will be able to provide a lxf store space for the release of LDD 4.

Then we could open a new topic and provide old files in the zip-pack.

A little appeal: if someone of you is available to manage the index of a topic, inform Superkalle about it.

There are Topics such as "LDD MOCs", "LDD custom pieces", ecc.. that need a volunteer to index that!

Edited by Calabar

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@roamingstudio

It is an idea we was talking of when LDD section was opened.

I'm agree with your idea, but EB Staff thinks that LDD MOCs should be posted in Theme's sections (castle MOCs in "LEGO Historic Themes", Adventurers MOCs in "LEGO Action Themes", etc...).

A little appeal: if someone of you is available to manage the index of a topic, inform Superkalle about it.

There are Topics such as "LDD MOCs", "LDD custom pieces", ecc.. that need a volunteer to index that!

Perfectly agree about that as well. However it was more aimed at where the original files are stored; the links and index topics etc can all still be maintained from within EB.

I would happily look after 'trains' - if noone else wanted it.

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Excellent ideas everyone.

I'm in discussion with the other EB staff about this problem (hosting/preserving files), but I've been swamped by summer and the LDD Contest. I'll get back to it soon.

In the meantime, if anyone reads this and would like to become a LDD Indexer like our esteemed Calabar, please PM me. It's like Calabar says, we need an index of all high quality LDD MOCs and mods/variants of official sets, as well as custom parts (even though that is likelky to me a smaller index). Then, hopefully in the future, it can be possible for users to upload LXF-files directly to a file-server/database for for safe storage for future use.

We're on the beginning of something major here guys - can you feel it :classic:

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Excellent ideas everyone.

We're on the beginning of something major here guys - can you feel it :classic:

Maybe...

Just some quick thoughts in the air:

How would a repository (eventually) work when there is also the TLG hosted DbM Gallery? Would it need to be checked with TLG first? It could also work in parallel to everyones advantage.

How to keep original ownership of MOC's? With the other thread on 'Plagerisum' this resource would be quickly raided... My suggestion would be that as with the indexing thread, if a file is uploaded it is also associated with the original EB username, with a clear upload date. A "gold standard".

Updating, modifying and branching of MOC's does slowly become a nightmare as everyone would also want 'their specific' change to be added (headache). And who would be allowed to upload?

The thread has gained a life of its own and is moving in an interesting direction.

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