Bionicle pieces in MLCad

[Hidronax]

Hello!

Recently I've come across this video (which got me really hyped BTW). In the description the author states he got the models from MLCad and modified them to be low poly. I tried downloading MLCad, but the link to the parts database seems to be broken. If I got it right, MLCad uses the parts database of another program (LDraw if I recall correctly).

I want to get the models, I don't care if they are from MLCad or from another program. I'd like to use them to make some animations with the Toa Mata.
Can anyone help? Thanks :)

[legolijntje]

You don't necessarily need MLCad, MLCad is just a tool to build Lego models using LDraw. You'll need the LDraw parts at the very least. LDraw is only a specification and library of Lego parts. MLCad is a CAD program that uses the LDraw parts to build models. There are loads and loads of other programs that use the LDraw library of parts. You can download the newest official library here. Unofficial files can be downloaded here, although most of them will be usuable, keep in mind they are (still) unofficial for a reason; they contain little errors.

MLCad is quite an outdated tool though. For building, I'd highly recommend LDCad. It has a bit of a learning curve, but it's very powerful. Having said that, your goal is not really building with LDraw, you want to make animations with another tool (like Blender) right? You'll probably only need LDView for that. LDview is a viewer that can be used to view LDraw parts and models and it can also export to a few other 3D formats. There's also a Blender plugin to import LDraw files into Blender. From there, you can export again to a bazillion different file formats.

Having said all that, the LDraw library (sadly) is lacking a lot of Bionicle parts. They have very difficult shapes and thus are very difficult to accurately recreate, so very few parts have been made. 

I hope that helps a bit 

[Hidronax]

Thank you for your extensive response! :)
I don't intend to use MLCad as building tool, I just want to get my hands on the models. I've checked the LDraw parts library, but some of the parts used in the video are missing (I can't seem to find any of the Kanohi masks for example).
I'm sure LDView will prove most useful for exporting the models (not only Bionicle-related), thank you!

[legolijntje]

Another tip: take a look here. The site contains a collection of LDraw parts that have been automatically converted from LDD. Since LDD contains more Bionicle parts than LDraw, you might find something of use there. 
But, note that these are even more 'unofficial' than the unofficial parts I linked in my previous post. They may have bigger glitches, missing geometry or other problems. It really differs from part to part.

[Hidronax]

Thanks, I will take a look. I'm fairly sure the Toa Mata foot and leg are present in LDD.