Please Help! Can't find the right bricks

[LargoLaGrande]

Hello Community!

I'm kinda new to LEGO as an adult. Well I played with it in my childhood I assume like many of you.
Now I'm fascinated by the endless possibilities you have to build with LEGO.

But I have  a hard time to getting anything started.
I'm hooked by the design of Mechs and found a few interesting instructions (pdf, jpg) I would love to build one of those. But (of course) LEGO has changed so much over the years, I'm no nativ Englisch speaker as well and have a hard time finding all those various bricks in Lego Designer.

Those instructions have no part lists, no names what these parts are and it frustrates me a lot. I quit several times because of that, It took so much time to find a single brick it's unbelievable.
Of course I'm slowly getting better,still searching for better solutions but it's a huge frustration so far.


Question: Is there any app, or anything that could scan a brick, convert a jpg part list or recognize bricks that could help to avoid grinding through endless lists of categories and bricks?

Anything helps.

[1963maniac]

If you are going to use Lego Digital Designer, check out the user manual in "help". Take some time to play with it and learn. LDD does not have all the parts. It is limited. Lego is no longer updating it. It is easy to learn and it's files end in lxf. "Stud.io" is a new free software put out by bricklink.com. Get to know bricklink! LDRAW.org has a whole host of free software for Lego enthusiasts. Those files end in .dat, .ldr., or mpd. I use MLCAD, LDVIEW, and LPUB3D.to make builing instructions. Stud.io can open any of these and export the files in these other formats. So, if you find any files that you do not know how to open, download the appropriate software and open the files. Rebrickable.com has a lot of MOCs (my own creations) all with building instructions and parts list. Its a good place to start. If you open files in Stud.io, it can also give you a list of parts from the file. I hope I answered your question. Maybe i have caused you to have more. Also, I have found it easier to search Eurobricks by using a search engine and then navigate to eurobricks form there.

[LargoLaGrande]

Hey 1963Maniac, thanks for your detailed response.

I wondered why LDD looks and feels so outdated compared by modern UI software. Is Stud.io a better solution for creating digital MOCs or is just a newer version?
So far my biggest Problem is how to recreate MOCs that only exist in instructions (PDF, JPG) only. It's sometimes not that clear what part or what color it shows in the instructions. However I'm not that familar with Lego Technic as well, that's what I'm looking up the most right now. I assume there is no other way than ask various people what they believe is the right part in the picture.
But I will give Stud.io a go and the other Programs you mentioned.

Right now my only goal is to recreate the MOC and import the finished LDD to bricklink to buy the parts needed.

[1963maniac]

Stud.io is still a beta version. But, I still use it a lot to convert from one format to another. It's also very easy to do a render of anything digital. I use the parts catalog all the time at Bricklink. I cannot enjoy this hobby without the wealth of information available on Bricklink. The LDRAW group of software is archaic and not so easy to learn and use, but it is kept up to date. And, therefore worth the effort it takes to learn to use it. The names of parts are very similar between Bricklink and the LDRAW softwares. Familiarity with Bricklink part names will help to find them in MLCAD for instance. Keep at it and you will get the knowledge you want, even if it's only a step at a time.