How to rig a lego digital designer set in blender

[Bman630]

Hello, everyone. I have a bit of a problem.

I am not new to Lego Digital Designer, been using it for quite some time, but I am extremely new to Blender and 3D animation in general. I already have a tutorial on how to transfer LDD files to blender, so I have no problem there. My problem is that what I want to animate is not a lego figure, but instead a set itself. I have a set with all sorts of moveable parts, and in fact, the different parts of the set are trains that combine into a robot. So, my question for you all is, how would I rig up my different parts of the set so that way I can move the pieces, without having to make a new model for each movement. I am going to make new models for when the different pieces combine, so that way I can have the pieces actually attached, but I would like to be able to move the different joints, hinges, etc. when animating it.

Thanks-

B

[JopieK]

It is doable, but it is not very easy. I've tried to convert a model so I can import it in Swift ARKit.

I did it somewhat similar to this:

 

[mocbuild101]

Well that certainly sounds like a big project, but I think it would be possible - and this is how I would probably do it: (using a car as an example)

1. Import model (car) into Blender.
2. Group (join) the parts into sections that move together (like the front and rear wheels on their axles, and the body of the car) - select parts and join them with Ctrl+J.
3. Add bones to those sections, making sure the bones are aligned with the axis of rotation (like the axles the wheels are on).
4. Parent all the bones into larger sections, and then to a extra main parent bone (like the car - and if there's multiple cars, a extra bone in the space between them).

Note: I am also just learning to use Blender too, so this might not be the best solution... Just remember, bones aren't just for skeletons .

[roland]

On 5/27/2018 at 9:02 PM, Bman630 said:

 I have a set with all sorts of moveable parts, and in fact, the different parts of the set are trains that combine into a robot. So, my question for you all is, how would I rig up my different parts of the set so that way I can move the pieces, without having to make a new model for each movement.

If you only want to make simple static (so no knee bend in a minifig) animation you could also try my LDCad it should be considerably easier then full blown blender. You will need to do some scripting though.