New software by BrickLink - Stud.io

[ThirdPig]

1 hour ago, Philo said:

What about file format? possibility to export to LDraw?

Yes, export options are LDraw, PNG, and POV-Ray (rendering format). Imports are .ldr, .mpd, .lxf, and .lxfml

The program natively uses a new file format, .io

[SylvainLS]

Great. Thanks for the info.

I hope they’ll publish the specs for their format.

[CM4Sci]

4 hours ago, ThirdPig said:

Yes, export options are LDraw, PNG, and POV-Ray (rendering format). Imports are .ldr, .mpd, .lxf, and .lxfml

The program natively uses a new file format, .io

So.. correct me if I'm wrong but no Bluerender or LDD?

Well there goes my interest 

Edited November 6, 2016 by CM4Sci

[legolijntje]

11 hours ago, ThirdPig said:

Yes, export options are LDraw, PNG, and POV-Ray (rendering format). Imports are .ldr, .mpd, .lxf, and .lxfml

The program natively uses a new file format, .io

Is it possible to open an .io file in a  text editor and look at its contents? Or is it obfuscated in any way?
Maybe you can share an .io file? 
What a stupid file extension btw...

[SylvainLS]

8 hours ago, CM4Sci said:

So.. correct me if I'm wrong but no Bluerender or LDD?

Well there goes my interest 

LDD only on import (.lxf).

Anyway, you can still export in .ldr in stud.io and import the .ldr in LDD.

You “only” need to check the assemblies (legs, torsos…). LDD needs them in (its) pieces.

And, of course, there’s the problem of patterns/decorations. But, first, does stud.io exports them in LDraw?

[Philo]

Quote

But, first, does stud.io exports them in LDraw?

"Yes, export options are LDraw, PNG, and POV-Ray"

[SylvainLS]

“Them,” the decorations.

[msx80]

Wow this is super interesting! Just subscribed, I hope they give me some access soon :P

Export in LDraw formats and import from LDD strongly point to internal usage of LDraw library. If it were an LDD-derived library it would be impossible (unless they export in some obfuscated way).

Do we know how big was the download? Maybe we could infer from that.

The UI looks very much like Mecabricks, i would have said it was the same software or at least the same author, if he weren't here :P

 

If the tool is good, i'll surely look into integrating bluerender/blueprint on it (somewhere in 2034).

[62Bricks]

On 11/10/2016 at 6:51 AM, msx80 said:

Wow this is super interesting! Just subscribed, I hope they give me some access soon :P

Export in LDraw formats and import from LDD strongly point to internal usage of LDraw library. If it were an LDD-derived library it would be impossible (unless they export in some obfuscated way).

Do we know how big was the download? Maybe we could infer from that.

The UI looks very much like Mecabricks, i would have said it was the same software or at least the same author, if he weren't here :P

 

If the tool is good, i'll surely look into integrating bluerender/blueprint on it (somewhere in 2034).

It's based on ldraw - the download includes both the official and unofficial ldraw libraries. Also includes LGEO and povray-related files.

[62Bricks]

The resemblance to Mecabricks is mostly superficial. You cannot grab and rotate the model, it just has static views (and it took me a while to figure out how to change the angles).

Clicking on a part in the palette at the bottom does not insert the piece as with Mecabricks, it just "grabs" it so it can be dragged into the model view - and there's no way to drop it once you grab it except to place it in the model (then delete it, if it's not the one you wanted). If there's a way to insert parts snapped to the location of the currently selected part, I have not yet found it. I use that feature constantly and there needs to be a way to do this.

There are some duplicate parts that seem to have been created out of discrepancies between the Bricklink and LDraw part number schemes. Sometimes where Bricklink still has an "undetermined" variant as well as a and b variants, it has matched the same LDraw part to more than one variant. So for example 4081a is listed once and 4081b is listed twice. 3940 is listed twice, and there is no 3940a or 3940b. Since 3940 is set for deletion, this will eventually cause problems when someone uses the app to shop for parts.

[M_longer]

I have been using this software for two days and I am dissapointed.

No easy way (actually NO way) for making bent hoses (and wires), almost no PF parts (and some pneumatic parts, like new long 11L cylinders are missing), program crashes every time after importing large files, handled by LDD and MLCad without a problem. I have tried using export options, but it seems that they don't work in my version :)

There's no instruction software included, (after reading the manual) it seems that you can only upload your model to Bricklink's database and only after that someone else can use yor model to see building steps inside the stud.io.

Nice thing is brick pallete, that can be extended to 3/4 of screen, after clicking TAB. There's also a search window right above the brick palette. Very convinient. Color selection is very cleverly made, you can hide colours that are unavailable for selected part, program shows which colours were already used in model, and usage of parts in no existing colours are prompted by exclamation mark on parts list.

There's a model information available at any time hidden under "Model Info" tab, showing its parts list and physical dimensions (in studs, centimeters and inches). It also provides information about models weight(!). Parts in the buidling area can be placed in two ways, first, "Snap", works like LDD (bricks connect automatically), second, "Grid" works like in MLCad.

You can specify angles of part right after selecting it, either by using "angle wheels" with predefined angles (45' each), or by specyfying it in the small window that appears near the "angle wheel" (55.8 for example).

 

It does few things better, but after spending a lot of time with Ldraw package (and LDD as second building program), I am not interested in using this program in its current shape.

Edited November 15, 2016 by M_longer

[Superkalle]

Thanks for the update 62bricks.

(Like your webpage BTW. Nifty set of tools)

[HallBricks]

I received the link to the beta today, and I have played around with the software for some time now. As I am mostly interested in technic, I built mostly with that kind of parts. As mentioned earlier, the software lacks many electric and pneumatic parts, and as far as I can see there is not yet any way to deal with flexible parts.

Other than that I must say I am very impressed. The selection of Lego CAD software for macOS is very small, and this is by far the best in my opinion. It looks very modern, and it is very fast and super responsive. The price guide features and color by availability are surprisingly fast, the available colors for each parts show up instantly.

The parts snap feature is super useful, I have missed that feature since SR3D was still available. I also love that pars rotation works smoothly and not in steps like in MLcad, and you can also hinge parts that are connected in one spot. This feature is very useful when building technic models, and it is also completely smooth without steps. 

You can add steps in the document, and when exporting to LDraw, the steps are coming along. I found no errors in the exported LDraw file, and it worked great in LDview and LPub. You aren't able to add rotational steps in Stud.io so you might have to make some adjustments in LPub when making instructions.

 

This software is still in a quite early beta stage, and I'm still very impressed. There are not any obvious bugs that makes it feel unfinished. I'm not completely happy with the parts library, it could be a little easier to navigate through, and for now there are images of every part. I would like an option to the parts in a list without pictures, and just the names. 

I look forward to use the software more, and to see how the final version will be.

[Philo]

52 minutes ago, HallBricks said:

the software lacks many electric and pneumatic parts

Question is why?  (it's LDraw based and LDraw library has a very good coverage of this kind of parts...)

[msx80]

5 minutes ago, Philo said:

Question is why?  (it's LDraw based and LDraw library has a very good coverage of this kind of parts...)

perhaps they added some extra data to those kind of bricks and have not covered them all yet ?

[Philo]

2 hours ago, msx80 said:

perhaps they added some extra data to those kind of bricks and have not covered them all yet ?

You're probably right. Creation of connectivity and collision data surely needs a lot of work.

[HallBricks]

4 hours ago, Philo said:

Question is why?  (it's LDraw based and LDraw library has a very good coverage of this kind of parts...)

I tried to import a project made in MLCad that included many of the PF parts that are not available in Stud.io. They are displayed correctly in Stud.io, even though they are not in the parts library. You can move them around and rotate them just as all the other parts, and their names are displayed correctly. The color and price guide info are not available for those parts though, but it seems like they are integrated in the software in some way. Lsynth cables are completely invisible, but thats not surprising.

[SylvainLS]

I’d guess that means they are using LDraw geometries/files, but, as they need to 1. match BrickLink’s IDs to LDraw’s for prices and available colors, and 2. get the connection and collision data, some parts (PF…) aren’t “matched” yet, and so are not readily available, but their geometry can still be loaded.

[CM4Sci]

Just got an invite - interest back up  

[62Bricks]

[removed by author]

Edited November 17, 2016 by 62Bricks

[legolijntje]

So, I also got a beta-invite. It gives warnings everywhere that Windows users should NOT change the default install directory.
'Sure, no problem' I thought, I fire up the installer and it tries to install it on the desktop. What?! 

Also, the final installation size is 640MB according to the installer. That's quite a lot.

EDIT: also interesting, at the end of the installation, the installer asks if you optionally want to install Pov-Ray. Is/will there be Pov-Ray integration? Interesting.

[legolijntje]

Ok, so my first impressions:

• The editor works quite well, very intuitive and easy to get started. Very low learning curve.
• As indicated earlier, the parts library seems to be LDraw, with custom connection and collision information. So far it seems to quite work well, collisions work a bit like in LDD, but it's possible to turn it off. 
• Also, it's possible to insert 'Steps', just like in LDraw. I'm not sure yet what the use of this is so far for Bricklink, but the steps are included when you export to an LDraw file. However, I haven't been able to find something like a group or submodel feature so for instruction creation it's not that useful (maybe I'm just missing it though).
• There's also a render button, which renders an image using Pov-Ray. No manual fiddling around with settings and scripts, just click and run. The default render settings seem to be pretty nice actually.
• I cannot open an .io file in a text editor like LDraw files. It's binary or something.
• There's also a feature called 'my baseplate' which seems to be some sort of online storage for your models. You can create public and private models and you van view (public) models of others. It also has a browser-based 3D viewer and a 'Step viewer'. Which actually brings me back to one of my earlier pionts: the pupose of those steps: you can order bricks for a model of someone else and use the step-viewer to build those models. There actually even seems to be some sort of submodel feature (because I saw some models using it). I haven't found it yet though 

So, that are just my very first impressions after using it for 10 minutes or so 
All together looks very nice and seems to be quite a good mixture between the ease of LDD and the 'power' of LDraw.

[inkpanther]

Stud.io seems to work with Wine 1.8.5 just fine (probably with exception of Pov-Ray).

I've got perhaps a silly question: does point 7 of license look like an NDA clause, or is it just me?

[Gnac]

1 hour ago, legolijntje said:

I cannot open an .io file in a text editor like LDraw files. It's binary or something.

Are the first two letters "PK"? If so, it's a zipfile.

[SylvainLS]

Got my invitation too. Seems a bunch were delivered today  

As for the io file format, it’s a password protected ZIP file containing five files: model.ldr, model2.ldr, thumbnail.png, errorPartList.err, and .info.

And, yes, point 7 of the licence looks like we shouldn’t say what we’re saying here….