Which tool for big Lego Technic MOCs?

[LegoJahn]

Hello,

I'm new here on eurobricks, and I'm an AFOL for about a year now, falling in love with the big Technic sets...

Since I know my way around CAD, I'm currently considering building a larger Lego Technic MOC (several thousand parts) digitally and also creating instructions for it.

The most important question for me right now is which program I should use for this. I've already looked at Studio and find the operation quite intuitive, but I could also imagine LDCad.
Do you have a recommendation as to what works better with particularly large Technic models? Which tool is stable enough to handle such big models?

Is there actually a way to use a 3Dconnexion Spacemouse with a LegoCAD program? That would be extremely helpful ...

Thank you for your opinions and recommendations!!

Greetings,
Jahn

[JintaiZ]

Hey there! It'd be cool to build it in real life, but it'll just cost a lot!

[supertruper1988]

I would recommend LDCad. Studio is good but for LDCad there are scripts for alignment and such of parts.

[Mylenium]

21 hours ago, LegoJahn said:

Which tool is stable enough to handle such big models?

Not a single one. They're all pretty crappy in terms of code stability. You should expect regular crashes.

Mylenium

[Zerobricks]

I use LDD without major issues. Just rememeber to keep evertyhing straight and not to use hinge align tool.

[supertruper1988]

17 hours ago, Mylenium said:

Not a single one. They're all pretty crappy in terms of code stability. You should expect regular crashes.

Mylenium

this just isnt true. The light weight LDraw editors are much better at complex models and high part counts vs LDD and Studio. 

[LegoJahn]

 

On 8/28/2020 at 1:54 AM, supertruper1988 said:

this just isnt true. The light weight LDraw editors are much better at complex models and high part counts vs LDD and Studio. 

I heard rumors about that. That´s the reason why I wonder if i should start with an LDraw tool, even that I prefer the UI of studio...

Edited August 29, 2020 by LegoJahn

[Philo]

LDCad is THE tool for me (especially for Technic models). Rock solid, handles big models with ease while remaining pretty fast. And as mentionned by @supertruper1988 it contains tools and provides measuring tools that make your life easier (eg. the triangle closure calculator!)