Studio too hard to use compared to LDD.

[Mechbuilds]

I've used LDD only because it's so much easier to use.. The category system is easier on LDD because i can just open beams to see technic beams.. But in LDD i don't know how to use it.. So far the only way to get the part i need is to either guess it's right name or write a part number.. 
Is there a way to make studio categorize parts like LDD so everything is easier to find? 

Also studio doesn't really snap parts in the correct place like LDD does.. Axle can be smoothly pushed as far in as you want sure might sound cool but i like that LDD likes to snap axles in place so it's flush without needing to carefully try and place it flush.. 
How do i learn to use studio efficiently? 


Sorry for being a boomer and not tech savvy. 

[Lyichir]

In general a lot of your issues with Stud.io seem to be the natural challenges with adjusting to any new system. I'd encourage you to spend more time using the system (including searching for parts by number if necessary—Brickset's database can be a valuable asset for that if you're used to the official numbers and names) before committing to any major attempts to recategorize parts (which I believe can be done but would certainly be a huge undertaking).

Regarding your issue with Technic axles, there is at least an easy solution that should help you there. On Mac (and probably PC, I'm guessing), holding the "control" key while positioning a part like a Technic axle that can freely slide will limit its positioning to certain incremental points along its length, equivalent to a quarter "module". This also works with 3.2mm bars like the kind on minifigure accessories.

[Toastie]

On 3/16/2021 at 6:53 PM, Mechbuilds said:

Sorry for being a boomer and not tech savvy.

Well sort of the same here - but the renderer ... in an all in one solution ...

I build my stuff in MLCAD (I know, but I have learned to use efficiently for countless years now, so don't get started on how bad that program is - it is not) then import it into studio, fix a few things and ... hmmm ... wait for the render to finish.

Every time I can't believe the result being so nice, regardless how stupid my build is.

Best
Thorsten

 

[Mechbuilds]

18 hours ago, Lyichir said:

In general a lot of your issues with Stud.io seem to be the natural challenges with adjusting to any new system. I'd encourage you to spend more time using the system (including searching for parts by number if necessary—Brickset's database can be a valuable asset for that if you're used to the official numbers and names) before committing to any major attempts to recategorize parts (which I believe can be done but would certainly be a huge undertaking).

Regarding your issue with Technic axles, there is at least an easy solution that should help you there. On Mac (and probably PC, I'm guessing), holding the "control" key while positioning a part like a Technic axle that can freely slide will limit its positioning to certain incremental points along its length, equivalent to a quarter "module". This also works with 3.2mm bars like the kind on minifigure accessories.

This helped a lot! 

Still i think studio needs a patch so their part categorization would be similar to LDD.. No need to open bricklinks to search for part numbers.. 
Pretty much the biggest issue why i don't like stud.io.. 

[Lyichir]

3 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

This helped a lot! 

Still i think studio needs a patch so their part categorization would be similar to LDD.. No need to open bricklinks to search for part numbers.. 
Pretty much the biggest issue why i don't like stud.io.. 

Unfortunately, I think that's largely a matter of preference. There's a lot of AFOLs who I know had the opposite problem with LDD (that it was too different from the Bricklink categorization they were used to). It'd be hard to please everybody, and with one of Stud.io's defining features being the integration with the Bricklink catalog, I think it's likely to stick with that system of categories.

I think there might be a way to recategorize the parts to your preference, but I don't think it'd be a small undertaking to rearrange all of the various parts to your liking.

[Mechbuilds]

Oooh wait you can open up technic category and find beams trough "liftarm" name.. 

[M2m]

Categorization is a matter of preference. For snapping and general workflow I find LDD superior.

[anothergol]

Yeah Studio is still far from replacing the good old LDD.
I wouldn't blame Studio's sorting of parts because it does make sense & fits Bricklink - it's just guilty of being different from the one in the LDD but that's all.
But from plenty of other angles Studio lacks, is less polished & more buggy.

..but it's still the #1 tool for easy renders & manuals. It's a great companion to the LDD for that reason.

[Alexandrina]

It's been many many years since I used Lego Digital Designer (it was probably 2008 or so - certainly before the Factory offer stopped) but I don't remember it being easier than Stud.io. It's the same basic set-up - parts are sorted into categories, you click a part and then it enters your 3D space for you to add it to the model - but in most ways Studio far outclasses LDD. Part selection is one - many good parts weren't ever in LDD - but the biggest benefit is actually being able to see what colour I've selected, rather than every colour being a shade of dark grey until the final render.

You mention the categorisation system as an issue. Studio uses Bricklink's categorisation system, which is more comprehensive and imo infinitely better than LDD. Obviously if you're used to the LDD categories, it's going to take a litle bit of time to adjust. That's natural, though, and the only way to get through that is to use Studio until you get used to the categories. You can't really fast-forward it. As for learning, the basics of Studio are fairly intuitive. I've been teaching myself by focusing on one thing at a time, doing a silly little build entirely to focus on getting one part of the software down (for instance, I spent a few hours just playing with hinges until I was confident with how they functioned within the software).

[anothergol]

16 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

many good parts weren't ever in LDD

well the community has fixed that now. Good old LDD resurrected.

 

16 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

but the biggest benefit is actually being able to see what colour I've selected, rather than every colour being a shade of dark grey until the final render.

wut?

 

16 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

As for learning, the basics of Studio are fairly intuitive.

It's intuitive, but (still too) buggy & unpolished. It's visually polished & looks better than the LDD that's for sure, but things like moving around, centering camera, and most importantly part snapping, those are better & faster in the LDD. I know that the thing I do the most (by far!) in the LDD is rotating/moving around, and this requires centering the camera. In the LDD it's just right-click, in Studio it's through a menu, it's annoying, and it has been buggy for years (many bugs if you use groups/subassemblies, including centering the camera).

I wish the LDD had a way to switch collision off & move parts around freely, though.

[Mechbuilds]

I don't understand this whole talk about bricklink nonesense. I use brickowl. 
I mean if you're talking about getting a parts list for a pick a brick store then yeah it's handy. 

But i was only talking about.. Lets say i open up LDD and want to place this part:



.. 

With LDD:




Found it in 2 seconds. 


For studio:


Ehh i guess it should be in technic?



Nope.. Just opened up some system pieces and ball joints.. Which aren't techic i think? 



After lots of scrolling down i finally found it.. 



Or i could just google the part number for a part i don't know the official name of and then type that in i guess.. 

So much more hassle. 


Why can't they have a separate category for bionicle and oldschool technic pieces.. That would fix so many issues with studio.. 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Mechbuilds

[Calabar]

1 hour ago, anothergol said:

I wish the LDD had a way to switch collision off & move parts around freely, though. 

Developer mode allows you to ignore collisions, but if you want to share your file people opening it in their LDD will see the involved parts removed (unless they are in development mode too). Luckily the community is able to remove wrong collisions from bricks, or even create a special version of a brick for special uses (if that use results quite common).
No chance to move a part freely, still need to use a scaffolding, that would require a modify to the LDD core.

[Alexandrina]

2 hours ago, anothergol said:

wut?

Perhaps that was just me then - but I was never able to see any colours in LDD.

2 hours ago, anothergol said:

but things like moving around

It only takes like two seconds to learn the keybind for Studio.

2 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

Or i could just google the part number for a part i don't know the official name of and then type that in i guess.. 

That seems to be you not being familiar with Studio's/Bricklink's categorisation, not an issue with the categories. Someone who knows the Bricklink categories well but isn't familiar with the LDD categories will have the same issue finding pieces (case in point: I wouldn't have known where to find the piece in your example).

2 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

Why can't they have a separate category for bionicle

I'm fairly sure they do. Bricklink definitely does, in any case.

[Mechbuilds]

1 hour ago, Alexandrina said:

I'm fairly sure they do. Bricklink definitely does, in any case.

Well as you can see in my example, when i open the technic category, bionicle parts pop up. 

[anothergol]

3 hours ago, Calabar said:

Developer mode allows you to ignore collisions, but if you want to share your file people opening it in their LDD will see the involved parts removed (unless they are in development mode too). Luckily the community is able to remove wrong collisions from bricks, or even create a special version of a brick for special uses (if that use results quite common).
No chance to move a part freely, still need to use a scaffolding, that would require a modify to the LDD core.

Yes I remember I used to have dev mode on, but ran into troubles with collisions, I seem to remember it would keep deleting parts on reloading projects even with dev mode on (or something?).

But yeah now that we have direct access to all part files, it's easy enough to disable collisions, only it requires reloading the LDD.
Scaffolding is a bit problematic in the LDD because everything moves in fixed units, it's sometimes a nightmare (but it's sometimes the same problem in Studio).

1 hour ago, Alexandrina said:

It only takes like two seconds to learn the keybind for Studio.

it shouldn't be a key (& we don't need those popup menus), and besides as I wrote, it's very buggy as soon as you start working inside subassemblies (& it has been buggy for so long that I'm wondering if anyone even uses subassemblies in Studio, other than for manuals)

[Alexandrina]

41 minutes ago, anothergol said:

it shouldn't be a key (& we don't need those popup menus)

What popup menus? I'm genuinely confused as to what you mean. Unless we're talking at complete cross-purposes, to move the camera you just hold space bar and drag the camera along with the mouse, and I'm having a hard time thinking of a more intuitive way of doing this. I've also not experienced issues with subassemblies - what sort of bugs are we talking about here?

52 minutes ago, Mechbuilds said:

Well as you can see in my example, when i open the technic category, bionicle parts pop up. 

(Ignoring the fact that the images aren't embedded in high enough quality to really see what parts are coming up short of opening Stud.io myself and finding the same menu) the only Bionicle parts that are popping up under the Technic, Connectors category are parts that fill the same function as other connectors not exclusively Bionicle-parts. There are lots of Bionicle-specific parts which don't fit in the Technic category in the dedicated Bionicle category. This is just a case of you not understanding the categorisation system - understandable, since you're migrating from LDD and the systems are different, but not an inherent failing of the software.

[SylvainLS]

LDD has a bit more than 4000 parts.  Studio has 10000 in the Master palette (and knows about around 6000 more).

So, yeah, it’s harder to find the needle in the bigger haystack.

[anothergol]

14 hours ago, Alexandrina said:

What popup menus? I'm genuinely confused as to what you mean. Unless we're talking at complete cross-purposes, to move the camera you just hold space bar and drag the camera along with the mouse, and I'm having a hard time thinking of a more intuitive way of doing this. I've also not experienced issues with subassemblies - what sort of bugs are we talking about here?

I'm talking about "set as origin" (which doesn't even have a shortcut by default btw). How is it that it's the thing I use the most in the LDD (which is why it's assigned to the mouse right button) and you don't see what I'm talking about?

It's very buggy, it simply doesn't work as soon as you enter a subassembly. It then centers in the middle of nowhere.

 

13 hours ago, SylvainLS said:

LDD has a bit more than 4000 parts.  Studio has 10000 in the Master palette (and knows about around 6000 more).

The diff must be in the printed parts, because I've had to manually add a lot of parts to Studio so far, both tools are/were lacking (& are now recovering).

The GUI is harder to navigate in Studio, though. I've used Bricklink so much that I should know my way through BL categories, yet I always end up searching by name.

[M2m]

13 hours ago, SylvainLS said:

LDD has a bit more than 4000 parts.  Studio has 10000 in the Master palette (and knows about around 6000 more).

So, yeah, it’s harder to find the needle in the bigger haystack.

Is it really 16.000 different parts or does this include prints / stickers ?