Frostbricks

Love this so much. Awesome work mate.

Looking awesome mate. Love how you adapted the lions, and those are some sweet statues behind.

I did check that out, because that's absolutely the level of rendering I want. Except I keep getting a "Render image error" and no idea where to start troubleshooting that (It's the latest release for Mac) And going forward, MLCad really does have way more functionality in terms of laying stuff down. The render quality though... I've got a graphic design degree on the wall, so yeah, that's pretty much what I mean. Add arrows, text, cover, etc. Gives me control over the typographic layout, that sort of thing. The main reason is that, locally at least, the standard of instructions for convention sets etc is basic, and I'm not judging, but I do want to lift the bar a little by example.

I have downloaded it, but it seems a bit buggy, and am having a little trouble getting it to set up decent images too (even if it looks like it should) and sounds like there'll still be a lot of extra work to make it happen (no shortage of resources on that thankfully). When all is said and done though, thats a lot of extra steps just to output a render I'm going to adjust in Indesign anyway (and MLCad has all the other functionality already), so was kinda hoping to shortcut it, by just having MLCad render better directly? Maybe via a plugin, or perhaps theres settings I missed?

I'm currently learning how to put together instructions. I'm loving MLCad, have assembled the instructions nice and clear, and intend to export the image into another layout program to add the finishing touches (Indesign) But, the render quality is a bit low (black parts can be hard to make out, and I'd prefer gradual shading for instance) So, what's the best way to get a higher render quality? Hopefully without to many extra steps? Thanks in advance.

No, part of why I'm curious is because it's my 6 year old who's enjoyed playing. I DnD regularly. And I would absolutely love to turn him into a little DnD nerd and have him join me. I'm kinda seeing this as a stepping stone for him. So thankyou I guess, may I ask what rule set you guys use then? And where a good place to read guides on how y'all play?

I recently dusted off Heroica and have been playing it with the family. It's become quite the hit, so I thought I'd rebuild the board so that it could also be display worthy. This is a little slice of a Work in progress to that end. This section is based on Draida, the smallest of the four Heroica sets released in Australia (The final version will incorporate all four) And I wanted to ask you guys, the Heroica fans, what you thought, and what things I might need to consider (to keep it completely playable) before finishing up the build?

First thing I thought of when I saw them. (The keys-on-sprue also look awesome used that way too. Had used them previously for similar, but they need a 4 stud wide space) I'm going to have to get more Harry sets just for the wands :D

Yeah, not a lot of generic minifigs in fleshtone. And somehow I think he fits, so... With the teacups? (Sybil Trelawney) The gemstones and candles came out of the new Great Hall set. As for making them glow, LED lights hidden behind (You can see the wires there if you look close) because not using Photoshop, and getting it all set up 'right' before clicking the shutter is part of the goal with it. Edit, just realised you probably mean the ones holding the candles. They're modified 1x1 bricks. Have appeared in a few sets, and those there were also from the Great Hall set.

These are from a new project I've started. I love minifigures, I love Harry Potter, so I wanted to create a the experience of life at Hogwarts. Not just pretty MOCs, But the feeling of being there, alongside them in a magical small world. The goal is to have a separate one for each of the Harry Potter CMFs, and so far it's been a lot of fun, and a lot of learning. And definitely more to come.

Mate, I'd love to see them release one looking like the concept art. So gorgeous. (Cross fingers and we'll get the pauldron released in a future series (especially as we've already gotten the bubble head)

Just build. Yes, grabbing sets and building those will help, but I think more important is to just build and keep pushing yourself when you do. Then, when you inevitably have an "I'm not happy with that" feeling about something you just built (Or even "I could do that better") open up Google and look for how others did it. Scroll all the way down looking at how others did it. And again ask "how can I do that better?" Through that process you'll see continual improvement, till one day you're looking through Google and you go "Hey that's a sweet MOC" and a heartbeat later realise it's yours. The other piece of advice I'd give is kind of linked to that. Look at a LOT of MOCs. Flickrs great for that. You're going to pick up a lot of useful tips just doing that. So that next time you want to build a rock wall you ask yourself "Okay, but what kind of rock wall?" rather than just "How?" (There really are hundreds of different ways to build Rock wall, and a desert cliff shouldn't be the same as a waterfalls edge.) Oh, and perhaps most important of all is don't be afraid to fail. If you're not occasionally failing, you're not trying hard enough.

Feel like they're out of place in an architecture thread, so here are some links - The one in the pic - https://www.instagram.com/p/BZDDssenb-e ...and a bonus roadster - https://www.instagram.com/p/BaBeibZnLaL/

Not easily, But, here's the secret behind them. I used Indesign to lay it out. Exportd as a pdf. Went down to my local print shop with it on a USB and printed it out. Cut it out and applied with a glue stick. That's it. Totally lo-fi. And easy enough to replicate. And glad you liked it mate. No, they're sugar sprinkles, so Minifig sized gumballs. :D

Yes. I've heard other people talk about projects which get high support numbers, and it's natural for them to plateau. There's definitely a marketing aspect involved for some of them, and pressure to get it in front of new audiences. (Personally I don't think you can force it. The idea and build either resonate with people, or not. You can't force that. But that's a different discussion) But, speaking directly about my project. I almost didn't put mine up at all. A local fan kinda gave me the push I needed. then I shared it once, and once only, via Facebook. Now probably helps that I've got some fans and local support already. But that was it. People loved it. They were the ones who shared it further, by the end of the first month it had over 3,000 votes. And I had no idea what I could do to help it (I really haven't plugged it much) But it dropped off, plateaued out, and settled down to about 20-30 votes a day. Now there have been a few further bumps, being featured in the Ideas newsletter helped for instance, but those big bumps are the exception, and maybe not as big as you'd expect. The redesign of Ideas has dropped that to half. Now maybe there's other factors there. I'm not pretending to be a marketing expert, and if I was, it'd already be at the 10,000 mark. It's just what I've observed. Yes; something about the redesign has definitely made it harder. I don't know. They're obviously still tweaking the new site. We'll see where it goes I guess.