Scrubs

Hello, In april 2012 I released a first version of my webapp called mecabricks. Since then I improved it quite a lot and I am now using the first post of this topic to introduce it a bit more. I'll try to maintain it in the future to talk about the new features, modifications, tutorials coming up and so on. What is mecabricks? Mecabricks is a free webapp that you can use to build LEGO 3D models and if you wish you have the possibility to publish them so that they are accessible to anybody. You actually don't need to install any software or plugin in your browser. The only requirement is to have a browser and a graphic card supporting WebGL. If I can't do anything if your GC doesn't support it, here are information about the browsers: Firefox - WebGL has been enabled by default since version 4.0 Chrome - WebGL has been enabled by defalut since version 9.0 as well Opera - WebGL is supported since version 11 but is disabled by default. Safari - WebGL is supported since version 5.1 however it has to be enabled. For that, select Preferences in the Safari menu. Click on the Advanced tab. Check the Show Develop menu in menu bar checkbox. To finish, open the Develop menu in the menu bar and select Enable WebGL. Since version 8.0 it is enabled by default. Internet Explorer - Supported from IE 11.0 Language Currently Mecabricks is fully translated in French (my mother tongue), English (my second language), Russian, Italian and German and Portuguese. Part library Because it is a webapp, new parts are added without the need to update anything. The library currently includes almost 3000 part designs and about 7000 decorated elements. We have a team of decoration admins and people submit new assets daily for review. You can follow the new part released here. You can also request missing parts in the mecabricks forum if you wish. The editor also support flexible part like Flex Rods, Hoses, Strings, Flex Tubes, etc. How to start building a model? Like any other software, you will have to play with the workshop for a little while to fully understand how it works. However, to speed up the learning curve you will find more information about the tools and shortcuts in the help menu of the workshop or in the forum. Workshop functions Perspective / Orthographic view Undo/Redo Part edges Group management Snap Pivot point Flexible parts Show / Hide Screenshot Export to other 3D formats LDD file import Photo to LEGO Mosaic A lot more... What kind of result I can expect? Again it depends on your graphic card and browser. Mecabricks is using the antialiasing technic to smooth the edges however it might not be supported by your browser or GC and it will be more pixelated. Have a look at thousands of models in the Mecabricks gallery for an overview of what can be done with mecabricks. Export Functions If you register to mecabricks, you will have access to functions to export models as STL, OBJ and Collada files. It can be useful to render them in other software. Besides to increase the realism, you can choose to export the LEGO logo on studs. The following image has been generated with Blender which is a free open source software and the free script available on mecabricks. Batmobile by Mecabricks, on Flickr There is also an advanced version of the script that allows you to get results quite close to the LEGO movie available for a few bucks on Mecabricks (due to the time and energy I put into it). LDD Import Function Mecabricks is capable of converting LDD models to Mecabricks. Pieces not available yet in the software are ignored. Embed Player If you wish to display a public model on your website, you can use the following code and replace [iD] by the mecabricks Id of the model: <iframe frameborder="0" allowFullScreen webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="http://www.mecabricks.com/embed/[iD]?autostart=0&animation=1&transparent=0&white=0&antialias=1"></iframe> Model List Two CSV files listing the official sets and minifigures available on mecabricks can be retrieved at the following addresses: Sets: http://www.mecabrick.../catalogue/sets Minifigures: http://www.mecabrick...alogue/minifigs

He did an awesome job at building this beautiful sci-fi scene and setting up the lighting. He is much better at doing it than what I could have done even if I designed the system . Then we spent some time trying to find good settings so that it could be rendered.

This scene has been built in Mecabricks by Finn Roberts and rendered using the internal system. Everything has been made with just a browser from the user side. Shift Change at Pier 3 by Finn Roberts, on Flickr

Some decoration files are clearly taken from Mecabricks and rescaled. As I mentioned before it is in breach of the Mecabricks license.

Another great model built, animated and rendered directly in Mecabricks. Original design is by Jason Allemann. It took about one hour to render the 144 frames on Mecabricks servers.

If you follow Mecabricks on Twitter, you may have seen that a few days ago I started to work on animation tools for the workshop. It was not planned at all but I felt like it was the perfect time. That is very very early stage and it won’t be released soon however I published a little video showing what it may look like: And the (almost) first ever animation rendered:

A couple of things that I'd like to share here. The first one is that the Mecabricks renderfarm code has been updated to better integrate animations that are now a big part of the platform. It is also much faster to render, even for still frames, and it provides new options like motion blur. I made this little test video for demonstration purposes. It took only 11 minutes to render the 54 frames (1920x1080) on the mecabricks render system. The second one is an awesome animation created entirely on Mecabricks by Sealund. It really showcase the possibilities knowing that there are still lots of nodes missing. https://www.mecabricks.com/en/models/xov7gRVwv0D

Animation node and the other new features are all available in the production version of Mecabricks now. It is really fun to play with. Do not hesitate to open the public animated models to check how they are made. I will regularly add new nodes. The scene below has been made with just one brick in the scene. https://www.mecabricks.com/en/models/7l2BPwzRv0N

I have been following him on instagram for a while now. It is interesting to see a 3D artist with real LEGO knowledge embracing mecabricks. There isn't this preconception that some older LDD users may have. A couple of more animated models to showcase the current animation possibilities: JK brickworks Orrery MOC and a few models by saabfan - Planes, Revolver, Clock

The Mecabricks 3D player has been upgraded to support animations. Check this model.

The development version has been made public if you wish to try (use at your own risk) https://www.mecabricks.com/en/workshop/animdev Users already started to have fun with like IstakaCiti

[answered too quickly]

I have been quickly checking and found out that some of these elements are Mecabricks parts integrated to the LDraw library without my consent. I guess it is not your fault and it is something I need to sort out with the LDraw admins.

Yes, it is already working. It is how I made the gear video above. For now, it outputs a sequence of images properly labeled. It takes a couple of minutes to stitch them in a software but the plan is to generate automatically a mp4 (or other) video file as well as the frames. That is not super hard. I think it could be easily achieved with the node system. That would actually be a fun exercise later to show what it is capable of. Lot's and lot's of other ideas in my mind that I need to code now.

New short video about the development. Node editor is now functional:

Perfect

I don't know where the parts are coming from but remember that assets coming from mecabricks are not allowed to be redistributed.

Another quick render made online with Mecabricks. All parts of this little model have been upgraded/modeled to the latest standard with all the little details. 4K version is available on flickr. It only took about 8 minutes to render (and actually not much more to set up before hitting the render button).

No worries and yes of course.

I believe that you try to render using the online mode. You shall use the "render" button. The "Blender" button under is to upload and render a Blender file which requires credits. What Nathan suggested is to export your model from Mecabricks using the zmbx format (file>export) then using the add on I developed for Blender you can import the zmbx file in Blender with all the materials already set up for you.

I just added the support for camera objects in Mecabricks. I made a short video tutorial to explain the new workflow.

Not in the LEGO world but the 3D world. Please let me know exactly what you try to achieve and I may be able to help. This snapping system is the heart of the building system so I'd be surprised. It shall not be an issue normally. Any error message? Did you make sure that you ticked the checkbox to use credits?

I cannot really let you say that. It is similar to other leading industry software on the contrary of the other old looking LEGO app including stud.io It also supports touch screen and works perfectly on tablets. After of course, you have the right to not like the software and prefer other options. Anyway I don’t want to hijack the thread. I just though it was weird that nothing was mentioned (in good or bad) about it when it provides state of the art tools to render LEGO models and is widely used as well by the LEGO community.

You managed to make a whole presentation about LEGO digital building and rendering without mentioning Mecabricks once. Good effort. I may be really bad at marketing

Yes, that is one of the tools in the left hand side toolbar. Select an image on your hard drive and click generate. I think that there is a little bug on Firefox but other browsers work well.