Renderbricks

The main problem I see here is that LDD isn't made for this. In theory the CAD data measure gives you perfectly fitting meshes what we see in LDD or LDRAW. In reality the seams are a result by how you stick the bricks together, slightly random rotations and positions and bevel edges. And of course the production limits and tolerances of the plastic material. To create seams would mean that LEGO has to shrink the geometry via object normals and I don't think they add an algorythm like this. Because there's no reason to do this for the task to create models. In this case simple outlines or a bump effect would be enough. I guess this is what you are talking about to recognize all different pieces of e.g. a wall of bricks?

Thanks. And I will try to make them more perfect.

Yes, I agree. I checked some real references like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mostlytechnic/8182189261/in/photostream/ LEGO surfaces are very reflective depending on the lighting and perspective. I guess I need to darken the reflection color a bit and work out the perfect fresnel value.

I wished I could render this for more awesomeness! :-)

Ah, yes. Good eye. It's because the top image was a bit color corrected in After Effects what I turned off in the bottom image.

Hi, thanks. I am actually doing more and more tests. The next step will be to create template scenes with all the LDD materials and colors and one template with the LDRAW colors. The goal is to convert any model from LDD and LDRAW, load it into MODO and the model is immediately ready to render. When I have finished my research with satifying rsults I will probably do a tutorial. Actually I lack of time because I run an animation studio, I am a father of two kids and I need to focus on the important things first. *:-)

Here's another test to add some bump noise to the faces and edges. The top picture is using more reflective materials without any bumps. The bottom picture is using a scaled noise for the faces and a smaller scaled noise for the round edges. I think this needs more adjustments to some kind of subtle level. The bump shouldn't be too extreme. What also could make sense to use a specular map to vary the look of the reflection to let the bricks look more used. Finally the bricks are all perfectly aligned what wouldn't happen in reality. But to create this automatically isn't that easy because the bricks would start to intersect each other. At the end I want anyway an idealized picture what looks realistic and clean. What is important for me to put these effects on top of the shader list to add them to any model automaticall without readjusting it. Clean and Perfect // click on picture for 4K With Noise Bump // click on picture for 4K

The seams feature is great and you definitely need bevels. Optimally by a shader to keep it RAM friendly *:-)

Are you using the actual 1.1.5? Because in the actual 1.1.5 you can download from github they'd fixed it. If it takes as long as in 1.1 it's fixed otherwise it would take 9 times longer. The time you need with 1.1. is the reference. 5 Minutes importing sounds normal to me if it's not such a complex model. I did actually an import of the Technic Unimog model with all LSynth parts and labels and it took over 4 hours. The resulting Blender file is 390 MB and the FBX export is 747 MB. I hope they can speed up the conversion overall. https://github.com/le717/LDR-Importer

The latest 1.1.5 should have fixed that. When you use the Unofficial folder in LDRAW also the LSynth data will be upported because the LSXX.dat files are in the unofficial parts folder, too. Usually LSynth installs its own folder and they will add the folder to their script. And there's one file called LS22.dat where the author name contains an "ö" what will stop LDR-Importer to load with an Unicode error. Changing the "ö" to an "oe" will fix this. "0 Author: Fredrik Glöckner" > "0 Author: Fredrik Gloeckner"

The Unicode error is caused by the LS22.dat: 0 Author: Fredrik Glöckner if you change the "ö" to "oe" it's solved *:-) I am importing now the Unimog with LDRAW models and LEGO logos. Stay tuned.

You mean "seams" instead of "bevels".

Yes. The importer reports an Unicode error. I will pass this to the developer.

Those models can be shown in LDView and MLCad but the loader in Blender fails because it's using LSynth data. I tried to move the .dat files into the /parts folder but it doesn't work.

Interesting. POV-Ray will render the highlights the same way like MODO. They follow the diagonal edges of the tesselation. Too bad that there are no proper normal maps coming from LDD:

Final test for today. More shiny and reflective. Very low glossy blur.

I cleaned up the LDR of the Unimog. LDView shows no missing parts. But Blender will not import it (what usally happens when some parts are in the file but missing).

Because I am just testing different methods atm. The LDRAW method is more time consuming on bigger models. The LDD method extremely fast. I will also try these models. Thanks for the link. *:-)

Another Test: - HDR map rotated for backlight - rounded edges thicker - material less glossy reflective - most diagonal edges deleted Tires are too reflective now. Usually the standard plastic is very reflective when you analyse shot close-ups. The glossy reflection on the floor wouldn't really happen.

Here's a test with the 8110 - Mercedes-Benz Unimog Technic Set. Directly captured from LDD. pros - you get 100% what you see - very fast and uncomplicated method to convert even complex models - correct colors - fast render times in MODO cons - LDD models are low-poly only - no studs with LEGO logos - SimLab Composer will merge pieces randomly by color (will report this to the developer) - shading issues of round faces due to tesselation (not a general bug): slightly diagonal reflections/highlights (happens because the capture can't get a proper normal map) Conclusion: great method to catch everything 100% directly from LDD to create nice renderings. Click on picture for 4K.

I will check. The wrong postition and rotation is a problem with ldraw.xml.

Sure. You want to see some specific?

I isolated the wrong parts and edited the ldraw.xml file. I need to find the right values. +++ UPDATE +++ I can't work out the correct values. Here's the original data: <!-- Technic Liftarm 1 x 3 with Rotation Socket 44224 21 --> <Transformation ldraw="44224.dat" tx="0" ty="0" tz="0" ax="1" ay="0" az="0" angle="4.712389"/> <!-- Technic Beam 3 with Rotation Pin 44225 21 --> <Transformation ldraw="44225.dat" tx="0" ty="0" tz="0" ax="0" ay="0" az="1" angle="3.141593"/> I tried to find a description what those angle values mean but failed. Moving the piece around is not a problem but rotating gives me a headache.

It might be a problem with the latest LDD release (ldraw.xml)? Here's another export of an AT-AT. The Technic parts at the legs are wrong placed and rotated.

I just use a few unofficial parts for other models but I did not replace any official ones with them.