anothergol

I'm not "sharing my hate for your software" everywhere for the fun of it, in the middle of a discussion about tools & renderers I can either pretend that Mecabricks doesn't exist, or share my thoughts about it. It has the best renderer and a (IMHO) bad UI workflow, it's already half a compliment. Most other tools have neither good workflow nor good rendering (or rendering at all). And I also did write "& now Stud.io's new renderer apparently based on Blender's renderer". They're not hiding it (even though they say "their own engine" in places, which indeed sucks), I learnt that from themselves. And yeah I'm pretty sure a lot of what makes good rendering are in settings themselves, so.. good work, if they stole your stuff. I was gonna add, I'm pretty sure they could have just improved the settings on the POVRay renderer as well, but now I'm reading POV doesn't have ambient occlusion, which seems to be what Cycles overdoes & what makes the biggest difference (or is it just not enough radiosity? gonna make some tests).

It used to take like over 6 months, now a couple of weeks up to several months (or never at all, don't expect licensed stuff). Yes, they lower prices over time.

Most of my last orders have been shipped in 2 or 3 batches, I don't really know why but it has to be more complex than that. I'm even wondering if everything is shipped from the same place/factory, perhaps that's what's creating delays & separate shipments. So perhaps Lego waits until everything in your order arrived to the same place, and decides to ship separately when it takes too long? I have no clue. In the past stuff was shipping quicker, but we had to wait for over 6 months for new parts to appear, so.. I still prefer now.

First, yeah the LDD has proven to still get updates, only they're rarer now. Second, no one is ever gonna pay big money for an LDD, and there are only a tiny handful of "pro's" who'd make enough money from the LDD to justify buying it, especially with many free alternatives. Stud.io isn't there yet but if its workflow was updated to mimic the LDD, it could end up being a good replacement.

Can now be bought: 37494, nice part but quite expensive :( but the candles are still not back in stock :(

Can't compared it to anything else because it's the only one that I've used, but I found the workflow pretty neat & logical btw. I remember it worked pretty well, it ended up being a little tedious work, but most likely as tedious as it had to be. The only "problem" I had with it was the weird pixellation. I don't even understand how Blueprint renders, because it looks like hand-drawn, while obviously you couldn't do that for every part, let alone new parts. Yet, I didn't know it was possible to render 3D parts in pixellated lines that don't stack & look like someone drew them manually. What gives? And thanks for Bluerender btw, I've used it quite a lot. A lot has changed since then in the Lego rendering world. Mecabricks (using Blender?) probably has the best renderer out there, I still hate its UI so I'm not gonna try it. I used Bluerender when you released it, then I started using LDDToPOVRay a bit & it was nice, then Stud.io's POVRay renderer, & now Stud.io's new renderer apparently based on Blender's renderer. But Bluerender still makes sense here for renders that don't aim at realism, and mainly model rotations because it's fast enough for that. A smooth anim that can be rendered in 2 hours in Bluerender would take days in others. Btw, a Lego renderer is pretty much the only Lego-related tool I know I'd pay for, if it was the best out there. (I don't mean paying per render which is another reason why I wouldn't use Mecabricks). Even an LDD-To-Blender tool that would output the best geometry, and ideal lighting that I can still mess with, would be ideal. Right now Stud.io's beta renderer still misses custom lights, camera angle, depth of field and most importantly, primitives substitution. Have you discussed with Stud.io's makers btw? Perhaps it's more "open" than the LDD? Well I can't imagine it less open. Out of all the editors out there, it's the one that I hate the least. It's obviously no LDD yet, but I can feel the potential for it. It has pretty good part snapping, it's open enough that you can add new parts, only it's full of UI quirks & annoyances that make it far from as fast as the LDD. Sadly those UI/control problems haven't changed for years. Also I believe Stud.io's future might look as risky as the LDD's future, considering both have been made (or at least released to the public) for similar "wrong" reasons. The LDD to "buy creations online" and we all know how it went. Stud.io for Bricklink integration and "buy your creation online".. which has more chances to work than the LDD (since Bricklink has everything "in stock", something that Lego can't do), but I still don't much believe in that (simply for a matter of pricing).

Not if you group your stuff properly, then the LDD will generate instructions "per group" (from my experience). The real problem is the exported images used by the exported HTML (I wrote PDF by mistake, it really is HTML), they suck, they aren't centered properly and often look minuscule. And I'm not dissing Blueprint, I've used it, it's great. I've also used Bluerender, it's great. It's just that now that another player has just entered the "market", I'm questioning the real use of this kind of tool. And again, I believe that the majority who think they need this, are delusional, thinking that they will be generating instructions for thousands of people, while the fact it that it will be most likely for a dozen. But hey, perhaps one day it will make sense. It only needs one chinese service who will say "we'll take your instructions, gather/produce, pack & send all the parts for you", for this thing to be very useful. It's not the app that's the problem, it's not the amount of people interested by MOCs either, it's the amount of people interested by MOCs for which they will have to hunt for parts, pay for lots of shipments (of dirty parts) & wait for weeks because of 1 seller in the bunch.

It doesn't look that white to me - how yellow was it before? Btw, quoting myself: "But I don't get it, de-yellowing has been done so massively on old consoles/computers, why aren't we seeing stories of all those having re-yellowed?", well we are: https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2013-01-15-retr0bright-only-temporary.htm Same experience as mine, re-yellowing even stored in the dark. So apparently it's the oxidation of the bromide that gets back to the surface that yellows it, and the only solution is to coat the part? I have a naive question though: how much bromide is there in the plastic, and can it eventually all get out, after several de-yellowing?

that sounds pretty overkill (are you really printing it to paper?) while you could export a PDF from LDD that you'd just view on a smartphone or cheap tablet

Yep, sadly. That's why I now consider yellowing as "irreversible" (unless you wanna bother de-yellowing every 6 months, something you'd only do for rare & expensive stuff) It annoys me more for a couple of other toys/dolls (like old CY Girls) that I've left in the sun, knowing those would be harder to de-yellow & not something I'd redo all the time. But I don't get it, de-yellowing has been done so massively on old consoles/computers, why aren't we seeing stories of all those having re-yellowed?

I have quite some large sets that I haven't built, because I know it's gonna be lengthy & less fun than small sets which I build right away. Exactly for the same reason as buying movies or games I have never watched/played: why do now what I can do tomorrow? & of course I never do it tomorrow.

one day I expect someone to knit an entire pullover out of Lego strings & call it a MOC

I would consider "purist" cutting a specific tube color to a length that Lego has cut in the past. A "tube 8L in black" that you cut yourself is in no way different from the same tube that Lego cut (or asked to cut) in a set. I wouldn't consider "purist" cutting a tube at a length that Lego hasn't done, but if Lego would do it, then I don't mind doing it. Like, I may cut a tube to 11L, without bothering to check if Lego has done it for that color. I would however avoid cutting it to 11.1L. And I'm still wondering if I should start cutting 2L tubes, because I don't believe Lego would either do that, as kids would lose them inside other parts. Or maybe they would, in a set for adults. But I feel like if I start cheating with bars 2L I will enter the realm of unpure MOCs and they will have to be REALLY as good as cheating MOCs can be. Well that's definitely "unpure". Of course it's "ok" (it's ultimately your choice), but if I see other brands in a MOC, it's then a "cheating" MOC, & thus another form of art that follows other rules, and it really has to be amazing to impress me. I'd put it in the "hacks & mixed brands" category & would compare it to other MOCs in that category - some of which being really much better than pure MOCs, because they can. Like, those new 1x1 brackets that Lego just introduced, they are gonna allow so much stuff. Other brands already had them, & thus anyone doing mixed brands MOCs was already able to do them. Different rules, different expected outcome.

To each his own, but I'd suggest giving it another try. I believe the most advanced stuff will always come out of the LDD. For the simple reason that the little part in the middle of a large build, it takes a click to change it in a virtual build, it takes 10min to change it in the real build. You've got to be a real expert to do great stuff without the LDD, because you have to already know what to do. And you've got to already have every part.

Really? What'd be the logic? I've never read of this happening. Plus I've had dolls that have been yellowing behind a window in a room I wasn't really using, for enough years that they would have had the time to de-yellow already, but they didn't. When I bricklink blue used parts, I always know I will end up with 2 very different blues. Can't be yellowing here, because it's always the same 2 blues, not lots of shades of it. There has definitely been a change in blue at some point, & obviously I haven't Bricklinked so many pre-73 parts.

The best would be no switch at all. You probably already know about http://www.i-brix.com/ But I don't know if it has already started shipping - they said first half of 2018. And of course the lights are full bricks, not exactly tiny. But why do you need the switches inside the MOC? Oh, and there's this. I don't know the size, but it looks like it'd fit in a 1x1 tube, and it's the full thing including the switch. Specs say around 3mm diameter, so smaller than a stud, and perhaps it's the same as a bar (but it looks thicker in the video). The whole thing would have the metrics of a Bar 2L, that sounds too good to be true. Maybe I'm gonna order a couple. Edit: for those who are interested, here are my findings: -those Hiromi are hard to find. They're on HLJ, but out of stock. Maybe you can backorder them, I'm not sure. Generally they say backorder for stuff that are out of stock. Those have the advantage that the LED seems smaller, and isn't built-in the cap. -then there's Aliexpress. Lots of them there, most as fishing lights as well. The most common is PS408, which is what I've just ordered. There are other ones, they all (including the Hiromi one) seem to share the same CR311 battery. Here sadly the LED is in the cap and probably activates when you attach it. But here you don't have to throw the whole thing, you can buy batteries again. Are those 3mm batteries really bar-sized? I'll let you know when I'll get them. The leds will stick out a bit too much for my taste, BUT there also seems to be new LQ2016 batteries which are 2mm thick (still 11mm long), and those seems to have slightly smaller LEDs attachments, & quite possibly it's then the LED that's bar-sized. I haven't ordered those because they don't seem to be widespread yet, and way more expensive. I don't know how the LEDs are connected to the batteries, if it's simple enough I assume one can just buy bulks of LEDs & end up with something very small & cheap. Those caps are for waterproofing & we don't need that.

But yeah that's exactly why we do it. All I'm saying is, you're doing that for a few dozen people, at best. And you might even be doing it for just 1 dude, or no one at all, so there may not even be a "them". If this kind of stuff was viewed by millions & brought no money, yeah it'd still make a lot of sense IMHO. Btw you know what's at the top in Rebrickable (other than stuff relying on licenses)? Instructions for alternate builds for existing sets (or combinations of sets). That's for the reason I told about, only a couple of people are ready to do boring & costy Bricklink orders. I myself would not bother, while I Bricklink every week. I would have LOVED to get the Arvo brother's models, but even for these I wouldn't have bothered gathering some obscure retired parts (of course these were releasing nice books, maybe some collectors were into that). But when Xingbao released their stuff, I surely bought most of them. It might happen that the Chinese will start "licensing" (if they really ever did that) more & more MOCs, and then yeah, making instructions will start to make a lot of sense.

well, where else? Yeah I hadn't considered Technics stuff, for which I guess it makes sense to follow a guide (even though I believe the LDD generator uses groups & that works too). But hey, 40 sets it looks like our numbers are similar. Let's be real, it's beer money (that indeed pays for parts) and it's nice to have along as it's fun. But in the end, MOCing can in no way bring more money than it costed, and thus if you start building more & more instructions & it stops being fun, it stops making sense. Doing that for "just" 40 people, that is simply not worth it. Even for 400 people I wouldn't do it, actually. 4000, maybe, but shared instructions will always remain a niche (unless one day gathering parts becomes easy & cheap enough.That was one of LDD's goals & it failed. Now that is one of Stud.io's goals and.. who knows). Imagine if you were a Youtuber and all of your videos had 40 views, and you knew that was the norm out there - you'd probably stop bothering making nice edits. And actually, it might even make more sense to make Youtube instructions, it'd be as much work, but ads might bring more than selling a few dozens of instructions. I have acually made 2 tiny Youtubes to test basic editing. It was fun, it of course brought no views (like, 6000 at best, which for YT is nothing), thus I wouldn't bother anymore unless I wanna do it for fun again. Anyway, my whole point was about the number of people who are gonna see/use what you do, and it looks like you confirm it's a niche "market". But maybe I was spoiled making stuff used by millions of people in the past, I don't know. The most ironic is that it was still in a very niche stuff, but still the numbers were extremely different.

Seeing Stud.io got its own instructions designer as well (but most importantly, a new renderer!), made me think again about instruction designers. I don't quite get it. I've myself used Blueprint, and it was fun, once. I only did it for the fun of it, but it's tedious, do it more than once and it becomes work. Now who is this for? I get it that *some* people sell full kits online, they really aren't that many, I couldn't even name more than 3. For ALL the rest, it's about sharing, or selling instructions with a couple of people who are enough into Lego that they can make tedious Bricklink orders, and who are then likely to be able to read through your LDD - those don't really need proper instructions. Well: I've had a MOC sold on Rebrickable, that temporarily got to the third place at the top of their "commercial" instructions. I had sold around 30. That should give an idea about how much all the rest in the list have sold. & don't get me wrong, it's nice to make beer money from something you only did for fun anyway. But then it has to remain fun. I hadn't bothered generating instructions for that MOC, because I already knew it'd be tedious. I did for another MOC, a free one for which Idon't really know how many have downloaded it [edit: actually I'm hosting it & I can check: 12 downloads in 2018], & if it was worth it. But I have another MOC sold on Rebrickable, a MOC that's not based on something popular, & thus it's not 30 that I have sold there, but 1. And I am pretty certain that the vast majority of the MOCs at Rebrickable have sold zero, or one. And because, again, it's only about instructions & not full kits, thus is restricted to the few who really wanna bother Bricklinking several batches to build your stuff, I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of free MOCs on Rebrickable haven't been downloaded either. So, instructions generators, yeah it's nice to try them out for the fun of it, for the fun of "I made this". But I don't see who would find it fun to repeat this for every MOC he wants to share, it quickly stops being fun. And if the fun isn't there, and money obviously isn't there, then why do it?

Yeah I have done this before & I didn't lose my order, until I did, & then I stopped doing it. It's random, you will lose your order by placing it, editing it, etc.

Yeah, but that's in theory. In practice, each of these risky things will increase the chances of you losing your B&P order.

AH, so I'm not the only one! It has happened to me as well, for the same order, first that kind of message several times in a row (as I wanted to checkout by VISA) until it eventually passed. Then, after waiting 2 weeks for that B&P order to ship, it got cancelled. Now if you meant your B&P content kept vanishing before you finalized your order, I'm afraid that is quite common & a problem since day one on B&P. Big reminder for everyone, always make a screen cap of your order (& keep in mind that the FireFox screen cap is limited in height). Lego's websites are really crap in general. Their Rebrick website was filled with bugs as well, luckily their contests have now moved to Lego Ideas, which seems to work well compared to the rest. B&P is pretty bad from all angles. You make a bad move and you go back in your browser, oops, your entire cart is lost. You place your order, chances are that you're gonna lose your cart as well. And if you think you're safe after placing your order, oops, cancelled for no reason. I'll say it again, I wish Lego had a Bricklink store. Bricklink is just unbreakable. Oh & for the laughs, who else ever mistyped his age on the annoying B&P opening screen? Like you type 3 or 4 and press return before the second digit.. you'd think Lego would be smart enough to realize that it's not a 4 years-old who tried to buy parts? Of course not, they will lock you out for the next 20 minutes! I don't know how some giant companies have so bad websites. I experienced the same with Samsung the other day. For some reason those companies WANT to have localized websites, but they don't put any effort in maintaining them, and you get screwed because you HAVE to use the version for your country.

Quite a lot of new parts added indeed, but even less in stock than yesterday.. Lego really doesn't need our money. I hadn't spotted this one in DBG in any set btw. Only in LBG.

2 years later, I get this set on sale (at the price it should have started with IMHO), because I love Adventure Time & I had to get it, and also thinking that I'd appreciate it better in hand. Well, no.. Even the build is as basic as it gets, as bottom-up, studs-on-top as a Lego set could ever be. Like your little sister designed it. I just couldn't find the same charm in these as I find in Brickheadz. Perhaps the Ice King is ok enough (but honestly Adventure Time characters are so iconic that just the right basic shapes & colors are enough to make them very recognizable), but.. It looks like people voted this because as a way to tell Lego they desperately wanted Adventure Time stuff, to which Lego replied "joke's on you, we are really producing this". Lego could have totally redesigned it. The difference between the BMO in this set & the one in the Dimensions set is striking.

As much as I don't like the Aston Martin, it's bringing us this part in LBG (not listed yet)!