NathanR

Be sure to check Lego bricks and pieces for all of the parts: https://wwwsecure.us.lego.com/en-gb/service/replacementparts Lego sometimes carries a stock of "rare" parts which have only appeared in a handful of sets and are otherwise expensive on bricklink. Couple of examples from 10212: 3685 Slope 75 2 x 2 x 3 Double Convex: Bricklink, around = £1.39, Lego price = £0.41 6183 Brick, Arch 1 x 6 x 2 Curved Top: Bricklink from about £0.50 each, Lego price = £0.36 Also, check for alternate ID numbers, e.g. parts 30360 and 93168 are essentially the same but one version might be cheaper. The only really hard to get part appears to be 89762 Windscreen 7 x 4 x 2 Round Extended Front Edge in white, can't remember where it fits on the models but it was only in a few sets in white. A brick built replacement might be better.

@JopieK Brilliant, just placed my order! @ALCO Feel free to hijack the thread, I'm also interested in custom prints/sticker designs

Ooh, I hadn't seen your website before. I'm not bothered about the slopes, I can live without the stripes on the boiler, and I really like the alternative sticker set to turn it into Flying Scotsman Can you give me an idea what shipping to the UK would be?

I missed out on 10194 Emerald Night when it was released back in 2009, so over the last couple of months I’ve been buying the bricks for the steam engine via bricklink. I sacrificed the gold stripe round the boiler to keep it affordable (it halved the cost!) but now I've built it, I'm finding it looks a little bland without the stickers to add details like the engine number or nameplate. I'm a bit reluctant to buy a genuine sticker sheet for the set because they're so expensive on bricklink, especially when shipping to the UK is taken into account. I have seen custom printed replacement sticker sheets for various older Lego sets on eBay though (e.g. the Star Wars UCS line, and a few of the classic 9V trains from the 90s). Do you know if anyone sells replacement stickers for the Emerald Night?

Does anyone know if Revan will be available in the UK? I missed out on the figure first time round as I'd never played Knights of the Old Republic, but I fell in love with the game when I discovered it last year.

Hi Madoshi, welcome to eurobricks! I can't really help when it comes to copyright issues - it all depends on how you plan to use the Lego models in the game, whether the game is commercial or just for yourself and friends, if you're using official Lego sets or your own creations... I would guess that you're ok as long as you stick to your own Lego model designs, in a non-commercial game, and do not use the Lego logo. Regarding how to get Lego models into a 3D editor, I would recommend you check out http://www.mecabricks.com This site allows you to build Lego models in your web browser, then download them as .OBJ files (colour information is stored in a separate .MTL file) Each brick comes as a separate group inside the 3D object, making it easier to do animations of the model being built. You can then use Blender (http://www.blender.org) or something similar to import the .OBJ file and export as a .3DS file, which can be used in just about any 3D modelling software going. Hope this helps!

Not quite... if you rebuild at flat, it will work. Then your completed module should drop into your original model. However, if other parts of your model may be rotated at incorrect angles so it may no longer line up correctly.

Yes, this worked. I see the problem, the 2x4 plates have ended up fractionally higher than the 1x14 technic brick. It's the glitch in LDD I mentioned where multiple rotations lead to slight errors in brick placement. Put a brick down on the grid, then attach the section you uploaded onto that brick. Once your section is level you can see a gap between your lowermost 2x16 plate and the 2x4 tiles which form the base of the section. Despite all bricks being level, the gap narrows as you move to the back of the wedge. The whole section needs rebuilding starting level on the LDD grid, possibly using other bricks as a scaffold. Afraid I can't look at this as I'm at work now, but I can have a crack at it tonight (or you can try yourself).

That's not quite what I meant. When you click on a brick, a small blue rectangle appears around it, that's the "Collision box". If that collision box overlaps with any other brick's collision box, the part cannot be placed there. Now, you say a lot of your parts are angled, I would guess that means that somewhere along the way the row of 2x4 plates has picked up a very slight tilt - not enough to be an incorrect build in real life, but enough that the collision boxes now overlap and cause a problem. Try rebuilding that section of model, keeping as much as possible at 90 degrees, then rotate sections to the correct angles at the end. EDIT: I see LegoFjotten has beaten me on this :) One suggestion, I think you are allowed to upload some small files to posts as an attachment. (The "My Media" button when posting?)

Looking at your video, I'd guess that you've made many rotations to get the angles just right, but rounding errors behind the scenes in LDD mean that the program now thinks that the bricks will collide and that this is not a valid build. My suggestions would be to try: 1) removing the 2x4 wedge plates, then add them back in later. 2) removing the 2x4 tiles and add them in later. 3) Worst case scenario: you will have to rebuild part of your model. If you put down a 2x4 brick and attach other parts on top, the bricks snap back to the grid and the accumulated rotation errors can disappear. Hope this helps!

"Is this a hold up?" "No, it's a science experiment!" Looks fabulous, I love the steam engine. Is the DeLorean the Lego Ideas one built out-of-box, or did you do any mods to it?

Looks interesting, but I think this is windows only... any chance of a mac version?

Hi Therize, If you want a list of parts making up the model in your LDD file, then just open LDD and click File->Export BOM. This will save a Microsoft Excel xlsx spreadsheet, which you should be able to open or import into Mac "Numbers" Hope this answers your question!

I'm no expert on ML Cad, but I think this is just a brick-building editor. The parts are taken from the LDraw library, which receives major updates every 6 months or so: http://www.ldraw.org...test-parts.html Somewhere on your computer you'll have a folder called "ldraw" containing all the lego pieces, overwrite it by installing one of the "complete" libraries. If your version of MLCad is a few years old, there will be a load of new pieces for you to play with. Also, if you want a part that isn't available in LDraw, you can check out the unofficial part libraries here: http://www.ldraw.org/article/14.html These will be added to the next major update once fully approved, but the unofficial ones can still be useful in some situations.

Wow! It's a fabulous set, but I think perhaps somebody had a little more money than sense...

Not sure - my personal preference is to just modify the POV scene file directly, it keeps everything together in a single file if you ever need to recreate the render. Ah, that would be because you turned out all the lights! LDView exports the POV scene with just three lights, so by declaring "SkipLight" for lights 1 2 and 3 you create a scene with no illumination, and the only light comes from the low-level ambient light. You can control the brightness of the light by modifying the parameter "color rgb 0.9", specifying 0.0 for pure black, 1.0 for pure white light, and any number in between for a range of greys. You can also (I think) use "color rgb <0.0 0.5, 0.4>" to create lights with custom colours according to the red, green and blue mix. To change the intensity of the shadows, I can think of two options. Generally I just play about with where the light is placed - it seems to fall off in intensity with distance from the object. You can search the POV scene file for "#declare LDXCameraLoc" to get a feel for where the camera is placed, and then start adjusting your light source accordingly. I only do this by trial and error, and really wish I could find a better way of placing the lights. Alternatively, you can add a second light source at a different position, providing more illumination and softening the shadows on the ground. Again, this is trial and error and I've never explored this as I only have a macbook air and simple renders of models with ~100 bricks can take me 20 minutes ior more with a single light source. Always happy to help when I can!

Oops Sorry, the spoiler tags removed the leading white space on each line. I've just updated my post to correct this. Maybe I ot the wrong link... MegaPovRay has had a fairly recent update, it's just a bit hard to find stuff on the site. Maybe try this link instead? http://megapov.ineta.../index.html#Mac (Can't actually find which exact version I have) Ah, maybe you need to specify another line in step 10 on my list. Under "Set search Paths for additional include files" browse to: Applications/POV-Ray3_7_Mac_Unofficial/include I thought that got set by default, can you check if this works? You shouldn't be modifying the LGEO library the way you are. What you do using the LDView Pov-ray file is turn off some of the lights, by adding the following commands at the top of the file: #declare LDXSkipLight1 = 1; #declare LDXSkipLight2 = 1; #declare LDXSkipLight3 = 1; Search for LDXSkipLight in the file and you'll see the light definitions, you can also modify them and reposition the lights to produce a better lit scene. If anyone knows of a better way to do this than simple trial and error, I'd be very interested Alternatively, if you've got a powerful computer, you can try the radiosity lighting effects, by placing this at the top of the POV file: #version 3.7; #include "rad_def.inc" global_settings { max_trace_level 10 radiosity { Rad_Settings(Radiosity_Fast, on, off) } } light_source { // X, Y, Z <800, -170, 300> color rgb 0.9 area_light 200, 200, 10, 10 jitter } #declare LDXSkipLight1 = 1; #declare LDXSkipLight2 = 1; #declare LDXSkipLight3 = 1; It works by tracking photons from a light source as they repeatedly reflect off the surface of the mode, it can give much better results than the standard three lights but is very slow. Also, you need to carefully place your light source (again by trial and error). Change Radiosity_Fast to Radiosity_Final for the best quality results when you've finished setting everything else.

I went through all of this a few months back, it's quite straightforward to get a full setup but you have to know where to look... You will need to do the following: 1) Download and extract the LDraw parts library (http://www.ldraw.org...test-parts.html) ->You'll want to download "complete.zip" 2) Open the folder "ldraw" and create a file called "MakeList.py". Copy into this text file the code shown in the spoiler tags: Using the Mac command line terminal, navigate to your ldraw folder and then type: python MakeList.py This will scan the "parts" directory and produce a text file listing every brick in the LDraw library. 3) Eurobricks member Lego2Lego very kindly put the LGeo parts library in his dropbox folder. It's still there, so download from this link: https://www.dropbox....05lff6RHja?dl=0 Place the LGeo folder and the LGeo.xml in the "ldraw" folder 4) Download and install Bricksmith http://bricksmith.sourceforge.net On first run, you will have to tell it where the LDraw parts library is. 5) Download and install LDView: http://ldview.sourceforge.net Again, on first run you will have to tell it where the LDraw parts library is. 6) Download and install Mega Pov-Ray (Pov-Ray for the Mac): http://megapov.ineta...t/download.html 7) Have some fun - build a Lego model in Lego Digital Designer. Save it, then use File->Export Model and select Ldraw file (ldr) 8) Open the ldr file with bricksmith and check it exported correctly. You may need to repair the model as the LDD export is not perfect - there are some types of brick it doesn't include in the output, or sometimes it can include bricks but put them in the wrong place. 9) Open the ldr file in the lDView program. Use the camera controls to select a nice angle or view, then click File->Export. Next to the box saying "File Format: Pov-ray scene file" there is a button marked "options". Click the button and scroll down to "Native POV geometry" Tick "Use xml mapping file" Set "Path to XML Mapping file" as the LGeo.xml file you downloaded from Lego2Lego's dropbox Save all options and export. 10) Open the POV-ray scene file using POV-ray, and select the "Files and Paths" tab. Under "Set search Paths for additional include files" browse to your ldraw folder and select: /some/folder/ldraw/lgeo/lg/ Play about with the render settings, keep it a small scene at first for a test preview, then click render! And there you have it, high quality renders in 10 easy steps! You've already done a lot of this, so it should be easy to get everything up and running. Hope this helps!

I do have that set, though it's many years since I've been able to run the software (don't think it worked after Windows 98). The diver figure included in the set would appear in a corner of the computer screen at various points and give helpful tips, or witty comments. I remember one point where if you clicked to learn about a shark, he'd appear, shudder, then say "If you ever see one of these around, you'd better let me know", while the shark in question swims behind him.... When you ran the software you would be taken to an underwater base, formed of a central hub with 5 different "rooms" clustered around it. Clicking on the map would spin the picture of the base then take you to the room you selected. The first room showed the A-model, nicknamed the "rubber duck", and clicking on different parts of the sub would activate the technic mechanisms and show off the features of the real one (e.g. click the knob to open the front canopy, and the removable mini-sub floats out, while the diver waves and says "Hello"). You could also click a button to haul up digital instructions for building the sub. IIRC they were the same as the paper manual, but showed animations of each piece dropping in place, or the pneumatic hoses threading through the holes. The second room showed the B-model, but was otherwise the same as the room with the A-model - click the model to see it move, or work through a CGI building guide. The third room featured 5 or 6 alternative builds, each of which could be built one at a time with the parts in the set. They were typically tiny, the "vertical scooter" was barely a platform for the diver to stand on with a couple of propellers attached, but the "deep sea sonar" was a largish build with a spinning "radar dish" type structure on top. On completing the build, you would get a certificate you could print out with your name on it. Again, clicking on each model would make the diver appear on it and go through a routine that showed off all of the moving parts. The fourth room gave access to a small database with limited info on various sea creatures. More interesting (at least to me) was the section on the submarines, as each technic model featured in the first three rooms had an entry describing their operational depths, capabilities, and uses. A lot of the mini-models had fun stories attached to them, and there were also CGI video clips showing them in action (e.g. the main model investigating a sensor barrel destroyed in a rock fall and replacing it, and I'm sure there was one of a remote controlled sub getting eaten by a shark... the camera on it apparently sent back "interesting" pictures for months afterwards ) The fifth room was the lego technic catalogue - a large curved screen with various sets displayed. If you clicked on a picture of a set, or typed in coordinates, you'd see a camera point to one of the pictures and then open a window describing the set and it's key features. The 8480 Technic Space Shuttle and the 8479 Barcode Multi-Set had actual video clips showing children playing with the models - I suspect they were TV adverts from the time. There may have been more videos, I have a vague memory of one for a black helicopter, but I don't know for sure. Another nice easter egg was a Lego set from I think the 1950s of a carved wooden duck. Also, there was one of the rooms where if you clicked on a computer panel on the left hand side of the screen (a panel that appeared nothing more than part of the background scenery), you would call up a very simple game that was basically Space Invaders. On the whole I felt it was a very fun piece of software, although I was about 8 years old at the time and I'd probably find it a bit clunky today. The diver occasionally popping up with a little joke or comment was a very nice touch, and it was exciting trying to find out what you had to click to make him pop up again, and what he'd come out with. Actually, know I stop and think... is it bad that it's been at least ten years and I just knew all this stuff and didn't even have to stop to look something up?

I love how you've done the Star Destroyer innards, that solution is insanely simple yet sheer genius.I will have try this in LDD! The snowspeeder looks awesome too!

I'd be very interested as well! I've been wanting to do a MOD of 10030 in LDD that switches all parts to ones that are in current production or at least readily available, I was trying to work something out with the large ball-and-socket bricks but never got anywhere. A solution using technic beams sounds perfect!

Oooh, this looks fun. Ok, I see only megablocks in the first five images (maybe some Lego parts mixed in), but your sixth image looks to be all Lego sets. I see: 8092 Luke's Landspeeder 75049 Snowspeeder (?) Lego have done loads of these, it's hard to be sure 8093 Plo Kloons starfighter 9675 Sebulba's podracer and Tatooine (Half the planet shell, I don't see much of the model but it might be there) 9676 Tie Interceptor and Death Star (I see the death star sphere, but not sure about the model or figure) 9509 Star Wars Advent Calender 2012. You have the Santa "Darth Maul" figure, you may have some other figures from that set and possibly one mini-build. You also have one of the Chima brick-built creatures, but I don't follow that series and can't identify it I'm also seeing amongst the minifigs various of the collectible minifigures (can't find which series just yet) and a few of the Santa's elves I would suggest remove the megablocks, then sift through the Lego parts. Once you have set reference numbers, download the instructions from lego customer service, and try and build the model out of the parts you have left. If you're missing something, make a note and try and keep building. Hope this helps.

I love that globe! Well, let's do a simple calculation. A minifigure is 4cm tall, the average man is 2m (200cm) tall, so the minifgure is 4/200 = 0.02 times the height of the man. The earth is 12742km across, but the minifigure world is therefore 12742*0.02 = 254.84km Lets call that 255km. A quick google search for planet sizes turns up this: http://nssdc.gsfc.na...tary/factsheet/ and shows that our minifigure earth is actually smaller than even Pluto! Looking for smaller objects: http://en.wikipedia....objects_by_size and noting that the minifigure earth has a radius of about 128 km, which has a closest match to something like Hyperion, the 7th moon of Saturn: http://en.wikipedia....Hyperion_(moon) Now there's just one thing left - if the earth really was shrunk and inhabited by Lego minigures... would they have miniaturised Lego to play with?

That would be nice... but after seeing the images of the Lego Dimensions sets that appeared today, I'm wondering if the LDD update will actually contain all the new pieces that the Dimensions sets seem to have (Dr Who sonic screwdriver, the portal gun, a host of printed tiles ). I think a few of the Dimensions set names haven't been revealed yet, so there might be some parts they have to keep under wraps until the game is released to avoid spoiling a surprise.

I wouldn't recommend just throwing more memory at the program, I think you should instead update the code and get clever with the memory management - do you really need to store hundreds of images in memory at the same time? A single A4 page of instructions could have at most, say, 20 images, so why bother with the rest? I still haven't run the program yet, but if I understood the screenshots right then the user sees a single page of instructions at a time. So, you can either: 1) Whenever you click to go to a page, delete all images currently rendered, and render the images for the new page or 2) When you click to go to a page, save the step images to a temp folder, then delete the images from memory. If you go back to that page, reload the images from the temp folder (or rerender if the instruction layout has changed). If no images are found in the temp folder, then rerender them. This way you only ever have to keep the images for a single page in memory at any time. Option 2) will be more complex to implement, but will definitely be faster than rerendering a large 10,000 piece model. If you are leafing through the manual one page at a time then this will become rather slow and tedious (like LPub), but it would allow unlimited sizes of models to be processed.