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NathanR

Eurobricks Knights
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Everything posted by NathanR

  1. NathanR
    How do you know???
  2. NathanR
    Yes I was, sorry, I should have been clearer I know a bit about the command prompt, so any advice about running Blueprint would be much appreciated. Maybe we could work on the mac scripts together? Think I remember the LICreator thread , but I'm not sure how much help I could be - I've never used OpenGL and I'm only just beginning to teach myself python. It could be an interesting project though, if you think I can help then I'm happy to try.
  3. NathanR
    Hi, no one seems to have mentioned this but some hints about the first Star Wars spin off have been officially released: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32376871 This spin-off is set for release in Decmeber 2016, but is set before Star Wars IV and involves the Death Star (sorry for being cryptic but I don't want to risk spoilers, it's all in the link anyway if you're interested). Back around April 2nd there was a rumour of a new Lego Death Star set replacing the current one next year - coincidence? I don't think so...
  4. NathanR
    Hi there, this looks like a fantastic piece of software, but is it possible to run it on the Mac? I downloaded the program but all I see are some .bat files and two folders, I'm not too sure what to click on. Also, just curious, but how are you able to render the Lego bricks? Do you use the LDraw parts Library for this, or do you take the bricks from LDD?
  5. NathanR
    Patience, young padawan... All things come to those who wait The new star wars sets are being kept firmly under wraps, only a list of set numbers and prices is available, but I doubt they'll be including parts from these in a release - I have the impression the Star Wars sets won't be released until around September, but from the sound of things the LDD update will be soon-ish. Are there any other major franchises Lego have under wraps at the moment that could bring us new parts?
  6. NathanR
    Almost certainly due to budget constraints. When Lego released the Ideas Exo-Suit, there was a lot of info given out about the design process, how each model is assigned a budget and that only so many colour changes were allowed, and that some parts are actually "colour-locked" and cannot appear in a new colour. A quick skim on bricklink (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=32184) shows part 32184 is only available for 2015 sets in red, light bley or black - Lego could have ordered it cast in a new colour, but there were already loads of new parts/colours: the gearing mount, the weapons, the Bionicle head and masks were new parts, and old parts were cast in new colours (such as the Hero Factory torso armour, new in red for Tahu). I would imagine there just wasn't any money left in the budget to change part 32814, or either the hands and feet, without making the set too expensive.
  7. NathanR
    I think the LDD instructions would have been largely useless to you anyway. Don't forget you can get a list of the parts in the model from "File->Export BOM", and use the hide tool to see how the bricks are slotted together (you can click individual bricks, or can click and drag to select multiple parts, ctrl+z to undo will show them again). It's usually straightforward to reverse engineer a model from the computer. Good luck with your building!
  8. NathanR
    You left it running for five or six days??? Just how many bricks are in this model? As I understand it, LDD generates an instruction manual by picking the lower-most brick, and looking at bricks placed higher up (vertically) to determine the best sequence to build the model. It may get sidetracked on the way by subassemblies, if they use complex SNOT-work, and also by building sideways. If the program gets "trapped" though (can't add part A before Part B, can't do Part B before Part A kind of thing) it has to reset and find a different strategy for assembling the model. Your model got 50% of the way through then it realised that it just couldn't keep going, and decided to try a different solution. It's rare that it goes right back to the beginning, but I have seen it happen. In any case, I suspect your model is too large for the instruction generator to cope with - the code for it was developed back in the days of Lego Design By Me, and geared around models of ~300 pieces, and I don't think they ever got it to really work. The instructions LDD generates are also notoriously bad. If you want to just learn LDD, I suggest building a small model (something like the Lego ideas research institute, or even just a bunch of minifigs) and make instructions for that. If instruction manuals are really important to you, then you'll want to look into using the LDraw parts library, and the LPub instruction manual software (but that might well be too advanced for you at the moment!)
  9. NathanR
    You just have to be patient, keep an eye on LDD (which will automatically download any updates when it starts up) and be ready to celebrate like Christmas has come early when an update does appear (Seriously, there are a few technic pins new this year I can't wait to use in my LDD creations...)
  10. NathanR
    Hi MrTotoro, I do use a Mac laptop although I'm no expert, I think your graphics card is actually a part of the processor rather than a dedicated graphics card and therefore controlled by the Mac Operating system. There's no way (so far as I know) to update the drivers I've never seen a problem like this before myself, but you could perhaps try this: Under Lego Digital Designer->Preferences Try disabling any high quality rendering Try dragging the "Compatability mode level" slider to the right and restarting (this may repair/reset the grid) If it works, move the compatibility slider back to theleft and restart to return to normal Last resort: Uninstall LDD (Back up all your MOCs first!!!) and reinstall it. Hope this helps
  11. NathanR
    Ah, I see. Actually you may find LDD a bit easier to use than bricksmith as it lets bricks automatically clip together, even if there are a lot of complex angles involved (e.g. multiple hinge plates connected together) good luck!
  12. NathanR
    Hi recifaliste, I'm not too sure what you're asking here - the lxf files can be opened by Lego Digital Designer only, which is available for the Mac (http://ldd.lego.com/en-gb/download). If it's instruction manuals you're after, lego customer service has most of them listed for download, you just need the set reference number (http://service.lego.com/en-gb/buildinginstructions) Hope this helps!
  13. NathanR
    Lego customer service also includes "Bricks and pieces" https://service.lego.com/en-gb/replacementparts#BasicInfo[\URL] (enter age and country, select "I want to buy a piece" then "Bricks and pieces selection") You need to know either the design or element ID for the piece you're looking for, but basically if Lego have it in stock they will sell it to you. And if it's not in stock, just check back in a week or so and it will probably be in. They also have an amazing array of minifigure torsos listed, some which seem to go back years. But bricklink is an excellent alternative, it can be a lot cheaper then purchasing direct from Lego,especially if you are buying in bulk. You sometimes have to really shop around for a good deal on parts though, and you have to make sure that the shipping fees don't get too expensive (e.g. shipping from USA to UK wasn't too bad, but then I got stung on the import duty and Parcel Force's "handling fee")
  14. NathanR
    Actually, has anyone considered that Star Wars Ep 7 might see the Empire stupidly building a third Death Star? If so, then the current playset could be getting an update to feature the new locations? By making the Emperor's throne room as a separate set this year, it would allow this room to be swapped out for something else. Or alternatively, the Rebels TV show (which I admittedly haven't seen anything of) might possibly see attacks being made on the first Death Star while it was under construction and additional scenes might be needed for that. Also, someone suggested a few posts back that the playset might get a closed shell round it like the UCS Death Star II. I did try building a mod of that set in LDD to make it the first Death Star, and was very surprised to see it still clocked in at ~3000 pieces, there is no way Lego could do this and keep the set at a reasonable price.
  15. NathanR
    Very impressive! I've always been fascinated by clock mechanisms though I haven't a clue how they actually work. How does the rotation of you mechanism correspond to the actual time that's passing? Also, how long does it run for before you have to wind it up again?
  16. NathanR
    If memory serves, Lego say they can take 3-5 working days to review and approve a project, I think you just have to be a bit patient here. Also expect them to appear at unlikely times, my one took two days to go live for votes, but appeared at around 11 o'clock at night!
  17. NathanR
    I don't think it's online yet. Remember, Lego can take a few days to review a project and make it public for voting...
  18. NathanR
    The thud you just heard was my jaw hitting the ground... Absolutely fabulous!
  19. NathanR
    Yes, it will be because of the HMS Thunderchild. A fabulous model, but it's a modern-looking battleship and goes against Lego's policy. HMS Beagle on Lego Ideas is acceptable because it's an old-fashioned sailboat (it would sit well with Lego Pirates) and the emphasis is also on Darwin and his studies of evolution. I think you'd have more luck if you submitted the Martian War machine on its own - sci-fi or fantasy violence like is usually more acceptable to lego because it's... well... fantasy.
  20. NathanR
    That is stunning, at first glance I didn't even realise it was Lego!
  21. NathanR
    Thank you so much for this!! I managed to get it all set up, and even straight out of the box the results were amazing: I worked through the tutorial, and I love the radiosity render mode, I think it gives a much more natural and realistic look to the bricks (the regular lighting struck me as a little too cgi-ish, a bot too much sheen). I only have one problem though - how do you control the lighting effects? Is there an easy way of working out where the radiosity area light should be positioned? Just working with raw numbers in the pov-ray file leaves things a bit too much trial-and-error, for example: I'd like to try and get slightly longer shadows, and maybe it's just me (or the model) but sometimes they just don't look like they're sitting on the floor. Any suggestions?
  22. NathanR
    Thanks for the suggestions. I tried Blender, but the import script can't load models made in Bricksmith (the only Mac LDraw editor I've got). I need to experiment with the settings a fair bit I think, I'm struggling to get the lighting right or the camera in a good position, and my test renders came out very grainy in places that were in shadow. @lego2lego Thanks for the povray link, I didn't know about that, I was only checking the main povray site. I was able to use LDView to get a scenes set up really easily, but there are two issues: 1) the final image has some very pale and washed out colours 2) one thing the tutorial refers to is the LGeo parts library - an enhanced LDraw for povray. Where can I get it? The site everyone links to seems to have disappeared, and the core library only seems available now in the LDraw windows installer, which I can't use...
  23. NathanR
    Ah, do you mean this script: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Import-Export/LDRAW_Importer Is Blender "safe"? I remember trying to use it many years ago on a Windows pc, but after I uninstalled I was forever finding folders, associated file extensions, etc. and I was never able to completely get rid of it.
  24. NathanR
    Hi, I don't know if there's a specific thread for this but I couldn't find one, so I hope it's ok me starting a new one. I do a lot of Lego in computer using both LDD and LDraw (Bricksmith editor), but what I'd like to try and do is create some higher quality images than the ones I manage to get out of LDView. I only have a Mac laptop. Could you give me any advice on the software/tools I need to get hold of? (Tried looking for Pov-ray but that doesn't seem to have a current mac release? Also, a lot of the tools seem geared exclusively for Windows which I can't run) Cheers NathanR
  25. NathanR
    Hi Captain Braunsfeld, glad you like the models! Actually, the blue 1x1 bricks between the detectors are supposed to represent the magnets, or as close as I can get them. The LHC uses 1232 dipole magnets to bend beams of protons around the circular ring, and 392 quadrupole magnets to keep the protons focused into a beam no thicker than a human hair. The silver parts between the blue 1x1 round bricks represent the metal bellows that appear at regular intervals - the entire LHC is cooled to about -273 degrees, which causes it to shrink slightly, and the bellows stretch so that the LHC doesn't tear itself apart at the seams. I did try and physically link all 8 units together, but LHCb sticks out at one end so the magnet won't connect, and in any case the detector ends aren't all at the same height, e.g. LHCb Vertex Locator is about 1/4 plate higher than the the centre of the green 2x2 tile on the far end . Another consideration is that I only had LDD to work with, and for the life of me I cannot get flex tubes to work in that program! However, maybe this slightly larger LHC might capture things a little better: (this one's not on Lego Ideas, it's a bit steep at something like £150 but I'm trying to acquire the parts for otto see if it works in real bricks)
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