missouri_bb63

Thanks for the contributions Thomas! The GIFs (with baseplates), have been added to the parts tracker and they will be available in the downloadable GIF packages shortly. I will try to contribute a few GIFs myself in the next few weeks. BlueBrick version 1.6.1 is just having some new functions translated into the various supported languages and then it will be available for download. I am sure Alban will write a post after the release concerning the great new features which several of you have asked for over the past year.

That is a serious amount of track! I am really looking forward to seeing actual pictures of this. Which event will you be showing this at?

Not a problem. You can post screenshots of your virtual layout in this thread. If you would like to post pictures of your actual, real life layout you could put them in the current thread. The point made by chromeknight is a good one. I also noticed, that the tables are slightly smaller than ideal size and I forgot to mention that. As the overhang is minimal it should't be too critical as long as you have large baseplates around the edges(or nothing of course), but otherwise it might be a good idea to find slightly larger tables, or have table tops cut to size out of cheap wood, and get some simple legs to hold them up. Stores like OBI, Praktiker and Hornbach provide everything you need. That is what I did for my old layout. I think I used 1.5 cm thick MDF but you might be able to use thinner wood than that for your layout.

Thanks FreeBee!

Not a problem! This link should provide the table GIF that you need. Let me know if it works out properly in the real world. I am looking forward to seeing both your virtual and actual, finished layout. Die Hilfedatei und Video Tutorials für BlueBrick gibt es übrigens auch auf Deutsch. Ich wünsche dir noch viel Spaß!

You managed put a huge amount of track into a small space. A very good design, I might have to remember this layout for a later date. Any chance you could send me the BlueBrick layout, or even a screen shot of the BB layout? Thanks!

This is fantastic. I have been avidly following all your creations on Flickr during the past weeks. The level of realism you are currently achieving is really inspirational! I can't wait to finally have an opportunity to start building again.

Hi there! If you give me the exact dimensions of the floor space or table surfaces you will be using (size of each individual table), I can make the necessary "table" GIFs for you so you can plan your layout precisely using the BlueBrick layout software. I will actually be spending a few hours on a train this morning so if I will have time to do that if you can get the dimensions to me as soon as possible. Thanks! EDIT (many hours later): I might have time during the week as well.

Hi! Being an avid MLCad fan I was quite interested to see this new sub forum for LDD as it is not something I have used before today. I have to admit I am pretty impressed with the renders of what you guys have made so far! If any of you guys spend time in the train forum you will know me as the user who collects and makes many of the GIFs for the BlueBrick layout software. All of the official Lego sets GIFs in BlueBrick are based on MLCad screenshots so far but I figured LDD should work too. I have just tried it in LDD but the quality didn't turn out so well. Unfortunately there seem to be some compatibility problems and missing parts in the LDraw library so an import didn't work well either. It could be, that I am doing something wrong but if any of you guys can figure out a way of making good quality overhead screenshots of your official sets in LLD, and would like to donate a GIF or two please write a note in the BlueBrick thread You can check out which sets have already been made on the BlueBrick parts tracker in the "town", "space" and "train" categories. Thanks in advance!

Inspired by Rumpelmuck's recent contributions, I set about adding all the classic baseplates with rounded corners to the BlueBrick baseplates library. Then I got a bit carried away, and ended up adding more than 20 new baseplates and a few replacements for existing baseplate and road GIFs. All the parts are available on the parts tracker and should be available in the add-on library pack with the next release.

Congratulations on making a fantastic looking steamer! I especially like the front. Looking at the side profile comparison with the prototype, the drivers look a bit too small on your model. If you have the money (and of course the time), you might want to try using the XL drivers from Big Ben Bricks. That, combined with taking a few plates off the bottom of the boiler would make this model look even more accurate. Keep up the good work!

Hello all. In case anyone was wondering why all the new GIFs that were made between 1.5 and 1.6 weren't included in the new release, it turns out Alban didn't have the time to include them due to the last minute programming of the new features which definitely deserved the top priority for this release. Appologies if anyone was disapointed. I have just taken over more responsibility for the GIFs and XMLs today and have uploaded them to the BlueBrick parts tracker. They will be made available in the downloadable zip files as soon as possible. The pages for the parts tracker will load a bit slower in future due to the rescaling of the GIF images which will make the pages much easier to view. As of today, there are also new parts categories to help handle the ever increasing number of GIFs, and there are also a few other cool features that are under development which you guys have asked for. They might be included in the 1.6.1 release. Watch this space. Thanks again to everyone for the generous contributions!

This is a fantastic review, you really put a great amount of work into it! This set was always on my wishlist but it was too expensive at the time. As have never seen one in real life all the pictures you took, the flaw you pointed out in the instructions and the incorporation of modern lego vehicles, are really interesting. It was also one of the first sets I made in MLCAD for the BlueBrick layout software. One of these days I am looking forward to having the real thing.

It's me again, this time with a quick update. Version 1.6 will probably be released on Monday. We are just finishing up the help files and some other bits and pieces. I think the Brickwiki article is pretty much done for now. Check it out here and let us know if you think we should change anything. I have also just uploaded the Spanish translations for video tutorials 1-2 which you can find here. If you happen to be a member of Spanish or Latin American LUGs, or if you know someone who is, it would be great if the link could be posted on the appropriate sites. Thanks!

Hi Rumpelmuck, thanks so much for the contributions! Send me a PM to let me know whether they can be put in with the next BlueBrick release. It would be great if you could post some pictures of the event which you will be participating in at the end of the year!

Yup, according to my initial calculation, 60" was 2 studs short of 6 full baseplates, which is why I thought I should ask. Here is the new fille. Let me know if you need anymore GIFs.

Hi! I made the table for you. It has been a while so I hope I got the measurements right. It seems to be slightly shorter than 6, 32 stud baseplates in length. Is that right? Click here to get the file. I am not going to deeplink it as the file is huge. Let me know if the measurements are off. I uploaded the new BrickWiki article today. It is still very much under construction though so you guys might want to leave it for a day or two. At the moment we are having some problems getting the screenshots to upload. Further news. We have been focusing quite a bit on getting the compatability with the Track Designer libraries finalized. Much work has, and will continue to be done on adding more baseplates. Today I downloaded parts lists from Bricklink and realized that we are actually missing quite a few (16x8 studs and over), so I will try to get as many of those done as possible. As many of them don't exist in .ldr format, I will probably take similar baseplates and do a little bit of photoshop editing. Let's see how it goes. It is great to hear that yet another person is using BlueBrick for Brickworld. It would be great if you guys could post your layouts here after the event. I won't be able to make it to Brickworld but I would really like to see what you guys created (of course actual pictures would be great too). That is an interesting idea for a feature by the way, but just like you said, setting the grid to 1/2 stud should be accurate enough for this purpose. Keep the ideas coming!

What Alban actually wanted to say was "working hard" and not "hardly working" as he has been up until the very early hours of the morning working on these new features and sending me new .exe files to try out on an hourly basis. I think you guys will really like the improved snapping feature. It is really precise and versatile, and it will definitely save even more time during the layout design than the previous version. In the mean time I am writing a small article on about BlueBrick for Brickwiki and I got some lego bricks out of storage so hopefully I can actually start building stuff soon.

I am guessing you are tryng to upload them into your post as an attatchment. You should post your pictures on an external site such as Flickr or Brickshelf and then do a deeplink to your post instead. Click here to read the instructions on how to do this. I hope that helps.

That mechanism is very clever. Is there any chance you could post a video on Flickr so we can see it in action?

Very cool! I have the 7777 ideas book and this one of the few things I don't remember trying at the time. I like your modifications!

Problem Solved Ok, it turned out to be a problem with the transparency settings on the GIFs. For some reason some hardware/software configurations made them glow. Here are the fixed GIFs. I will have to go through all the new GIFs at some point before the next release, but I think these were the ones where the problem was the most obvious. GIF GIF GIF GIF

To all BlueBrick users, we need your help to fix a bug! This seems to be a really tough one. Alban and I have just been trying to figure out why some of the BlueBrick parts seem to be "glowing" on my laptop. Eurobricks user Richie seems to have the same problem (sorry Richie that I haven't given you enough time to reply to the PM I sent earlier). Take a look at the screenshot below and let us know if you are having the same issues. It seems to affect the points and the crossings, and a few of the set gifs (I think... but it is hard to tell). For some reason the straight and curved track pieces do not seem to glow, and neither do the old points from the 1.3 version of the program... and it does not appear to be an issue with the GIF themselves. After Alban tried all kinds of modifications to the program, we are starting to wonder whether it is either a Hardware, OS or driver problem. I have the following setup: Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Invidia Quadro FX 770M graphics card (with up to date drivers), and version 2.0 of the .Net Framework. click here to find out which NET version you have. Even if you don't have the problem please let us know which specs you have because then we might be able to rule something out. Richie, please let me know your setup so we can see if there are any similarities between our setups. Thanks everyone!

I haven't had as much time to dedicate to this as I would like but here are two small contributions. The tools that are on top of the monorail aren't actually included in the set, but I figured it would add a bit of life to the GIF. I didn't make separate GIFs for each train section this time but let me know if you would like to have them split up. Don't forget that if you make your MOCs with a CAD program (especially buildings, even if they are just initial designs), you can easily turn them into GIFs as well. This might help you to visualize your layout when preparing for a Lego event. GIF XML : Airport Shuttle Set 3 (Shuttle Train) GIF XML : Electric Passenger Train

That is an excellent point. When I was looking at these last night I didn't even notice. It might run on HoMa's curved track which he used for his ICE 3. click here It looks like the tucks aren't even meant to rotate on this one. Still looks good though. At this point I would like to point out again that these are not my creations, I just found them and wanted to share them. My only MOC to date can be found in the signature below.