Building with Virtual LEGO: Getting Started with LEGO Digital Designer, LDraw, and Mecabricks
1st Edition
Published on 2. December 2016
256 pages
978-1-259-86184-0 (ISBN)
Available for download
Description
Virtually build any LEGO creation you can imagine-with any LEGO part ever made!This fun guide shows how to create just about anything from virtual LEGO blocks using free software. Learn how to install and customize LEGO Digital Designer, navigate the user interface, and get started on your own projects. LDraw and Mecabricks are also clearly explained. Building with Virtual LEGO: Getting Started with LEGO Digital Designer, LDraw, and Mecabricks features DIY projects that illustrate each technique and software tool. You will see how to upload and share your creations online even modify projects that others have built!Find out how to: Download, set up, and configure LEGO Digital Designer Navigate the LDD user interface, menus, and tools Identify the different Lego parts and explore brick palettes Quickly and easily start creating your own LEGO models Access the huge library of out-of-print LEGO bricks in LDraw, including those designed by hobbyists Get up and running on Mecabricks and launch creative projects online Write clear instructions and share them with other virtual LEGO enthusiasts Create custom bricks and participate in the LDraw parts design process
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
John Baichtal
Building with Virtual LEGO: Getting Started with LEGO Digital Designer, LDraw, and Mecabricks
Getting Started with LEGO Digital Designer, LDrawT, and Mecabricks
Book
01/2017
McGraw-Hill Education
€42.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Content
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- About the Author
- Contents-at-a-Glance
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Building with Virtual LEGO
- What's Virtual Building All About?
- Virtual Building
- Robust Brick Palettes
- Physics
- Sharing
- Is Virtual Building for You?
- Reasons to Build Virtually
- Reasons Why Not to Build Virtually
- Overview of Virtual Building Options
- LEGO Digital Designer
- LDraw
- Mecabricks
- Summary
- 2 Gallery of Cool LDD Models
- Keytar
- Great Temple of Odan
- A Gentleman's Tank
- Death Angel Mecha
- Chocolate Milk Maker
- A15 Comet
- Alien vs. Predator Diorama
- Pentagon
- Ford Pinto
- Robot Chassis
- Pumpkin Factory
- Antarxa
- Summary
- 3 Choosing Between Software Options
- General Editor Limitations
- System Requirements
- LEGO Digital Designer
- LDraw
- Mecabricks
- Ease of Installation
- LDD
- LDraw
- Mecabricks
- Brick Palettes
- LDD
- LDraw
- Mecabricks
- Maximum Build Size
- Community
- LDD
- LDraw
- Mecabricks
- Summary
- 4 Installation and Overview of LDD and LDraw
- Downloading LEGO Digital Designer
- Download the LDD Application
- Choose Your Platform
- Downloading LDD for PC
- Downloading LDD for Mac
- Downloading LDraw
- Choose Your Package
- Quick-Install Option
- Downloading LDCad for Windows
- Downloading LDCad for Linux
- Downloading Bricksmith for Mac
- Legacy LDraw Software
- Bricksmith
- LDCad
- MLCad
- LDD
- Summary
- 5 Brick Palettes
- LEGO Digital Designer (LDD)
- Identifying an Element
- Exploring the Palettes
- Classic Bricks
- Round Bricks
- Miscellaneous Bricks
- Technic Bricks
- Slope Bricks
- Control Panel Bricks
- Additional Slope Bricks
- Arch Bricks
- Rectangular Plates
- Circular and Triangular Plates
- Miscellaneous Plates
- Windscreens
- Architectural Elements
- Wheels
- Mindstorms and Technic
- Technic Beams
- Thin Technic Beams
- Pegs and Axles
- Gears
- Car Parts
- Flex Elements
- Street Plates
- Hero Factory Body Parts
- Hero Factory Accessories
- Outdoor Furnishings
- Vehicle Parts
- Boat Parts
- Train Parts
- Mechanical Parts
- Minifig Torsos and Legs
- Minifig Heads
- Minifig Hair
- Minifig Hats
- Alternate Figure Parts
- Minifig Torso Parts
- Minifig Accessories
- Food
- Animals
- Mecabricks
- Finding the Right Brick
- The Palettes
- Animals and Accessories for Animals
- Beams (Six)
- Bricks (Nine)
- Connectors
- Constraction
- Cranes and Scaffolding
- Decoration Elements
- Doors and Windows
- Electric Parts
- Fences and Ladders
- Food Stuff
- Functionnal Elements (Two)
- Interior
- Minifigs (Nine)
- Plants
- Plates (Six)
- Rubbers and Strings
- Signs and Flags
- Stickers
- Support
- Textiles
- Transportation (Four Subcategories)
- Tubes
- Tyres and Rims (Three Subcategories)
- Various Parts
- Wheel Based
- Wheel Bases
- Windscreens and Cockpits
- LDraw
- Unusual Elements
- Summary
- 6 Building with LEGO Digital Designer
- Exploring the Application
- Choose the Theme
- The Three Modes
- Menus
- Preferences
- Show Information Field
- Show Tool Tips
- Enable Sounds in the Application
- "Keys for Turning" Shown Along with Cursor
- Repeat Inserting Selected Bricks
- Show/Hide Brick Count
- Invert Camera X-Axis
- Invert Camera Y-Axis
- High-Quality Rendering of Bricks Placed in a Scene
- High-Quality Rendering of Bricks in the Brick Palette
- Advanced Shading
- Compatibility Mode
- Reset Preferences
- File
- Edit
- Toolbox
- View
- Help
- Checking Out the Workspace
- Navigating in the Workspace
- Camera Controls
- Using the Mouse to Move the Camera
- Zooming
- Reset View
- Panning
- Hiding the Palettes and Camera Control
- Building Basics
- Finding an Element
- Adding, Moving, and Placing an Element
- Colorizing and Decorating an Element
- Attaching Two Parts
- Attaching Multiple Parts
- The Physics of LDD
- Interacting with the Grid
- Advanced Building Techniques
- Templates
- Groups
- Bending and Flexing
- Summary
- 7 Building with LDraw
- LDraw Editor General Features
- LDraw Library
- Color Selector
- Multiple Views
- Precise Placement
- Submodels and Steps
- Complexity
- Building with Bricksmith
- The Top Menus
- The Workspace
- Building with LDCad
- Scripting and Animation in LDCad
- Summary
- 8 Building with Mecabricks
- Navigating Mecabricks
- The Home Page
- The Workshop
- The Library
- Parts
- Forum
- Building in Mecabricks
- Set the Grid and Ground
- Camera Control
- Adding New Bricks
- Cloning
- Rotation and Translation
- Grouping
- Hinges
- Flexing
- Snap
- Interacting with Other Platforms
- Saving to Mecabricks' Library
- Importing
- Exporting
- Summary
- 9 Building Instructions
- Creating Instructions in LDD
- Autogenerating LDD Instructions
- Disadvantages of the System
- Steps
- Make a Web Page
- Differences Between the Two Versions
- Parts List
- Printing Instructions
- LPub: Building Instructions for LDraw
- Advantages of LPub
- Disadvantages of LPub
- Download LPub
- Manually Generating Instructions
- Generate Step Images
- Work in Google Slides
- Summary
- 10 Community
- Websites
- Peeron
- Bricklink
- Lego.com
- BrickJournal
- Software
- Viewers
- Creating New Parts for LDraw
- .DAT: The LDraw File Format
- Subfiles
- Example .DAT File
- Modify a Part
- Get Certified
- 3D Printing Parts
- Summary
- Index
