The LDraw download only provides specifications for each brick. On Windows, they're usually installed to C:\Users\Public\Documents\LDraw. On Linux, it's common to put bricks in /usr/share/LDRAW. Virtual bricks are a lot like images on a website or fonts on your computer-as long as the application using the files knows where to find them, you can keep them anywhere. That means you can download thousands of brick definitions in a relatively small download (42 MB or so). As a part of LDraw's work in defining bricks, the community also provides 3D models of each brick. LDraw is an open standard for LEGO CAD, which includes consistent measurements and relative dimensions, and a simple language for how bricks are oriented. You can get nearly every LEGO piece ever created from the open source LDraw project. There are a few ways to satisfy each requirement, but I've found I prefer the open source, modular approach. To build a virtual LEGO model, you need two components: This isn't a replacement for real Lego bricks unless you love CAD more than you do LEGOs, but it's a great augmentation to your hobby. The advantages are obvious-you can document what pieces you need and what steps you must take to build a model. There's an expectation of precision and realism.īecause LEGO fans are legion, there is a prolific community of builders creating LEGO models using CAD. CAD software replaced old-style drafting, in which specifications are created to demonstrate how something may be built, once or 100 times, in the real world. If you have to "cheat" what's physically possible to ensure that something looks cool, that's OK, because the thing you're building only exists in a virtual space.Ĭomputer-Aided Design (CAD) is different. How you build something is less important than whether the thing looks good. They are, like film itself, generally just for show. I'm comfortable with 3D applications, but all of the ones I've used have been specific to motion graphics and film production. I have several years working in a virtualized 3D space (even longer in actual 3D space, for what that's worth).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |