No, bricks modeled by lego and ldraw(not sure). And anyone can download all bricks and use anywhere http://www.ldraw.org/parts/latest-parts.html I made model with LDD then import in blender with plugin.
>I know these are not exact large-scale versions of the pieces on which they're based. I just eyeballed em.
Wouldn't it be possible to use 3D models from LDraw? Supposedly this is the direct link to the dat file of the leaves part: http://www.ldraw.org/library/official/parts/2423.dat
3d view on Bricklink: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=2423&tab=V
The Official LEGO digital designer is LEGO Digital Designer. This does create instructions. http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/
Notable fan made software includes:
Use brinkink.com to source parts. https://www.bricklink.com/v2/main.page
I planned most of it out using the LDraw library and Bricksmith. The latter has some great features for publishing build instructions, I just haven't had the chance to break the model out into steps yet. It's on my to-do list for this weekend though, so sit tight - I promise OP will deliver!
I sure would! However, I would highly suggest ditching Lego Designer. It is a bit of a toy that while neet, isn't very powerful. Take a look at LDDraw:
It is pretty much the standard out there for designing lego. Can't wait to see the finished product!
For triangle:
Picture this, but rotated so the camera is pointing down, like most videogames cameras point down onto the Avatar. You can see the triangle then.
I always end up downloading them manually and I have been in exactly the same situation as you: Creating a new part, only to discover it already existed. The google search rank for that site is too damn low.
I recommend downloading the full library of parts: http://www.ldraw.org/library/updates/complete.zip
And there is also one for unofficial parts.
Check out http://www.ldraw.org/. This is what we used waaaaay before LDD (and what many people still do use).
The part files are contributed by volunteers. The LDraw library doesn't have every single minifig head and torso, but it has many of them, and if you want to learn how to create the files you can design your own and use them. The files can be used to make renders.
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LDD is LEGO's official digital platform for consumers (http://ldd.lego.com/en-gb/), but some people prefer a third party tool called LDraw, which is more of a traditional CAD software (http://www.ldraw.org/). I've seen their own employees use both.
And haha, yeah I went with 1:125 scale because it makes it easy on the math. 1m = 0.8cm = 1 stud. It also means the ship breaks the 2m milestone, pretty big for a full hull model. I'd recommend buying a book for full line drawings and details, it really helps work out hull curvature as ships always taper towards the waterline. The 'Anatomy of the Ship', series (https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=anatomy+of+the+ship) is my best pick, you'd probably want to take a look at Hood/Vanguard/KGV for reference.
I just tried it and it seems to work for me. I used the instructions page here, and after going to the first page under step one, I clicked the second link (the .EXE download). From there I just followed the rest of the instructions and it worked.
The only other suite of LEGO CAD programs are based on the LDRAW standard. MLCAD, LeoCAD, LPub - they all use it. Start by learning more about the standard:
There's different software for building, rendering and generating instructions. I'm on a Mac and am quite fond of Bricksmith myself:
http://bricksmith.sourceforge.net/
There are many different programs for different systems though, many of which are listed on ldraw.org.
LDRAW is actually the only one out there. It is a standard that the majority of LEGO Cad tools use, not a piece of software on its own. I'm not an expert on the process, but generally it goes something like this:
The tool in #1 can differ quite a lot in usability. If you're on a Mac your choices are pretty much just Bricksmith (which is awesome and as simple as it can be), but on Windows you have a few options. It was a few years ago since I used them, but I recall that MLCad was good. It seems to be the one bundled in the All in one-installer at least.
Here's a good runthrough: http://www.ldraw.org/article/104.html
You could take a look at http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx
Or maybe you could use Ldraw http://www.ldraw.org/
And yes you could build from existing Lego. The first step is to get something that enough people like to get you 10K votes, how you do that is up to you, then once Lego take interest they'll help you out.
That's the way I understand it anyhow.
This covers some things you can already do, but I'm posting a sort of complete guide here for the sake of future visitors.
For starters, grab the LDraw importer here. You'll need to point it toward your LDraw parts folder the first time it's run, but after that you will not, even after blender has been restarted.
I downloaded the entire Unofficial Library (Hosted by LDraw, but the models are considered in some way to need work/cleaning up) and then unzipped it to the appropriate LDraw folder. This is against LDraw recommendations, as the parts are unsorted. Next, since these parts are unsorted and unorganized, I use rebrickable.com to sort parts by set and then re-download the needed parts to a 'kit' folder. Even though you're re-downloading parts, you still need the unofficial parts library, as many parts are dependant on other parts, which in turn are dependant on other parts, making it a mess to download the pieces you need without having the entire library.
I recommend importing everything while in Blender Internal rendering mode, and then switching to cycles once pieces are imported. For some reason, when importing while in Cycles mode, each piece brings with it 70-100+ materials, all yellow.
As a final note, the head IS incomplete in the LDraw file, but the missing section has fairly simple geometry.
First of all, "LDraw" is just the part library used by many programs, including MLCAD (for building), LPub (for generating professional looking instructions), LDView (a rendering program), and many others. LDraw files can be imported into LDD, and LDD can export to LDraw (though some parts disappear or get placed improperly)
Now - several official sets are available as LDraw files here: http://www.ldraw.org/downloads-2/downloads.html
I would opt for viewing them with LDView, but you can also import them into LDD and view them there. If you are looking for a specific set not in that list, try doing a Google search for "Ldraw [set-number]" to see if anyone has made a file for it.
http://www.ldraw.org/ is the definitive 'best' program for making custom LEGO designs. The parts library is astounding and while there is a learning curve, the functionality is terrific.
On the other hand, LDD is very easy to learn and fairly easy to use. Parts library in extended mode is very good, but LDraw has better functionality. LDD can be installed on a PC and Mac no problems though.
For a native piece count, LDraw is better, but remember it's harder to use. So I would stick to LDD for now. I haven't used this extension, but LDDPartsList should be a plugin for LDD and compile a parts list for you.
You could try LDraw to design the model, get the parts list and order the parts from Bricklink.
The thing is though, you'd need some very clever design tricks for the model if you want it to be decent sized. The shape of Enterprise is quite difficult to imitate in Lego. The round and slim disc itself would be a challenge and would most likely need somekind of separate support structure underneath it. Although a much simpler shape, they pulled off the Imperial Star Destroyer with some neat tricks.
> I use Lego Digital Designer to make anything out of Lego I want. It's like CAD for Lego bricks.
If you're into CAD for Lego, check out LDraw!.
LDraw is a system of free software tools for modelling Lego creations in 3D on a computer.
Here's a truck and a "Robot-Man" I made using LDraw.
I've tried to do this before and found the ldraw software. It's an ongoing project with an open source format. It's not as advanced as Solidworks but with some learning it can be powerful. If your serious about putting in the time to learn it go to their website, (http://www.ldraw.org) and follow one of the recommended community tutorials. It's also free. If you really want to use Solidworks look on GrabCAD for pre-made parts, but all that importing and file converting will be a hassle. Leto Digital Designer is also good, but not as powerful as the other tools. It's also no longer in development by Lego.
That's an impressive website - I've never seen that one before! And the build is very nice as well. Have you looked into the LDRAW standard? It's a suite of pretty powerful tools for LEGO building:
It might be tedious as you'd have to add brick by brick, but if I recall correctly both LDraw (for PC) and Bricksmith (for Mac) have ways to output a parts list.
This has been a fun little project. It mixes my love of Lego with my love of Blender.
I built the model in MLCad (LDraw), imported it into Blender, cleaned it up, rigged and posed the minifigure, animated the flying machine, and rendered it.
I forgot to post the link. Try the steps here: http://www.ldraw.org/help/getting-started/mac.html
EDIT: After installing your editor, in this case Bricksmith, you will be able to open the LDraw files and edit/use them in the editor.