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In lugnet.cad, Orion Pobursky wrote:
> In lugnet.cad, Jim DeVona wrote:
> > In lugnet.cad, John Neal wrote:
> > > In lugnet.cad, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> > > > On another list--one about that best of all 20th Century novellist, Patrick
> > > > O'Brian--I am kind of known as the LEGO guy. Had a question about which
> > > > would be best CAD program for an Apple. Told her I would post to the
> > > > experts. Any recocommendations would be apprecitate. As I have never used
> > > > any of them--being an engraver on bricks instead of being a builder with
> > > > bricks--I defer to the AKL on all subjects LEGO.
> > >
> > > That would depend-- if he has a new Mac with the Intel chip, I'd say to go
> > > with MLCAD running Bootcamp. Otherwise, the choice would have to be
> > > Bricksmith.
> >
> > I would recommend <http://bricksmith.sourceforge.net/ Bricksmith> in either
> > case.
>
> I'm going to have to disagree. As a long time MLCad user and a recent Mac
> convert (Nov 2007), I feel that while Bricksmith is a very good program, it has
> some very definite drawbacks that makes it difficult to use.
Bricksmith is certainly unlike MLCad, which is indeed a fine program. However,
I'd like to humbly correct a few inaccuracies I perceive in your list of
drawbacks.
> Here's a list from off the top of my head (keep in mind that it's not all
> inclusive):
>
> - No click and drag support in the view windows. Clicking and dragging simply
> changes the view settings to "3D" and rotate the model.
True. That is a definite difference.
> - No keyboard shortcuts for changing colors, adding parts, changing grid
> granularity, rotating parts, etc... It's almost as if the program wants to
> force you to use the mouse.
False.
Keyboard controls for changing colors: Command-option-c to display color panel,
tab and arrows to select color.
Keyboard controls for part insertion: Command-i to show part panel, tab and
arrows to select part, Command-i again to insert part.
(Tab navigation may require "All Controls" of System Preferences/Keyboard &
Mouse/Keyboard Shortcuts/Full keyboard access to be set, but if you favor
keyboard controls you owe it to yourself to enable this feature anyway.)
Keyboard shortcuts to change grid granularity: Command-1, Command-2 and
Command-3 for fine, medium, and coarse.
Keyboard shortcuts to rotate parts: x, y, and z for rotation about the
respective axis. Hold down shift as well to rotate in the opposite direction.
Also, note that holding down option while moving parts with the arrow keys
permits movement along the third axis. (Normally the arrows move parts in two
dimensions relatively perpendicular to the view.)
> - No way to select and move/rotate more than one part at a time.
False.
Shift-click to select multiple parts in any view or in the file contents list.
You can also command-click in the file contents list to select multiple parts
without selecting the intervening parts as well. (Shift- and command-clicking to
select multiple items is just a Mac convention, I guess; try it anywhere you see
a list of selectable items.)
You can move and rotate a multi-part selection as a group using the keyboard
(arrows + x/y/z) or the toolbar icons, just as with individual parts. The Move
and Rotate panels available under the Edit menu provide greater control of these
manipulations. In particular, the Rotate panel allows you to choose the type and
origin of rotation.
> - While this a personal preference, I not a big fan of the 3 views on the left
> and one large view in the right. With smaller screens it tends to squish the
> usable space to a level that is just too small
Fair enough, but don't forget you can drag the divider between views to resize
them. If you drag the vertical divider all the way to the left, you get one
large view.
> The first 3 are deal breakers for me to the point where I've switched back to
> using MLCad with VMWare Fusion. I gave it a good faith effort and only switched
> when my frustration exceeded my productivity.
I agree that there's no reason to tolerate frustration; you can't be blamed for
preferring a more productive solution. I do hope that my responses have
clarified Bricksmith's functionality somewhat. I've certainly found it to be an
effective tool for my LDraw interests, but it is true that familiarity
contributes greatly to the perceived efficiency of an application.
I am curious how quickly MLCad pros can put together a model. Building with
Bricksmith seems to go pretty quickly to me, but my experience with other
editors is so limited I suspect I haven't enough context to safely assert that
as an advantage.
Anyway, Allen is amenable to well-conceived and well-executed contributions to
Bricksmith. Although I find myself championing the program here, I do have my
own wishlist of features and annoyance-fixes. With time, hopefully the program
will evolve to meet our expectations!
Jim
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Which CAD program recommended for Mac??
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| (...) Yes, this is very annoying as using the arrow keys to move a part/assembly all the way across the model can be slow and painful, especially since Bricksmith doesn't seem to display cursor coordinates. (...) Ok, I see. I'd like functionality to (...) (17 years ago, 4-Feb-08, to lugnet.cad, lugnet.cad.dev.mac)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Which CAD program recommended for Mac??
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| (...) I'm going to have to disagree. As a long time MLCad user and a recent Mac convert (Nov 2007), I feel that while Bricksmith is a very good program, it has some very definite drawbacks that makes it difficult to use. Here's a list from off the (...) (17 years ago, 3-Feb-08, to lugnet.cad, lugnet.cad.dev.mac)
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