Subject:
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Re: Resolution
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.dev
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Date:
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Wed, 23 Apr 2003 18:13:20 GMT
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Viewed:
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1238 times
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In lugnet.cad.dev, Steve Bliss writes:
> In lugnet.cad.dev, Dave Schuler! wrote:
>
> > When authoring new elements, how important is the level of detail in LDraw
> > format? That is, for more complex curves and surfaces, is it necessary to
> > get as close to the real thing as possible? As an alternative, is it
> > acceptable to get pretty close (like the way the 8-8sphe.dat primitive is
> > "close" to a true sphere in LDraw) and to inline some POV-Ray code to make
> > the finished product look extra nifty?
>
> For general features, the standard rule of thumb is to model details which
> are 1LDU or larger. To cleanly model some features, you certainly can run
> into decimal places -- I typically go to 2 or 3 decimal places in part
> files. Any use of the curved primitives is considered 'exact' -- if you use
> 1-4edge.dat, you are drawing an 'exact' arc of a circle. We know it's really
> a 4-segment polyline, but the intent is for it to be an arc of a circle.
>
> AFAIAC, the jury is still out on inlined POV-Ray code. I'm not real keen about
> coding another graphic language into LDraw parts, so I would recommend doing
> it with restraint.
Hi Steve--
Thanks for taking the time to answer so thoroughly. All I can say is
that I'm glad I'm not modelling official elements! Clone brands have quite
a few odd cones, arcs, and domes that just don't fit the official
primitives, and if I approximate the shape with linetype 2- and 4-
statements, I get an unattractively faceted appearance. A couple of people
(including you, IIRC) helped me out greatly by going over the basics of
POV-Ray inlining, and it's been a godsend. If I model any real LEGO bits,
I'll avoid the inlining, but for MegaBloks et al, I guess I'll keep it in place.
The problem for me hasn't been at the LDraw/L3Lab/MLCad level but rather
at the POV-Ray level, where the faceted surfaces really look shoddy compared
to the real elements. That's not a criticism of the systems per se; after
all, I can't mouse-click the elements in POV-Ray to move them around! It's
just that I like the smoothed-out final image, and I don't want to pester
Lars to accommodate any clone-primitives I might come up with!
Thanks again,
Dave!
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Resolution
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| (...) For general features, the standard rule of thumb is to model details which are 1LDU or larger. To cleanly model some features, you certainly can run into decimal places -- I typically go to 2 or 3 decimal places in part files. Any use of the (...) (22 years ago, 23-Apr-03, to lugnet.cad.dev)
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