Subject:
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Re: (First post) enter position and rotation dialog
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.mlcad
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Date:
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Wed, 28 Jul 2004 22:29:30 GMT
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Viewed:
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5806 times
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In lugnet.cad.mlcad, Jeremy Vandivere wrote:
> Thanks for the prompt reply. :)
>
> I am aware of the rotate buttons, and have been using them allot. I even
> reset the button for the axis I'm working with to step 1 instead of 15,
> to try and get it lined up. It's still not working. :)
I'm not sure what you're saying here, but I'll take a stab at it anyways. If
you highlight a piece that you placed earlier in the list, before you started
messing with angles, and then add your new piece there, it'll take it's
rotational geometry and positioning grid from that piece. You can then
click/drag that part entry in the text list to the step where you want it added,
and it will keep its correct rotational geometry and positioning grid, and it
will then provide the default numbers for the next part you place after it.
> To give you an idea....I'll show you the model I'm building...
>
> http://library.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=1473
>
> I built this model at a friends house a couple of years ago. I noticed
> it at brickshelf, and decided I could try to model it in MLCad.
> My first mistake was starting off in the fine grid mode.
That really depends on how you'll be building. I've found that when you start
rotating bricks in odd directions for SNOT construction, later parts never line
up correctly unless you're using the fine-tune grid. 300% magnification quickly
becomes your friend.
> after getting 80% built, and having to exactly position each piece..I
> realized I could highlight the whole thing and snap to the large grid.
> Viola...a little extra lining things up, and it was all fine....
For something like that, you'll probably be better off placing each brick on the
screen in the order shown in the instructions, but leave stuff like the ladder
off to the side until you've moved past it a few steps and then go back and
reposition it. Every piece you place takes its starting point geometry from the
previous piece, so if you flip a part 22.5 degrees in one direction, flip it
22.5 degrees in an perpendicular direction, slide it one stud in each axis, and
then straighten it back up, it won't match the previous parts exactly, and
neither will any piece that you add directly behind it. In the Position field
in the parts list, each whole unit represents one LEGO Unit (the side faces on a
1x1 brick are 5LU wide and 6LU tall, and studs are about 1LU tall), and if you
start messing around with non-90 degree angles, you'll end up with parts that
aren't in X.000/Y.000/Z.000 coordinates. Since the fine-tune grid only moves it
1LU in any given direction, you'll never get rid of a fractional position unless
you can exactly retrace the adjustments that got you there, or you go in and
manually tweak the numbers.
> Then I got to the roof sections. I figured out that an angle of '53'
> will line the red pieces up with the black roof struts, (in step 16 and
> 17) however trying to get the black pieces lined up with that has been
> seemingly impossible. I realize now I probably would have been better
> off to assemble the roof pieces horizontally then rotate the whole thing
> to fit the struts...but I didn't do it like that.
Yeah, I figured that out when trying to assemble the legs for my recent Kumo
assassination spider. I had to delete all of the pieces I'd added after
starting them because they wouldn't ever line up with the original grid. What I
ended up doing instead was building the rest of the model first, and then
assembling the legs flat, pivoting entire sections into place, and then once the
legs were all built correctly, positioning them on the model (though the parts
are split up so that each leg only gets one piece per step).
> Also...anyone know if that ladder piece found in step 10 exists?
Other Parts/B/Bar 7 x 3 with Double Clips.
> so now I'm trying to figure out how to read the DAT file. I want to know
> what each of those segments are in the position and rotation sections. I
> think if I can learn that, then the 'enter position and rotation dialog'
> will be old hat.
Now that I can't help you with. I've figured out how to tweak the angle on a
single piece with a single axis of non-perpendicular rotation by editing the
actual LDR file, but it doesn't help for multi-part adjustments or for parts
that are tipped in two or three axes. And it doesn't guarantee that you'll be
able to place it correctly afterwards.
> Again, thanks to you all for your quick responses. Looks like this is
> the place to go to get help :)
To be fair, I just downloaded my copy last week, so I'm working my way through
some of the same problems myself (I hadn't even found the manual
movement/rotation feature yet).
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: (First post) enter position and rotation dialog
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| Thanks for the prompt reply. :) I am aware of the rotate buttons, and have been using them allot. I even reset the button for the axis I'm working with to step 1 instead of 15, to try and get it lined up. It's still not working. :) To give you an (...) (20 years ago, 28-Jul-04, to lugnet.cad.mlcad)
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