Subject:
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Re: Instructions for new fire truck - Ladder 110
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.inst, lugnet.town
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Date:
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Sat, 2 Aug 2003 12:57:17 GMT
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Viewed:
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5254 times
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In lugnet.inst, Allan Bedford wrote:
snip
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The instructions seem well thought out in terms of sequence of steps and
having the parts box at each step helps. I know (think?) this is a standard
lpub thing now, IIRC but it is nice.
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It is an option which is selected by default. The way it works for me is
that it generates the construction image as one file and the parts list for
that step as a second file. All of those images were then manually combined
into the steps that I posted. If there’s a way to get LPub to do this
automagically, I can’t find it. :)
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LPub 2.2 adds another layer of processing after the two that you listed. The
new layer can do a few things for you:
1. Pack sub-model steps into a single “callout” image for use in making
compact building instructions.
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/kclague/mm-at-st/mm-at-sts004ci.jpg
2. Provide different color backdrops for different sub-model levels (that is
how the foot assembly in the above image has a yellow backdrop).
3. Pack the step number, the part list image for the step, the step assembly
image and any callout images all into the same image for you automatically.
Other than doing a lot of programming to add the new features, I didn’t have to
do any extra work to get the composite image shown above.
Combining all these features got me this single sheet building instructions for
one of my tiny bipeds with no manual editing.
I would wait for 2.2.0.1 though before upgrading to a new LPub. There are some
annoying bugs in 2.2.
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I personally think there are too many steps for a model this size. That’s
another thing I’m experimenting with. I’m hoping the next few will be a bit
more efficient.
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Stylistically though, I just can’t get excited about lightening previous
parts to show current step parts,
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What you see is the default in LPub. I tried backing off that option, so
that previous step colors remain at full intensity, but it didn’t end up
looking like an official instruction book for some reason. I went back to
the default only because there would be little confusion over what the new
pieces were. Except of course when you use white pieces, as in the ladder,
and then there is confusion. I can’t win. :)
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Larry’s expressed this opinion before, so I know it well.
You can choose some other color than white, or just mix a little white with the
brick color to give a similar but less drastic effect. See “Previous Parts
Color Scaling” scrollbar.
One of the things that makes LPub instructions look different than LEGOs is the
shading effects. I force shadows off, because that is just too weird in
instructions. Shading can make two faces that are the same color look a
different color based on the direction the light hits the face. Shinyness can
also have an effect. You can run POV-Ray with just ambient lighting to
eliminate these effects.
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or by the use of rendered parts without
strong edge lines.
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Again I went with the default within LPub. (which is .5) What value would
you recommend?
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I like the more cartoonish instructions that Lego
themselves do, with big chunky edge lines. But that’s just me.
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I totally agree. In fact that was something I told Will Hess about his
recent 6-wide instructions. I do want to get to that cartoonish look. I
guess I just have to figure out what options/settings to lower in order to
obtain that look, without sacrificing quality.
I’ve found the learning curve (to produce both instructions and especially
renders) to be fairly steep. Maybe that’s just me. Normally I am very
comfortable with new software, but not in the case of the suite of programs
needed to produce these types of images. I wish there was a very basic
tutorial that walked you through producing those ‘cartoon’ type images, for
dummies like me who are computer literate, but not graphics literate.
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I have two seperate emails from two different times from Ahui Harrera telling me
that LPub’s Mega-POV defaults were *wrong*. Each time I expained to him that by
definition they were right, because as the developer I get to decide what they
are.
If Mega-POV were better about its ability to accurately outline stuff, I’d
probably be willing to crank up the defaults to get darker wider lines, but in
my experience of creating proffessional quality building instructions for four
books, I found that Mega-POV was inconsistant. Mega-POV’s algorithm is a
heuristic which means it is not guaranteed to work perfectly all the time.
For this reason I chose to make the effect subtle, so the faults were also
subtle.
Another problem was that scale could change from sub-model to sub-model, yet the
thickness of Mega-POV’s lines was always the same. If you manually shrunk the
images with the larger bricks down the same size of bricks in larger sub-models,
then the line thickness changes.
LPub added “Minimum Camera Distance” to dramatically reduce this issue and
eliminate need for manual shrinkage.
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That was why I mentioned the .CAD thread about lighting techniques. Everyone
offered such good advice, but it came from a half dozen different people and
none of it was information I’d been able to locate online or in any of the
help materials included with the apps.
O.K. I’m done griping now. ;)
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Don’t bite the hand that feeds you like Tim often does.
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Thanks for the input Larry! Sorry for the long rambling reply. And just
think, I haven’t even had my coffee yet this morning. :)
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I like long ramblings when I have the time and patience.
Kevin
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Regards,
Allan B.
(1) The scale fluctuates depending on the vehicle you’re working on. For a
newer piece of apparatus, like a Pierce 100 foot ladder for example, the
scale really is about 1 stud:2’. For older smaller rigs, like Pumper 3 for
example, the scale is more likely about 1 stud:20”. But again, it’s working
within the framework of 4-wide, so the differences are to be expected.
(2) The design of the truck in the 640 set was later used in my all-time
favorite official set http://guide.lugnet.com/set/357_1.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Instructions for new fire truck - Ladder 110
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| (...) find any way to do it. For me, that's o.k. since my models right now are small and relatively simple. However, I did notice something in your picture above. You have the parts list for that step as part of the instruction image. Are you doing (...) (21 years ago, 2-Aug-03, to lugnet.inst, lugnet.town, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Instructions for new fire truck - Ladder 110
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| (...) I've used the 1x4 arch on each of my 3 apparatus so far. I think it helps add realism at this small scale, in the way it hugs the tyres so well. (...) I agree. This is why I'm working on a series of vehicles. So I can experiment with varies (...) (21 years ago, 20-Jul-03, to lugnet.inst, lugnet.town, FTX)
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