jBrickBuilder User Manual
Contents
1. M 9 SN MI Pr ec Un RERO Ct 9 5 2 HOW Brickbuider WO K Susa ia 10 5 9 Man progran WINGO AS b iet Lu bud st xia a Epod 11 5 3 1 Mouse and keyboard functions i ecce eee eee a i nee noc cnn ennt nasse sanis 11 353 2 Ile TOOlDE s ciue tne E a s nct eunte th tre datos amets Aso a ntett trud renum ee emu Se 12 e TOOIDGE siia te xm IS SR BUH RU e ot RUE be xn ISSN Se PRU T e om NR E at Rut ta 13 5 3 4 Model COMING caia 15 O EN TOO S a 17 ICO TOOIDOIE eera na 18 dl AL UESTRE 19 5 900 9 DOD ULC Eine mere reer fas edid ms bes md tuc edt ub v psa rrr nner cert ere toc 19 SES Ner Ted OJOS E Lo DE 20 5 3 10 Step tools for instruction generation esses eene 20 S55 S DES MOS SAS 21 D5 12 Rotation OTIC add Matrices ienser r EE N 23 So CAOS MISIT a a J 23 o nn a tN ol Se E Si miele 24 SE Flexible parts eiii 25 6 Tp SANG AOS oe s outta a rou bebe vin a Ma bm e e ou babe Pu a Eva Lac e uo buses eve x Lees aute RN ENS 28 6 1 Connection hints 6 2 How to use unofficial or custom parts 1 Legalese LEGO LEGO Digital Designer LEGO Technic are trademarks of the LEGO Group based in Billund Denmark LEGO sets parts and colors are exclusive property of LEGO group jBrickBuilder is NOT related linked sponsored or supported by LEGO Group 2 Thanks This program cannot be made without pa2. lt asas Rotate pan and zoom model 3D options Select Step xaaa a OO raros 0 Ready Fig 6 Main window Follows a list with all functions explained 5 3 1 Mouse and keyboard functions In all 3D view 11 drag mouse with right button pressed rotate view drag mouse with right button and SHIFT key pan view drag mouse with left button pressed parts selection with window dragging turn mouse wheel zoom in and out In editor window mouse left button click on a part select a part deselect all other mouse left button click on empty area deselect all parts mouse left button click with SHIFT on a part add to selected part list mouse left button click with CTRL on a part toggle select select if deselected deselect if selected mouse right button click on a part center view on part origin Keyboard functions in editor window Arrow keys with part block on cursor when adding part block rotate part block Ctrl C copy selected parts to clipboard Ctrl X cut and copy selected parts to clipboard Ctrl V paste parts saved on clipboard Ctrl Z undo last change Ctrl Y revert last undo ESC cancels any function and release part on cursor without adding it to model Del deletes selected parts 5 3 2 File toolbar New model Starts a new project cleaning current project If current project is modified asks for confirmation L3 Open existing model Opens and load in editor a model in LDR or MPD
3. 26 i a i AA 4 A F ig 21 One constraint point placed If your constraint point is well placed or when you see desired path you can click on Accept button in lower part A ip i 5 i AA A E 1 i a A i pum ie 1 N A AT A A a A A A F ig 22 Generated flexible axle Generated parts are normal parts listed as custom submodels Can be deleted moved copied but you cannot change original path to do that you need to place a new flexible part For more information on flexible part programming model used by jBrickBuilder you can refer to jBrickBuilder flexible parts model developer manual available in jBrickBuilder downloads section https sourceforge net projects jbrickbuilder files jbrickbuilder flexparts 27 6 Tips and notes 6 1 Connection hints Part connection is a really useful feature but requires some time and a bit of practice Some hints e program tries to connect to parts nearest to user s eye If you can t connect to desired part try to rotate view to move part nearest to you e Also program tries the nearest connection to line that goes from user eye to cursor the red cross If program can t connect try to rotate view to drive away interfering part f d e At last you can hide interfering part or parts with function Hidden parts are ignored in connection logic 6 2 How to use unofficial or custom parts x To use unoffi
4. BrickBullder User Manual Version 0 4 0 Mario Pascucci lt mpascucci gmail com gt o JBrickBuilder 3065 olivia tree house Idr Catalogs Program Se Tool option sc A amp Q YE i v x sit o o e LDraw 2417 dat Plant Leaves 6 x 5 Color 2 Green ID 21332 REFERENCE s 0 Index EEES pora 4 PRAT EE E EE 4 D Reledse MO bud are pa eve RD aate bd A sea RH MSN A bis 4 AN RR 4 SUMMO A H M 4 Sa RA I POC POPE O 4 SEES NUES UR 4 SUE BAUER ee 4 SNNSQ MUNI Y 4 S bo ND ntum E ICI UE PCIE LU MP M ME D I D AOS STET TE T TETTE ETT ENT EE 5 Dy ARO W EU VOU OTIS alada 5 3 9 dL ElexibDle parts Say Ig aseo O MR RI RU TUR DACH A a 5 3 3 2 Cross referencing blocks or chain referencing blocks esses 5 A ETERNI HR 6 A AT Bank y OU obese beste PI e ao tua labens bxx aA MC eM Ra Put SH 6 4 2 Whats Brick Bude sac ecsnts soi AA uU ee Vot PUR DCUM ut da 6 43 What Drick BUUder D E Dr DNI NUM S Ee MA DURO ut 6 4 4 What jBrickBuilder won t never dO ccccccssssssessscccccccenssssssssccccseceassessssccccsseeassesssscecceseess 7 Z5 Lacense and WAI 7 ES E INE 7 a NOWI ISCRITTI DTE ERUNT 7 2 5 5 ster Te quemen ais 7 A NON 8 OST SEDED 2 orita 8 ALONE POS cece to Proud mem MIEL M ene I HM 8 dl Uninstall prorrateo 8 dI Update Pro CAMMY E T A N A Ea 8 SR WOPKING With ejuiel doit
5. along Z axis Movement amount is determined by snap size see below To align grid plane e XZ align grid plane to plane XZ using current origin e XY align grid plane to plane XY screen plane e YZ align grid plane to plane YZ perpendicular to screen de align grid plane to the same matrix of selected part It is really useful to build with SNOT or winged models place first part with needed angle and align grid to part placed next parts will automatically oriented with same rotation matrix Reset grid plane to defaults Do not change snap or grid size only reset rotation matrix Ue Reset pointer cursor rotation to default Do not touch grid grid orientation or snap HE Grid display on or off Toggle only display grid is always used for part moving and placing e SU Snapping on or off default on If on cursor will move only on grid vertices of size snap LDU Grid is in three dimension so X Y Z will always be multiple of snap size A Axis display on or off Axis are always on absolute origin coordinates 0 0 0 EA set snap size in LDU Default is 4 LDU Snap is in 3D so you can think as a grid of cubes where sides are the size of snap Cursor always move only on snap vertices Minimum snap size is 0 1 LDU Edsa grid size Grid size is totally unrelated with snap size and it is only a visual guide Em Set rotation step degree When you use arrow keys to rotate part block amount of 22 rotatio
6. ant to change library location or change type of library zipfile or installed library folder you can change in Program Options dialog If you don t have any LDraw library or if you want to use a private library for jBrickBuilder select No and program will download latest LDraw official library from LDraw website Warning if you use a library as a ZIP file shared with other program update LDraw library from jBrickBuilder see 5 3 13 can lead to unexpected results After program acquired LDraw library next will download connection database Fig 3 a special database that contains how bricks are connected each other and builds a database to allow search Connections Program needs brick connections database Looks like this is first run let s get file Click OK to start Fig 3 Download connections database for part by part id or by full text search Fig 4 and Fig 5 Database update Your part database is empty Looks like this is first run let s update part DB Click OK to start Fig 4 Database building Ldraw part database Imported updated 8193 LDraw parts Fig 5 Parts summary After that program is ready to work In program folder you will find the program JAR file itself complete zip LDraw part library if you downloaded it ldrconn zip connections database jbb h2 db and a folder named jbb working database for LDraw parts a prefs file where program saves
7. art inside another part program is unable to detect it Is up to you to verify if part is placed correctly There isn t autosave planned It is a beta version so it is full of bugs and incomplete There is a connection database for snapping parts together but it is incomplete Some meta commands are partially or totally supported but program leave it untouched in source file 3 3 Known problems 3 3 1 Flexible parts saving Program can t save generated flexible parts automatically Generated parts are added to the submodel list and marked red To save select it for editing and use Save button 3 3 2 Cross referencing blocks or chain referencing blocks There is no easy way to avoid cross reference between blocks If you create a submodel A then a submodel B that contains submodel A then edit submodel A to include submodel B program will crash with a stack overflow Even if you put a complex control to avoid cross referencing blocks you can use a chain reference to trigger same problem submodel A including submodel B including submodel C including submodel A and so on Avoiding such problem is up to you 4 Quick start 4 1 Thank you I the author wish to thank you for using my program It isn t perfect and I know it need a lot of improvements but It is a complex piece of software and I work on it in my free time This doesn t mean that program is worthless e 11000 lines of code not counting blanks an
8. art It is included in submodels list see below Select a block submodel for insert or editing Will show a dialog Fig 8 where you can see all submodel loaded and select one for insert in current model button Insert or to switch model editing button Edit Program generated parts as flexible parts see 5 4 are marked in red if not saved on disk by user 13 Tha Save selected parts as block Do not touch or modify original model Part isn t saved on disk if you want to save as individual model select it for editing and you can do everything you can do with normal models Select block custom part LDraw part ID JBrickBuilder generated flex part JBrickBuilder generated flex part 3181 jet engine Idr jet engine 181 plane Idr 181 Passenger Plane City 2010 3181 left wing ldr 181 Right wing 3181 right winglet ldr right winglet for plane 181 1 ldr 1181 Passenger Plane City 2010 181 radar ldr 1181 Passenger Plane City 2010 181 jet pyon Icdr plane jet pylon i E Po p fe E 248 n enu 4o Lad Plane roof Part preview Fig 8 Sub model dialog it Ungroup a submodel If you select a submodel after using this function all parts in 3181 right wing Plane left winglet 3181 Passenger Flane City 2010 e submodel are placed in current model replacing submodel If submodel contains submodels itself they are placed as submodel not exploded Briefly raise one level the
9. art already placed to duplicate it If you have Repeat brick function active after placing duplicated part program let you select another one Rotate brick part using connection point as rotation axis This tool works in two steps o first you must select what part and which connection point in that part you want to use as a rotation axis an orange cross will show you what is selected when you click on it 16 tions de Tn Fig 11 Rotation tool at work Second an indicator in lower part will display angle of rotation with part following mouse movement To fix rotation you can click with left mouse button or enter angle in degree in angle field followed by Enter In Fig 11 you can see tool in action to rotate a minifig hand around wrist Start delete mode If some parts are selected will be deleted on from now on every part you select is removed immediately You can drag window to delete group of parts You can also use Delete key that deletes only selected parts e Start change part color mode Change to current color all selected parts and every part you select R Step editor and player see 5 3 10 Step tools for instruction generation d Reset editor mode to select only releasing any current action 5 3 5 Editing tools Well known editing function are available a o Copy and Cut selected parts to clipboard Available through shortcut keys Ctrl C and Ctrl X E Past
10. ation and can be added at any moment during building In the lower part you can see a box with current step displayed Some buttons helps to navigate through steps go to previous step go to next step If next step don t exists creates a new step If current step is empty do nothing Go to first step in model go to last step in model You can start use step at any moment during design if you already added lots of elements all elements will add to first step Every element you add or modify will add to current step You can change current step in any moment during editing To review and edit steps for building process you can use a step editor activated by R button In editing window model will display in build sequence mode where e elements in current step are highlighted with bright red edges e elements in next steps are dimmed and transparent elements in previous steps are rendered in usual way dimmed elements can be selected and moved to other steps or hidden to allow you to select more internal elements in model 20 JBrickBuilder 3178 2 ldr Catalogs Program Sel sIsispis e EM la a ae Tool option v vi v Elo Emm NE ENTE c LDraw 2413 dat Wing 4 x 9 Color 15 White ID 8408 REFERENCE s 26 Fig 15 Step editor In Fig 15 you can see the Step Editor in action windscreen and two other part in rear fuselage are highlighted in red these are pa
11. cial or custom designed parts you can add to your model as a block using and T functions Remember that included parts must be in same folder of main LDR file Custom parts will be exported in MPD file as a normal sub model This way you can include parts not in official library and distribute a model that can be viewed and edited with any other LDraw editor When someone loads your model it will have all parts needed to view edit 28
12. d comments e 54 Java classes with over 800 methods It was developed in over a year using Eclipse http www eclipse org Using a simplified COCOMOII model develop this software will costs over 140 000 http sunset usc edu csse research COCOMOTH cocomo_main html 4 2 What is BrickBuilder It is a simple CAD for virtual LEGO models using LDraw free part library It is an open source licensed software developed in Java So you don t need to pay any license at all or you don t have to pay anything to anyone to use jBrickBuilder jBrickBuilder works on any operating system and platform where Java release 6 is available It uses 3D part library from LDraw project http www ldraw org JBrickBuilder is an independent program deeply different from any other brick related CAD so please forget LDD ML Cad LeoCad SR3D and any other CAD If you want to use JBrickBuilder do not start from thinking things like it is an LDD clone or it s the same as XYZCAD You MUST read manual to learn how to better use JBrickBuilder 4 3 What jBrickBuilder do e Can read both LDR and MPD file formats with some derived file formats L3B LCD e You can edit models and sub model without exiting from program switching from a submodel to another e You can choose parts and colors from official LDraw library without any limitations Works in 3D with OpenGL even with entry level video cards e To place part it works like
13. e if a part has connections in database if a row is highlighted in green part has specific connection data in database If a row is highlighted in light cyan part connection are autodetected and was verified for correctness If you select a flexible part Flex Part button enables if you click on it you will enter in flexible part editing mode TBD List of last used parts Shows a list of parts you used from program start It is cleared only on program close From here you can pick a part you know you already used in current Technic Beam 5 x 05 Fig 9 Last used part 15 build List is limited to 80 parts Search for part Search terms brick 16 Search hints brick returns brick bricks bricked brick duplo exclude word Duplo brick axle must include word axle LDraw par Description 3894 dat Brick 1x 6 with Blue HOTEL Pat Brick 1x 6 with MAMCHESTER Brick 1x 6 without Centre Studs 41762 dat Alias Slope Brick Curved 6 x 1 Brick 1x 6 with Black Philips Patt Brick 1x 6 with White LEGO Pat Brick 1x 1 with Blue 6 Pattern Brick 1x 1x 6 Round with Squa Brick 1x 6 without Centre Studs 42022 dat Slope Brick Curved 6 x 1 rounded C ees Brick 1x 6 w out Centre Studs W Fig 10 Part search dialog Part in green and cyan has connection working and verified 009 Duplicate part mode Cursor changes to a red square and you can select a p
14. e parts in clipboard Available through shortcut key Ctrl V 17 a e Undo and Redo Actions are recorded until user starts a new model or load a model from disk Undo and Redo are available after a save Available through shortcut keys Ctrl Z Undo and Ctrl Y Redo 5 3 6 Color toolbar Allow you to choose color for next inserted parts When you select a color program will add to the list of last used so you have up to sixteen colors ready for use Fig 12 Color toolbar When toolbar is full next color you choose will substitute least used color in list Fig 13 A transparent color selected Tr red Transparent colors will shows with a white faded point at center of button When selected brick in main button become transparent Solid Transparent Chrome Metallic Pearl Milky Lg Glitter Speckle Rubber Special Fig 14 Color palette To select a new color click on button with white brick It shows a complete palette of colors 18 A green check marks current color and colors are sorted by type and tint Fig 14 You can change color of part at any moment even if you already selected it 5 3 7 View controls Rotate model A Rotate model Rotates left right up down model view You can use wv mouse right button drag Rotation has no limits Zoom amp Pan A PN 4 right button drag and SHIFT key together Pan model view Move model up down l
15. eft right You can use mouse with Se Zoom view You can also use mouse wheel to zoom in and out i 5b T Reset view View is pointed towards 0 0 0 and all rotations removed Zoom is not modified dr sb mt Reset zoom Zoom is restored Rotation and panning is maintained 5 3 8 3D options These are all toggle buttons with on off position o Orthogonal or perspective projection Switch between 3D projections without change other view controls default is orthogonal V Turn off or on lighting If light is off uses flat lighting default is on ee Fill polygons If disabled shows only part edges default is fill Display edges If disabled do not shows part edges default is display edges E Normal or low detail parts If available use a low details model for some elements It can speed up rendering on old computers default is standard details Warning this function requires a complete re rendering and needs few seconds to redraw model 19 5 3 9 Selection tools Program can select parts form current model by color or by part ID or LDraw ID Select a part with desired design ID or color and click on re ti 1 i e to select all parts with same design ID LDraw ID em e To select all parts with same color 5 3 10 Step tools for instruction generation During normal build you can enable stepping and assign elements to a step Step are numbered for easy identific
16. etected program will display a message that explain what is new To update or upgrade program you will need the new JAR put it in the same folder location where older program is That s all 5 Working with jBrickBuilder In the following section are explained most common procedures and involved program functions 5 1 First start At first start BrickBuilder will show a welcome message Fig 1 Welcome Thank you for using JBrickBuilder This is first run Program needs some other files to properly work LDraw official library Connection database I ll ask you some question Fig 1 First start After that program asks if you have LDraw library either in form of a ZIP file or installed in a folder unzipped Fig 2 LDraw library choice Do you already have LDraw library You can use your installed library as a folder or original zipped file with LDraw official library Click No if you don t have any LDraw library Program will download latest LDraw library Fig 2 Program asking for library Select Yes button if you want to use your local LDraw library and program will asks for library position You can select both a ZIP file containing LDraw library or a folder where library is installed unzipped program will detect the library form and act accordingly Note if you select a folder remember that library must be already unzipped in it This message must appear only at first run If you w
17. format replacing current model if any If current project is modified asks for confirmation Set model information Model description Model author and e mail Mario Pascucci mpascucci amp gmail com Model type Unofficial Model Add license notice see Options Fig 7 Set model information 12 P Set model information Opens a dialog Fig 7 to enter model description and author Author field is filled with default defined in Program Options see 5 3 14 License notice is defined in same dialog and here you choose if include a license notice or not in your model Save current model If it is first save it shows a save dialog to ask for file name and folder Save model in LDR format Warning does not save submodels and flexible parts generated by program user must checks that submodels are properly saved and named Save current model as Change name and folder for current model Warning if model contains submodels please check that submodels are in the same folder ub Export current model and submodels in MPD format Includes all submodel and custom parts in model Warning does not include parts in official or unofficial library both zipped or installed 5 3 3 Sub model toolbar You can load a submodel to include in a model or you can switch editing from model to another or a submodel without reload program Load a model as submodel After loading you can place submodel as normal p
18. if program don t match your expectations don t use it 4 6 Support To obtain support about program you can contact me with my e mail listed at the start of this document or you can go to the program website that you can find in the About dialog Please note that jBrickBuilder was created for my personal use and giving support to user isn t my work Question that are answered in documentation will be ignored 4 7 New releases New versions and updates are released when ready There is no planning Please refer to program website that you can find in About dialog There are some planned features but there is no timeline for releases 4 8 System requirements jBrickBuilder will require nothing special to works Every computer sold from 2009 will works fine Minimum requirement are e 100MB total disk space program database indexes LDraw part libraries e 1GBRAM e OpenGL capable video card with minimal 3D acceleration any video card sold from 2009 monitor with 1024x768 resolution e Java Runtime Environment 6 o later works fine with OpenJDK 4 9 Installation Program is only in portable version distributed as a single JAR file Installation procedure is the same for all operating systems Get JAR file from jBrickBuilder page https sourceforge net projects brickbuilder and place it on a dedicated folder in your computer This folder will contains all files and working data for program To install and use i
19. itical for program If you changes one of this you must restart program and use Update parts database see 5 3 13 to view changes in library e License text for new models if you chose to put a license notice in a new model this text go in the LDraw LICENSE meta command e Use low details parts it forces program to use low detail version of some primitives to 24 lower the program requirements for graphics and memory Save status of low detail button see 5 3 8 e Use perspective view save setting for perspective orthogonal projection view see 5 3 8 e Use antialias req restart enables graphic card antialias for better graphic result Requires program restart Requires a bit more GPU power 5 4 Flexible parts editing Starting from release 0 3 0 jBrickBuilder can generate flexible parts with custom path and bending Warning support is experimental and in development so specifications and functions can change in next releases There are no special buttons or menu functions when you select a part that is flexible and listed in supported parts in the part selection dialog you will see the Flex Part button enables If you click on it you will enter in flexible parts editing mode that is a three step procedure Fig 17 Head of flexible axle 1 place flexible part head Fig 17 Heads of flexible parts have connection enabled and checked so you can snap it on other parts when c
20. its preferences settings 5 2 How jBrickBuilder works To build a model program uses two different strategies if a part has known connections is in database or can be auto detected program will use them to snap part to the nearest connection on line of sight For some connection type program is able to align part to connection so if you have a brick placed with an angle of 15 degree to say when a brick is snapping on it program will rotate automatically to align it to the same orientation of receiving part More information on connection programming model used in jBrickBuilder is available on project SourceForge download section https sourceforge net projects jbrickbuilder files jbrickbuilder connections in jBrickBuilder connection model developer manual e If part doesn t have known connections and cannot be autodetected you can disable autoconnect n button and use grid snap controls to move and align part It is less user friendly but you can place parts everywhere with any orientation 5 3 Main program window At first start program shows an empty design area surrounded with toolbars There are three main toolbar area e model file handling and editing top e design helpers and tools left e view rendering and building steps tools bottom JBrickBuilder Catalogs Program COGO A EN SSeS eee gt a SS IIA ix A i d See ACE oe a c SS Rac OS o A ES gt m um
21. main grid to the desired direction next you can rotate parts using grid as a base plane You can reset pointer grid or both rotation using related buttons It is a bit complex but when you grasp the base idea it is really useful to build complex models 5 3 13 Catalogs menu When LDraw team releases a new catalog you can update it using this menu e Download LDraw library download and update official library from LDraw web site This functions works only for zipped library if you use local installed library unzipped LDraw library update is up to you Warning if you use a library as a ZIP file shared with other program update from this menu can lead to unexpected results You can broke other programs using same library file or you can get an error if program cannot write overwrite old library file Download connections database When a new connections database is released you can use this function to download and use it e Refresh parts database Both if you have a local installed LDraw library or use the zipped 23 one when you update library this function updates part list and search tables with new modified parts otherwise you can t see new parts 5 3 14 Program menu In this menu you can find an exit function same as closing program main window If current model is modified program will ask you a confirm The about dialog shows you some information about program and author Program options Use extended colo
22. n is defined here Default is 90 degree n Enable disable part autoconnect toggle button This is a powerful function if part is in connections database program will snap to the nearest valid connection when you move in editor If you disable this function you must use placing helper see below to place a part where you want T Repeat insert of last part toggle button After you place a part this function get another part same part with same color and same orientation on your cursor If you disable it after placing a part you must select a new one every time f Hide selected parts Hidden parts isn t used for autoconnect so if you have problem connecting part you can hide interfering part It is an helper to edit complex models You can hide as many part as you want Blocks are hidden as a single part b Show all hidden parts 5 Take a screenshot of what is on editor window Save to a PNG image format asking where to save 5 3 12 Rotation grid and matrices JBrickBuilder uses two set of data for orientation and position of parts during building e grid matrix e pointer cursor matrix Grid matrix defines position and orientation for parts in whole design space Pointer matrix defines local rotation for placing parts Parts are placed using grid matrix multiplied to pointer matrix So if you want to build using SNOT technique first you can define orientation using dE or one of XY XZ YZ buttons to align
23. official LEGO CAD Digital Designer it use a database for part connections when you move part near other bricks it will snap to the nearest connection e If part isn t in connection database it tries to autodetect connections e If parts isn t in connection database and autodetect fails you can place parts using some helper functions a placing grid with rotation and snap to position e Can save both LDR and MPD formats e Works both with zipped parts library or with your local part library in a folder Complete user manual PDF english e Works on any platform with Java Runtime Environment release 6 or newer On Linux platforms it works fine with OpenJDK 4 4 What jBrickBuilder won t never do e BrickBuilder don t use 3D model from LEGO Digital Designer parts are copyrighted and using it violates lot of laws e jBrickBuilder will never use any data from LEGO Digital Designer nor any other data from similar programs it only uses LDraw official part library So no features that needs these functions will never added to BrickBuilder 4 5 License and Warranty jBrickBuilder is a free and Open Source software release under the terms of GNU General Public License version 3 or later at your option So you don t need to pay for any license at all and you don t have to pay anything to anyone to use jBrickBuilder jBrickBuilder comes with no warranty of any kind You can use the program as is and
24. onnection is valid A green tool will show you where the flexible start is oriented Fig 18 Placing tail 2 place flexible part tail As for heads tail have connection points An elastic band goes from head to tail position Fig 18 and a green tool shows the direction of flexible part final part as a preview for final part If band is green your path length is less than real part length If you put tail too far from head band become red but it is only a visual warning nothing more program will not refuse to create final part 25 3 place optional constraint points If your part must go through specific point or hole in another brick you can place a point in three dimensional space that is a fixed point where the final path must go through A button in lower part allow you to delete last constraint added if you place it in wrong position Fig 19 Adding a constraint A green arrow Fig 19 show the direction which path crosses the constraint point Fig 20 Wrong constraint point orientation If you place a constraint point with wrong orientation Fig 20 you will get weird results You can snap a constraint point to a connection point a peg hole an axle hole a clip all are point where a constraint point can snap allows to simulate real world models where a pneumatic tube can go through a Technic M brick peg hole or a flexible 3mm hose can snap into a clip type connection
25. r palette Author name and e mail Mario Pascucci lt mpascucci mail corn _ Use installed LDraw library instead of zipped Grid size in LDU 0 0 Path to your LDraw library folder jhome mario cance draw Path to your LDraw library zip file complete zip License text for new models Redistributable under CCAL version 2 0 see C Areadme txt Snap size in LDU 1 0 Use antialias req restart Use low details parts Use perspective view Fig 16 Options dialog In Option dialog you can set some program functions like LDraw library folder e Use extended color palette if enabled in color selection dialog you will find all colors else program shows you only currently in production colors e Author name and e mail fill with your name nick and other information This text will be inserted in models in Author line e Use installed LDraw library instead of zipped if you have ZIP and local installed library this option lets you choose what library use If checked use installed folder library If you want to change this option make sure you have the right path to file or folder in next options e Grid size Snap size in LDU last values used in program If you change in editor program will retain new values 0 means use defaults 4 LDU for snap and 20 LDU for grid size e Path to library folder zip file if you move change library position you can set new position here Warning these values are cr
26. rt library from LDraw project and his team and contributors that maintains a big database of 3D brick models Many thanks to the thousands of LEGO fans that maintains BrickLink sets and parts catalogs Special thanks go to all Romabrick people http www romabrick it for support and suggestions and for pulling me out from the dark age 3 Release notes 3 1 What s new 3 1 1 V 0 4 0 e New step editing e New building step player 3 1 2 V 0 3 0 e New flexible parts support experimental 3 1 3 V 0 2 1 e Bugfix for Cut Copy error 3 1 4 V 0 2 0 e New cut copy paste functions e Undo Redo functions e Improved delete duplicate and recolor functions 3 1 5 V 0 1 8 e New rotation on connection function e Snap can be disabled 3 1 6 V 0 1 7 Antialiasing for better graphic aspect Better align and rotation functions Spatial indexing for fastest connection search on placing part New part selection function by mouse dragging drag a window on screen and all parts completely inside of rectangle will be selected New selection functions by part ID design ID and by color Better connection strategy jBrickBuilder is a Java application to build virtual models using LDraw part library This is a beta public release and must be considered highly unstable Features functions procedures and file formats may change without prior notice 3 2 Limitations Program does not checks for part collision you can place a p
27. rts for building step number 20 a dimmed wing is selected boxed in green In the lower toolbar you have some buttons A move selected parts to previous build step If it is already the first step do nothing v move selected parts to current build step move selected parts to next building step If it is last step creates a new one after last step It can happens that you creates empty steps i e moving all parts to another step when you save model or export it in MPD format empty steps are ignored and doesn t appears in file 5 3 11 Design tools Program uses a plane and a cursor to mark the point where next part is placed using part origin The plane can be moved rotated and oriented according to generic direction or aligned to already placed part If you use autoconnect plane is only an helper but if you don t use autoconnect plane is where part 21 is placed so you need to move and rotate it precisely Remember that LDraw coordinate system is a bit different from other applications e X axis if from left to right right is positive black arrow on editor e Y axis is from top to bottom up is negative blue arrow on editor e Z axis is from you to screen near is negative far is positive green arrow on editor To move plane sm Y move grid plane up and down along Y axis e A Move grid plane left or right along X axis eg an A E 44 Move grid plane near or far
28. selected submodel When you switch model program asks for save changes in current model if any 14 5 3 4 Model editing Add a part from LDraw library Shows a dialog Fig 10 to search and select a part from library Part can be rotated using arrow keys on keyboard and part color can be changed on the fly selecting new color from color toolbar Part can be searched with two different mode o by category Using list in lower right you can browse parts by category a classification done by LDraw team o with a full text search Entering some words in top text field program will shows a list of parts selected from words you entered Full text search uses this syntax e brick slope search for word brick or slope in part description e brick slope select all parts that contains brick and not contains slope in description e brick slope duplo search for parts that contains brick and slope but must not contains duplo in description e brick select all parts with word starting with brick in description like bricked bricks Some examples brick 2 4 first result is a Duplo brick 2x4 second is a standard LEGO brick 2x 4 axle 7 first result is a Technic axle 7 stud long minifig hair pony first seven results are all minifig hair with ponytail In part listing there are a new function to se
29. t you don t need administrative rights so you can use it in any computer Every user that need to use jBrickBuilder must install a personal copy of program Every user has a private space This is a design choice 4 9 1 Program start To start program please refer to your operating system instruction to start a Java application In most operating systems you can launch with a plain double click on JAR file Some Unix Linux systems does not recognize JAR files as Java executable so you have two options e geta shell script called runme sh from Sourceforge program page and place it in the same folder where JAR file is and give it RUN permission chmod a x runme sh Double click on runme sh shell script to launch program e Open a shell go in folder where JAR is and launch with java jar jBrickBuilder jar Warning do NOT launch program from outside JAR folder it will create files in the current folder 4 10 Move program If you want to move program to other disk or path just move the program folder where you want to place it All needed files are in same program folder so you can put in a USB disk and carry it with you It will work on any computer with Java installed 4 11 Uninstall program To remove program from your system you have only to delete program folder 4 12 Update program At startup program will checks for both application new releases and connection database new releases When a new version is d
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