Digital 1:8 scale LMS Explorer

[Arthuriel]

You're right. If I have some time, I will try to figure out, how to use the other options and adding a background etc.

 

It just took a minute to render. I used POV-Ray 3.7 and an AMD Athlon X2 6400+.

 

PS: Let's hope, that TLC won't take this project down. However: It has 31 supporters: Not that much in comparision with other projects, but better than other projects with votes in the single digit area.

[Jimbob]

You're right. If I have some time, I will try to figure out, how to use the other options and adding a background etc.

 

It just took a minute to render. I used POV-Ray 3.7 and an AMD Athlon X2 6400+.

 

You can remove the background in the 'Scene' tab, I think. Also, to get the green colours correct, uncheck the 'Use Custom Colours' and instead tick 'Stretch LDD Colour Palette' - at least that seems to work.

 

How the heck did you render it in 1 minute? What level of rendering was this thing on?

[Arthuriel]

Thank you, I will use these tips later .

 

Hmm, I almost used the standard export settings from LDView, although I raised the quality a bit (quality: "Including stud logos").

In POV-Ray I used the render option "1920x1080 AA 0.3"

 

The elapsed time is ~45 seconds total.

 

PS: POV-Ray has multicore support.

[Jimbob]

Thank you, I will use these tips later .

 

Hmm, I almost used the standard export settings from LDView, although I raised the quality a bit (quality: "Including stud logos").

In POV-Ray I used the render option "1920x1080 AA 0.3"

 

The elapsed time is ~45 seconds total.

 

PS: POV-Ray has multicore support.

 

That's it. I'm going to university and spending the student loan on the ultimate PC or Mac.

[Fush]

As much as I love this model, I have to say the back bothers me just a little bit; There are only flat plates where the engines are. I's probably difficult to accurately recreate the engines in this small a scale, but could you at least put a hole in the middle or something? Just a thought.

[Arthuriel]

Afaik the processor was released in 2007.

Today probably even a low budget dual core is better than my CPU^^ (e.g. Intel Celeron G530 etc.).

It's still some money, but it's definitely not in the "one billion dollar"-league.

 

Maybe the time heavily depends on the options and programs you use, although the final result may look the same. (Time for some !SCIENCE! to figure that out ).

 

 

@Fushigisaur:

Yeah, the back part always bothered me, because it's a bunch of compromises. Nonetheless I will add your idea to my to-do List. Maybe I will figure out a good solution some day.

[Jimbob]

Afaik the processor was released in 2007.

Today probably even a low budget dual core is better than my CPU^^ (e.g. Intel Celeron G530 etc.).

It's still some money, but it's definitely not in the "one billion dollar"-league.

 

Maybe the time heavily depends on the options and programs you use, although the final result may look the same. (Time for some !SCIENCE! to figure that out ).

 

Sorry to continue this subject, but I just don't understand it. I have an HP TouchSmart 610 and it takes something like 2-3 hours to render a model with transparent parts, which is why my forum kit is taking so long to process (that, and I've been working on the PS3 theme).

 

I feel I should comment more on the ship... Is it also modular like your other model?

[Arthuriel]

It's not modular, but it has at least an inner construction, although I don't know, how stable it would be in real life.

 

Hmm, your cpu looks okay (a.k.a. faster than mine). Therefore it probably depends on some options or programs.

Maybe I should send you my pov-file from the 1.0 version 1:8 LMS Explorer to test the render time or I will make some tests on my own for some results.

[Jimbob]

It's not modular, but it has at least an inner construction, although I don't know, how stable it would be in real life.

 

Hmm, your cpu looks okay (a.k.a. faster than mine). Therefore it probably depends on some options or programs.

Maybe I should send you my pov-file from the 1.0 version 1:8 LMS Explorer to test the render time or I will make some tests on my own for some results.

 

Yep, it might be problematic if you pick it up and it snaps in two

 

If you could send me the file, that would be great!

[Arthuriel]

Jimbob, I've found out, why it took such a long time for your render objects: it's probably because of the converter and then using POV-Ray. After I finally got the converter to work, it took such a long time to render the 1:16 LMS Explorer, that I came to the following conclusion: the LDD-->LeoCAD/MLCAD-->LDView-->POV-Ray chain is much faster

Example: I made a 4k render from the 1:8 LMS Explorer and it just took 2 minutes and it didn't look bad.

 

PS: Yeah, the gravity is really annoying .

And yes, I can send you the file . (Just send me your Email per PM).

 

edit:

4k render (2m 48s render time). I exported an old LeoCAD file (-->LDView-->POV-Ray) and somehow the colours are right for some reason:

 

Conclusion: The whole converting chain is annoying, but the advantage are the short rendering times .

 

next edit: What the... ...I've made a 8k render (7680x4320 AA 0.3) and it took only 6m 55s .

[Jimbob]

Jimbob, I've found out, why it took such a long time for your render objects: it's probably because of the converter and then using POV-Ray. After I finally got the converter to work, it took such a long time to render the 1:16 LMS Explorer, that I came to the following conclusion: the LDD-->LeoCAD/MLCAD-->LDView-->POV-Ray chain is much faster

Example: I made a 4k render from the 1:8 LMS Explorer and it just took 2 minutes and it didn't look bad.

 

PS: Yeah, the gravity is really annoying .

And yes, I can send you the file . (Just send me your Email per PM).

 

edit:

4k render (2m 48s render time). I exported an old LeoCAD file (-->LDView-->POV-Ray) and somehow the colours are right for some reason:

 

Conclusion: The whole converting chain is annoying, but the advantage are the short rendering times .

 

next edit: What the... ...I've made a 8k render (7680x4320 AA 0.3) and it took only 6m 55s .

 

Thanks for sharing that, it'll really help with my backgrounds as I have such a huge one planned. I've never used LeoCAD or LDView but I guess they shouldn't be hard to pick up.

[Arthuriel]

In the beginning it may be a bit hard, although it is relatively easy to learn. The biggest problem is, that some/many pieces are lost (or having the wrong position) during the export from LDD to LeoCAD or MLCAD.

This means, that it take a while to correct all the mistakes. In next step (LDView) this could also happen (but most of the time only a few/no pieces are missing). Therefore you have to go back to LeoCAD and use similar pieces.

Conclusion: Maybe there are some imcombabilities between the different libraries of the programs etc., but the final result is it worth (now I have to figure out, how to make a render with a space background without the help of the LDD to POV-Ray converter).

 

(There is also a POV-Ray Export option in LeoCAD, but it didn't work in my case, although I probably used the right path).

 

PS: There is also a 4k render in my 1:16 LMS Explorer thread.

 

PPS: Oh no! Rendering things is addicting. Now I done a even bigger render (15360x8640 AA 0.3) in POV-Ray within ~28 minutes.

[Jimbob]

In the beginning it may be a bit hard, although it is relatively easy to learn. The biggest problem is, that some/many pieces are lost (or having the wrong position) during the export from LDD to LeoCAD or MLCAD.

This means, that it take a while to correct all the mistakes. In next step (LDView) this could also happen (but most of the time only a few/no pieces are missing). Therefore you have to go back to LeoCAD and use similar pieces.

Conclusion: Maybe there are some imcombabilities between the different libraries of the programs etc., but the final result is it worth (now I have to figure out, how to make a render with a space background without the help of the LDD to POV-Ray converter).

 

(There is also a POV-Ray Export option in LeoCAD, but it didn't work in my case, although I probably used the right path).

 

PS: There is also a 4k render in my 1:16 LMS Explorer thread.

 

PPS: Oh no! Rendering things is addicting. Now I done a even bigger render (15360x8640 AA 0.3) in POV-Ray within ~28 minutes.

 

Well, although I'm happy with working it out for myself, maybe you could make a short tutorial if you're up to it? Rendering is so addictive that I'm sure people would appreciate it.

[Arthuriel]

There are probably tutorials in the internet already, but maybe I can do an extra one for RRU and talk about the converting thing (LDD-->LeoCAD-->LDView-->POV-Ray), because the rendering phase is very fast, but first I have to figure out some things on my own (there are also camera options in LDView etc.).

[Rennesis77]

First of all....great design, love the detail you put in it. Any chance you can send the lxf to [email protected]

Check my MOC-pages for my collection of micro-space models, maybe you're interested in one of my models.

 

http://www.mocpages.com/home.php/50856

 

Greetz Rennesis

[Tracker]

Actually I think you are thinking of L3P, not LDview.

[Ben24x7]

Ah, NTEP Scales, now I've found a reason to live .

 

back to the 1:8 model:

Somehow this whole LDD to POV-Ray converting thing doesn't work at all. Therefore I had to check the paths etc., but in the mean time I've found a dat-file from the 1.0 version, which I opened in LDView.

After that I exported it to POV-Ray and got this render here:

 

I... wow... It is amazing... The detail is high and the model is just the right... ehh... I cannot think of what to say... This is just brilliant work!

[alan]

Ah, NTEP Scales, now I've found a reason to live .

 

back to the 1:8 model:

Somehow this whole LDD to POV-Ray converting thing doesn't work at all. Therefore I had to check the paths etc., but in the mean time I've found a dat-file from the 1.0 version, which I opened in LDView.

After that I exported it to POV-Ray and got this render here:

 

I... wow... It is amazing... The detail is high and the model is just the right... ehh... I cannot think of what to say... This is just brilliant work!

I am only able to agree...

Please become LEGO designer if you aren't yet! You are doing an excellent job, Arthuriel!

[Rennesis77]

Hi Arthuriel,

 

don't know if you had the chance to take a look at my LDD spacemodels on MOC?

[Arthuriel]

Sorry for my absence, but I was on an excursion for 10 days.

 

@Rennesis: Some spaceships like "Heretic", "Zeus" or "Swordfish" look pretty cool ("Zeus" is my favourite, because it has many details and an interesting design ).

Maybe you can also use more often the SNOT technique on the underside at some ships (although I have to admit, that this is relatively difficult on this scale).

PS: I will send you the lxf-file.

 

@Tracker: I use LDView 4.1 (Is LDView based on L3P? Just a question, because I've heard of this program before).

 

@Rennesis, Ben and Alan: Thanks for the comments. It's nice to hear, that people like this model .

[Tracker]

L3P is a file converter. LDview is a quick and dirty way of getting screens in LDraw. L3P converts LDraw files to POV files. L3PAddon is a "shell" that passes a command string to L3P based on selected options. The files it puts out are much more flexible than the ones LDD2POV makes. They are set up such that parts, colors, models,, lights, and backgrounds can be removed, edited, or even added without much effort. They also have quality settings built in, so you can turn off studs, thus saving resources.

[Arthuriel]

Sounds a bit like the integrated pov-file export function (with it's different quality setting etc.) in LDView, that I've used to make the pov-files for POV-Ray. Maybe it's based on L3P or it's just a program with similar functions.

[Tauka Usanake]

I have to ask how stable this would be if created with real LEGO bricks. I would totally make this thing if I was able to get all the parts and instructions for it

[Cyrem]

I have to ask how stable this would be if created with real LEGO bricks. I would totally make this thing if I was able to get all the parts and instructions for it

 

I'm already in the process of building the 1:16, I have about half the parts already.

[Jimbob]

I have to ask how stable this would be if created with real LEGO bricks. I would totally make this thing if I was able to get all the parts and instructions for it

I'm already in the process of building the 1:16, I have about half the parts already.

I would love to see this. I'd go so far as to say I'd pay to see this.