<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
	<channel>
		<title><![CDATA[Forums - Bricks in Motion - Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
		<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/topic/19342/lets-talk-lego-cg-help-wanted/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[The most recent posts in Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted).]]></description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2014 11:22:15 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<generator>PunBB</generator>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/328621/#p328621</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Or what I do, LDD > LeoCad > 3D file]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (dt98films)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2014 11:22:15 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/328621/#p328621</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327980/#p327980</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Yes, you can build with LDD or LeoCad, MLCad, or another LDraw builder, export to .LDR, and you can import the models using the LDR Importer.

[url]https://github.com/le717/LDR-Importer/releases[/url]

There is a way to get original bricks from LDD, but it's pretty much illegal (because LDD's license doesn't allow using the original 3D models in other things), so I won't share it here. I recommend using LDraw.]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (rioforce)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2014 13:12:58 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327980/#p327980</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327963/#p327963</link>
			<description><![CDATA[[quote=jampot]Is it possible to translate an LDD file (i think it's a .lxf) into something Blender can open?[/quote]
It can also export other file types (fan made lego building program file types)]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (END films)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jul 2014 23:29:27 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327963/#p327963</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327935/#p327935</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Is it possible to translate an LDD file (i think it's a .lxf) into something Blender can open?]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (jampot)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jul 2014 12:55:40 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327935/#p327935</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327827/#p327827</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Maybe you should check out this tutorial after you watch the Basics of Blender tutorial I linked earlier in the topic.

[url]http://cgcookie.com/blender/2012/02/29/introduction-texturing-cycles-in-blender/[/url]]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (rioforce)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2014 14:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327827/#p327827</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327811/#p327811</link>
			<description><![CDATA[How would I go about actually applying the texture? I know that's really complicated but you didn't go into detail with the tutorial, would you be able to point me to one that would explain it?]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (GreyBrickProductions)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2014 03:18:48 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327811/#p327811</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327780/#p327780</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I use a simple photoscanner and I scan it at a high DPI (600 at max, but usually I just use 300). Then I trace them over in Inkscape, and that's it. If you're referring to the 3D models, I model them from scratch. I'm planning a tutorial some day on how to make minifigures in Blender, but I haven't finished recording it yet.]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (rioforce)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2014 21:50:03 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327780/#p327780</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327746/#p327746</link>
			<description><![CDATA[[quote=rioforce]I made the LEGO minifig textures myself after scanning them in from real minifigs ad tracing over them in a program called Inkscape. For the LEGO bump map, I scanned the rough edge of a 2x3 LEGO Slope brick and made it loop. For the seams and such, I just drew lines over my UV map in photoshop. If you'd like to download the textures I made for the minifigs, or the bump map, I have them online.

[url]https://github.com/rioforce/LEGO-Textures[/url]

They are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (which means that you just have to give credit to me if you use them ;) ).[/quote]

Thanks a lot man! This helps, but honestly I don't fully understand haha. You should do a tutorial starting from the beginning! What did you use to scan the lego?]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (GreyBrickProductions)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2014 16:38:37 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327746/#p327746</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327737/#p327737</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I made the LEGO minifig textures myself after scanning them in from real minifigs ad tracing over them in a program called Inkscape. For the LEGO bump map, I scanned the rough edge of a 2x3 LEGO Slope brick and made it loop. For the seams and such, I just drew lines over my UV map in photoshop. If you'd like to download the textures I made for the minifigs, or the bump map, I have them online.

[url]https://github.com/rioforce/LEGO-Textures[/url]

They are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (which means that you just have to give credit to me if you use them ;) ).]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (rioforce)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2014 12:53:30 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327737/#p327737</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327707/#p327707</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Thanks a lot guys i have a slightly better understanding, but i really would like to know how you did those textures?]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (GreyBrickProductions)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2014 22:32:52 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327707/#p327707</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327274/#p327274</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I've never watched this, but here's a basics of Blender course. It's a video course, and it's free. Haha, when I started with Blender, they didn't have all these tutorials out yet, and I had to learn it manually and with very old tutorials. :P

[url]http://cgcookie.com/blender/cgc-courses/blender-basics-introduction-for-beginners/[/url]

You can also check out [url]http://www.blenderguru.com/[/url] for other great tutorials.]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (rioforce)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2014 20:21:06 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327274/#p327274</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327267/#p327267</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I used to understand earlier, far less capable versions of blender, but does anyone know a good reference, preferably a printed guide or tutorial for current editions that can be downloaded?]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (HoldingOurOwn)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2014 18:27:48 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327267/#p327267</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327224/#p327224</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The importer script is just imports pre-built LDraw models into Blender. Like if you built a model in LeoCad or LDD, and saved it as .LDR, it will import that. (To install it into Blender, go to User Preferences>Addons>click Install from File at the bottom, and select the .ZIP that you downloaded from the site I linked.)

Some of my work includes [url=http://rioforce.wordpress.com/2013/06/29/good-ol-johnny/]Good Ol' Johnny[/url], [url=http://rioforce.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/friendless/]Friendless[/url], and [url=https://rioforce.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/uk-map-draft-5.png]another render[/url] which will part of an upcoming Brickfilm. I rendered those with somewhere from 200 to 1000 samples, but those are image renders. For animations, I recommend about 200 and it's hard to tell how much time it will take to render (depending on your computer and scene), but maybe 5 minutes per frame?]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (rioforce)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2014 20:00:30 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327224/#p327224</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327219/#p327219</link>
			<description><![CDATA[[quote=rioforce]I think I may be able to offer some advice. I'm experienced in using LDraw and Blender. I understand that you are using LeoCad to import the models into Blender. That's fine, but there's a better way. I reccomed using the LDR Importer (which imports LDraw LDR and DAT files straight into Blender and cleans them up for rendering).

[url]https://github.com/le717/LDR-Importer/releases[/url]

That will help you with getting the models into Blender. As for photorealism, that is harder. And it takes longer. I have made a tutorial (which is slightly outdated, but not too much) on how to achieve the photorealistic look (or at least come very close) with LEGO.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rn037UGPwI[/url]

The rendering could take very long, though, because it uses Blender's Cycles engine which is a progressive rendering  (blah, blah, enough with the technical :P ). It means that it runs better on NVidia GPUs and is sometimes very slow to render.

I hope this helps you. :)[/quote]

Thanks! so is Ldraw a software or what? do i use leocad but then the importer to actually put the models into blender? slightly confused :/ Could you send me pictures of your realistic cgi or maybe even a video you made? and how long did it take for your pic/videos to render? how many samples ect?]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (GreyBrickProductions)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:32:45 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327219/#p327219</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Re: Lets talk Lego CG (Help wanted)]]></title>
			<link>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327205/#p327205</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Bump mapping for the texture is what the pros do. It's not that difficult to add bump maps to models, although I use Maya, not blender or LDraw for CGI, so I can't tell you how it's done in that program. It shouldn't be too difficult to find some tutorials. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_mapping[/url]

You should also allow for reflective properties on your models as well. Reflections probably more so than bump mapping tells the computer properties of particular objects in a 3D space, and how they interact with light. Getting your lights and shadows correct are difficult, but there's plenty of tutorials online as well for that. The thing to understand, is that just creating a 3D object, and putting a light on it isn't like putting a light on a real world object. The computer needs to know how the light interacts with the model to make it life like. The better you are at lighting, the better it will look.

Play around with some of the lighting and rendering settings in your 3D program to see how it works, but just remember, that as you work more so like the pros do it, it takes more rendering. The cheapest option for a one off project would be to send it off to a render farm that already has the services set up. If you plan to do a lot, then you should look into making your own render farm, although it does use a lot in electricity costs.

Anyway, you can only do so much with rendering an object, but don't play down the importance of lights. They're not prefabricated to be perfect.]]></description>
			<author><![CDATA[dummy@example.com (Kieren Barnett)]]></author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2014 13:42:28 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/327205/#p327205</guid>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
