I was looking over the LDD files I made for the buildings in an exterior shot for Doctor Strange. A couple were new creations, some were adapted from actual sets, but I started to think about building a city. Some on Eurobricks has indeed begun doing exactly that. It's also possible to render LDD models in high resolution using a piece of PC-only software (here's a link). Being a Mac-user myself, Umbra-Manis has kindly done renders for me in the past, including an Ideas project and an establishing shot for Immortal Iron Fist. The results are pretty good: these renders make great backdrops.

This got me to thinking more about an idea I had a while ago; a shared BiM assets library that everycan can contribute to and take from. What would/could/should this entail? My thoughts are:

• Separate sections for LDD files, .obj files (commonly used for Blender), and so on, just to make it clearer to read.

• A single Dropbox account, managed by a couple of people. New assets are sent to them to upload onto the Dropbox, which has a share link that will enabling anyone with the link to download from it. It's what I've done with assets in the Marvel Brickfilm Universe, and it works pretty well.

• Group construction projects. If we wanted to create a model street, for instance, everyone involved in this project might construct a building. This could even be as simple as converting the modulars into LDD/obj files (no doubt with a few adjustments). If it was a lunar base, each participant might create a different segment of it (lab, loading bay, living quarters).

• For LDD files, a list of people willing to render for others (with correct accreditation, of course).

As for general accreditation, and keeping track of who made what, my thoughts are similar to the formatting on freesound. Let's say I made a model of a hotdog stand and uploaded it today:

Obviously, unless I'm mistaken, the LDD files would really only be good for backdrops or establishing shots, but putting the time into creating resources like that can be worthwhile: Titan Pictures' TMNT series is a great example, as a lot of the city building exteriors were created in LDD, then printed onto card and used as facades. If I'm wrong and there's a way of converting LDD files into .obj or other formats (as you can with LDraw files) please let me know, so I can update this post.

I know quite a few people dabble in/are pretty boss at integrating 3D elements into their brickfilms, one way or another, so I think this could be a great resource for the community. I could be wrong, of course, but I figure there's no harm in me sharing my thoughts with you all. I'd be interested to see what you guys think, and whether you'd be interested in a shared asset box like this.

Last edited by jampot (November 13, 2015 (03:30pm))

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein