LDView Display LDraw models using hardware-accelerated 3D graphics
Download

LDView Ranking & Summary

LDView Tags

viewer 3D real-time real-time 3D viewer display LDraw model rotate 3D models

LDView Description

Display LDraw models using hardware-accelerated 3D graphics LDView is a real-time 3D viewer for displaying LDraw models using hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. It was written using OpenGL, so should be accellerated on any video card which provides full OpenGL 3D accelleration (so-called mini-drivers are not likely to work). LDView should also work on other video cards using OpenGL software rendering, albeit at a much slower speed. For information on LDraw, please visit www.ldraw.org, the centralized LDraw information site.LDView is able to read LDraw DAT files as well as MPD files. It then allows you to rotate the model around to any angle with the mouse. A fast computer or a video card with T&L support (Transform & Lighting) is strongly recommended for displaying complex models. Here are some key features of "LDView": · Ability to examine LDraw models from any angle in real time. · Able to automatically download the LDraw Parts Library, as well as check for and download updates to the library. · Able to automatically download missing unofficial parts for the LDraw.org Parts Tracker. · Able to generate a parts list HTML file from your model. (See example here.) · Primitive substitution option which produces higher-quality results while simultaneously improving performance. · Supports fullscreen rendering at any resolution supported by your monitor and video card. · Windows screensaver mode that spins selected models around while moving them around the screen. · Cut-away feature that allows you to look inside models. · Transparent pieces can be displayed using alpha blending. · Specular highlight option to draw models with a shiny look, so they look more like real LEGO. · Ability to use Type 5 line information in LDraw files to smooth shade curved surfaces. · High resolution printing support, to print the model using the current viewing angle. · Ability to take a PNG or BMP snapshot of the model using the current viewing angle. Supports snapshots up to 9999x9999. · "Cross-eyed" and "Wall-eyed" stereoscopic support, for those people who can focus on their monitor while crossing their eyes or staring off into the distance. · Native support for Full-Scene Antialiasing on video cards that support this via an OpenGL extension. · Lots of other options, to give you control over how the rendering looks. What's New in This Release: Additions: · New Cocoa-based LDView for the Mac. · Added basic support for steps. · Added export feature to convert LDraw files into other file formats. Currently POV-Ray and Stereo Lithography file formats are supported. · Added Model Tree dialog (drawer in Cocoa version) to show a tree with all the data from the model. · Added MPD model selection to show sub-models inside MPD models. · Added new latitude/longitude rotation mode. · Added dialog to set the latitude/longitude. (This does not require you to be in the new latitude/longitude rotation mode.) · Added support for multiple processors, and multi-core processors. Transparency sorting and conditional line calculations now happen in background threads when LDView is run on a computer with more than one processor core. · Added option to show the coordinate axes for the model, originating at the model's origin. · Added support for JPEG snapshots. The default JPEG settings are set using rarely-used JPEG compression options that result in much better quality for computer-generated imagery than is typically achieved with image tools. (Specifically, LDView uses the 4:4:4 JPEG color sub-sampling by default.) · Added Bounding Box dialog that shows the minimum and maximum coordinates of the bounding box for the model, and draws that bounding box. · Added view mode that only shows part bounding boxes. · Added support for rotation in examine mode with the arrow keys on the keyboard. · Added steps to m6459.ldr sample model. · Added -SaveSnapshots command line option to allow multiple snapshots to be saved at once from the command line. · Added "Transparent background" and "Auto-crop" to the snapshot saving UI. (Previously, these options were only available via manual registry entries or command line parameters.) · Added ability to set the 3D portion of the LDView window to various sizes with standard aspect ratios. · Added ability to use the current LDView aspect ratio in the POV-Ray camera info command. · Added ability to control the default directory where snapshots and part lists get saved. Choices are in the model directory, the most recently used directory for the given file type, or a specified directory. · Added support for Black_Edge color definition. Add a color to your ldconfig.ldr with Black_Edge as its color name (case doesn't matter), and LDView will use the given color for its black edge lines (assuming that "Process ldconfig.ldr is checked in the general prefs.) · Added icons from toolbar to corresponding menu items when running in Windows Vista. Updates: · Decreased the amount of time needed to make certain preference changes (for example, toggling edge lines). · Greatly improved the output quality of "Transparent background" snapshots when antialiased lines are enabled. · Changed snapshot rendering in Windows to do software rendering directly to an in-memory bitmap when the Pixel Buffer OpenGL extension is unavailable or disabled. Previously, it rendered into the window, which caused a window to appear for command line snapshot renders. · Changed the default setting for conditional lines from off to on. Note that since edge lines default to off, this won't be seen until the first time edge lines are enabled. · Changed the default setting for seams to on. · Rotated 8464.mpd sample model 180 degrees so that it faces forward in the default viewing angle. · Updated the toolbar to have smaller buttons in Windows XP and Windows Vista. · Changed "Always black" edges to be truly black, instead of whatever color was assigned to color code 0. · Updated "Always black" edges to use gray when used on dark colors, isntead of black. Bug Fixes: · Fixed Windows version so that switching to full screen doesn't trigger a full model reload. · Fixed handling of shift key when moving via the keyboard in fly-through mode. · Fixed check boxes in group box titles in preferences to only show underlines under mnemonic characters when appropriate when running with themes enabled. · Fixed bug where mouse control got messed up badly if you used to switch to another program while dragging with the mouse in LDView. · Don't show model load failure error message if the user cancels the model load. · Fixed bug that sometimes caused a vertical line to appear on the left edge of large snapshots. · Fixed handling of transparent and invisible LDLite color codes. · Fixed Errors & Warnings Dialog on Windows verison to show the proper error and warning counts when the dialog isn't shown automatically. · Fixed lock up when "Show View Info" was selected in Windows while themodel was spinning. · Diable Open Model toolbar button during load. Using it would result in a crash. · Fixed bug where hitting escape during load didn't work in Windows Vista (and maybe other versions of Windows also). · Fixed bug where changing to a new LDraw directory would still give you a message that the LDraw directory could not be found. · Fixed primitive substitution to work with primitives in the Unofficial/p directory. · Fixed primitive substitution for 3-8ndis primitive. · Fixed fly-through speed to be dependent of FPS, so that having a super high FPS doesn't produce super fast fly-through. · Fixed primitive substitution to work better with curve smoothing with cone, sphere, and torus primitives. · Fixed problem with condtional lines showing up when they weren't supposed to when their control points went outside of the view frustum.

LDView Related Software