MECABRICKS Tutorial

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Recently I've posted a number of things I created on / using mecabricks. I thought it might be nice to share how to do that yourself, so here's everything you need to know to get started using mecabricks (and then some)... It's a practical guide, illustrated by building a little model. (You can spoil the result and look at it here, or just wait and see what takes form.)

Firstly, what is mecabricks? It's a free site on which people can view and create three dimensional virtual (digital) lego models. It stands out compared to other CAD software that lets you do this because it doesn't require you to install any software (it's strictly an online service) and because of the library / community that results from that. People aren't creating their models at home on their own computers and then looking for places to share them (and scattering them all over the internet, like IG, flickr, imgur or even livejournal, say...), that's all built in. They've provided an absolutely staggering range of pieces to work with and have a significant part of the official lego catalogue (here's the HP section) covered in their database, and then there are a wealth of MOCs (my own creations) on top of that. Have you ever wondered what a set looks like from the other side? You can see that here. For example, all of the official advertising for the 76386 Hogwarts: Polyjuice Potions Mistake only shows the set from one side. On mecabricks, you can rotate it at will and see it from any angle, including (with judicious zooming) from within the model. (It will look better if you click the gear icon at the top of the picture and select "BOUNDARIES" and "LOGO ON STUDS".) Or maybe you're looking for ideas for builds of your own; there are plenty of them here.

The journey starts at the mecabricks.com homepage, where you'll bet greeted by something like this:




If you've used CAD programmes in the past and are feeling confident, here are the basics in a nutshell:



tags: functions, tldr

And here are all the gory details...


Yes it's long. Don't worry, you've got this.

Topics covered:
1) Finding the right piece (also, search for the "finding pieces" tag to slides on this page to find related content)
2) Moving parts around on your screen (moving parts)
3) Changing colours (colours)
4) Saving your work (saving)
5) Some ease of use / comfort / convenience features (comfort)
6) Adding more pieces, moving them around your model
7) Rotating pieces (rotating)
8) Additional features (including searching, duplicating, grouping, visibility, screencap, grid size, changing the angles, transform, move)
9) Troubleshooting (troubleshooting, changing the point of view, view, selecting individual pieces in a group, huge workspace, hiding)


Not everything fits neatly into one category, or it doesn't make sense to present all the details at once, and some things don't make for good topics by themselves. I've put together a list of tags for the slides that will help you find the information you might be looking for. In addition to those listed above, there's also:
functions - what it says on the tin: how to use the actions built in to the programme (some of these include deleting, redo, selecting, snapping, undo, view)
information - information your screen provides if you know where to look, and what it means for your model
navigating - how to get around on the page and where to look for things
tips - why you might want to do something one way instead of another; some things that might not be obvious at first glance.
tldr - the short versions



1) Finding the right piece:



tags: finding pieces, information, saving




tags: finding pieces, navigating




tags: finding pieces, information, navigating




tags: finding pieces, information, tips, troubleshooting



2) Moving parts around on your screen:



tags: functions, information, moving parts, saving, transform




tags: functions, moving parts, selecting, tips




tags: functions, information, moving parts, pivot point, selecting, tips, transform



3) Changing colours:



tags: colours, information, navigating, selecting




tags: colours, information, selecting, tips, transform, visibility



4) Saving your work / returning to a saved project at a later point:



tags: saving, information, tips




tags: saving



5) Some ease of use / comfort / convenience features:



tags: comfort, moving parts, tips, troubleshooting




tags: comfort, navigating, tips




tags: comfort, navigating, tips



6) Adding more pieces, moving them around your model:



tags: information, navigating, saving




tags: functions, information, moving parts




tags: functions, information, moving parts, navigating, pivot point




tags: functions, moving parts, navigating




tags: functions, information, moving parts, navigating




tags: functions, moving parts, tips, troubleshooting




tags: information, moving parts




tags: information, moving parts, tips




tags: moving parts




tags: finding pieces, tips




tags: finding pieces, tips

www.bricklink.com




tags: finding pieces, tips

www.brickset.com




tags: colours, finding pieces, navigating



7) Rotating pieces:



tags: moving parts, rotating




tags: functions, moving parts, navigating, rotating, undo




tags: functions, moving parts, navigating, redo, rotating, undo




tags: moving parts




tags: moving parts



8) Additional features:

Searching



tags: finding pieces, information, navigating, searching, tips, troubleshooting


Duplicating



tags: duplicating, functions, navigating, tips




tags: duplicating, functions, moving parts, tips




tags: moving parts


Grouping



tags: grouping, navigating, selecting, tips




tags: colours, grouping, moving parts, navigating, selecting, tips




tags: colours, comfort, grouping, moving parts, searching, selecting, tips


Visibility



tags: comfort, navigation, visibility


Screencap



tags: functions, screencap


Grid size



tags: functions, moving parts, navigating, tips, troubleshooting


Changing the angles of pieces



tags: functions, move, moving parts, navigating, tips, transform, troubleshooting




tags: functions, move, moving parts, navigating, tips, transform, troubleshooting



9) Troubleshooting:

Changing the POV



tags: functions, moving parts, navigating, troubleshooting, view, visibility


Selecting individual pieces in a group



tags: grouping, moving parts, navigating, saving, selecting, troubleshooting, view, visibility


Huge workspace?



tags: moving parts, troubleshooting, undo, visibility




tags: colours, hiding, moving parts, navigating, troubleshooting, visibility




tags: deleting, functions, hiding, moving parts, navigating, snapping, troubleshooting, visibility




tags: functions, hiding, navigating, visibility


Everything looks wonky?



tags: functions, navigating, visibility


And to wrap things up, an overview of the keyboard shortcuts:



tags: functions, shortcuts, tldr