F.A.Qs
What software do you use to create your computer generated LEGO® images ?
- POV-Ray v3.7
- L3P
- Our own custom software built with Visual Studio .NET 2008
Do you sell the mosaics or the plans to them ?
Not at present, but this may be something we offer in the future. If we do only mosaics based on public domain images will be available for purchase – any based on what are probably copyrighted images will not be available for sale.
Where can I find out more about L3P and POV-Ray
The home page for L3P is at www.hassings.dk/l3/l3p.html, and POV-Ray is at www.povray.org. More information on the LDR file format (which describes pieces making up a Lego set) can be found at www.ldraw.org.
How long do the animations take to create ?
All the images on the site are generated using L3P for creating the POV-Ray scene file and POV-Ray itself for rendering the images. From the original LDR model file our software automatically generates new LDR files showing each stage of the construction (usually adding one piece at a time).
For animations which feature pieces ‘flying’ into position additional LDR files are generated for each of the required frames, typically 9 ‘fly in’ frames for each piece – so 10 frames per pieces.
So, if a set has 500 pieces and the animation is to show them flying into position then we need 500 x 10 frames (500 pieces, with 10 frames per piece) – thats 5000 frames – or 5000 individual POV-Ray renderings. This takes a while – much depends on the model (transparent pieces significantly increase render times).
A typical render time, per frame, might be 3 minutes, so 3 minutes x 5000 frames = 15000 minutes = 250 hours. i.e just over 10 days !
This is why we don’t publish new animations every day !
This is also why don’t create to many ‘fly in pieces’ type animations (such as the Forumula One Ferarri Lego Set) due to the large number additional frames required compared with simply adding one piece per frame (for example the Rebel Blockade Runner Lego Set).
We actually have our own, mini render farm, with multiple machines which means we can get the creation times down to a more reasonable level.