LEGO® Digital Designer 1.4 User Manual

 

Build 1.4.1908

 

The readme file contains system requirements and the latest information. You should check it if you have any problems.

Contents

Mouse Controls

The table below lists the mouse controls.


  • Left mouse button - Pick up and move a brick if you're not holding one. If you are holding one, attempt to place it.
  • Right mouse button - Rotate the held or selected brick (you can use the left/right keys for this if you have a one button mouse).

Model Selection/Start New Model

When you first start LEGO Digital Designer, or choose to Restart at any time, you'll see the model selection screen.
The Model Selection screen allows you to start a new model, load an existing model, or organise your models into folders.

 Start A New Model

 Start A New Model -  Click the star to start a new model.  You'll be presented with an empty workspace and will need to select a brick palette before you can start.

 

 Models - Each model you have available on your computer is represented by an appropriate picture.  To load a model, simply click the left mouse button on it's picture.

Open Folder

 Folders - You can create folders to store your models in.  Click the little star button at the top of the Folders window to create a new folder.  Folders can be opened by clicking the left mouse button on them, and you can start a new model in any folder you want by clicking on the folder and then clicking on the Start A New Model button in the right hand window.

You can delete folders or models by clicking the right mouse button on them, or holding Ctrl and clicking the left mouse button on them, and choosing the Delete option from the menu that appears.  You cannot delete the HOME directory and cannot delete a folder whilst there are still models in it.

Brick Palettes

When you start a new model in LEGO Digital Designer you'll need to select the brick palettes/sets you want to build with.
A  Brick Set Tray is available to allow you to add and remove the brick sets you want to work with. The tray is divided into two sections, Available Assortment and Active.

Available Assortment -  This shows the brick sets available to you. Clicking on a brick set in this window will add the picture of the set to the Active window and will add the bricks from the set into the Brick Tray for you to build with.

Active - This shows the sets you are currently building with. The numbers on each picture show the number of copies of each set you're using. Clicking on a set in the Active window will remove the set from the window and will remove all the bricks the set contains from your brick tray.  When you load a model, the active brick sets automatically change to match the sets that were used to built it.

Please Note - When you remove an Active set some of the bricks it contains might have been used in the current model. If this is the case, LEGO Digital Designer will try to replace these bricks with bricks you still have available (from the other Active sets). If a good alternative isn't found LEGO Digital Designer has to leave a hole in the model! If you don't like how your model looks after you've removed a set, just press Undo.
Starter Sets - Some sets in LEGO Digital Designer are intended not to be used together, these are called Starter Sets.  If a Starter Set is selected from the Available Assortment window all other starter sets will disappear.  If you decide you don't want to build with the Starter Set you've selected simply click on it in the Active Sets window to put it back, and select a different set from the Available Assortment window.  

Custom Sets - If you don't have all the right sets on your machine when you're trying to load a model a Custom set will be generated which contains just the bricks used to build the model.  You can try to convert the model into a number of real sets by following the steps below.
Converting a Model - You can try to change the sets your model is built with by adding new sets to the Active window (by clicking on them in the Available Assortment window).  And then clicking the sets you want to remove in the Active window.  The model may be changed to represent the bricks which are available in the new sets.  Remember to use Undo if you're not happy with the results, and try a different combination of sets.

Brick Tray

When you've selected a few brick sets, the bricks contained in those sets will be added to the Brick Tray.
The Brick Tray shows you the bricks you have available to build with, separated into categories.

 

 Category Window - This sits at the top of the brick tray and shows you all the categories of bricks you have available to build with. Clicking on a picture will show the bricks which belong to this category in the Brick Window.

 

 Brick Window - This is where you pick up the bricks you want to build with. The numbers on the bricks show you how many bricks you have of each type, and if you select a brick you'll see these numbers go down. If you get to zero, you won't be able to use any more bricks of that type. Click on a brick to pick it up, move it into the building area, and click again to put it down. If you decide you don't want to use the brick you've just selected, drop it back into the Brick Tray by clicking on the brick window a second time.
As you build, the writing at the top of the Brick Tray shows a count of the number of bricks you've used.

 

 Colour Window - If you click on a colour at the bottom of the Brick Tray you can get to see all the bricks available in this colour. Click any brick in the Category Window to go back to sorting the bricks by category.

 

 Viewing Brick Set Info -  You can see which Brick Sets you are using, add and delete sets by clicking this button at the top of the Brick Tray.

The Toolbar

The Toolbar is on the left hand side of the screen. It contains tools to position and edit the bricks in your model. Some icons conceal multiple tools: click the arrow to the right to reveal the other tools available.

 

 Automatic LEGO Connections (L key) - When this mode is active, LEGO Digital Designer will try and find a suitable place to stick bricks. After you've placed them, use the PgUp/PgDn buttons to move them up and down.  When the mode is inactive, you can position the bricks yourself. They won't stick to other bricks.

 

 Select and move (M key) - Click on a brick to pick it up, move it to where you want to place it and click to put it down. You can use the cursor keys to rotate the brick too.

 

 Multi select (M key) - Click on multiple bricks to select them, then drag to begin moving them. Position the selection where you want it, and click to put it down. Click on the background to deselect all bricks.

 

 Super select (M key) - Click on a part of the model to select all the connected bricks. Click repeatedly to select bricks above, below, to the left or to the right. Click the background to deselect all bricks.

 

 Same Colour select (M key) - Click on a brick to select all the bricks in the model with the same colour.

 

 Same Design select (M key) - Click on a brick to select all the bricks in the model with the same design.

 

 Same Colour and Design select (M key) - Click on a brick to select all the bricks in the model with the same colour and design.

 

 Clone (D key) - Click a single brick or selection of bricks to create a copy.

 

 Paint (G key) - Paint a brick by selecting a colour then clicking with this tool.

 

 Colour Picker (G key) - Select a colour by clicking on a brick.

 

 Delete (E key) - Delete bricks by clicking them. You can also delete bricks with the delete key, or by dropping them back onto the brick tray.

 

 Hinge (H key) - Use this tool to click a brick that is already connected. The left and right keys will allow you to rotate the brick around the connection point.

The Viewpoint Control

The Viewpoint Control is in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. It controls your view of the model.

 

 The arrow buttons rotate the viewpoint about the target.

The central button resets the viewpoint back to the starting state.

The + and - buttons zoom in and out on the target.

The target button allows you to set where the viewpoint is centred. Click a brick to focus on it.

You can also use the keypad buttons on your keyboard. Keys 8, 6, 4, 2, +, - 0 and 5. These will only work if you have NumLock set to on.


By holding down the Alt key you can move the camera around using the mouse.  Hold down Alt and the left mouse button and move the mouse to rotate the camera about the target, hold down the middle mouse button to pan the camera and hold down the right mouse button to zoom.  If you have a mouse with a wheel this can also be rolled to zoom in and out from the model.


 The Function Bar

The Function Bar is at the bottom of the screen. It contains options for controlling LEGO Digital Designer and your model.

 

 Restart (N key) - Clear your model, then either open a model from your saved documents folder or choose a new brick set and start again.

 

 Save (S key) - Save a model to your saved documents folder.

 

  Undo (building only) (Z or Escape key) - Abort the current action if you are holding a brick. Otherwise, undo the last action performed.

 

 Redo (building only) (Y key) - Redo the last undo action you performed.

 

 Deconstruct (building instructions and screenshots only) (U key) - This button shows you an animated deconstruction of your model.

 

 Snapshot (building instructions and screenshots only) (K key) - This button saves a snapshot to your saved pictures folder. It will have the same name as your model.

 

 Print Brick List / Print Screen Shot (P key) - In building mode this button prints a list of the bricks that were used to build your model. In building instructions and screenshots the button prints a screenshot of your model. The printout will go to your default printer. You can configure the default printer using the Windows control panel or Apple Mac System Preferences.

Go To The Online Gallery (O key). Check out and download the latest LDD models from LEGO.com.

Send your model to LEGO (I key) - Send your model to LEGO.com and buy the bricks you need to build it, or just add it to the online gallery for others to see.

 

 Build Instruction Toolbar (building instructions and screenshots only) (F2 key) - Click on this button to toggle the building instruction toolbar on and off (described below).

 

 What's This Tool (F1 key) - Click on this button then on another button to get pop up information on how to use that button.

The Navigation Bar

The Navigation Bar is at the bottom right of the screen. It contains buttons for switching between Building and Building Instructions and Screenshots and for exiting LEGO Digital Designer.

  Building Instructions and Screenshots (building only) (T key) - Switch to building instructions and screenshots to look at your model from all angles and to step through the building stages.
  Building (building instructions and screenshots only) (T key) - This button exits back to the build area.
  Quit (Q key) - Exit LEGO Digital Designer.

The Building Instruction Window

The Building Instruction Window may be toggled on and off in building instructions and screenshots by clicking the Building Instruction button on the function bar.  It contains buttons for stepping through the construction of your model and shows the bricks to add at each stage.

You can save or print any building instruction step by pressing the Snapshot or Print Screen Shot buttons on the function bar.

  First Building Instruction Step (Home key) - Go back to the first step in the building instructions.
  Step Back (Page Up key) - Go back one step in the building instructions.
  Play / Pause (Enter key) - Press this button to play through the building instructions from the current step. Press the button again to pause.
  Forward (Page Down key) - Go forward one step in the building instructions.
  Last Building Instruction Step (End key) - Go forward to the last step in the building instructions.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The table below lists the keyboard shortcuts.

 Selected brick:

  • Left/Right/Up/Down Rotate selected brick. If the hinge tool is active, rotate the brick around the hinge connection. Otherwise, rotate the brick in the world.
  • Delete Delete the selected bricks.
  • PgUp/PgDn Move the placed brick up and down.

 Undo:

  • Escape Abort the current action.
  • Z Undo the last action.
  • Y Redo the last action.

 Viewpoint control:

  • +/-/ Zoom in and out.
  • 4/6 Rotate the view left and right.
  • 2/8 Rotate the view up and down.
  • 0 or 5 Reset the viewpoint.
  • Space Switch on the targeting tool to centre the view on an object.

 Tools:

  • M Cycle between the brick movement tools.
  • D Clone tool.
  • G Cycle between the paint tools (paint and colour picker).
  • E Delete tool.
  • H Hinge tool.
  • L Toggle automatic LEGO connections on or off.
  • F11 Toggles the display of the brick sets tray.
  • F12 Toggles the display of the brick tray.

 Functions:

  • N Restart.
  • S Save.
  • P Print brick list (building) / screen shot (building instructions and screenshots).
  • O Go to the online gallery at LEGO.com
  • I Send models to LEGO.com.
  • F1 Help.
  • U Deconstruct (building instructions and screenshots only).
  • K Save screenshot (building instructions and screenshots only).
  • F2 Toggle building instruction window (building instructions and screenshots).

 Building Instructions (building instructions and screenshots only):

  • Home First building instruction step.
  • Page Up Step back.
  • Enter Play / Pause.
  • Page Down Step forward.
  • End Last building instruction step.

 Navigation:

  • T Toggle building/building instructions and screenshots.
  • Q or F4 Exit LDD.

Configuration File Settings

The configuration settings may be changed using the preferences options accessed from a drop down menu when LEGO Digital Designer is running.  On windows this can be found by right clicking on the LEGO Digital Designer tab on the Windows taskbar (usually at the bottom of the screen).  On the Mac this can be found on the menu bar at the top of the screen.

 Display Settings:

  • Resolution Controls the size of the window when LEGO Digital Designer is running in windowed mode.  If you wish to change the resolution LEGO Digital Designer runs in for full screen mode, you will need to edit the LEGO.conf file (see below).

 LEGO Models Folders:

  • Documents Folder The name of the folder where your creations will be saved. This folder is "My Documents/LEGO Creations/Models" on Windows and "Documents/LEGO Creations/Models" on the Mac by default.
  • Pictures Folder The name of the folder where your screenshots will be saved.  This folder is "My Documents/LEGO Creations/Pictures" by default.

 Web Settings:

  • Online Set this to Off to disable update checking, uploading and gallery access. Leave this set to On to access all the features of LEGO Digital Designer. Once this has been changed LEGO Digital Designer must be reset for the change to by applied.

Screenshot Settings:

  • Screenshot Format Screenshots generated by LEGO Digital Designer may be saved in a choice of formats.  The options are jpeg, png, transparent png, tga and windows bitmap.  Transparent png allows you to superimpose your models onto different backdrops using a suitable image editing package.

Pop Up Help Settings:

  • Display Pop Up Help Set this to Off to prevent LEGO Digital Designer showing any help dialogs while you build. 

Reconstruct Animation Settings:

  • Animate During Loading Set this to Off to prevent LEGO Digital Designer showing the reconstruction animation when you load a model. 

Starter Sets:

  • Use Starter Sets Set this to Off to enable LEGO Digital Designer to allow you to build with more than one starter set at a time.

Building Instruction Settings:

  • Bricks per Step Sets the number of bricks to add to the model for each step of the building instructions (1 - 10).
  • Playback Speed Sets the speed at which the steps in the building instructions will be played back (1 = slow, 10 = fast).
  • Build Up From Base Set this to On to place bricks in height order from the base of the model upwards, or Off to place bricks in the order in which they were added to the model. This is a per model setting, you must switch it on every time you load or start a model.
  • Save Cameras With this set to On you can move the camera to best present your model for each step of the building instruction playback and these positions will be recorded when you next step through, and will be saved out with your model. This is a per model setting, you must switch it on every time you load or start a model.

Language:

  • English Show all text in English.  Once this has been set LEGO Digital Designer must be reset for the change to by applied.
  • German Show all text in German.  Once this has been set LEGO Digital Designer must be reset for the change to by applied.

 


Settings are stored in the file lego.conf, in the installation directory. By default on Microsoft Windows, this is C:/Program Files/LEGO Software/LEGO Digital Designer. By default on the Mac, this is /Applications/LEGO Digital Designer.app/Contents/Resources Advanced users may choose to edit this file directly (within the file 1=on, 0=off)