LDVIEW HELP

 Contents


 Introduction
Please note: this help file documents the Windows version of LDView, with a few notes about the Linux/QT version. For the most part, the Linux/QT version has the same functionality as the Windows version, and looks and acts the same. However, certain features (such as full screen support) are missing from the Linux/QT version. If you are using that version, please don't expect 100% of the features documented here to be present (although a very high percentage are present). Anywhere this document refers to the Linux/QT version, it is referring to the version made using the QT user interface library. The QT-based version of LDView is currently only available in binary form as a Linux binary. This version should work fine if compiled in other Unix-like operating systems, though.

LDView displays LDraw models, and consequently requires that LDraw be installed. LDraw can be downloaded from ldraw.org, along with the up-to-date parts library. If you install LDraw in any directory other than C:\LDRAW (/mnt/c/ldraw in the Linux/QT version), and don't already have an LDRAWDIR environment variable, you will be prompted the first time LDView loads to select the directory in which LDraw is installed. Until you select the LDraw directory, you will be unable to load a model.

When you run LDView, it will open its main window and immediately present you with an open panel (assuming you didn't specify a file as part of the launch process). Select the LDraw .ldr, .dat, or .mpd file you want to view. It will then display the file in the window. Note that you can resize this window. Also note that if you open a large model, it could take a substantial amount of time to load. During this time, the status bar will indicate the progress of the load. Hitting Escape, or choosing Cancel Load from the File menu will cancel the load.


 Mouse and Keyboard Control
LDView has two different modes of user interaction: Examine Mode and Fly-through Mode. By default LDView is in Examine Mode. You can switch modes by selecting the mode you want from the View Menu.

Examine Mode
Click the left mouse button and drag around to rotate the model. If you let go of the button while the mouse is in motion, the model will continue to rotate on its own.

If you hold down the control key while dragging with the left mouse button down, you will pan the model instead of rotating it. The model will be pulled in the direction you move the mouse. If you accidentally lose the model completely, and can't find it, you can use the Reset View option on the View menu to reset the view.

Click the right mouse button and move it up or down to zoom in or out. The speed at which it zooms in or out is based on how far you move the mouse from where you initially clicked. If you have a mouse with a scroll-wheel, you can also use the scroll-wheel to zoom in and out.

If you hold down the control key while zooming (either with the right mouse button or the scroll wheel), you will adjust the cutaway mode instead of zooming in the camera. Cutaway mode cuts away everything on the model that is closer than a certain distance. This distance is defined by a clipping plane. This allows you to look inside models without having to resort to wireframe mode. Zooming in with the control key pressed moves the clipping plane away from the camera, causing more and more of the model to be cut away. Zooming out moves the clipping plane toward the camera, causing less and less to be cut away. Please note that you will likely have to zoom in a ways before the clipping plane reaches the model, so there will probably be no imediate result. If you want, you can have LDView draw the cutaway portion of the model in wireframe, using the Wireframe cutaway option. Note that this will slow things down considerably, since the entire model has to be rendered twice.


Fly-through Mode
Click the left mouse button and move it around to turn the camera left, right, up, and down. The further you move the mouse from the point you clicked, the faster the camera will turn.

The camera can be moved using the keyboard. At any time, you can hold down shift to double the speed at which you move. The movement keys are as follows:

Movement Direction   Key
Forward: W
Backward: S
Left: A
Right: D
Up: R
Down: F                                                                        
 
In addition to the above movement keys, the following keys effect the camera rotation:
 
Rotation   Key
Rotate Clockwise: E
Rotate Counter-Clockwise: Q


 Menus
The shortcut key for each menu item is given in parentheses. Note that these keys will continue to function even while in fullscreen mode where there is no visible menu.

File Menu
Open (Ctrl+O): Open a new model file.
Reload (F5): Reload the current model file. (Use this if you are viewing a model you are in the process of making changes to in some other program, but don't want to use the polling feature below.)
Polling: Submenu containing polling options which allow you to have the model automatically reload when its file changes.
Disabled: Disable the polling feature completely. You can still used the Reload option to reload the current model.
Prompt: Enables polling. When a change is detected, a panel is displayed asking you if you want to reload the model file. This option only polls for changes when LDView is the foreground application. The panel will thus normally be presented to you when you switch to the running LDView application after making changes to your model in some other application.
Auto-update
when active:
Enables polling. When a change is detected, the current model file is reloaded automatically. This option only polls for changes when LDView is the foreground application. The model will thus normally be automatically reloaded when you switch to the running LDView application after making changes to your model in some other application.
Auto-update
immediately:
Enables polling. When a change is detected, the current model file is reloaded automatically. This option polls for changes whether or not LDView is the foreground application. The model will thus be automatically reloaded immediately after you save changes to your model in some other application. Note that with large models, this reload can have a significant impact on your computer's CPU availability.
Save Snapshot (Ctrl+S): Save a PNG or BMP snapshot of the current model with the current view.
LDraw Dir: Allows you to specify a new location for the LDraw directory. This shouldn't normally be needed, since LDView detects if the LDraw directory is deleted or moved and automatically prompts you to tell it the new location. However, if for some reason you want to manually change where LDView finds the LDraw directory, you can use this menu item.
Cancel Load (Esc): During a load, you can select this menu item to cancel the load. It is likely that you will generally just use the keyboard accelerator, though, and hit the Escape key.
Page Setup: Setup the page for printing. This shows the standard Windows Page Setup Dialog with the addition of a check box which allows you to choose whether or not the background color should be printed (it isn't by default).
Print (Ctrl+P): Print the current model with the current view.
<Recent Files>: Shows the filenames of the 10 most recently loaded files. Select any one to load that file.
Exit (Ctrl+Q): Exit LDView.

Edit Menu
Preferences (Ctrl+Shift+P): Display the Preferences panel.

View Menu
Switch to Fullscreen (Ctrl+Enter): Switches to the currently selected fullscreen video mode. If you are already in fullscreen mode, Ctrl+Enter switches back to windowed mode.
Reset View (Ctrl+R): Resets the model to the view that is shown immediately after the initial load.
Errors (Ctrl+Shift+E): Displays the Error Window.
Status Bar (Ctrl+Shift+S): Toggles the permanent display of the status bar on and off. Note that the status bar will always display when there is load progress to be indicated. Also, except while displaying load progress, it is never visible in full-screen mode.
Always on Top: Toggles Always on Top mode. When this is enabled, the LDView window is kept above all other windows (with the exception of some other topmost windows). When it is disabled (the default), LDView acts just like a normal Windows program.
Examine Mode (Ctrl+Shift+X): Puts LDView in Examine Mode. In examine mode, clicking and dragging the left mouse button spins the model that is loaded. This is the default mode.
Fly-through Mode (Ctrl+Shift+F): Puts LDView in Fly-through Mode. In fly-through mode, clicking and dragging the left mouse button rotates the camera, and you can use the W, A, S, D, Q, E, R, and F keys to move the camera.
XX-Bit Modes: Submenu containing all of the available fullscreen video modes with a bit-depth of XX (where XX will usually be 15, 16, 24, or 32). There is a separate submenu for each bit-depth of 15 or greater bits supported by your video card. There will be a dot beside the bit-depth menu which contains the currently selected fullscreen video mode. In that submenu, there will be a dot next to the currently selected video mode.

Help Menu
OpenGL Driver Info: This shows a panel containing information about your OpenGL driver. I may request this information from you if you are experiencing problems. The text in the box can be selected, and then copied to the clipboard by hitting Ctrl+C.
Contents (F1): Displays this file in your web browser. (Only works in Windowed mode; hitting F1 from Fullscreen mode will not have any effect.)
About LDView: Displays the About box, which contains version and copyright information about LDView.

 Fullscreen Mode
You can switch to fullscreen mode via the View menu. To do so, select a color depth and resolution combination, and then select the View->Switch to Fullscreen menu option, or hit Ctrl+Enter. To exit full screen mode, either hit Ctrl+Enter again or hit Escape. Note that this feature does not work properly on all video cards. If it doesn't work on your video card, you should get an error panel after the screen resolution is changed. After you dismiss the error panel, it should automatically switch back to windowed mode. While in fullscreen mode you can spin the model around with the mouse, and zoom in and out the same way you did in windowed mode.

As long as your video card supports 2D Windows functionality while in fullscreen mode, the Open Panel and Preferences panel can be accessed from fullscreen mode via their keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+O for Open File; Ctrl+Shift+P for Preferences). If you are unsure, try Ctrl+O first, and if you don't see an Open Panel, hit escape to dismiss the Open Panel that you can't see. F5 for reload also works--whether or not your video card supports 2D Windows funtionality from fullscreen mode--but unless you are displaying a file that someone else on your network is modifying, it's not likely to be very useful.


 Error Window
The error window displays errors and warnings that were encountered while loading an LDraw model.

On the left-hand side is a tree view which displays all of the errors. By default, there is one collapsed entry per error, with a brief description of the error. Clicking on the plus sign to the left of the error shows you more information about that error. The first piece of information is the file that contained the error. If you double-click on this, it will open the file using Notepad. Following that are the line # that contained the error, and the line of text itself. Neither of these has any actions associated with it. Certain errors may contain further information as well.

On the right-hand side of the window are a set of check boxes that determine what types of errors should be shown. By default, all types of errors are shown. You can disable any errors you don't care about. Following are the error types:

Parse Error
A line in the model file was invalid.

File Not Found
The model referenced another model which could not be found in any of the standard search locations (the current directory, or the LDraw model, parts, or p directories).

Color Error
The model contains a color specification which LDView was unable to recognize. When this error occurs, LDView uses an orange color instead.

Part Determinant
The model contains a part which has been distorted in some way. While parts are rotated and moved around to make up a model, they should seldom if ever be stretched or skewed. This isn't technically an error, but usually indicates that the model has a problem.

Concave Quad
The model contains a concave quadrilateral. Concave means that one of the four points is inside the triangle formed by the other three points. This also isn't technically an error, but is considered bad form, and may produce incorrect results on other LDraw-compatible renderering programs.

Concave Quad Split
The model contains a concave quadrilateral that could not be successfully split into two triangles. It may not be possible to generate this error.

Co-linear Points
The model contains a quad or a triangle that has three or four co-linear points. When this is detected in a quad, the quad is turned into a triangle (or a line if all four points are co-linear). When it is detected in a triangle (all three points are co-linear), the triangle is turned into a line.

OpenGL Error
There was an OpenGL error during the compilation of the model.

If Show errors after loading is checked in the preferences dialog, the error window will automatically be displayed when a model is loaded that contains errors that are set to be shown. It will not be shown if the only errors in the model have been unchecked in the error window, the model contains no errors, or the error window isn't set to show automatically.


 Preferences
Here is a brief description of the items in the Preferences panel (accessed through the Edit->Preferences menu item).

General Tab

Reset:
This resets all the General preferences to their default values.

Full-scene Antialiasing Box
Antialiasing (Default: Off):
Enables/Disables Full-Scene Antialiasing (FSAA) support (if supported by the hardware).

2x (Default?: No):
This option is only available if full-scene antialiasing is enabled. Selecting this sets the FSAA mode to two times antialiasing (if supported by the hardware).

2x Enhanced (Default?: No):
This option is only available if full-scene antialiasing is enabled. Selecting this sets the FSAA mode to two times antialiasing with an enhanced filter (if supported by the hardware). An example of such an advanced filter is the Quincunx antialiasing introduced with the nVIDIA® GeForce3™ chip.

4x (Default?: No):
This option is only available if full-scene antialiasing is enabled. Selecting this sets the FSAA mode to four times antialiasing (if supported by the hardware).

4x Enhanced (Default?: No):
This option is only available if full-scene antialiasing is enabled. Selecting this sets the FSAA mode to four times antialiasing with an enhanced filter (if supported by the hardware). An example of such an advanced filter is the Quincunx (2x) antialiasing introduced with the nVIDIA® GeForce3™ chip.

Misc Box
Antialiased lines (Default: Off):
Enabling this option causes lines to be drawn using antialiasing. This does not effect wireframe mode. Line antialiasing can significantly improve the visual quality of lines, but it can also significantly impact the frame rate. This option may not have an effect if Full-scene Antialiasing is enabled.

Show frame rate (Default: Off):
Enabling this option causes the frame rate to show up in the lower left-hand corner of the window. A number is only displayed while the model is in constant motion. The easiest way to do this is to spin it (see mouse control).

Show errors after loading (Default: On):
Enabling this option causes the Error Window to automatically be displayed after loading a model that contains any errors that have been selected for display in the error window.

Fullscreen refresh override (Default: Off):
When checked, this setting allows you to override the default refresh rate used in fullscreen mode. Enter a number in the field for the desired refresh rate. Please note that if the refresh rate you enter is not supported another refresh rate will be used.

WARNING:
if you enter a value that is too high, and have told Windows that you have a monitor which is capable of higher refresh than what you actually have, you can damage your monitor.

Background color (Default: Black):
This allows you to set the color used to draw the background behind the model.

Default color (Default: Black):
This allows you to set the default color. Normally this is only visible when you load a part directly. Most models don't ever use this color.
Note that edge lines on default-colored objects will be black unless you choose the exact RGB value used by one of the standard LDraw colors. The default custom colors in the color panel correspond to the first 16 standard LDraw colors. Resetting the General preferences also resets these colors.

Geometry Tab

Reset:
This resets all the Geometry preferences to their default values.

Model Box
Seam width (Default: On/0.50):
Enabling this option allows you to set the width of the seams between pieces using the up and down arrows to the right. This setting produces the same effect as the Seam Width option of L3P. The field then displays the current seam width. Use the arrows to set the seam width to a range of numbers between 0.00 and 5.00. Note that setting this to large values can produce extremely odd results.

Wireframe Box
Wireframe (Default: Off):
Enabling this option causes the model to be drawn in wireframe. Note that with many 3D accelerators, this actually runs slower than when drawing as a solid.

Fog (Default: Off):
This option is only enabled if wireframe drawing is enabled. Enabling it causes fog to be used to make it so that the lines that are farther away are drawn more dimly.

Thickness (Default: 0%):
This option is only available if wireframe drawing is enabled. It adjusts the thickness of the lines used to draw the model in wireframe mode.

Edge Lines Box
Edge Lines (Default: Off):
Enabling this option causes the edge lines that outline all the pieces to be drawn.

Conditional lines (Default: Off):
This option is only available if edge lines are enabled. Enabling it causes conditional edge lines to be computed and drawn. Conditional edge lines show up as a silhouette of curved surfaces; they are only drawn when they are visually at the edge of the surface from the current viewing angle.

High quality (Default: On):
This option is only available if edge lines are enabled. Enabling it causes edge lines to be drawn slightly closer to the eye than everything else, resulting in much better looking lines.

Always black (Default: Off):
This option is only available if edge lines are enabled. Enabling it causes all edge lines to be drawn in black. This can be useful to part authors, as it causes the edge lines in the default color (light gray) to be much more visible.

Thickness (Default: 0%):
This option is only available if edge lines are enabled. It adjusts the thickness of the lines used to draw the edges around the pieces.

Effects Tab

Reset:
This resets all the Effects preferences to their default values.

Lighting Box
Lighting (Default: On):
Enabling this option enables lighting. If you disable lighting, it is strongly recommended that you enable edge lines, unless you are in wireframe mode.

High quality (Default: Off):
This option is only available if lighting is enabled. Selecting this enables high quality lighting. The easiest way to see the difference between having this option on and off is with a baseplate. If you angle a baseplate until the specular highlight becomes visible (it gets shiny), and then switch back and forth, you will see that the highlight is located in a specific location when high quality lighting is enabled, and covers the entire surface when it is disabled. Enabling this can significantly decrease performance, especially with large models.

Subdued (Default: Off):
This option is only available if lighting is enabled. Selecting this sets the lighting to a subdued level. Subdued lighting is about halfway in between standard lighting and no lighting at all. This can produce nice results when edge lines are enabled.

Specular highlight (Default: On):
This option is only available if lighting is enabled. Selecting this turns on the specular highlight. This causes the model to appear shiny.

Alternate setup (Default: Off):
This option is only available if lighting is enabled. Selecting this causes LDView to use an alternate lighting setup, which may improve performance on some video cards, but will more likely decrease performance. The alternate setup is used automatically when specular highlight is enabled, whether or not this option is enabled, since specular highlight only works properly with the alternate setup.

Stereo Box
Stereo (Default: Off):
Enabling this option turns on stereo mode. Stereo mode draws two images: a slightly different one for each eye.

Cross-eyed (Default?: No):
This option is only available if stereo is enabled. Selecting this sets the stereo mode to cross-eyed stereo. The two images are drawn side by side, with the image for the right eye on the left and the image for the left eye on the right. By crossing your eyes and then focusing, you can see a stereoscopic image. Many people find it difficult or even impossible to focus with their eyes crossed.

Parallel (Default?: No):
This option is only available if stereo is enabled. Selecting this sets the stereo mode to parallel stereo. The two images are drawn side by side, with the image for the right eye on the right and the image for the left eye on the left. By looking in the distance and then focusing, you can see a stereoscopic image. This will only work if the distance between the two images is no greater than the distance between your eyes, so the window will need to be kept fairly narrow. Many people find it difficult or even impossible to look at an image in this way and then focus.

Amt (Default: 50%):
This option is only available if stereo is enabled. The slider controls the stereo spacing. A small value will result in a very subtle stereoscopic effect, as if you were looking at a very large object from a very long distance. (The minimum value results in no stereoscopic effect at all.) A large value will result in a pronounced stereoscopic effect, as if you were looking at a small object from a very short distance.

Wireframe Cutaway Box
Wireframe cutaway (Default: Off):
Enabling this option causes the cutaway portion of the model to be drawn in wireframe. Hold down the Control key and click and drag up with the right mouse button to increase the amount of the model that is cut away. Control right drag down to decrease the cutaway amount.

Color (Default?: No):
This option is only available if wireframe cutaway is enabled. Selecting it causes the wireframe cutaway to be drawn in color.

Monochrome (Default?: No):
This option is only available if wireframe cutaway is enabled. Selecting it causes the wireframe cutaway to be drawn in monochrome. This isn't available on all graphics cards.

Opacity (Default: 100%):
This option is only available if wireframe cutaway is enabled. The slider controls the opacity of the wireframe cutaway. When Color is selected as the type of wireframe cutaway to draw this may be fixed at 100% on some graphics cards. Also, when color is selected and sort is not selected in the transparency box, transparent pieces will ignore the opacity setting and be drawn with the standard opacity for transparent pieces.

Thickness (Default: 0%):
This option is only available if wireframe cutaway is enabled. The slider controls the thickness of the lines in the wireframe cutaway.

Transparency Box
Sort transparent polygons (Default: On):
Enabling this option causes transparent shapes to be drawn in back-to-front order in order to produce a correct result. If they aren't sorted, distant transparent shapes can end up being drawn as if they were in front of less distant transparent shapes. Unfortunately, this can cause a significant slowdown in some models. This option is mutually exclusive with the use stipple pattern option.

Use stipple pattern (Default: Off):
Enabling this option causes transparent shapes to be drawn using a stipple (checkerboard) pattern. This may be significantly faster on some video hardware, but with potentially reduced quality. Using the stipple pattern totally eliminates the errors that may occur where far transparent objects are drawn in front of closer ones. This option is mutually exclusive with the sort transparent polygons option.

Misc Box
Flat shading (Default: Off):
Enabling this option causes flat shading to be used. Note that while flat shading is less complicated to draw, with a modern 3D accelerator this will not likely improve the performance at all. Flat shading will only likely provide a visual difference if you have either high quality lighting or primitive substitution enabled, in which case turning on flat shading can produce odd results. This option is mutually exclusive with the smooth curves option.

Smooth curves (Default: On):
Enabling this option causes curved surfaces to be shaded as curved surfaces instead of as facets. Since this relies on information in the LDraw model file that was originally designed for a different purpose, not all curved surfaces will be effected. This option is mutually exclusive with the flat shading option.

Primitives Tab

Reset:
This resets all the Primitives preferences to their default values.

Primitive Substitution Box
Primitive substitution (Default: On):
Enabling this option causes LDView to use its own optimized version of many of the primitives (such as cylinders, cones, etc). As well as providing enhanced performance, this also provides improved visual quality, since smooth shaded primitives are generated where appropriate.

Texture studs (Default: On):
This option is only available if primitive substitution is enabled. Enabling it causes a LEGO® logo to be textured onto all the standard studs.

Nearest filtering (Default?: No):
This option is only available if primitive substitution and texture studs are both enabled. Selecting it causes nearest texel texture filtering to be used. This is the lowest quality texture filtering.

Bilinear filtering (Default?: No):
This option is only available if primitive substitution and texture studs are both enabled. Selecting it causes bilinear texture filtering to be used. This is the middle quality texture filtering.

Trilinear filtering (Default?: Yes):
This option is only available if primitive substitution and texture studs are both enabled. Selecting it causes trilinear texture filtering to be used. This is the highest quality texture filtering.

Curve quality (Default: 9%):
This option is only available if primitive substitution is enabled. It adjusts the quality of substituted primitives by changing the number of facets used to draw curved primitives. Changing this from its default value can lead to holes in the model between the substitute primitives and other geometry. Be very careful with this setting. Setting it too high can lead to huge slow-downs. The default setting of 2 (9%) is fine for most models.

Misc Box
Low quality studs (faster) (Default: On):
Enabling this option switches to using the low-resolution stud files instead of the normal-resolution stud files. This can produce significantly faster rendering.

OK/Apply
Changing certain of the options above will require the model to either be reprocessed, or reloaded entirely. If you change any of these options, there will be a pause after you hit OK or Apply while it either reprocesses or reloads the model. During this pause the status bar will display progress. If the status bar is not set to be visible, it will be made visible temporarily.


 Command Line
LDView allows you to do a few things from the command line. LDView must either be in your path, in the current directory, or have its complete path specified on the command line in order to run (just like any other program run from the command line). If you are unfamiliar with running programs from the command line, I would strongly suggest skipping this section.

Specifying a Filename

You can specify a filename on the command line, and LDView will open that file (if it exists) instead of presenting you with the initial Open Panel. You must either specify the complete pathname of the file, including the extension (e.g. .ldr, .dat, .mpd), or be in the directory that contains the file when you run LDView.

Specifying Preferences

All of the options available in the Preferences Panel can be set from the command line, if so desired. These are all preceded with a - in order to indicate that an option is being specified. Command line settings override settings in the Preferences Panel. They may be saved as a persistent preference if you modify them or other preferences via the Preferences Panel. Otherwise, the old values will be used the next time you run the program without specifying a value for those options on the command line. Preferences are set on the command line in the following manner:

	LDView -<setting 1>=<value 1> -<setting 2>=<value 2> ...
For example, to set the default window size to be 640x480, you would do the following:
	LDView -WindowWidth=640 -WindowHeight=480
Below is a list of all the possible settings. Note that while most of these settings correspond directly to the Preferences Panel interface, some may have inverted logic from the panel (as noted). The Type column can be any one of the following:

Integer:   An integer value with a wide range of possibilities. There may be limitations on the range of valid values; if so, they will be listed in parentheses. Using a value outside a listed range will produce undefined results.
Boolean:   An integer value representing either true or false. 1 represents true; 0 represents false. Other values produce undefined results (usually interpreted as true, but not necessarily).
Enumerant:   An integer value with a fixed number of possible values, each of which corresponds to a choice that probably isn't related to the numeric value in any way. If you use a number that isn't one of the options listed, it will produce undefined results.
Color:   An integer value representing a 24-bit RGB color. The bottom 24 bits of the value specify the RGB color desired. The top 8 bits are ignored. It is suggested (but not required) that this be specified as a hexadecimal value by prefixing the number with 0x. So, to have a bright blue color, you would specify 0xFF0000. Note that in hexidecimal format, the order is 0xBBGGRR (2 blue digits, followed by 2 green digits, followed by 2 red digits).
String:   A free-form character string.

Setting Type Description
AllowPrimitiveSubstitution Boolean Equivalent to the Primitives->Primitive substitution check box.
Antialias Enumerant Equivalent to the General->Full-scene Antialiasing box. Selects which FSAA option to request:
0: none (Full-scene Antialiasing check box not checked).
2: 2x
3: 2x Enhanced
4: 4x
5: 4x Enhanced
Note that while all but the first option request FSAA to be used, it will only be used on graphics hardware that supports FSAA in addition to supporting the OpenGL extension that allows it to be set from a program other than the driver control panel.
BackgroundColor Color Equivalent to the General->Background color button.
BlackHighlights Boolean Equivalent to the Always black check box in the Geometry->Edge Lines box.
BottomMargin Integer (0-???) Equivalent to 1000 times the value of the Bottom field in the Margins box on the Page Setup dialog box.
ConditionalHighlights Boolean Equivalent to the Conditional lines check box in the Geometry->Edge Lines box.
CurveQuality Integer (1-12) Equivalent to the Curve quality slider in the Primitives->Primitive substitution box.
CustomColors/Color00 -
CustomColors/Color15
Color Controls the colors that show up in the Custom colors boxes on the Color dialog box.
CutawayAlpha Integer (1-100) Equivalent to the Opacity slider in the Effects->Wireframe cutaway box.
CutawayMode Enumerant Equivalent to the Color and Monochrome radio buttons and the Wireframe cutaway check box in the Effects->Wireframe cutaway box. Selects the cutaway mode:
0: None (Wireframe cutaway check box not checked)
1: Color
2: Monochrome
CutawayThickness Integer (1-5) Equivalent to the Thickness slider in the Effects->Wireframe cutaway box.
DefaultColor Color Equivalent to the General->Default color button.
EdgeThickness Integer (1-5) Equivalent to the Thickness slider in the Geometry->Edge Lines box.
FullscreenDepth Integer Color depth used for full-screen display. This will normally be either 16 or 32, but other values (such as 15 and 24) may work on some video cards. Future video cards will presumably even support 64. Use this setting with caution, and only specify one of the depths that shows up on the View menu; specifying an unsupported color depth may result in problems when you try to switch to full-screen mode. Note that while I listed the type for this as an integer, and didn't specify a range, the only values that will actually work are the ones that show up on the View menu when LDView is run.
FullscreenHeight Integer Vertical resolution used for full-screen display. As with the FullscreenDepth setting, care should be taken when specifying this option. Also, you should always specify the FullscreenWidth setting when you specify this setting, and make sure the width, height, and depth combine to make a video mode supported by your video card.
FullscreenRefresh Integer Equivalent to the Fullscreen refresh override check box and field in the General->Misc box. Setting this to 0 causes the check box to not be checked. Any other value checks the check box and is used as the override value.
FullscreenWidth Integer Horizontal resolution used for full-screen display. As with the FullscreenDepth setting, care should be taken when specifying this option. Also, you should always specify the FullscreenHeight setting when you specify this setting, and make sure the width, height, and depth combine to make a video mode supported by your video card.
InstallPath String Only used in screen saver mode (where command line options can't be given). Used to find LDView data files (font and stud logo) when running as a screen saver. Only included in this list for completeness.
LastOpenPath String Path used as the initial path for the first Open File dialog box displayed. This is normally the last path that a file was opened from the last time LDView was run.
LDrawDir String Specifies the full path to the directory containing LDraw.
LeftMargin Integer (0-???) Equivalent to 1000 times the value of the Left field in the Margins box on the Page Setup dialog box.
Lighting Boolean Equivalent to the Effects->Lighting check box.
LineSmoothing Boolean Equivalent to the General->Antialiased lines check box.
MaxRecentFiles Integer (0-99) Controls how many recent files are recorded and displayed. Note that there is no way to set this value in the LDView interface.
OneLight Boolean Equivalent to the Alternate setup check box in the Effects->Lighting box.
Orientation Enumerant Sets the paper orientation during printing:
1: Portrait
2: Landscape
PaperSize Enumerant Sets the paper size during printing. There are too many sizes to list all of them here, but here are some of the standard sizes:
1: Letter (8.5 x 11 in)
3: Tabloid (11 x 17 in)
5: Legal (8.5 x 14 in)
8: A3 (297 x 420 mm)
9: A4 (210 x 297 mm)
If you want to use another size, you can print using that size in LDView, and then look at the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Travis Cobbs/LDView/PaperSize
PerformSmoothing Boolean Equivalent to the Smooth curves check box in the Effects->Misc box.
Poll Enumerant Selects the polling mode:
0: Disabled
1: Prompt
2: Auto-update when active
3: Auto-update immediately
PolygonOffset Boolean Equivalent to the High quality check box in the Geometry->Edge Lines box.
PrintBackground Boolean Equivalent to the Print Background Color check box in the Page Setup dialog box.
RecentFiles/File01 -
RecentFiles/File99
String Contains the list of recent files. Each entry specifies the full path to one of the files. File01 contains the most recently opened file. By default, only File01 - File10 are used. You must set the MaxRecentFiles setting to a value greater than 10 in order for any of the other entries to be used.
RightMargin Integer (0-???) Equivalent to 1000 times the value of the Right field in the Margins box on the Page Setup dialog box.
SaveActualSize Boolean Equivalent to the inverse of the Save image with specific size check box on the Save File dialog box.
SaveAlpha Boolean Causes PNG format snapshots to be saved using an alpha channel to acheive a transparent background. This option is currently still experimental, and may not work on all video cards. Note that there is no way to set this value in the LDView interface.
SaveDigits Integer (1-5) Equivalent to the Number of Digits field in the Save snapshot series box on the Save File dialog box.
SaveHeight Integer (1-4096) Equivalent to the Height field in the Save image with specific size box on the Save File dialog box. While 4096 is the max for this value, your video card may not support images this tall.
SaveImageType Enumerant Spefies the default image type for snapshot saves:
1: PNG
2: BMP
SaveSeries Boolean Equivalent to the Save snapshot series check box on the Save File dialog box.
SaveWidth Integer (1-4096) Equivalent to the Width field in the Save image with specific size box on the Save File dialog box. While 4096 is the max for this value, your video card may not support images this wide.
Seams Boolean Equivalent to the Seam Width check box in the Geometry->Model box.
SeamWidth Integer (0-500) Equivalent to 100 times the value of the Seam Width field in the Geometry->Model box.
ShowAllType5 Boolean When set to true, causes LDView to display all conditional lines (line type 5), instead of only the ones that should be displayed. They are still only displayed if they are enabled via the preferences panel. This setting can not currently be set from the UI, but can be potentially useful to part authors.
ShowErrors Boolean Equivalent to the Show errors after loading check box in the General->Misc box.
ShowErrors/Error00 Boolean Equivalent to the Parse Error check box in the Error Window.
ShowErrors/Error01 Boolean Equivalent to the File Not Found check box in the Error Window.
ShowErrors/Error02 Boolean Equivalent to the Part Determinant check box in the Error Window.
ShowErrors/Error03 Boolean Equivalent to the Concave Quad check box in the Error Window.
ShowErrors/Error04 Boolean Equivalent to the Concave Quad Split check box in the Error Window.
ShowErrors/Error05 Boolean Equivalent to the OpenGL Error check box in the Error Window.
ShowErrors/Error06 Boolean Equivalent to the Color Error check box in the Error Window.
ShowErrors/Error07 Boolean Equivalent to the Co-linear Points check box in the Error Window.
ShowFPS Boolean Equivalent to the Show frame rate check box in the General->Misc box.
ShowHighlightLines Boolean Equivalent to the Geometry->Edge Lines check box.
ShowType5ControlPoints Boolean When set to true, causes LDView to draw a line from the first point in each conditional line (line type 5) drawn to each of the conditional control points. This setting can not currently be set from the UI, but can be potentially useful to part authors.
SortTransparent Boolean Equivalent to the Sort check box in the Effects->Transparency box.
StereoMode Enumerant Equivalent to the Cross-eyed and Parallel radio buttons and the Stereo check box in the Effects->Stereo box. Selects the stereo mode:
0: None (Stereo check box not checked)
2: Cross-eyed
3: Parallel
StereoSpacing Integer (0-100) Equivalent to the Amt slider in the Effects->Stereo box.
SubduedLighting Boolean Equivalent to the Subdued check box in the Effects->Lighting box.
TextureFilterType Boolean Equivalent to the Nearest filtering, Bilinear filtering, and Trilinear filtering radio buttons in the Primitives->Primitive substitution box. Selects the texture mode:
9984: Nearest filtering
9985: Bilinear filtering
9987: Trilinear filtering
TextureStuds Boolean Equivalent to the Texture studs check box in the Primitives->Primitive substitution box.
TopMargin Integer (0-???) Equivalent to 1000 times the value of the Top field in the Margins box on the Page Setup dialog box.
UseFlatShading Boolean Equivalent to the Flat shading check box in the Effects->Misc box.
UseQualityLighting Boolean Equivalent to the High quality check box in the Effects->Lighting box.
UseQualityStuds Boolean Equivalent to the inverse of the Low quality studs (faster) check box in the Primitives->Misc box.
UseSpecular Boolean Equivalent to the Specular highlight check box in the Effects->Lighting box.
UseStipple Boolean Equivalent to the Stipple check box in the Effects->Transparency box.
WindowHeight Integer (240-???) Specifies the initial height of the LDView viewing area. The overall LDView window height will be larger due to the menu, title bar, and window borders. The maximum is dependent on the resolution of your display. Specifying a value greater than the maximum will result in a window that is the maximum allowable height.
WindowMaximized Boolean Specifies whether or not LDView should start out with its window maximized.
WindowWidth Integer (240-???) Specifies the initial width of the LDView viewing area. The overall LDView window width will be larger due to the window borders. The maximum is dependent on the resolution of your display. Specifying a value greater than the maximum will result in a window that is the maximum allowable width.
Wireframe Boolean Equivalent to the Geometry->Wireframe check box.
WireframeFog Boolean Equivalent to the Fog check box in the Geometry->Wireframe box.
WireframeThickness Integer (1-5) Equivalent to the Thickness slider in the Geometry->Wireframe box.
ZoomMax Integer (1-???) Sets the maximum Zoom level. See the description below.

 Notes
1. Many of the current features in LDView are the result of user comments and suggestions. I always welcome more comments at the e-mail address below.
2. A list of planned features and possible other future features can be found on the LDView website here.
3. Advanced users can adjust the maximum zoom level. This isn't something that is generally useful except to LDraw part authors. Currently it can only be done by specifying using the -ZoomMax command line option, or creating or modifying the following DWORD registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Travis Cobbs\LDView\ZoomMax

The default behavior can be achieved by setting it to 199 (decimal). Increasing the value above this allows you to zoom in further. Doing this results in the view position moving inside the model. Decreasing the value below 199 limits the amount you can zoom in. Setting it to values less than 100 may produce odd results, and setting it to zero will cause a division by zero which may produce a crash, or possibly a corrupted display. Setting it to values significantly larger than 199 may produce odd results as well. Anything between 199 and 1000 should be fine, other than the fact that when the view position moves inside the model you get a cutaway effect.


 Website
You can download an up-to-date copy of LDView at the LDView website at http://home.san.rr.com/tcobbs/LDView/.




If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please e-mail me at ldview@san.rr.com.

LDView is Copyright © 2000 Travis Cobbs.

LEGO® and the LEGO logo are registered trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponser, endorse, or authorize this program. You can find the official Lego website at http://www.lego.com.