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Units and Axis Orientation

Units
	All LeoCAD units are in centimeters. The size of a standard 1 x 1 brick is 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.96 cm.

Axis Orientation
	The XY plane is in the base, and the Z axis is always pointing up.

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Drawing with the keyboard

	You can use the keyboard to edit your LeoCAD projects. The left and right keys move the selected brick in the direction of the X axis, the up and down key move the brick along the Y axis and to move the brick along the Z axis, use the page up and page down keys. 
	If you want to move a brick with more precision and ‘3D Snap’ is active, you can hold down the control key and your brick will be moved 0.01 cm.
	
	To rotate, hold down the shift key, and press the same keys used to move. The brick will be rotated by the amount specified in the ‘angle snap’ field from the drawing aids dialog if angle snap is activated, otherwise the brick will be rotated by one degree. 

	To add a brick, use the insert key, and to remove a brick, use the delete key. If you want to cycle trough the bricks, press the TAB key or SHIFT+TAB.

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Command Line Parameters

	You can load a file when starting LeoCAD by specifying its filename as the first parameter in the command line (if the filename has spaces in it then you will need to enclose it within quotes).

	If you just want to create an image file, you can add the –i parameter optionally followed by the name of the image file and –w and –h to specify the dimensions.

	If the piece library was installed in a different directory, it can be set with the –l option followed by the complete path.

	For example:

	leocad c:\lego\house.lcd –i “c:\My Lego Pictures\house.gif” –w 800 –h 600 –l c:\leocad\lib\

	Will open the file c:\lego\house.lcd and save a GIF file called house.gif in the folder c:\My Lego Pictures and it also tells the program that the piece library is located in c:\leocad\lib\

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Exporting to POV-Ray

	It is possible to raytrace images with LeoCAD, but you will need to have POV-Ray and the LGEO library installed on your computer. LeoCAD will create a file with the .INC extension, where the model is defined and simple .POV file with the current camera position, the background color and a standard light.
	You can get POV-Ray from http://www.povray.org and LGEO from http://titan.informatik.uni-bonn.de/~uhlmann/ . Follow the installation instructions on those sites and fill the fields of the dialog that appears when you choose the export command on the LeoCAD menu.

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Movement Modes

	There are 2 different modes of moving bricks and cameras:

•	Global, where changes are done to all steps (like on previous versions)
•	Keyframer, where the changes only occur after the current step

	So now it is possible to create better instructions because you can have for example a camera from another side of the model on 1 step to show how to attach a certain piece or you can have a door that is open only on a couple of steps to show the interior the model.
	You can choose then by pressing the ‘key’ icon in the toolbar.

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Cameras

	You can create and have several cameras on a single LeoCAD project. You will always have the 6 orthogonal cameras (front, back, top, under, left, right) and the Main camera on all projects.
	When you choose to print or save an image, the program uses the Main to set the viewing position. If you want to use another camera for a particular step, you can choose to ‘attach’ any camera to the current step using the right click menu, so the program will use this camera when rendering the step where you attached it instead of the Main camera.

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LeoCAD Notes

	There are some commands (menus, toolbars and dialogs) that are disabled because I haven’t had time to finish them, another thing that is not ready is this help file. If you have a better name or some cool icons/bitmaps/cursors, you can send them to me. I’m not very good at doing this kind of stuff.

Known Bugs / Limitations
•	The buttons from the brick toolbar do not appear if your computer have an old version of COMCTL32.DLL (IE 3.0 should fix this)

The homepage has a more updated list.

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Release History

version 0.73 (18/12/2000)
•	Fixed rotation bug.
•	Fixed a bug when you insert a piece after a rotated piece wouldn't show the new piece correctly.
•	Fixed Z buffer bug in the piece preview.
•	Fixed blending in piece preview.
•	Fixed bug when exporting POV-Ray files using LGEO.
•	Fixed small bug in the texture font.
•	Fixed startup crash under win2k.
•	Adding rotation angles to each minifig wizard option.
•	Added an option to save custom minifigs to the Minifig Wizard.
•	Added new minifig pieces to the minifig wizard.
•	Added Save Picture dialog to the Linux version.
•	Added an overwrite prompt when saving a project under Linux.
•	Added project loading preview to the Linux version.
•	The Pieces toolbar can now be resized when docked or detached from the main window (Linux).
•	Fixed animation playback under Linux.
•	Fixed the numeric keypad under Linux.
•	Fixed problem with "focus follow mouse" in X.
•	Updated the Linux Array dialog.
•	Enabled the "Make Default" button of the preferences dialog (Linux).
•	Save window position and size under Linux.
•	The toolbar menu now has the checkboxes correct (Linux).
•	Remember toolbar state between sessions (Linux).
•	Added Linux man page.

version 0.71 (9/19/99)
•	Rendering is 30% faster in some 3D video cards
•	New way of moving objects with the mouse
•	Double click now selects the object under the cursor
•	Pasted pieces are selected now
•	Fixed a bug loading groups from old files
•	Fixed a bug in the .obj export code
•	Several small bugs fixed

version 0.70 (8/20/99)
•	First Linux version
•	Added new command line options
•	You can now work with multiple clipboards
•	Added 2 buttons to move pieces to the next/previous step
•	It’s now possible to have infinite groups depth
•	You can now specify a default path for .lcd files
•	Added a dialog to edit the piece groups
•	Added support for saving interlaced GIFs
•	Removed the spaces from the color names in .obj files
•	Fixed a bug reading compressed .bmp files
•	Fixed a bug choosing the image format when saving html pages
•	Groups are now pasted correctly
•	Fixed a bug with the file/merge command

version 0.66 (5/27/99)
•	Fixed a bug in the piece preview window 
•	Fixed a bug in the Array dialog
•	Arrays created  from groups of pieces are now rotated correctly

version 0.65 (4/26/99)
•	Added a reset cameras command
•	Changed the transparency to alpha blending
•	Changed the print preview toolbar
•	Fixed a bug in the minifig wizard
•	Fixed a bug when loading some files
•	Fixed a copy & paste bug
•	Fixed the delete camera command
•	Fixed a bug running POV-Ray
•	Fixed a bug creating HTML instructions

version 0.64 (3/27/99)
•	Added a terrain editor
•	Added a completely new POV-Ray export function
•	Added 3DS and OBJ color export
•	Added a menu to set the snap spacing from the status bar
•	Fixed a bug changing the tabs in the Preferences dialog
•	Fixed a bug loading/saving piece groups
•	Fixed a bug with the name of pasted pieces
•	Fixed the option to set the size of the base grid

version 0.63 (2/12/99)
•	Redone the background rendering routines
•	Exporting to HTML can now create pictures of the pieces used 
•	Added an option to update the Piece Library
•	Fixed a bug importing LDraw files
•	Fixed a bug with the Print Preview
•	Fixed a bug running L2P

version 0.62 (1/21/99)
•	Added functions to export files to Wavefront & 3DS (no colors yet)
•	Added an option to draw a floor & sky
•	Added tooltips for the toolbar buttons
•	Added an option to highlight new pieces when creating HTML files
•	Fixed a bug with the minifig wizard
•	Fixed a bug loading the program on some computers
•	The title bar now correctly shows the name of the file loaded

version 0.61 (1/13/98)
•	About 40% speed increase
•	Accurate selection of pieces
•	Improved AutoPan/MouseWheel support
•	Autosave re-enabled
•	Basic animation support
•	Fixed some bugs loading old files

version 0.60 (12/24/98)
•	Rewrote the program, too many changes to list

version 0.54 (08/25/98)
•	Added an option to save transparent GIFs
•	Added an option to show the piece position on the status bar
•	Added an auto-save feature
•	Added an option to use "Brick" units instead of centimeters
•	Improved the way the program draw the lines
•	Pressing CTRL while the rotate tool is selected changes temporarily to pan (and vice-versa)
•	Fixed a bug that prevented the Infobar from floating
•	Fixed a bug with the print preview
•	Fixed a bug with the color selector on some video cards
•	When a new piece is inserted, it is now placed above the previously selected one
•	Changed some more colors (now black is a very dark grey and the edge lines are black)

version 0.53 (07/31/98)
•	Added an option to preview the position of new pieces
•	Added a function to print a list of pieces used
•	Fixed a bug with 256 colors displays
•	You can now select cameras with the mouse
•	Improved the zoom rectangle tool
•	The groups toolbar is now updated when you add/remove a new group
•	Changed some colors a little bit

version 0.52 (07/17/98)
•	Added new colors
•	Added a function to import a single LDraw piece into the library
•	Improved the minifig wizard
•	Tuned up the application to use less memory (about 6MB less)
•	Removed the shaded caption bar (Windows 98 will do it)
•	Changed the format of the piece library
•	Fixed some minor bugs

version 0.51a (06/25/98)
•	Fixed a bug with the LDraw import and export routines
•	Fixed a bug with the print catalog command on high resolution printers
•	It’s now possible to set the size of the preview window on the pieces toolbar

version 0.51 (06/16/98)
•	Rotations of more than 1 brick are now correct
•	Fixed a bug with the piece preview palette on 256 colors
•	Fixed another bug with the 'Save toolbar position' option
•	LeoCAD now remembers the 'view part number' settings
•	Background/Fast Rendering options are saved with the projects
•	Added an option to save a preview of the project files
•	Added an option to print a header & footer
•	Added an option to set print margins
•	Added a print setup tab on the preferences dialog
•	Added: save GIF files
•	Added: save 256 colors BMP files
•	Added: save progressive JPG files
•	Added a button to browse for background images
•	It's possible to use GIF files as background
•	Moved the 'Save Picture' command to the 'Save As' dialog
•	Moved the 'Import LDraw' command to the 'Open' dialog

version 0.50a
•	Added an option to print with lower quality (using less memory)
•	Fixed a bug closing the print preview

version 0.50
•	Added a function to export files to POV-Ray (using LGEO)
•	Added a function to check for new versions
•	Added a function to print all pieces on the library
•	Added a function to send a project by e-mail
•	Added a function to save a sequence of pictures (to create a QTVR object)
•	Added an option to choose how many steps per page are printed
•	Added an option to draw a border around each step printed
•	Changed the ‘3D Snap’ button on the toolbar to display a menu
•	Fixed a bug saving the toolbars position
•	Fixed a bug with the selection of bricks with multiple viewports enabled

version 0.49
•	Added an option to save JPG files
•	Added an option to use a JPG file as background
•	Added tooltips for the color list
•	Added a 'total' field to the 'Pieces Used' list
•	Added a command to create HTML instructions
•	Added new movement modes keyframer/snapshot
•	Fixed/Added some options to the interface
•	Fixed the camera submenu
•	Fixed a bug that would crash the program while rendering in the background

version 0.48
•	Added an option to remove a brick after a chosen step
•	Added an option to draw the studs as boxes
•	Added a dialog to create minifigs
•	Added an option to set the mouse sensitivity
•	Added an ‘Apply’ button to the ‘Step’ and ‘Camera’ dialog 
•	The ‘Camera’ dialog now gets correctly updated 
•	The info bar now shows the rotations and get updated correctly
•	Better LDraw import
•	Fixed a bug with the print preview in full screen mode 
•	No more duplicate names on the brick combobox
•	The brick bar now shows the popups when you right click on almost any place

version 0.47
•	Fixed a bug that would crash LeoCAD on some computers

version 0.46
•	New color list
•	The keyboard keys now move/rotate on the direction of the screen
•	Numeric keypad now works correctly
•	It is possible to group the parts and keep the brick combobox
•	Fixed some problems with the save bitmap dialog
•	Fixed a bug that wouldn’t change the preferences on the second thread
•	When the program is not active, it will redraw the window faster
•	No more ‘~Moved to’ parts on the list of used pieces

version 0.45
•	Added a button to save default options for new projects
•	Added a dialog to modify a brick
•	Added an option do remove the hidden lines on the fast rendering
•	Added an option to draw filled boxes instead of only the edges
•	Added some options to hide the camera ‘boxes’
•	Faster grid
•	Faster rendering
•	Zoom extents all viewports (hold control and press the icon on the toolbar)
•	Changed a little bit the right button popups
•	Completely rewrote the Part Library Manager
•	Added a command to import Ldraw parts from a directory

version 0.44
•	Now LeoCAD saves the fog/background bitmap options of every project
•	Some more popup menu options

version 0.43
•	Fog effect
•	Load the background from a bitmap file
•	Option to save the toolbars position enabled
•	Menus with icons
•	LDraw models are now imported with the current color of the combobox
•	Better axis icon
•	Bricks are now pasted on the current step
•	Bricks that were grouped when copied to the clipboard are pasted correctly
•	Now correctly works with the ‘file/new LeoCAD project’ from windows explorer
•	Fixed a bug that would show a GPF sometimes when exiting the program

version 0.42
•	Multiple viewports
•	New parts are now inserted above the last part if you use the keyboard
•	Zoom extents will not freeze LeoCAD anymore
•	Fixed bugs on some old parts
•	Added 52 new parts

version 0.41
•	LeoCAD is now multithreaded
•	Added 45 new parts
•	Added new clear colors
•	Added a command to ‘hide’ bricks
•	Added shortcuts to the predefined views
•	Added shortcuts to zoom function (-/+ keys)
•	Added an icon that shows the axis orientation
•	Added a dialog to change the current step
•	Added an option to disable movement on certain axis
•	Added a dialog to enter names for the groups of bricks
•	Added a command to create ‘arrays’ of bricks
•	Added commands to select all/invert/by name/none bricks
•	Added an option to make the default action not move after inserting a part
•	Added warnings if there are old DLLs installed
•	Added tooltips for the parts list
•	Changed the toolbars
•	Changed the viewpoint dialog
•	Fixed a bug with the zoom extents
•	Fixed a bug with the paste command
•	Fixed a bug with the file version warning
•	Fixed a bug when changing the step of multiple bricks
•	Fixed some bugs with menu items not being correctly disabled

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Legal Stuff

Acknowledgments

	I would like to thank everybody who kindly allowed me to use the parts they have created, they are: (in alphabetical order)

•	James Jessiman
•	Luis E. Fernandez
•	Lutz Uhlmann
•	Remco Braak
•	Steven Bliss
•	Thomas Burger
•	Tore Eriksson

	And I also want to say thanks for who sent me emails for their support and suggestions, specially Selcuk Gore (nice models !), Paul Egell-Johnsen (always with good suggestions), Mael Blocteur (thanks for the mirror), Joshua Delahunty (also with good suggestions) and Bert Giesen (how do you find time to make so many models ?).

	The JPEG encoding/decoding routines use code written by the Independent JPEG Group.

	L2P and LGEO are (C) by Lutz Uhlmann 1997,1998.

Disclaimer

	The bricks used by LeoCAD are in no way related to the Lego (tm) brand building bricks (although they look like very much), and I would also like to make clear that this is not a product of INTERLEGO AG. 

	I don’t know if LeoCAD will work on your computer, I can only promise that if you install it correctly into your hard drive, it will take some disk space. Don't blame me if you are spending too much time using this program, if your computer blows up or if the planet is invaded by aliens. 

	I hope you have fun using it !