Lesson 0: Using the Tutorial
 
This tutorial is "hands-on." All you need to do is read the instructions carefully and follow them step by step. If you don't understand something, don't worry, it will probably become clearer as you go on. Also, if at any time you run into something you don't know how to do, just go back to previous lessons to refresh your memory.
    First, we need to start LEdit. Hit Start and choose Run. (fig. 0.1) (In Windows 3.x, choose File, Run... in Program Manager.) A window will pop up. Type in C:\LDRAW\LEDIT.EXE and hit OK. (fig. 0.2) To switch back to our browser from LEdit, hit Alt and Esc at the same time. To switch back to LEdit, just hit the button on your Taskbar. (fig. 0.3)
 
 
 
 
Lesson 1: Moving Pieces
 
After starting LEdit, we see a Brick 2 x 4 in the middle of the screen. (fig. 1.1) To move the piece around, Use the End, Home, and arrow keys. Up and Down move backwards and forwards, and Left and Right move left and right. Home moves up a plate level and End moves down the same distance. Each arrow key moves the brick a half a stud width, so if we hit the same arrow key twice, we've moved a whole stud width. (fig. 1.2) Try moving the brick around a bit. We see that every time we move the brick a bit, the numbers at the top of the screen change. (fig. 1.3) Move the brick back to where it started from, so that the third, fourth, and fifth numbers are all 0.0. If you understand how to move the piece, we're ready to begin.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 2: Changing Part Numbers and Colors
 
First, make sure the brick is in the middle of the screen so that the numbers at the top of the screen are:
 
1 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 3001.DAT
 
Now we need to change the piece because the model isn't made entirely of the Brick 2 x 4's. Hit P. At the top of the screen, the program asks us for
 
Part no:
 
If we hit Enter, we'll get a list of pieces. Each piece has it's own number, which is often printed on the underside of the real piece. An easier way to find the piece we're looking for is to look through the list. Hit Up or Down to move through the list one piece at a time, or hit Page Up or Page Down to look at 10 pieces at a time. When you find the piece we need, highlight it and hit Enter. We need part no. 4732, Bracket 8 x 2 x 1 & 1/3, so hit Page Down until we get to the Brackets. Hit Down to get to the Bracket 8 x 2 x 1 & 1/3. (fig. 2.1) Hit Enter, and the brick on the screen becomes the "bracket" we need!(fig. 2.2) Hit Enter and the piece will be drawn in place!(fig. 2.3) However, the bracket is black, and our ship is gray, so we need to change the piece color. Hit C and you'll get this prompt:
 
Colour:
 
If you type in 7 and hit Enter twice, the bracket will turn gray. (fig. 2.4) Here's a list of numbers and corresponding colors:

0	Black		32	Translucent Black
1	Blue		33	Translucent Blue
2	Green		34	Translucent Green
3	Dark Cyan		35	Translucent Dark Cyan
4	Red		36	Translucent Red
5	Magenta		37	Translucent Magenta
6	Brown		38	Translucent Brown
7	Gray		39	Translucent Gray
8	Dark Gray		40	Translucent Dark Gray
9	Light Blue		41	Translucent Light Blue
10	Light Green		42	Translucent Neon Green
11	Cyan		43	Translucent Cyan
12	Light Red		44	Translucent Neon Orange
13	Pink		45	Translucent Pink
14	Yellow		46	Translucent Yellow
15	White		47	Clear

You can also find this list in LEDIT.DOC, a text file in your LDRAW\ directory.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 3: Saving and Quitting
 
Now that we have a piece in place, we should probably save the model. Hit Esc or / (pick one or the other) and brackets will appear around the word File at the top of the screen. (fig. 3.1) If we hit the Left and Right arrow keys, we'll highlight the other menu choices. Right now, we just need File. Hit Enter, and highlight Save. Hit Enter, and this prompt will show up:
 
Save filename (NEW.DAT):
 
Type in sp-tutor.dat or whatever name you want to give this Space tutorial model. (fig. 3.2) Hit Enter to save.
     If you want to quit now, and come back for Lesson 4, you can hit Esc (or /) and highlight Quit, or you can hit Enter on File and choose Exit. (fig. 3.3)
 
 
 
 
Lesson 4: Loading a File and Adding More Pieces
 
First, start LEdit up again if you exited after Lesson 3. Then, hit Esc (or /) and choose File, then Load. Type in the name you gave our model in the previous lesson. (fig. 4.1) You should see the bracket we placed.
     Now we need to insert more pieces. First hit the I key (I for insert). Notice that white border lines appear on the piece again, but the gray bracket remains also. A new line of numbers has appeared to describe the piece we inserted. The previous line moved up to make room for the new one. (fig. 4.2) Because the newly inserted piece has the same number (4732.DAT) as the piece before it, we need to hit P to change the part number. Instead of looking through the entire list of parts, you can type in the number of the part we need, in this case 3003. (fig 4.3) This is useful in case you want to print out your parts list so that you don't have to continually press Page Down. The file to print out is called PARTS.LST and is in your LDRAW\ directory.
     Now that we have part 3003, Brick 2 x 2, hit Up six times to move the piece backwards and hit End once to make the brick fit snugly under the back of the bracket. (fig. 4.4) Hit I to insert another piece, and this time choose part 3747, Slope Brick 33 3 x 2 Inverted. Hit Down thirteen times to move the piece into place under the other end of the bracket. (fig. 4.5)
 
 
 
 
Lesson 5: Aligning Pieces Correctly and Changing Views
 
First, insert a new part (hit I). Change the part number to 4032 (hit P, 4032, Enter). Now change the color of the round plate to black (C, 0, Enter). Hit Up once and End three times to move the plate into position. With the round plate, it's kind of hard to tell that the plate is centered directly underneath the other two pieces, so we'll change the view to make sure. Hit Esc (or /) and hit Right until you get to View. Hit Enter and choose Under. (fig. 5.1) The pieces will be re-drawn from underneath. In all the views except Three-D (the one we were just in) the arrow keys move the piece exactly on the screen as on the keyboard. Center the round plate underneath the other pieces as shown. (fig. 5.2) Insert another round plate (hit I). Hit Down twice and Right fourteen times to place this plate on the corner of the brick above it. Insert one more round plate and place it on the corner right next to the previous plate. (fig. 5.3) Change to left view (Esc (/), View, Left) to make sure all the plates are at the same level. (fig. 5.4) Now, return to Three-D view to continue working.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 6: Moving through the Pieces in the Model and Turning Pieces
 
Let's go back up a few pieces and insert another piece before the round plates on the bottom of the model. Hit Page Up three times. We see the cursor move from one piece to another. Also, each time we hit Page Up, the line that describes the current piece moves to the middle of the three lines of numbers at the top of the screen. Look at the end of the line, and it should say 3747.DAT. (fig. 6.1) If you remember, that's the number for the inverted slope brick over which the cursor now hovers. Let's insert another slope brick (hit I).
     Move the new slope brick backwards by hitting Up sixteen times. (fig. 6.2) Now we need to turn the brick around so that it faces backwards. Hit A once, and the piece will make a quarter turn clockwise. Hit A one more time, and the slope brick will be in the correct position. (fig. 6.3) Now hit Page Down three times to get to the end of the model.
     Let's save now to make sure we don't lose anything. Hit Esc (or /), and choose File, Save. The filename of the model will already be between parentheses, so all you have to do is hit Enter to save. (fig. 6.4)
 
 
 
 
Lesson 7: Erasing the Screen and Adding More Pieces
 
If you exited after Lesson 6, start LEdit again. Now, step to the end of the model. There are two ways you can do this. First, you can hit Page Down until you get to ---End---, or you can hit Esc (or /), choose Piece, Goto-Line, and type in a big number, like 100. (fig 7.1) This will bring you the last line of the model because there are less than 100 pieces in the model so far.
     If you ever want to get to a certain point in a model, you can remember the number after Line: in the upper left corner of the screen. (fig. 7.2) Then, when you're somewhere else in the model, type in that line number at Goto-Line. The program will skip to that line. Now, to see what the model looks like without all the pieces after that line, hit E. The screen will be erased, but don't worry, the model will be redrawn up to the line number you are currently at.
     Now we'll insert some more parts. Hit Page Up once, so that the line that says ---End--- is the fourth line at the top of the screen. Hit I to insert a piece and change the part number (hit P) to 3665. Hit Right five times to bring the inverted slope to the side of the model. Hit Home three times and Up once to put the brick on top of the round plate. Hit A twice to turn it around. Now, hit C to change the color to 7 (gray). Finally, hit I again to insert another piece. (fig. 7.3) Move the new piece to the other side (hit Left six times) and turn it around (hit A twice). Insert another piece. (fig. 7.4)
     Change the piece number to 4070. Place it in front of the left inverted slope that you just inserted (You don't have to hit A at all) and do the same on the right side. (Make sure you hit I after inserting the first piece.)(fig 7.5) Now insert part number 3475. Color it 0 (black). Hit A once and Left twice. Hit Down seven times and End once to place the engine on the bracket. (fig. 7.6). Place another engine on the other side (You'll have to press A three times). Finally, insert piece number 3023 in front of the two engines. (fig. 7.7)
 
 
 
 
Lesson 8: Adding Pieces on Your Own
 
Now its time to add some parts on your own. Be sure to check that every piece is in the exact position it needs to be in. If you need to, check other views to make sure that the pieces are correctly placed. Place these parts as shown: (fig. 8.1)
 3023
 4596
 2419
 2429
 2430
(They're all on the same level, so you will only need to use Home to raise the first piece up.)
     First, save the model so you don't lose anything. Now add these peices as shown: (fig. 8.2)
 2419
 3936
 3935
 298 (twice)
 297 (twice)
 3069
 3794 (twice)
(You only need to hit Home once; for the first piece.)
 
 
 
 
Lesson 9: Adding Steps to the Model.
 
First, save the model to make sure you don't lose any of the pieces you just added. Then hit Esc, choose Piece, Goto-Line, and type in 1. (fig. 9.1) Hit Enter, and you'll be brought back to the beginning of the model. Hit E to erase the screen.
    Now, hit Page Down to step through the model. After hitting Page Down once, the bracket is drawn on the screen. Hit I to insert a new line. (fig. 9.2) Hit Esc, and choose Edit, Line-Type, Step. (fig. 9.3) At the top of the screen, you'll see that the line will have changed to say 0 STEP. (fig. 9.4) When you draw the model later using LDraw, the program will stop here to make building easier. Insert Steps were you think they are appropriate. Make sure that you hit I before changing the line to a Step. I inserted Steps at line numbers 3, 6, 9, 12, 22, 26, and 37. In case you don't remember, the line number is shown after the word Line: in the upper left corner of the screen.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 10: Turning Pieces Vertically
 
Make sure you're at the last line of the model, so that the third line of text at the top of the screen says 0 STEP and the fourth line says ---End---. Now, hit I to insert a piece. Change the part number to 3070. (fig. 10.1) Hit Right three times and Up five times.
    Now change the View to Left. (fig.10.2) Next, hit Esc, and choose Turn, Centre-Set. (fig. 10.3) This will turn the piece without moving it away from the positition it's now at. Hit Esc again, choose Turn, X-axis, and type in 90. (fig. 10.4) The piece we just turned will now face with its top side toward the left side of the screen. To make things easier, zoom in by pressing +. Hit Down twice. (fig. 10.5) As you can see, we can't move the piece exactly into place using just the arrow keys.
    Look in the upper middle of the screen. You'll see that it says Move: Normal. (fig. 10.6) Hit M twice and you'll see Normal change to Fine. (fig. 10.7) Hit Down twice and you'll see that the piece doesn't move as far as before. Hit Right six times to move the piece into position. Change the color to 36 (translucent red), and hit Enter. (fig. 10.8)
    Change to Three-D view again. Zoom out by pressing -. Insert another piece. Hit Esc, choose Turn, Centre-Set. Next, choose Turn, X-Axis, and type in 90 again. Hit M to change Move: back to Normal. Hit Left six times to move the piec into position. To make sure that the piece is in the right place, take a look at the Right and Under views.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 11: Building the Canopy with More Turned Pieces
 
First, save the model. Make sure you're in Three-D view. Next, insert another piece. Hit M twice so that Move: is set to Fine. Hit Home twice and Up four times. Change Move back to Normal. Change the part number to 3937 and the color to 0 (black). Hit Home six times, Up once and Left three times. (fig. 11.1) Insert four more of the same piece as shown. (fig. 11.2)
    Insert another piece and change the part number to 3938. Change the color to 7 (gray) and turn it forward (remember first to Centre-Set, then X-axis, 90). Using Fine and the Left and Top views, move the piece into the front hinge. (Remember that + zooms in and - zooms out.) (fig. 11.3) Insert another piece. Change the part number to 2466 and the color to 33 (translucent blue). Hit A twice, and then turn the piece. (Centre-Set; X-axis, 90) Hit Down thirteen times and then change to Fine and use Down to move the piece into the correct spot. (fig. 11.4)
    Save the file now, so that you don't accidentally lose something. Insert part number 4590 and change the color to 7 (gray). Now try to move it into position as shown. (You'll have to hit A twice.) (fig. 11.5) This piece looks kind of funny when inserted. To make it look better, hit Esc, choose Options, Line-as-stud(on). (fig. 11.6) Hit E to redraw the model with studs. (fig. 11.7) Although this option takes longer to draw, you'll need it for the next lesson to make placing pieces easier.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 12: Even More Turned Pieces
 
As always, save the model. Insert part number 2432, turn it and place it as shown. (fig. 12.1) Now insert part 3062B. Turn it and place it as shown. Check a few different views to make sure the piece is exactly aligned with the piece it attaches to. (I used the Left and Over views to place the piece.) (fig. 12.2) Add another 3062B on the other side. (fig. 12.3)
    Now we need to insert a piece and turn it so that it faces the other way. Insert part 3957. First Centre-Set, then hit Esc, and choose Turn, X-axis, but this time type -90. (fig. 12.4) Place the piece as shown. (fig. 12.5) Add another 3957 on the other side. Then, insert part number 4073. Change the color to 36 (translucent red). Place one of these round plates at the end of each antenna and add one on the end of the "wing" on the front. (fig. 12.6) Save the model so that you don't lose all the work you just did. If you want to, you can choose Options, Line-as-stud again to make the program faster.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 13: Creating the Tail Using a Sub-Model
 
Make sure you've saved the model so far. Then, quit and restart LEdit. In the middle of the screen is the Brick 2 x 4. Change the part number to light.dat. (fig. 13.1) Insert another piece. Change the color to 7 (gray), and the part number to 3938. Change the view to Left and zoom in (hit + twice). Now change Move: to Fine. Hit Up ten times so that the circular part of the hinge is over the crosshairs of the last piece. (fig. 13.2) Change back to Three-D view and zoom out again (hit - twice). Hit Page Up to get to the light.dat. Hit Esc, and choose Edit, Delete. The top of your screen should look like this. (fig. 13.3) (The light.dat was just used to position the next piece correctly.) Hit A to turn the hinge. Now insert another piece and place it directly behind the first one. (You'll have to change Move: to Normal) (fig. 13.4) Insert part 2340 and place it as shown. (fig. 13.5) Insert part 4595, change the color to 0 (black), and place it as shown. (fig. 13.6) Insert part 4740, turn it, and change the color to 36 (translucent red). Place it on the previous piece. You should change views to make sure it's correctly aligned. (fig. 13.7) Finally, save this sub-model as sp-ttail.dat or something else, but NOT the same name as the main model that we've built so far.
    Now, load the main model (sp-tutor.dat in my case). Got to the last line of the model, using Goto-Line or Page Down. Insert a piece, and change the part number to whatever you called the sub-model (sp-ttail.dat). You'll see this on the screen. (fig. 13.8) Move the sub-model to the back of the model and fit it into the left pair of hinges. (fig. 13.9) Centre-Set the sub-model and then choose Turn, Z-axis. Type in -60. (fig. 13.10) Hit Enter twice and half of the tail is finished! (fig. 13.11) Insert another piece, move the new sub-model right to the empty hinges, Centre-Set, and turn on the Z-axis, but this time type 60. Hit Enter twice. (fig. 13.12) Now, save the model.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 14: Making the Wings - Two More Sub-Models
 
Make sure you've saved the model so far. Quit and restart LEdit again. In the middle of the screen is the Brick 2 x 4. Change the part number to 2430, and the color to 7 (gray). (fig. 14.1) Insert part number 3933 and place it as shown, at the back corner of the wing. (fig. 14.2) Insert part number 2430, change the color to 0 (black), and place it on the edge of the wing. Insert part number 2412 and place it next to the hinge. (fig. 14.3). Save the file as sp-tleft.dat or something other than either of the other two files we've made so far.
Quit and restart LEdit one more time. In the middle of the screen is the Brick 2 x 4. Change the part number to 2429, and the color to 7 (gray). (fig. 14.4) Insert part number 3934 and place it as shown, at the back corner of the wing. (fig. 14.5) Insert part number 2429, change the color to 0 (black), and place it on the edge of the wing. Insert part number 2412 and place it next to the hinge. (fig. 14.6). Save the file as sp-trght.dat or something other than one of the previous three files.
 
 
 
 
Lesson 15: Attaching the Wings
 
Load your main model (sp-tutor.dat). Got to the last line of the model, using Goto-Line or Page Down. Now, insert a piece. Change the part number to 2429, and the color to 0. Place it as shown, and make sure to check a few views to make sure it's in the correct spot. (fig. 15.1) Insert another piece. Change the part number to sp-tleft.dat or whatever you named the left wing in the previous lesson. Hit End twice to put it in the correct spot. (fig. 15.2) Now, Centre-Set, then choose Turn, Y-axis, and type in 45. (fig. 15.3) Hit Enter twice to show what the wing looks like in place. (fig. 15.4)
    Insert another piece. Change the part number to 2430, and place it as shown. Make sure to check a few views to make sure it's in the correct spot. (fig. 15.5) Insert another piece. Change the part number to sp-trght.dat or whatever you named the left right in the previous lesson. Hit End twice in Three-D view, or hit Home) twice in Over view, to put it in the correct spot. (fig. 15.6) Now, Centre-Set, then choose Turn, Y-axis, but this time type in -45. Hit Enter twice to show what the wing looks like in place. (fig. 15.7) Finally, save the model.
    Congratulations! You've completed the tutorial model and the entire portion of the tutorial about LEdit! If you were able to complete all the lessons up to this point, you should now be able to create whatever you want to using LEdit. If you ever run into any problems, refer to this tutorial to find the answer you need.
 
 
Copyright © 1998 Bram Lambrecht
Please do not copy or use text or images
without the author's permission.
 
email: blambrec@student.chuh.org