For me, virtual Lego began with Ldraw, a Dos-based program created and distributed free by James Jessiman. While other Lego-cad programs have been developed, for its ease of use I continue to use Ldraw. To get a fee copy of Ldraw, visit ldraw.orgindex.html

To get started with Ldraw, read the Ldraw FAQ at: http://fys.ku.dk/~sparre/LEGO/Værktøj/LDraw-FAQ.html and go through Bram Lambrecht’s excellent Ldraw Tutorial at http://library.advanced.org/20551. I only wish this tutorial had been available when I started with Ldraw.

Of particular use for Windows 95 users, I recommend the Ldraw Add-On, or LDAO. This program, created by Steve Bliss, provides a graphical interface for using Ldraw, which must otherwise be run from a Dos shell with line commands. It can create a printable "visual element catalog" showing all the virtual Lego pieces. It also has a text editor, which can be very helpful for building models. Find LDAO at: http://home.att.net/~blisses/ldaddon.html

Once you really get into Ldraw, sooner or later you’re going to run into a problem: Lego pieces you want to use which are not created yet. At this point you have a choice. You can request that current part authors help you out, or you can learn to design parts yourself. Parts requests can be made on the Requested Parts Page of the Ldraw Parts Tracker at http://www3.hmc.edu/~zbenz/parttracker/reqlist.shtml. If your willing to take on the challenge of creating parts, check out the relevant parts of the Ldraw FAQ (http://fys.ku.dk/~sparre/LEGO/Værktøj/LDraw-FAQ.html). I would also recommend that you join the L-Cad list, which has plenty of accomplished parts authors who are happy to help new parts authors along (especially those who have taken the time to read the FAQ). See the Ldraw FAQ for how to join the list.

Once you have learned to create parts, when you find one you want to design, check out the Parts Tracker Page at: to find the official Lego part number and a suggested description. Then let other authors know you are working on the part by posting it to the Parts Tracker Page (http://www3.hmc.edu/~zbenz/parttracker/reqlist.shtml. ) This helps prevent duplicated effort among authors. When you think you have the part completed, you can submit it for inclusion in the next Official Ldraw Parts Update by sending it to Terry Keller at .

Enter POV-Ray, the powerful raytracing program capable of rendering 3-D models with perspective, shadowing, and textures. All the pictures and animations on the M:tron HQ page were created using POV-Ray. Despite its power, POV-Ray is available free of charge, and works on a great variety of platforms. Download POV-Ray at http://www.povray.org/. To learn POV-Ray, the best source is the POV-Ray Documentation under the help menu. It contains extensive reference of POV-Ray features, along with many examples.

To convert your Ldraw files to POV-Ray format, you’ll need either L2P created by Lutz Uhlmann or the more recent L3P, created by Lars C. Hassing. L3P works great for me, and can be obtained at: http://www.netby.net/Nord/Mandelvej/Hassing/l3p.html. Once your Lego model has been converted to .pov format, you can open POV-Ray and edit the .pov file to add all kinds of goodies. Galaxy and other background scenes, special lighting effects, and even animation can add realism to your virtual model. Many of these goodies come in the form of "include" files for POV-Ray, a large collection of which can be found at the Pov-Ray Include Files Page: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/1434/.