Creating a custom palette with item quantities in Bricklink Studio

Introduction

Bricklink Studio is a useful piece of software for modeling LEGO creations, and after exploring some other options, it seems to be the most accessible. A particular feature of this software is to have ‘palettes,’ i.e., a restricted set of specific pieces for a build or project. The ability to import official LEGO sets exists, and it imports all the appropriate components with the proper quantities given. While the software allows the creation of custom palettes, and even by importing BrickLink-formatted .xml files, the ability to import a custom list of parts with quantities does not appear to currently exist natively.

Despite this, I was able to import my BrickStock-created database of parts which I actually own, and use it as a custom palette with quantity restrictions. This process is tricky, and I found it appropriate to write a blog post about it to be able to explain the process without restrictions and worries of long-term archiving on the BrickLink Studio Forum. I’ve seen several posts about this, as I was curious if anyone else had figured it out entirely, but I ended up completing the process on my own.

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Controlling Max/MSP with a Wireless Xbox One Controller

I find Max/MSP to be a unique and interesting software suite, with great potential for rich and interactive multimedia projects. It displays great potential, but that which is seemingly limited by its lack of widespread use and community. Iโ€™m not entirely confident that this really is the case โ€” and sure, the Cycling74 Forums are about as active as I could reasonably expect โ€” but I often seem to run into issues or ideas that arenโ€™t widely experienced.

One of these issues is finding pre-made patches and components. It is common to find a forum post describing a synthesizer or audio effect, but these posts are often over 10 years old and pertain to older versions of the software. Not to mention the chances of finding a link that actually lead to a file download, rather than a 404 or Mediafire account termination, can be slim. I find it incredibly useful to load someoneโ€™s patch to see what creative ideas they have implemented โ€” something that is particularly helpful for this type of software.

By publishing this, I hope to alleviate some of these issues for those who wish to work with controller input in Max. This post details both the technical aspects of the input handling, as well as how to use this patch in a greater project.

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