The origin of the LDU is the fan created LEGO CAD program LDraw, dating way back from the MS-DOS operating system era. This was the first program that allowed you to create custom building instructions of your personal creations. Later rewrites of it emerged, for Windows/Linux as MLCad, and for Windows/Linux/ macOS as LeoCAD, all happening long before LEGO themselves made a similar proprietary application available. Both MLCad and LeoCAD continue to use the (by the community still being updated) library of brick model/shape definition files in the original LDdraw format. Because it is necessary to model the smallest discernible details on elements, like the finger nail groove on the sides of tile parts for instance, the base 1 LDU was carefully chosen as the lowest common denominator distance needed to model each individual subsection of a LEGO part effectively.
That would explain why basically everything is an even number of LDU's. It probably was also LEGO's internal measurement unit for part definitions in their proprietary software, but everyone used an even multiple for the parts (and probably usually multiples of 4, unless a part included jumper features). And then one day someone came along and made the minifig neck bracket (and those other obscure parts). And two LDU's was too flimsy and 4 LDU looked too fat, so they said "well, 3 LDU is technically a legal measurement in the system". At least that's how I like to image we arrived at actually being able to achieve 1 LDU accuracy.
Did you also know there is an official unit lego themselves uses in their technical drawings? They use a length of 4 ldu as 1 because it's the lowest common denominator between the height of bricks and the width of bricks. So that you can describe both with whole numbers. a 1x1 brick is 5 units wide, 6 units tall, the stud on top is 3 units wide, the sidewalls are 1 unit wide, the hole in an open stud is 2 units wide, which is of course the width of each bar element. And the small pin of things like indian feathers is 1 unit wide. A grill plate for example nicely divides in 5 with this system. Now all of this is not taking in account lego tolerances for clutch power etc, which is why you can't put a plate in-between two studs sideways legally. But theoretically this makes for a really beautiful system, all with round numbers. Smaller than stud measurements, but easier to estimate than the super small LDUs. I don't remember if that unit has a name. But maybe you can do a video about this as well? I figured all this out when making 3d models of a whole collection of different bricks and doing some research. Once i set the grid as 1 unit for 4 LDU's everything just clicked into place. (pun intended) [and only jumper plates throw a bit of a spanner in the system with their 2.5 unit offset]
Not so much of a Lego builder myself, but I just LOVE watching how you (and your community) use and discover these very clever techniques to achieve some great technical builds with just moving some Lego pieces around in a really smart way. The ingenuity behind these is so entertaining to me! Keep it up, love all your content!
Thank you for this. I knew about half-plate (4 LDU) elements, but hadn’t realised there was a 3 LDU element, so until now I hadn’t understood why the LDU was chosen.
@@bricksculpt Not sure exactly, but from a blog post (or posts) somewhere, as far as I can recall. Your video was the first time I’d seen it clearly explained though - and with very practical demonstrations.
I'm convinced that you're a wizard slowly unlocking the secrets of the universe. It would be interesting to see this and some of the other methods used recently like the sugar grids for other applications, or stuff like building this into the ground for gradual steps.
Fascinating! As a hardcore Lego collector and fan of examining elements and their possibilities, this is new for me. Thanks for educting me on this topic! Another good piece for creating 1LDU offsets is the 1x4 base 2 high latticed fence piece. It has 6 LDU centered in a 20LDU plate, creating 7 LDU gaps on either side. Havent found others yet but will search my collection now! Edit: also suspection the old 2x1 plate with vertical bar (it was redesigned to fix this?) to have an uneven offset. If you put a 1x1 brick with snot hole on it, it seems to have a 1 LDU gap Edit 2: also curious on the difference between a technic hole height vs a jumper brick hole height. Might be 1 LDU?? Hmmm
Lego Goblet pieces also have a height offset of 3 LDU, which can be used to create increments of 1 LDU. I don't know what you mean by jumper bricks for certain, but I think you are referring to what I would call a snot brick, and the height difference is actually 0.1 mm, which is 1/4 LDU. 0.1 mm is also the tolerance on each side of a bricks, though that is just coincidence.
I just love the way you go about learning and explaining things. Sometimes I miss the old, minifig interior video's you made in the beginning, but then you go and do something like this, which is just amazing! Loving it!
Thanks, yeah I need to do more build videos. I have one minibuild ready to go but it's more technique focused. I'm taking a short vacation post Christmas when I get back I'll try to get back on the tips tricks and techniques videos and the minibuilds.
@bricksculpt you deserve a vacation. You've been working around the clock, making these beautiful and helpful videos for us. 🤩 Have a very merry Christmas and enjoy your vacation!
Up until now the best tutorial on this taper was pausing frame by frame on your obelisk videos 😂 thanks for putting this out there!! I think one clarification I’d make is that the minifig neck bracket to achieve this is rare/hard to come by because it’s no longer in production. The mold was updated to be thicker (the width of a bracket). So the easier piece to obtain now will not achieve 1 LDU
While this is the smallest in terms of normally stated/understood part dimensions, you can actually cut 1 LDU into fourths, at exactly 0.1 mm. This can be done in a few ways. When standing vertical, a 2x2 plate or tile is actually 0.2 mm shorter than 5 stacked plates. Mounting it with a snot brick will leave a 1 mm gap on the top and on the bottom. Alternatively, and very simply, you can also have an axle or rubber band hold a brick down on a flat surface, resulting in that gap appearing. But finally, and the most satisfying/"correct" way of doing is with technic bricks and snot bricks. Due to a very slight difference in the height the holes/pins are above the base of the piece, the snot bricks will be raised 0.1 mm, or 1/4 LDU, above the surface. Finally, I want to mention the Lego tiles and plates create a step, but it is not officially stated what the gap is, and it is at most 0.01 mm. This would be the smallest, but it unfortunately has no previse known value, and can't be stepped along even incriments of a single plate.
That's an interesting take on it. Not sure how applicable it is to building as those are super miniscule increments and hard to.quantify. but interesting none the less.
Your channel is really really giving me a lego building itch. It's been a while since I've worked on any mocs because my big bin is in storage. Low-key one of the reasons I'm excited that my wife and I just bought a house is for lego storage and building space.
EXCELLENT VIDEO! At the beginning when you said you could divide the width of one brick into 20 levels I thought you must be joking! But holy cow, you were totally right! I think out of my entire collection, over thirty years of collecting, I have acquired maybe 3-4 of those neck bracket pieces at the end. I always used them just to make cooler jetpacks and air tanks for minifigs! Now I will be on the lookout for more! I just subscribed to your channel. Thanks so much for posting this! 😁
This is some amazing stuff, I haven't heard of LDU's before this video (likely due to what you said about not enough sufficient info being out there) so thanks for the vid!
Ahhh this is why you continue to be my favorite channel!! I keep finding that the more you think about these kinds of super niche nerdy Lego dimensions the more mastery you have over the whole system! also the impact you continue to have on my current moc is always growing, I’m gonna have to give you a big shoutout when it’s done 😉
It's funny because I knew it for years, but I also thought it's basic knowledge that doesn't even have a name (I just were always using 2 ldu steps, because I didn't know about neck piece being 3 ldu)
This is great. I can think of so many uses for this technique. From walls to buildings and a few others. Thanks so much for sharing this. I thought I knew all there was to know about lego math... you keep proving me wrong lol. Great video and extremely useful information... as always
Awesome video! True, no one is talking about LDU, I had not heard of these units until your video. I have encountered this “step/increment” technique before though. Set number 21018 United Nations Headquarters. That set has some fantastic building techniques for its size.
Wait brick layering? Is that what we’re talking about here? Why are we calling it LDU and throwing in all these random numbers if all we’re talking about is simple plate layering?
Very interesting video! The minifigure neck bracket sure is a fascinating piece. I think there might be an even smaller unit hiding there. If you look closely, the part with the hole is actually slightly thinner than the part with the stud. First I assumed it had to be 2 LDU, but it’s not. It’s slightly less than 2,5. This allows you to make a Pythagorean triangle of 20 x 80 x 82,46211… LDU. The only time I ever saw this put to use was in the 40683 Flower Trellis Display set (a GWP from a couple of months ago). It’s such a weirdly specific number that it almost has to be intentional. I’m still trying to figure out other uses for it.
I put up a few Build videos of Lightsaber designs. My terminology is accurate, but somewhat unnecessarily complicated 😂. Thanks for the little glossary included in this tutorial. My whole life I measured pieces by studs or "bumps" as we called them growing up. I had no idea how mathetical these things were. It works the same way as music!
The way I taught myself SNOT technique is not to think of a plate's height as the smallest unit but the height of the STUD (4 LDU tall). Since a 1x1 brick has a ratio of 5:5:6 (5x5 and 6 tall), thinking in units of Stud-height (let's call it '$' for short) means doing math with whole numbers, not decimals or LDUs. So a 1x1 brick is 5$ wide (not 2.5 plates), 5$ long, and 6$ tall. This means that a plate/tile is 2$ tall. The thin part of a bracket sticks out 1$. A headlight brick is recessed 1$. If you're building something with SNOT width-wise or length-wise, you just need to get your $'s to add up to something divisible by 5 so it fits on Lego's x/y grid. If you're building with SNOT height-wise, your $'s have to add up to something divisible by 6. Make sense? If you think in units of a Stud's height, then so many things in Lego become apparent because they are that width. The LDU might be the ideal base unit, but it's too small for humans to differentiate. The Stud's height is base-y enough to do clean math and easier for human eyes to notice.
Makes sense it can definitely be easier to work in bigger units. Many people like to think in base 10 meaning 2 ldu is the smallest. It's usually more practical.
This was a very interesting video. I now have an idea for a city diorama which has these very slight angles. Also, I think it would be interesting if LDUs were incorporated into the next challenge. :)
im in love with legos again, what have you done 😔 i wish they were easier for me to get, tysm for all the educational material, been loving the channel recently
I was studying the quarter shift, but didn't know anything about LDU measurements (and the 1 LDU shift). This is quite cool but I agree it won't be very useful most cases. I have discovered the need of 2 LDU shifts when I tried to have a 7 stud wide train using the basic 6 stud wide train frames, to see if I could create a sturdy 7 wide train. Because the chassis would be half a stud wide on both sides and I don't want to use a lot of jumpers, I was trying to come up with a SNOT technique to do that and that's how I learnt about the 2 LDU shifts. However, I would never have expected that 1 LDU shifts actually existed!
This is amazing, my jaw dropped when your revealed it was 3LDU thickness! Would love to see each step in different Lego colours, pick a palette you like! Then comparing ‘staircases’ would be visually really clear by colour as well as geometry. What is the origin of the term LDU? What is the thickness of the ledge under a tile for fingernails? What LDU diameters exist? What distance in mm/inches is an LDU? Love your content I’m hooked! Bravo!
Thanks! I don't know much about the technical naming or measuring if LDUs tbh I need so.eone to educate me further. I have ben told the name comes from the L Draw Project but I don't know what that is.
1 LDU is 0.4 mm. The term LDU originates from the official, Lego-produced software L-Draw. As far as doameters, it is best figured out by looking at mm measurements and dividing by 4. Studs themselves are outside the LDU system, as they need precise sizing to create just the right amount of bending and clutch power.
I’ve actually seen this a lot when using Studio 2.0. Like, using the smallest setting, I need to move a brick 8 across to get it to move a plate’s thickness. Thanks for making this! I guess I knew there was a term, I just didn’t think much about what it was.
Ah, those memories. I actually have bitten off the lower end of the headlight bricks back in the days to overcome that they are not stackable - it wasn't such a great idea and it didn't help me a lot.
You're my current favorite lego channel specifically because you talk about techniques. I couldn't care less about looking at other people lego collection, but talking about the joy of building and playing with lego...I'm all in. Is it possible to build all the way up to 20 LDU in one LDU increments?
yes it's possible, you have jumpers that offsets by -10 LDU, headlight bricks which are -4 LDU, bracket which offsets by +4 LDU the minifigure neckbracket that is 3 LDU and the plates/tiles which are 8 LDU. With those numbers you can make every possible by adding them up. For example: 1 LDU -> jumper offsets by -10, normal brick with a minifig bracket +3, tile +8 = 1 3 -> brick with minifig bracket = 3 5 LDU -> put a jumper -10, then a tile on the ground which is -20 so you have -30, put a reverse headlight brick on the jumper with a snot brick so you get +10, so total -20. Put a minifigbracket on the snot brick = -17. Put a headlight brick attached to the minifig bracket which is +6 so -11, 1 plate you get to -3, 1 tile you get to +5 LDU. It takes a bit of thinking but this way you can get to every number.
Thank you for making these. Lovely techniques in all of your videos, really makes learning some of these obscure techniques easy for those of us new to more advanced stuff/MOCs. I think the only thing that is missing is examples of somethings you can actually make with the techniques. For me at least, the techniques make sense, and I can see how they would be useful, but I can’t visualize a build that actually uses them, if that makes sense. Like is this technique useful for roofs, walls, or is it more to add some variation for greebling? Some examples would be awesome.
@@bricksculpt I think that more advanced builders can see uses for some of these more advanced techniques, but for newer builders it can be difficult to see the use-case. Something like the sugar grids is easy to visualize use-cases for, whereas something a bit more challenging to pull off and has much less obvious uses makes it a bit more difficult to visualize, if that makes sense. Even screenshots of MOCs that exist out there that use the techniques would be great. Could just be a me issue though, haha. Overall no complaints about your videos, absolutely love them. The way you break stuff down is great, and really accessible. Glad I found your channel early in my return to Lego as an AFOL after loving Lego throughout my childhood.
Please keep doing this dives into Lego technique! It's very interesting. Like someone else said, I came because the algy trew the Obelisk at me, then came the hinges episode 1 2 3 4 5 6. and the awesome small competitions you've run. the sugare grid (which lego actually uses to rotate the branches on their big christmas tree (I spotted that in the video that goes around of the HUGE 3d printed tree)) and now you show us how LDU works, I've heared the term the first time on your channel, but it answered quite a few questions I subcontionly had (mostly HOW? did they do that? when I saw a nice moc)
This video was under an article about Legos I read on LDU's. I was intrigued. We are a huge LEGO family! My 12 year old son makes stop-motion videos, not for RUclips, but he's getting really good! We have an awesome minifigure collection. He has been trying to get into bigger builds and mechanics. Excited to see what you do! Maybe we will make a channel . . .
1. We want to see the line! Get 10 neck brackets and make the line (you can go down to just one stud at each increment) 2. Does Lego provide official measurements for the neck brackets so that we can check whether it’s 3 each way, or if 2.5 exists as one commenter suggests? 3. Can you give the LDUs for common small measurements? The fingernail groove on the tiles, the bevel ring on technic bricks, the baseplate thickness, etc. 4. Can you show all the ways of achieving a 1 LDU increment you’ve heard of? 5. I have to disagree with the commenters talking about infinitely adjustable techniques, the scope of this discussion should be constrained to “locked” techniques.
4. This is the only one I know well but I think there are a few other pieces out there with 3 ldu but limited or poor connect ability suce as the top plate of hinge pieces.
Ive also encountered some lego tolerances on brackets, specifically the part 99780 when you put two of them together, one upside down and try to connect them together with a plate. they dont quite sit flush and they push against each other. im curious how many ldu's those tolerances are
Those minifig backplates can be bought directly from legos online PAB, so not that difficult to get by. Ah, scrap that, I just saw your newer video on the subject where you tell it's only the older bracket that works :p
I already made a small mistake above, but it's easily fixed. The. Height of a plate is 3.2 mm making an LDU 0.4 mm. An unsharpened pencil from the early 1990's is exactly 500 LDUs or 200 mm. Which is 7&⅞ inches. It's width between sides is 7.1mm or 17.75 LDU. Its width at the corners where sides meet is interestingly 18.75 LDU or 7.5mm. A 12 stud length is 96mm or 240 LDU. So, if your pencil is 12 studs wide only from side to side, the model of an unsharpened one would need to be just over 3.35 meters tall or almost 11 feet. However. Interesting measurement comes up with a nice round 6 inches between the pencil band and the base of the sharpened end after its initial sharpening. That's 381 LDU or 152.4 mm. Shoot. I'm confusing myself and wondering if all my math is wrong. The big pencil has to be wider than 12 studs. Which means you're going to need it to be taller but then, it is a sharpened one and therefore, you make it as tall as you have room for and it'll be plenty tall. I don't see any need to go from floor to vaulted ceiling height, but it's already getting close at 16 studs wide. 11 feet is more than most floors of most buildings, because we are not tall enough to require that kind of headroom. Max Headroom...... remember that guy!
I love it when you go off on random stuff like this lol it's fascinating and relevant to the conversation. I just never know how to reply but these comments are great!!!
What I would like to see you do is the most efficient way to have tiles on snot bricks lying flush vertically with bricks/tiles so you can incorporate a design
Got it. Not sure if there is a whole video there but maybe I can combine it with something. The simple short answer is any technique that has a round 20 LDU. Bracket/plate/tile, Headlight/plate/plate/Tile.
dang i was really waiting to the see the 1ldu step build 🤣 bonus video talking about the lego 4ldu standard in the comment above with a 1ldu step building incoming? 😀😀😀
The neck bracket was redesigned to be 4 Ldu wide in 2018 and is referred as the "thick back wall" one. But the original 3 ldu one used until 2020. I dont know if it is discontinued. I couldnt find if this is adressed in the comments.
One question: If we take technic brick with cross hole, put a lightsaber bar through it and add 1x1 round plate with hole plus tile on bar's end, we can move this tile by sliding the bar through the technic brick on whatever distance we need. Even smaller than 1 LDU. Will it still count or not?
Can we see 20 LDU incrcrements in a row like you did with the others? Also is the Hinge Brick Top Plate (3938) also 3 LDU? I always thought it was 1/4 of a plate so 2 LDU
I was under the impression that lego pieces are 8x8x9 (mm) for a 1x1, and plates are 3mm tall (1/3rd of a brick). But if that's the case, then 2.5 plates would be 7.5mm, not 8, and so the width of a brick would not be 2.5 plates. So, either I am mistaken (very possibly), or the 2.5 figure is just a "within tolerance / rounding" issue. Can you clarify the actual sizes for me please?
The origin of the LDU is the fan created LEGO CAD program LDraw, dating way back from the MS-DOS operating system era. This was the first program that allowed you to create custom building instructions of your personal creations.
Later rewrites of it emerged, for Windows/Linux as MLCad, and for Windows/Linux/ macOS as LeoCAD, all happening long before LEGO themselves made a similar proprietary application available. Both MLCad and LeoCAD continue to use the (by the community still being updated) library of brick model/shape definition files in the original LDdraw format.
Because it is necessary to model the smallest discernible details on elements, like the finger nail groove on the sides of tile parts for instance, the base 1 LDU was carefully chosen as the lowest common denominator distance needed to model each individual subsection of a LEGO part effectively.
🫡 excellent information to add on, thank you! 🙏
That would explain why basically everything is an even number of LDU's. It probably was also LEGO's internal measurement unit for part definitions in their proprietary software, but everyone used an even multiple for the parts (and probably usually multiples of 4, unless a part included jumper features). And then one day someone came along and made the minifig neck bracket (and those other obscure parts). And two LDU's was too flimsy and 4 LDU looked too fat, so they said "well, 3 LDU is technically a legal measurement in the system". At least that's how I like to image we arrived at actually being able to achieve 1 LDU accuracy.
Tgank you for tge detailed explanation!
Just want to add that the grid system in Bricklink Studio also uses LDU's. Which makes sense as the software was built using the LDraw part library.
@@bricksculpt gas tge key with G and J on eitger side witggeld functionality?
I was slightly disappointed finding out that you didn't build a full row with the smallest LDU possible.
seconded, i really hope he builds a full row with 1 LDU increments in the next video about this
Sorry I need meck brackets!!! **putting in cart now**
I guess I have to now lol
@@bricksculpt there are other ways! check out my comment about the fence pieces
Yes please ❣️@@bricksculpt
Did you also know there is an official unit lego themselves uses in their technical drawings? They use a length of 4 ldu as 1 because it's the lowest common denominator between the height of bricks and the width of bricks. So that you can describe both with whole numbers.
a 1x1 brick is 5 units wide, 6 units tall, the stud on top is 3 units wide, the sidewalls are 1 unit wide, the hole in an open stud is 2 units wide, which is of course the width of each bar element. And the small pin of things like indian feathers is 1 unit wide.
A grill plate for example nicely divides in 5 with this system. Now all of this is not taking in account lego tolerances for clutch power etc, which is why you can't put a plate in-between two studs sideways legally.
But theoretically this makes for a really beautiful system, all with round numbers. Smaller than stud measurements, but easier to estimate than the super small LDUs. I don't remember if that unit has a name. But maybe you can do a video about this as well?
I figured all this out when making 3d models of a whole collection of different bricks and doing some research. Once i set the grid as 1 unit for 4 LDU's everything just clicked into place. (pun intended) [and only jumper plates throw a bit of a spanner in the system with their 2.5 unit offset]
Very very interesting thanks for adding this!
@@DrTheRich also excellent contribution
This is also the unit I find most helpful to work with, as it's pretty rare that I dip into smaller increments.
that's 1/16 inch right?
@@12... Lego is designed in the metric system. It's 1.6mm, but it's so close 1/16" that the answer to your question might as well be: Yes.
Came for the obelisk, subscribed for the education. Always impressed with your content. No other channel on Lego offers the information you provide.
Thank you so much for your continued support!
Really amazing stuff, glad I stumbled across the channel today too!
Not so much of a Lego builder myself, but I just LOVE watching how you (and your community) use and discover these very clever techniques to achieve some great technical builds with just moving some Lego pieces around in a really smart way. The ingenuity behind these is so entertaining to me! Keep it up, love all your content!
Wow, thank you so much!!!
@@bricksculpt Omg thank you! Here since the start of the obelisk videos and so glad I found your channel!
Thank you for this. I knew about half-plate (4 LDU) elements, but hadn’t realised there was a 3 LDU element, so until now I hadn’t understood why the LDU was chosen.
Yeah it's rare but it definitely exists. Just curious where have you gotten LDU information action in the past?
@@bricksculpt Not sure exactly, but from a blog post (or posts) somewhere, as far as I can recall. Your video was the first time I’d seen it clearly explained though - and with very practical demonstrations.
I'm convinced that you're a wizard slowly unlocking the secrets of the universe.
It would be interesting to see this and some of the other methods used recently like the sugar grids for other applications, or stuff like building this into the ground for gradual steps.
Today we found the planck length of the lego universe lol
Fascinating! As a hardcore Lego collector and fan of examining elements and their possibilities, this is new for me. Thanks for educting me on this topic! Another good piece for creating 1LDU offsets is the 1x4 base 2 high latticed fence piece. It has 6 LDU centered in a 20LDU plate, creating 7 LDU gaps on either side. Havent found others yet but will search my collection now!
Edit: also suspection the old 2x1 plate with vertical bar (it was redesigned to fix this?) to have an uneven offset. If you put a 1x1 brick with snot hole on it, it seems to have a 1 LDU gap
Edit 2: also curious on the difference between a technic hole height vs a jumper brick hole height. Might be 1 LDU?? Hmmm
Lego Goblet pieces also have a height offset of 3 LDU, which can be used to create increments of 1 LDU.
I don't know what you mean by jumper bricks for certain, but I think you are referring to what I would call a snot brick, and the height difference is actually 0.1 mm, which is 1/4 LDU. 0.1 mm is also the tolerance on each side of a bricks, though that is just coincidence.
Bro I just spent the entirety of yesterday looking into LDU for a MOC, hilarious
Pretty weak info out there isn't it?
@@bricksculpt yeah. It’s not too hard to find the basic measurements, but trying to find parts with specific dimensions is not easy.
Another great visual tutorial. You are carving a very unique niche for the Lego RUclips community. Well done!
Thanks!
I just love the way you go about learning and explaining things. Sometimes I miss the old, minifig interior video's you made in the beginning, but then you go and do something like this, which is just amazing! Loving it!
Thanks, yeah I need to do more build videos. I have one minibuild ready to go but it's more technique focused. I'm taking a short vacation post Christmas when I get back I'll try to get back on the tips tricks and techniques videos and the minibuilds.
@bricksculpt you deserve a vacation. You've been working around the clock, making these beautiful and helpful videos for us. 🤩 Have a very merry Christmas and enjoy your vacation!
Thanks!
Up until now the best tutorial on this taper was pausing frame by frame on your obelisk videos 😂 thanks for putting this out there!!
I think one clarification I’d make is that the minifig neck bracket to achieve this is rare/hard to come by because it’s no longer in production. The mold was updated to be thicker (the width of a bracket). So the easier piece to obtain now will not achieve 1 LDU
Ok good to know I knew it was gone I didn't know it was replaced.
While this is the smallest in terms of normally stated/understood part dimensions, you can actually cut 1 LDU into fourths, at exactly 0.1 mm. This can be done in a few ways. When standing vertical, a 2x2 plate or tile is actually 0.2 mm shorter than 5 stacked plates. Mounting it with a snot brick will leave a 1 mm gap on the top and on the bottom. Alternatively, and very simply, you can also have an axle or rubber band hold a brick down on a flat surface, resulting in that gap appearing.
But finally, and the most satisfying/"correct" way of doing is with technic bricks and snot bricks. Due to a very slight difference in the height the holes/pins are above the base of the piece, the snot bricks will be raised 0.1 mm, or 1/4 LDU, above the surface.
Finally, I want to mention the Lego tiles and plates create a step, but it is not officially stated what the gap is, and it is at most 0.01 mm. This would be the smallest, but it unfortunately has no previse known value, and can't be stepped along even incriments of a single plate.
That's an interesting take on it. Not sure how applicable it is to building as those are super miniscule increments and hard to.quantify. but interesting none the less.
Your channel is really really giving me a lego building itch. It's been a while since I've worked on any mocs because my big bin is in storage. Low-key one of the reasons I'm excited that my wife and I just bought a house is for lego storage and building space.
Nice get after it!!!
EXCELLENT VIDEO! At the beginning when you said you could divide the width of one brick into 20 levels I thought you must be joking! But holy cow, you were totally right!
I think out of my entire collection, over thirty years of collecting, I have acquired maybe 3-4 of those neck bracket pieces at the end. I always used them just to make cooler jetpacks and air tanks for minifigs!
Now I will be on the lookout for more!
I just subscribed to your channel. Thanks so much for posting this! 😁
Thank you so much I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Another example: The technic bush on the round side can be used as an antistud 1 LDU deep.
thank you!! I literally can never find stuff about ldu
Thanks. I hope it was well explained. Im with you nobody has done a great breakdown that I can find.
Same
Wasn't expecting anything out of the video, turned out to be quite interesting. Thanks!
I'm glad you liked it!
This is some amazing stuff, I haven't heard of LDU's before this video (likely due to what you said about not enough sufficient info being out there) so thanks for the vid!
Thank you so much. I'm glad it was helpful.
Ahhh this is why you continue to be my favorite channel!! I keep finding that the more you think about these kinds of super niche nerdy Lego dimensions the more mastery you have over the whole system!
also the impact you continue to have on my current moc is always growing, I’m gonna have to give you a big shoutout when it’s done 😉
Wow thank you so much!
I believe the neck bracket got changed some years back so now all modern neck brackets are in line with standard brackets
It's funny because I knew it for years, but I also thought it's basic knowledge that doesn't even have a name (I just were always using 2 ldu steps, because I didn't know about neck piece being 3 ldu)
2 ldu is more commonly used 3 or 1 ldu is very rare
Such a wonderful channel for people looking to advance their building techniques. Always information new to me to be found here! 🙏
Appreciate the kind words!
Great information! Keep it coming. We need more videos like the ones you're doing.
Thanks! Will do!
This is great. I can think of so many uses for this technique. From walls to buildings and a few others. Thanks so much for sharing this. I thought I knew all there was to know about lego math... you keep proving me wrong lol. Great video and extremely useful information... as always
Thank you!
Great video! These low ldl increments reminds me a lot of the original obelisk design
Yeah definitely related
Awesome video! True, no one is talking about LDU, I had not heard of these units until your video.
I have encountered this “step/increment” technique before though. Set number 21018 United Nations Headquarters. That set has some fantastic building techniques for its size.
Wait brick layering? Is that what we’re talking about here? Why are we calling it LDU and throwing in all these random numbers if all we’re talking about is simple plate layering?
Thank you!
Very interesting video! The minifigure neck bracket sure is a fascinating piece. I think there might be an even smaller unit hiding there. If you look closely, the part with the hole is actually slightly thinner than the part with the stud. First I assumed it had to be 2 LDU, but it’s not. It’s slightly less than 2,5. This allows you to make a Pythagorean triangle of 20 x 80 x 82,46211… LDU. The only time I ever saw this put to use was in the 40683 Flower Trellis Display set (a GWP from a couple of months ago). It’s such a weirdly specific number that it almost has to be intentional. I’m still trying to figure out other uses for it.
that's insane, they used it as a spacer to match up the technic pieces snugly to the grid instead of letting it have play along the axel
@@Kavukamari They also used it to attach flowers to the side of the vine, which is probably the main reason it was used.
This is one of the best Lego videos on RUclips, thanks man!
Your welcome. Thank you!
Another excellent informative video. Well done! I was wondering just how big the ‘groove’ in a tile was; now I know = 1 LDU!
I think I know I no one’s talking about this… but it was surprisingly a very entertaining video to watch
Thanks!
The neck bracket can be very useful to fill up some weird small gaps I find.
amazing video! Your videos got me back into Lego. can't wait for an obelisk update!
Thank you so much! Yes I need to get back on the Obelisk and pencil, I have gotten a little sidetracked into the grid rabbit hole.
@bricksculpt loved the grid rabbit hole!!
@@bricksculpt Thankfully the rabbit was well fed with all the sugar cane in it 🙂
Lol
Thank you. I must try this for myself as I have a few "minifig neck brackets" and used one recently to fill a gap.
I put up a few Build videos of Lightsaber designs. My terminology is accurate, but somewhat unnecessarily complicated 😂. Thanks for the little glossary included in this tutorial. My whole life I measured pieces by studs or "bumps" as we called them growing up. I had no idea how mathetical these things were. It works the same way as music!
That's really interesting about the music comparison thanks!
The way I taught myself SNOT technique is not to think of a plate's height as the smallest unit but the height of the STUD (4 LDU tall). Since a 1x1 brick has a ratio of 5:5:6 (5x5 and 6 tall), thinking in units of Stud-height (let's call it '$' for short) means doing math with whole numbers, not decimals or LDUs.
So a 1x1 brick is 5$ wide (not 2.5 plates), 5$ long, and 6$ tall. This means that a plate/tile is 2$ tall. The thin part of a bracket sticks out 1$. A headlight brick is recessed 1$. If you're building something with SNOT width-wise or length-wise, you just need to get your $'s to add up to something divisible by 5 so it fits on Lego's x/y grid. If you're building with SNOT height-wise, your $'s have to add up to something divisible by 6. Make sense?
If you think in units of a Stud's height, then so many things in Lego become apparent because they are that width. The LDU might be the ideal base unit, but it's too small for humans to differentiate. The Stud's height is base-y enough to do clean math and easier for human eyes to notice.
Makes sense it can definitely be easier to work in bigger units. Many people like to think in base 10 meaning 2 ldu is the smallest. It's usually more practical.
This was a very interesting video. I now have an idea for a city diorama which has these very slight angles. Also, I think it would be interesting if LDUs were incorporated into the next challenge. :)
That's a thought. We will see.
im in love with legos again, what have you done 😔
i wish they were easier for me to get, tysm for all the educational material, been loving the channel recently
Reminds me of the old obelisk video! Very inspiring as always, thanks
Yeah very similar lol
Yeah, we need more channels like this!
I was studying the quarter shift, but didn't know anything about LDU measurements (and the 1 LDU shift). This is quite cool but I agree it won't be very useful most cases.
I have discovered the need of 2 LDU shifts when I tried to have a 7 stud wide train using the basic 6 stud wide train frames, to see if I could create a sturdy 7 wide train.
Because the chassis would be half a stud wide on both sides and I don't want to use a lot of jumpers, I was trying to come up with a SNOT technique to do that and that's how I learnt about the 2 LDU shifts.
However, I would never have expected that 1 LDU shifts actually existed!
This is amazing, my jaw dropped when your revealed it was 3LDU thickness! Would love to see each step in different Lego colours, pick a palette you like! Then comparing ‘staircases’ would be visually really clear by colour as well as geometry. What is the origin of the term LDU? What is the thickness of the ledge under a tile for fingernails? What LDU diameters exist? What distance in mm/inches is an LDU? Love your content I’m hooked! Bravo!
Thanks! I don't know much about the technical naming or measuring if LDUs tbh I need so.eone to educate me further. I have ben told the name comes from the L Draw Project but I don't know what that is.
1 LDU is 0.4 mm. The term LDU originates from the official, Lego-produced software L-Draw. As far as doameters, it is best figured out by looking at mm measurements and dividing by 4. Studs themselves are outside the LDU system, as they need precise sizing to create just the right amount of bending and clutch power.
Thanks!
Flip it on the side and you have the smoothest staircase ever
Yeah lol
Wheelchair ramp? Need to make sure our buildings are accessible to all minifigs!
I'm so happy I subbed here! You make awesome content!
Thank you so much!
I’ve actually seen this a lot when using Studio 2.0. Like, using the smallest setting, I need to move a brick 8 across to get it to move a plate’s thickness. Thanks for making this! I guess I knew there was a term, I just didn’t think much about what it was.
You are welcome. Thanks for watching!
Looking forward to your videos on how 45° and other unusual angles can be used to create sub-1 LDU facade variance
Ah, those memories. I actually have bitten off the lower end of the headlight bricks back in the days to overcome that they are not stackable - it wasn't such a great idea and it didn't help me a lot.
Ouch your teeth lol. I'll admit I tried it as a kid also but with a knife not my teeth
That was really good - thanks much!
You're very welcome!
If I'm not mistaken, it's only the retired neck bracket that is that thin, right? The newer ones I have are a normal half-plate thickness.
That's what I have been told yes.
Yes, and I believe the only way you can still make single LDU offsets with parts that are still around is with minifigure goblet pieces.
Oh what does a goblet measure?
@@bricksculpt 5 plates and 3 LDU, according to a site called Brick Camp
That's very good to know. I wonder it that includes a stud stuck in the end.
Nice in depth lesson! Keep 'em comming please ;)
Thanks, will do!
You're my current favorite lego channel specifically because you talk about techniques. I couldn't care less about looking at other people lego collection, but talking about the joy of building and playing with lego...I'm all in.
Is it possible to build all the way up to 20 LDU in one LDU increments?
yes it's possible, you have jumpers that offsets by -10 LDU, headlight bricks which are -4 LDU, bracket which offsets by +4 LDU the minifigure neckbracket that is 3 LDU and the plates/tiles which are 8 LDU. With those numbers you can make every possible by adding them up. For example:
1 LDU -> jumper offsets by -10, normal brick with a minifig bracket +3, tile +8 = 1
3 -> brick with minifig bracket = 3
5 LDU -> put a jumper -10, then a tile on the ground which is -20 so you have -30, put a reverse headlight brick on the jumper with a snot brick so you get +10, so total -20. Put a minifigbracket on the snot brick = -17. Put a headlight brick attached to the minifig bracket which is +6 so -11, 1 plate you get to -3, 1 tile you get to +5 LDU.
It takes a bit of thinking but this way you can get to every number.
@colemantrebor6574 that's awesome...I think I may try that to see. It'll be a motley collections of colors but could be neat.
Wow thank you so much!
Yes you can build up to 20 ldu by 1 ldu increments.
Great video! Couldn't have explained it in a better way.
It's a huge relief hearing that from you Luca! I must have done it well. You are the LDU master thanks!
Thank you for making these. Lovely techniques in all of your videos, really makes learning some of these obscure techniques easy for those of us new to more advanced stuff/MOCs.
I think the only thing that is missing is examples of somethings you can actually make with the techniques.
For me at least, the techniques make sense, and I can see how they would be useful, but I can’t visualize a build that actually uses them, if that makes sense.
Like is this technique useful for roofs, walls, or is it more to add some variation for greebling? Some examples would be awesome.
Yeah I agree. I could try to make dome examples, but tgat where your creative side has to determine what it is and make it work for that.
@@bricksculpt I think that more advanced builders can see uses for some of these more advanced techniques, but for newer builders it can be difficult to see the use-case.
Something like the sugar grids is easy to visualize use-cases for, whereas something a bit more challenging to pull off and has much less obvious uses makes it a bit more difficult to visualize, if that makes sense. Even screenshots of MOCs that exist out there that use the techniques would be great.
Could just be a me issue though, haha.
Overall no complaints about your videos, absolutely love them. The way you break stuff down is great, and really accessible. Glad I found your channel early in my return to Lego as an AFOL after loving Lego throughout my childhood.
Please keep doing this dives into Lego technique! It's very interesting. Like someone else said, I came because the algy trew the Obelisk at me, then came the hinges episode 1 2 3 4 5 6. and the awesome small competitions you've run. the sugare grid (which lego actually uses to rotate the branches on their big christmas tree (I spotted that in the video that goes around of the HUGE 3d printed tree)) and now you show us how LDU works, I've heared the term the first time on your channel, but it answered quite a few questions I subcontionly had (mostly HOW? did they do that? when I saw a nice moc)
Thank you. I. So glad people are finding it useful. It has also pushed abilities quite further than I thought it would.
Crazy stuff, never heard of such unit!
I hear Alanis Morrisette singing “Ten thousand plates, when all you need is a curve…”
Lol
If you had enough of those neck brackets, you could build something with a very smooth slope, like a, oh I don't know, an OBELISK maybe . . . .
Lol yeah Luca did it
Love this! Thanks!
You're so welcome!
You're doing amazing work!
Thank you!
Never stop posting
Lol I'll do my best
When a Lego builder says : they are very rare... That means only he owns not enough of this piece today
Yeah pretty much lol they aren't that rare lol.
This video was under an article about Legos I read on LDU's. I was intrigued. We are a huge LEGO family! My 12 year old son makes stop-motion videos, not for RUclips, but he's getting really good! We have an awesome minifigure collection. He has been trying to get into bigger builds and mechanics. Excited to see what you do! Maybe we will make a channel . . .
That's awesome I'm glad you found the channel!
If you don't mind me asking where did you find the article?
1. We want to see the line! Get 10 neck brackets and make the line (you can go down to just one stud at each increment)
2. Does Lego provide official measurements for the neck brackets so that we can check whether it’s 3 each way, or if 2.5 exists as one commenter suggests?
3. Can you give the LDUs for common small measurements? The fingernail groove on the tiles, the bevel ring on technic bricks, the baseplate thickness, etc.
4. Can you show all the ways of achieving a 1 LDU increment you’ve heard of?
5. I have to disagree with the commenters talking about infinitely adjustable techniques, the scope of this discussion should be constrained to “locked” techniques.
1. I will buy some neck brackets and do it just for you.
2. I'm not sure I have never seen LDU talk by Lego themselves.
3. I'm not great at measuring LDU outside of the technique I just showed in the video.
4. This is the only one I know well but I think there are a few other pieces out there with 3 ldu but limited or poor connect ability suce as the top plate of hinge pieces.
5. I agree it's for locked techniques so it's different but could in some applications be interchangeable!
Yo great job with the channel! 🎉🎉🎉
Doing good
And thx for the content I always enjoy watching your vids and I learn alot
Thank you so much!
Ive also encountered some lego tolerances on brackets, specifically the part 99780 when you put two of them together, one upside down and try to connect them together with a plate. they dont quite sit flush and they push against each other. im curious how many ldu's those tolerances are
That's an interesting thought. Someone really mathy could figure out I'm sure.
@bricksculpt so i did some searching, and i think the tolerance on the brackets is 0.1 mm, and 1 LDU is 0.4 mm
the 2 ldu increment one looks like a great way to make a tile roof.
That would be cool
Great educational video.
Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed it!
You can build an overcomplicated assembly to get microscopic increments... or you could just not push the tile down properly.
Lol yes true
Super useful information for snot
Thanks
Which neck bracket mold are you using? New thick (28974) or old thin (42446)?
The old one is 3 LDU
You forgot to mention, that this originates from the LDraw project.
That's because I'm unfamiliar. Please enlighten me what is the l draw project?
That's because I'm unfamiliar. Please enlighten me what is the l draw project?
I definitely was not thinking of this at all. Not one bit. Cool video.
Thanks!
After this video I feel like a true expert despite that my latest building technique completely rejects LDU 😄
Awesome I'm glad it was helpful!
Stunning lesson!
Thank you
Those minifig backplates can be bought directly from legos online PAB, so not that difficult to get by.
Ah, scrap that, I just saw your newer video on the subject where you tell it's only the older bracket that works :p
Are you planning on using this for the obelisk? I’m curious how to integrate corners with this. If it’s even possible
A few fans have already done it on the Discord server
Excellent content ❤
Thank you so much
"The Longest Staircase in Minecraft" :)
sorry, I feel kinda unappropriate but can't not-notice the affinities...
Omg, I found my spirit animal channel
I already made a small mistake above, but it's easily fixed. The. Height of a plate is 3.2 mm making an LDU 0.4 mm. An unsharpened pencil from the early 1990's is exactly 500 LDUs or 200 mm. Which is 7&⅞ inches. It's width between sides is 7.1mm or 17.75 LDU. Its width at the corners where sides meet is interestingly 18.75 LDU or 7.5mm.
A 12 stud length is 96mm or 240 LDU. So, if your pencil is 12 studs wide only from side to side, the model of an unsharpened one would need to be just over 3.35 meters tall or almost 11 feet.
However. Interesting measurement comes up with a nice round 6 inches between the pencil band and the base of the sharpened end after its initial sharpening. That's 381 LDU or 152.4 mm.
Shoot. I'm confusing myself and wondering if all my math is wrong. The big pencil has to be wider than 12 studs. Which means you're going to need it to be taller but then, it is a sharpened one and therefore, you make it as tall as you have room for and it'll be plenty tall. I don't see any need to go from floor to vaulted ceiling height, but it's already getting close at 16 studs wide. 11 feet is more than most floors of most buildings, because we are not tall enough to require that kind of headroom.
Max Headroom...... remember that guy!
I love it when you go off on random stuff like this lol it's fascinating and relevant to the conversation. I just never know how to reply but these comments are great!!!
The sides of old panels, maybe some panels today, were less than 4 LDU. Wonder if they were 2 or 3?
Not sure interesting.
What I would like to see you do is the most efficient way to have tiles on snot bricks lying flush vertically with bricks/tiles so you can incorporate a design
Got it. Not sure if there is a whole video there but maybe I can combine it with something. The simple short answer is any technique that has a round 20 LDU. Bracket/plate/tile, Headlight/plate/plate/Tile.
Holy crap! And thank you!
You're welcome!
Needed this 100%
Now let me ask you is there a different unit system for Lego technic?
Probably the same but I don't do much with technic.
Bro, do you even sleep???😂 i love this
Hardly
Thanks!
dang i was really waiting to the see the 1ldu step build 🤣 bonus video talking about the lego 4ldu standard in the comment above with a 1ldu step building incoming? 😀😀😀
Coming soon
The neck bracket was redesigned to be 4 Ldu wide in 2018 and is referred as the "thick back wall" one. But the original 3 ldu one used until 2020. I dont know if it is discontinued.
I couldnt find if this is adressed in the comments.
Oh you talk about it in the following video, I am catching up.
It's all good thanks!
Now you gotta order those minifig brackets to make the full slope
In a cart will get after vacation!
I would like to see an OBELISK with one LDU steps. It must be possible, at some scale.
One question:
If we take technic brick with cross hole, put a lightsaber bar through it and add 1x1 round plate with hole plus tile on bar's end, we can move this tile by sliding the bar through the technic brick on whatever distance we need. Even smaller than 1 LDU. Will it still count or not?
Yes I think so. With sliding bricks you can achieve any size
@bricksculpt But if we can achieve any size, why 1 LDU is considered the smallest possible?
It's the smallest locked increment.
Can we see 20 LDU incrcrements in a row like you did with the others?
Also is the Hinge Brick Top Plate (3938) also 3 LDU? I always thought it was 1/4 of a plate so 2 LDU
I will see what I can do!
Instructions unclear, accidentally build a particle accelerator..
Lololol
so what LDU does this piece (32028) on a jumper entail? cuz i think it is 1 LDU
It very well could be I did two videos on that piece and I need to reopen that conversation again lol.
Now I wanna see someone apply this to building the obelisk
Luca did it
I would like to know every part that has an odd number of LDU somewhere. The neck bracket is 3 LDU wide, what other parts are there?
This is going to be a future video for sure.
Amazing!
Thanks!
Welp, time to remake the obelisk using this new knowledge.
Lol it's already been done by fans
In case anyone else is wondering, 1 LDU = 0.4 mm
I was under the impression that lego pieces are 8x8x9 (mm) for a 1x1, and plates are 3mm tall (1/3rd of a brick).
But if that's the case, then 2.5 plates would be 7.5mm, not 8, and so the width of a brick would not be 2.5 plates.
So, either I am mistaken (very possibly), or the 2.5 figure is just a "within tolerance / rounding" issue.
Can you clarify the actual sizes for me please?
What is the height ldu difference between a headlight brick and a technic pin hole brick?
I need to investigate this one further. Likely a future video