Autodesk’s 3D interactive instructions for LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle
“Requires easy home assembly.” Bah, yeah right! Here’s one solution that will help you get that 1,290 piece LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle put together Christmas morning!
‘Tis Christmas morning. You were up late last night drinking rum and eggnog while you waited for the kids to fall asleep so that you could attend to your Santa duties. Then you were woken before the crack of dawn by excited screeches. “Santa was here! Santa was here! Santa was here!” Needless to say, you’re now rather tired and have a slight headache. What you’d really like to do after the kids have opened their presents is to relax with a cup of coffee for a few minutes before you need to start preparing dinner and getting the turkey in the oven. But, sadly, you don’t get to do that. Why? Because Aunt Hilda’s present to little Billy “Requires easy home assembly” and, as all parents know, that means it consists of 1,000 or more pieces which seem impossible to fit together and a set of instructions written by a sadist who speaks English as a second – or maybe even third – language. To make matters worse, little Billy desperately wants to play with this particular toy and so lingers at your shoulder – overhearing every obscenity you mutter – and interrupting you with idiotic questions while you try to make sense of the instructions (“Is it done yet?” “No, if it was done it wouldn’t still be in 1,000 bits.” “When will it be done?” “In 2015 if you keep on interrupting!”).
If this sounds all too familiar, here’s some great news – at least, it’s great news if Santa will be leaving LEGO® Harry Potter™ Hogwarts™ Castle under the tree and you have an iPad, iPod touch or iPhone. In this case, you can simply grab the Autodesk Inventor Publisher Mobile Viewer app (it’s free) and then download Autodesk’s 3D interactive instructions. The instructions are so easy to follow that little Billy will be able to assemble all 1,290 pieces himself without help and without needing to consult the 196 page manual. Check out this video which shows the instructions being used:
Whether the instructions end up being used by parents or kids, I think they’re a great idea and hope that Autodesk release more.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rob Cohee, Harry Potter and Brett Callow, Rhonda Callow. Rhonda Callow said: Autodesk’s 3D interactive instructions for LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle http://bit.ly/e9KMnh [...]
This thing is really cool and fun..Kids will love it!
How retarded is a kid that can’t figure out the instructions on lego? Unless the child is way under the age range recommendation, he can figure it out. And if he can’t, give up now, that kid’s not going to make it. Life is way harder than that.
Please educate yourself to the need to avoid using “retarded” in this insensensitive manner.
Retarded is accurate English, succinct and descriptive. Unlike the ridiculous P.C. terms people come up with today to describe every illness and characteristic they think reflects poorly on them. Is someone with a skin condition going to be referred to as, “dermalogically-challenged?”
It’s not so much that kids can’t figure out the instructions – it’s that paper instructions only let you view the model from one point of view. Due to the 3D nature of Lego, some pieces end up being obscured from view. This app gives kids incredible flexibility in terms of how they can look at the model. For some kids, this will be the difference between a frustrating experience and one that they will enjoy. And I’m going to assume you’re not a parent… what kind of advice is “give up now”?