Tape Measure

[vector1]

sorry for asking this again- but i racked my
brain for hours trying to figure out how
to measure from one line on the model to
another.. i read every instruction everyone
gave me- i read everything in help..

notice in this attached screen shot i have
a model of a house.. all i need is to know
the feet and inches from one line to another-
preferably from front to back of the house..

also notice i have the "tape" selected in the
command panel.. also notice i have a check in
the "specify length".. the length field also
has 0'0".. BTW- in units setup i have US
standard feet and fractional inches..

the way you see this screen shot i cannot
click anything in the viewing area..
i cannot select any lines to measure.. i
cannot do anything.. i don't know what else
to do..

[Steve_Curley]

Please see this post for help with attachments.

[vector1]

thanks steve..

here is the zipped file..

villa001_1.zip

[ivan_iliev]

Are you sure that’s the file AZ?
All I get is that one (See Attachment).
Anyway it is too late here see you tomorrow morning. :)

ivan

[vector1]

i don't know- but i just clicked on the .zip file here
and that opened winzip and then i clicked on the unzipped
file and 3Ds Max opened it..

[Steve_Curley]

Ivan - select everything except "line06" and hide or delete it. The model is there, but there's an ENORMOUS box which throws everything off.

SU = M, x-dimension is 460 (approx)
SU = ft x-dimension is 1512 (approx)
Which agree with each other, assuming you select "convert units" on the import dialog.
That's one big villa, with over 1700 open edges and co-planar faces all over the shop. 😕

[vector1]

yes steve it's a sloppy sketch.. but isn't that
what sketching is? isn't that what good artists
do?

i have been using revit for five years and that
kind of sketch is just what i need.. the only
thing i do with that sketch is section it in
design review (DWF) and printscreen the images
and import those images into revit for general
tracing.. i don't really need to have any dimension-
i can build the house any size i want- but i
would at least like to get one of the orginal
dimensions to get an idea of what size the artist
had i mind for the house in general..

i'm also searching for more 3Ds Max artists who
design houses.. i would even build an artistic
looking bird house designed in Max..

[vector1]

you can hit render on that house to see what it looks like too..

[ivan_iliev]

Good morning all!
To the issue; When I import the file, without units converting (Thank you Steve for the tip how to find the villa) I’m getting a model in cm.
In my opinion the object is scaled 1000%.
I assigned an XForm modifier and scaled it down giving a value of 10%.
The Villa that I’m having now has steps in the staircase of 15/30cm (formula 2h + a =63)
And parapet = 88cm (Austrian standard for cases like that = 90cm)
Is looking reasonably but is approximate and is just after the standard here in Austria.
What can you do:
Just take one of the details which size you know exactly and using the XForm modifier in the zipped file arrange (scale) it to the standard you are using, that’s all. Keep going!

ivan

Edit: I didn’t know which version you are running therefore I did it in Max 9.

villa_01.zip

[Steve_Curley]

Hi Ivan ;)

The real problem is that az101010 doesn't know how big the villa is supposed to be - that's what he's trying to find out. Not easy with all the variables of System Units, Display Units, Unit conversion on import and so on.

Your suggestion above does seem to make the model a lot more realistic in size - I'd go with that, I think.

[samab]

I’m getting a model in cm.
In my opinion the object is scaled 1000%.

That could mean it is actually modeled in mm. Changing the units to mm it appears to be in scale.

[ivan_iliev]

That’s right Samab, but it could be not just 1000%, who knows,
therefore I did the suggestion with the Transform modifier. In case AZ knows the size of one detail and nearly all those details are having standard sizes in any part of the world. He can find the size of the building just by scaling the gizmo up or down a little bit looking after the size of the “known” detail. I did that many time in my career.
It is not a big problem because the house is one Editable mesh object.

ivan

[vector1]

yes ivan is right and all i need to do is find something i have a good idea
what size it should be and use that to scale the whole thing.. in this case
it is a little hard to find anything i know what the size should be.. but still
i can build this house the size i want.. and yes i also scaled the front steps
they way i think they should be.. at least i know how to measure in 3Ds Max
now and with most models i should be able to measure something.. and
even though i'm not an artist- i think i will buy 3Ds Max 2011 and learn
a few things about it.. i see that the technology foundation of the program
is a little dated but not too bad- born in the early 90s.. and this area forum
is luxurious.. thanks very much everyone..

[ivan_iliev]

AZ, in the zipped file I posted above all that is done the right way, you can use it.
It is after the Austrian (European) standard but must not be that different from the American one.
One important point; if you need this method in the future, always assign XForm modifier and scale the gizmo; NEVER scale it just using the usual scale tool, it is for sub-object scaling.

[vector1]

maybe the artist made it so you couldn't
get a real world measurement of this model-
and i'm not going to try and contact them with
any question like that.. i can keep everything
in perfect size relationship so i guess i can just
make the house any size i want.. i just thought
it would be nice to know what the artist thought
was a good size.. but as you can see i just made
the front entrance about what it should be..

i am lucky to get work like this from a real
artist and i would never say anything to them
about it other than how great it was..