mesh disappearing on zoom

[Anonymous]

Hi, I imported a mesh (fbx) and I have a problem with the object disappearing when I zoom in. It's as is there's a visibility clipping plane or something. Any ideas on how to change this?

Thanks, monks

[Steve_Curley]

Click the Viewport Label (e.g. Perspective) > Viewport Clipping. However, you shouldn't really need to alter that unless your objects are far too big, or small, with respect to the System (NOT Display) Units, so check that as well.

[Anonymous]

I tried changing the system units- up and down by factors of 10 but it didn't alter the behaviour. Looking at the mesh in object properties its dimensions are 25 x15 x17m. Sys units is set to metres. display units are set to metres. The models seems tiny though compare to ths grid size...I had Max set up to work with a terrain map previously, could it be this?

[Steve_Curley]

You can't just change the Units. If you make the units smaller then you also have to make the object larger otherwise the object is also smaller by the same factor. Starting with 25 Meters as an example, change the Units to cm (a factor of 100 smaller). Object is now 25cm. No difference in terms of scale. Make the object 100 times larger it will then be 2500cm which (unsurprisingly) is the same as 25 Meters. You can't do one without doing the other. Use the Rescale World Units utility (Command Panel > Utilities tab) to do it - do NOT use the Select and Scale tool.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Thanks, that's worked. 🙂 Do I have to reset this back for future projects?

monks

[Steve_Curley]

You should set the System Units before anything else (in a new scene). This means knowing in advance (roughly) how big (and small) the largest (and smallest) dimensions will need to be. Depends on the scene as to which units you choose, but bear in mind that Max does not like large dimensions (hundreds of thousands) or very small dimensions (many decimal places) so choose your units carefully and make sure you model to that scale. So in that previous example, set the Units to cm first then create the object 2500cm long. Essentialy use "real world" measurements - 25M = 250 decimeters = 2500cm. You get the idea. You can "play" with the units to a degree, so if M would be too big (requiring decimal places) and cm too small (large dimensions) consider setting the Units to (effectively) Decimeters (1 unit = 10 cm) - a nice "middle ground" in some cases.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi, thanks that fixed it!

monks