Modeling to real world scale?

[Anonymous]

I've went step by step through the Maya tutorial page and I feel I have a good grasp on everything. However, I have some questions I cant quite find the answers too. I've been going through forums on modeling to "real world scale" but it just doesn't look right in maya... I did not change unit size because I heard it causes problems down the line. I have 1 unit = 1 centimeter.

For example, if I were to model a 5 story building (50 feet) I would create a cube 1524 centimeters tall. Is that correct? This size of the building compared to the grid is outrageous. It doesn't seem right...

Maybe this is a stupid question but I'd like to know I'm doing this correctly before I finish and it's wrong. If anyone could help I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

[weshowe]

Setting a different scale works, but there are a few functions (such as the HIK Skeleton Generator) that misbehave in other than centimeter scales. But pretty much all of the basic modeling functions work fine.

If you don't want to change to meters, or something else (in which case your building will still be disproportional to the grid) change the grid size. Click the square options box in the Display -> Grid menu and change the length and width parameter from 12 to 1200 and the gridlines every parameter from 5 to 500 and zoom out and your scene will look the same as if you had set meters.

When using large scales, sometimes you have to set the "far clip plane" value in the camera attributes to a larger value. You will know you need to do this if the far part of the grid (or your model) just fades out in the distance. I generally set the near plane to 0.1 and the far plane to 10000. that seems to work well for both small models and large buildings.

<* Wes *>

[weshowe]

Man, you asked this same question a bunch of times. I answered it once, try and find it. 🙂

<* Wes *>

[Anonymous]

Thank you Wes and I apologize for the numerous posts. I realized I shouldn't have afterwards and couldn't delete them.

I was using the grid as a reference to show how big the building is. My main concern is scale. Is it correct to model the building at real world size, if so the size of the building in my attachment is correct and I can move on?

If you or anyone could explain modeling to real world scale or how they scale while modeling in general that would be awesome. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

you can change your grids length and width in the grid display options.
changing your grid ONLY changes the grid you use to measure with. it doesn't change your model, texture, or animation scale. only how many notches you put on your ruler.
change your ruler to a KM and your CM box will still be a CM, you'll just have a really big ruler to measure it with.

http://mbah.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/8-17-2011-10-21-16-PM.png

for a building that size you will need to be able to have your grid measure it all.
so change length and width to about 4000.
(that will reach from -2000 to +2000)

grid line every 100 units ( 100 CM = one meter) subdivisions 100 ( so you have a subdivision every CM)

try those setting, understand what they mean, and post back here if you have any questions.

[weshowe]

Scale is always a relative thing. If you are making multiple things that have to go together, then having them all made (or converted) to the same scale is mandatory if they are to be used together, as in a rendering or a game engine. Or whatever.

An absolute scale would be important if you were sending a file to somewhere that had specified an exact scale. But in general, an exact scale is not important, so long as you know enough to make all of the parts that go together be scaled relative to each other.

Example, you can leave Maya in centimeters and pretend it is meters. Make your building 15 units tall. Make the guy that will stand in front of it 1.7 units tall, and so on. Your visual result will be the same as if you had made the building 1500 units tall and the guy 170.

Seems like most (or at least a lot) of the game engines anymore have moved to FBX format, and some more to COLLADA. Exporting through FBX or COLLADA allows you to convert units. Multipliers such as 100, .01 and so on are applied during the export process to change the scale.

The real determinant as to what to do is to look at the end product you want to produce and have that drive your actions. I personally usually leave Maya in centimeters and pretend it is meters, making all my characters about 1.7 units tall, my buildings about 3 meters/story, and so on. But I will say that is not necessarily better than modeling in real centimeters, just more convenient, because I know I can convert the scale of any exported files easily. And also, I am not doing any architectural visualization work, just game and video projects, which will all work just fine as long as everything is scaled relative to everything else.

<* Wes *>

[Anonymous]

Thank you, I knew I could change the size of the grid but I didn't think about changing it to resemble a ruler. Thats definitely a good idea.

However, I was using the grid as a reference to show how big the building is. My main concern is scale. Is it correct to model the building at real world size, if so the size of the building in my attachment is correct and I can move on?

If you or anyone could explain modeling to real world scale or how they scale while modeling in general that would be awesome. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Sorry to revive a 2 year old discussion. But Nicholas is right. The question wasn't really answered and I believe it is because there is a prefered/chosen method by the majority. Excuse me if I'm wrong.

I would also like to know if his route was "acceptable"....

Of course I understand the idea of a building being 3 meters and a character being 1.7 meters...but in real life a person being 3 feet tall would be a midget. And the FOV and perspective is what matters, especially through a 1st person view.

If scale is more arbitrary than specific, is there a way to achieve a near close scale to the real world size/measurements? 

[santd]

I think it is an acceptable workflow for modeling to real world scale. However, there are certain mental ray functions that fail if an object is far from the origin. So if you are going to be baking textures or anything like that you may want to model at a smaller scale depending on the size of your scene as a whole. Aslo the FOV and perspective can all be adjusted in the camera settings so that should help to get the right feel and look.

Cheers,

[Anonymous]

For Architectural modelling, it is right if you go beyond the grid.

I have made a detailed tutorial about how to model in real world scale in Maya.

Check it out in the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF1sEN9B1CA&t=75s

[xeppepo]

Does scale affect dynamics? Does the weight of an object depend on the size of it?  

[DGFA_maya]

This are questions that are leaved open. I do not understand, why the Gus answer about grids and such stuff. The question was pretty clear and nobody answered it right. I have the same understanding problem about the right scale. Not just for modeling - this is not relevant but for simulations, cameras right depth field etc.

So guys, I write here not because I have nothing else to do but for getting an answer to my problem.

When anybody would be so pleasant and explain this problem?

Thanks!

[n.steyl769]

Modeling to real world scale might seem like the right thing to do, and in some cases it is a requirement. But with regards to simulation, remember that you have a cell size that can be adjusted to dial in the detail of fluids for example. When your scene is huge, your simulation will also be bigger. You can cheat this with bigger cell size, but you'll have to be zoomed out in order not to see artifacts in your simulation. So for me, if there is a reason to model at real world scale, I will, but unless it's required, I've found the ideal working scale for Maya to be 1/10. So the guy saying "pretend cm are m" is right. 1/10 works for basically everything, and is easily converted. Unreal Engine scales Maya files correctly with Autoscale checked. They're friends, they get each other.

[899316348]

Hey, the Maya to IRL scaling is 25.4:1 default measurement. Hope this helps