Find proper scaling for 3d assets

[dundun92]

Hi.
How do I find the proper scaling of my blender model so that when I import it into trainz, it fits properly onto the tracks (Or for any model)?

 

[LLT]

Hi.
How do I find the proper scaling of my blender model so that when I import it into trainz, it fits properly onto the tracks (Or for any model)?

That's something I asked awhile back, I still don't know.

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

I don’t know anything about Blender, but it strikes me as incredible that setting the scale is not one of the first and easiest things to be done when making a 3D model. I am sure there must be a way, but the fact that you even need to ask how it’s done makes me wonder about the program’s design.

 

[pcas1986]

Size of an object is one value and the scale is another. For example, a 2 metre cube with a scale of 1.0 is still a 2 metre cube but if you scale it to 0.5 and then apply the scale, it becomes a 1 metre cube with a scale of 1.0. The size and scale is always displayed in the Transform tab for an object in 3D view.

You can alter the display from metric to imperial by changing the setting in the Properties->Scene->Units->Unit system. So your 2 metre cube becomes 6.56 feet. Mixing metric with imperial that way is confusing so I stick with metric.

Scale is also important on export to FBX. The default export settings will make the model 100 times larger than it should be. I don't why the code was written that way but I do know the settings that correct it.

 

[JCitron]

I ran into this before when I did some 3d modeling back in the, ahem, early to mid-1990s. I imported my models into another program and found they were the size of a pinhead because I used 3d-studio R4DOS scale and not a real world scale. This took me awhile to find the settings, but reading this thread brought back some memories.

 

[dundun92]

Size of an object is one value and the scale is another. For example, a 2 metre cube with a scale of 1.0 is still a 2 metre cube but if you scale it to 0.5 and then apply the scale, it becomes a 1 metre cube with a scale of 1.0. The size and scale is always displayed in the Transform tab for an object in 3D view.

You can alter the display from metric to imperial by changing the setting in the Properties->Scene->Units->Unit system. So your 2 metre cube becomes 6.56 feet. Mixing metric with imperial that way is confusing so I stick with metric.

Scale is also important on export to FBX. The default export settings will make the model 100 times larger than it should be. I don't why the code was written that way but I do know the settings that correct it.

Thank you!

 

[Dweezle]

So the answer to your question is that you first have to set blender's units as described by Paul. Since you are probably modeling U.S. trains, I would use feet and inches since reference material, such as locomotive diagrams, will also be in feet and inches.

Then, of course, you would have to make sure your model dimensions are correct. Blender will show dimensions of objects in whatever scale you have chosen.

The Blender manual page for this is: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/scene_layout/scene/properties.html

Assuming you are going to use FBX, the settings are at: http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/HowTo/Export_from_Blender_using_FBX, under the Exporting to FBX section.

I have to relearn this stuff every time I get back into Trainz, about once a year or so.

 

[pcas1986]

Drawings of UK locos are usually imperial as well. I just convert that to metres and resize the drawing in Blender to match. Paul Hobbs describes how to do this in his tutorial. The version of Blender is out of date but the principles will be the same. See page 13.

 

[whitepass]

In Blender 2.83 you do not need to set imperial, you can just inter 4'8.5" and it works.

 

[dundun92]

Ok. Thanks guys for all the help!

 

[pepperref]

I still use Blender 2.79. I model everything using Blender units, or meters. However, I treat meters as feet while I model, or 1 foot = 1 meter, 6 inches = 0.5 meter, 2 inches equals 0.2 meter.

When my model is complete, I center the 3D cursor (Shift-C), select the 3D cursor as my Pivot Center, select the entire model (A key), and scale the entire model to 0.305, which converts meters to feet. I also add 'scale' to the file name to know which one to export into Trainz.

 

[whitepass]

You can set 2.79 to use feet or inches.