Maya - setting the size of a modelled object

ShadowFlexy

Hi all,

I have been looking for this a while. In Blender I can set the size of a model after I did multiple changes to it. In Maya I just cannot find the option to do that. I modelled an arch by bending a polygon cube. Afterwards I extruded some edges. Now I want this to have 200 units width. Is there any way to do this? 




Either I am missing a specific option or this just is not possible.

oglu

create a cube with 200 units...
scale the arch... move snap the border verticies....

modeling is not an exact sience...

ShadowFlexy

I would agree, if that option would not exist in Blender either: 


If I change the dimensions, the model resizes according to the units. 

musashidan

Have you tried the universal manipulator? 

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya-lt/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/ENU/MayaLT/files/GUID-84457CC5-90FE-4421-915D-D8BC1B6A0692-htm.html

Butthair

You can use a Deform > Lattice. Set the STU Division all to 2.
Grab the contol points and snap them to what you want to size to.

ShadowFlexy

Thanks a lot Musashidan. the universal manipulator does exactly that. For anyone coming back to this thread through searc, the universal manipulator lets you click on the number of your dimension and modify it. 

musashidan

You're welcome. And don't forget. The official docs are your friend.

FourtyNights

That's actually really good to know, because I'm a Blender guy and the lack of dimensions bothered me in Maya when I used it. I usually use Blender's z-axis (which is up in Blender) from dimensions to determine the height of the character when using metric units.

EDIT: So, if I scale my character uniformly in all axises (x, y, z) with that "Universal Manipulator" in Maya, can I see the values changing on the fly? Like seeing the value of y-axis (which is up in Maya(?)) and probably other two axes changing at the same time, when scaling? Like stopping scaling when the y-axis is around 1.85 meters of the character's height, for example.

FourtyNights

oglu said:

modeling is not an exact sience...

I'm unfortunately a perfectionist, and for me it sometimes is. :P

throttlekitty

First tip, leave Maya's measurement settings to centimeters, and use a calculator if you want to convert to feet. Many things will behave erratically when working in feet and at large values.

Have you used the measure distance tool? You can snap it to two vertexes on a model, then parent the three objects it creates to your model to achieve this:

ShadowFlexy

FourtyNights said:

oglu said:

modeling is not an exact sience...

I'm unfortunately a perfectionist, and for me it sometimes is. :P

Not only that, but I would like to focus on the modelling and make it easy to move to Unreal. Not having to play around and drag something up until it has the required height. Works fine with cubes if you do not do too many modifications, but once it gets more complex it becomes quite challenging. I have used the measure distance tool, but it still needs me to drag instead of just putting in a value. With the setting of the dimensions modular modelling becomes a lot easier

Butthair

@throttlekitty I really like that idea, I'm going to use the measure distance tool more often!