Resizing Objects

Typically, objects are resized using the Edit Control as described in the 3D Canvas Basics tutorial. In this tutorial we will describe how to resize (scale) objects using a more precise method.

This tutorial assumes familiarity with 3D Canvas and that the 3D Canvas Basics tutorial has been completed.

bulletDrag and drop a cube on to a new scene.

 

 
bulletRight-click on the cube and choose Scale->To Size from the pop-up menu.

This allows us to enter new dimensions for the cube. Notice that when the Object Size window opens that it has the object's current size.

 
bulletChange the Z amount to 2.0 and click OK.

 
bulletWe now have a cube that is 1 unit wide (X), 1 unit high (Y) and 2 units deep (Z).

 

 
bulletOn the Primary Toolbar click the down arrow to the right of the Visible Objects button and select Wireframe. This changes the rendering mode to wireframe.

The right-click (component) menu's Scale->To Size and Scale->By are always in object coordinates. That means that X, Y and Z are always in relation to the object, not the scene. For more information on coordinates see the Oriented Modelling tutorial.

 
bulletRotate your object using the Edit Control.

Notice in this example that Z (the blue arrow of the axis object) is pointing up, not along the scene's Z axis. If you were to scale this object along the Z axis it would follow this Z axis not the scene's Z axis.

 

 
bulletRight-click on the object, choose Scale->To Size and enter 2.0 in the X value. Click OK. Notice that the object's size was changed relative to the object, not the scene.

If in doubt as to what value to modify, change to wireframe mode, and look at the arrows on the object's axis. X is red, Y is green and Z is blue.

 
bulletDrag and drop a cylinder on to a new scene and turn it on its side using the Edit Control.

 
bulletChange to wireframe mode. Right-click on the cylinder and choose Scale->To Size.

 
bulletIn this example we will create a pipe that was 5 units long with a .1 unit radius. Notice that we are entering 5 as the Y value. Normally this would be "Up" in scene coordinates. But, these coordinates are in object coordinates. So looking at the object, the length of pipe we need is the green axis arrow which is the Y axis.

Click OK.

 

 
bulletOur completed pipe.

 
bulletDrag and drop a cube on to a new scene. Drag and drop a sphere on to the cube.

This has created an "object hierarchy". The sphere is a "child" of the cube. See the Using the Scene Hierarchy tutorial for more information.

This "object hierarchy" allows us to resize the objects as a group.

 
bulletRight-click on the cube and choose Select Hierarchy from the popup menu.

This selects the entire object hierarchy starting with the "parent" object (the cube) and includes all "child" objects (the sphere). This technique can be used to select large hierarchies as well as simple hierarchies such as we have here.

 
bulletRight-click on the selection and choose Scale->By Amount from the popup menu. This allows us to scale by an amount rather than to specified dimensions. Enter .25 (25%) in the Y value and click OK.

 
bulletOur object hierarchy was scaled to 25% of its original height.

This procedure of scaling an object hierarchy is commonly used on imported scenes.