Correcting model scale

00:04

The first thing we need to check is the actual scale of the model.

00:07

You should always check with a client so you can get an exact size.

00:11

Our rig will be scalable,

00:13

but it's better for the animators to be working with a clean

00:16

rig from the offset rather than one whose size has been changed.

00:21

First, we go to windows settings, preferences, preferences,

00:26

we need to check what units may is using.

00:29

Let's look under the settings tab

00:32

here, we can see the working units

00:35

by default, it's usually set to centimeters, which is exactly what we need.

00:40

Now, we know the working units,

00:42

we can adjust the grid so we can see how tall this creature is.

00:46

Let's close that

00:47

and now go to display grid and open the options.

00:52

Let's reset this and apply it.

00:56

You can see that the grid has changed and each square now represents one centimeter.

01:02

Now,

01:02

the last thing we need is to have to count each one of thee to work out the right size.

01:07

But luckily, we can adjust the grid settings to simplify things.

01:11

We ideally need a line at each meter

01:14

which is 100 centimeters.

01:16

So let's change each of the units to 100.

01:19

So we just get a line at every 100 centimeter point.

01:23

We should also reduce the subdivisions to one

01:25

because we just want to see the main lines

01:29

if we apply that. Now, the grid has simplified

01:32

and we can instantly see that the creature is just over a meter tall

01:36

according to the client.

01:38

Ideally, he needs to be closer to 1.8 or 1.9 m.

01:43

We can now adjust the scale to make him bigger.

01:47

The next thing we need to check is that his feet are actually

01:50

on the floor plain and not floating above it or below it.

01:55

I have a floor plane in the scene already

01:57

which is just a polygon plane which I added

01:59

just so we can see the shadows.

02:01

And also so we know where the real world ground level is.

02:05

So we can see he is clearly below ground level.

02:09

I'll just turn off the textures.

02:12

So there we can see he needs to be moved up

02:16

that looks better

02:18

bring the textures back.

02:21

OK? So that's a scale and vertical position fixed.

02:25

He is roughly 1.8 m tall now

02:29

and his feet are planted on the ground.

02:31

Perfect.

02:34

Now, we need to make sure the horizontal position is right.

02:37

Let's switch to the front view.

02:40

So this is the grid line and it represents the middle of the scene.

02:44

What we can see is that the model is offset slightly.

02:47

We need the middle of the model to be on this grid line.

02:51

This makes using Mayer's symmetry tools easier and is

02:54

better when creating joints and also mirroring skin weights

02:58

again, moving this back will make your life easier.

03:02

So let's select the main group.

03:05

And this time I'm going to use the snapping tools to help me snap to the grid.

03:09

All I need to do is hold down X

03:11

and you will be able to see the grid snapping

03:13

icon update up here to tell us it's active.

03:17

If I just move along the X axis, now

03:19

you will see that the model snaps to the grid points.

03:23

I'll just double check that the middle of the model is sat exactly on the grid.

03:28

Obviously, this works better if the model is symmetrical just like this one is.