Actual object size

[hbryant]

I've been working in Maya for a little while and have always made things the size I wanted using the grid as a guide. Is there any way to see the actual size of the objects instead of just the scale? Is this a problem that most people have with Maya and why they prefer other programs such as 3D Max?

[richmondlu]

When i build things i use the scale as a decimal scale say something is 5.417 that means it is 5'5" if you stay consitant with how you use it then it works fine. Just select something then you can see the size of it on the channel box.

[tak_john]

There's a universal manipulator, under Modify -> Transformation Tools. Once activated it gives you the bounding box dimensions of whatever you have selected. You can even punch in numbers via the universal manipulator to change dimensions.

 

Other times i create a cube that provides a reference point, e.g. if i was to model a certain area of a geometry that needs to narrow down 3cm and the gridlines aren't matching exactly, even if i increase the resolution of the grid; I create a cube, resize it to 3cm then snap the pivot point of the cube to one of the edges (shortcut to change the pivot point quickly is press and hold the key "d" by default - using the 'insert' key is slow). Now snap the cube accordingly, the opposite edge of the cube will provide a 3cm distance reference.

 

BTW i have shortcuts to creating a cube, the universal manip tool, grid options.

 

It's a late response, so you've probably figured all this out