3DS Max Unit Setup

What is the recommended Unit Setup and Home Grid Spacing for models in 3DS Max for export into Unity 3D, and does it really matter?

 

The FBX exporter has a setting to specify the units for conversion on export. Furthermore the Unity FBX importer FBX has a scale parameter which is by default by 0.01 and unfortunately no preset for that available yet.

In 3ds max we've been used to use meters (1 unit = 1 meter). But cm might be better especially for small details. In max you got zoom and clipping problems at some point so you where forced to work in ortho view.

So "cm" for new projects might be something to look into.

 

I just set system unit scale in 3dsmax to 1 unit = 1 meter, and the units system to generic.

When you load your mesh into Unity, set the scale value in the fbx import section to 1.0.

Then all your meshes will be 1:1 with Unity units and the physics system.

 

Thanks for the reply Dom and Evak. I will use these settings then.

Thanks for your help!

 

OK so I come from the Unreal series of games, and am used to working with Generic units and a grid set to 16 with major lines every 8. All I need to know is how do I ensure that my modeled and textured 256x256x256 testcube comes out exactly the same in Unity 3D?

In other words what kind of units and sizing does Unity 3D actually use, and how would that translate from my Max settings, if at all?

Thanks!
- Deathbliss

 

It's all actually really well documented in the docs, and asked frequently on forums because the search button is probably broken, but whatever:

1. unity uses 1 meter = 1 unit.
2. set up max so it does the same.
3. use reset xform in max when you're done modelling.
4. on import set fbx scale 1.0 (up from 0.01).

@op yeah it really matters. First, if you're doing per pixel work, your meshes can work per pixel from max to unity, where 1 pixel = 1 meter.

For physics, they're built with the meter sizing in mind in general. Obviously, you can scale your forces back up to whatever scales you want to do but its a ton easier (especially with vehicles) to work with the proper scales.

 

Are you sure it's meters?
http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/35158/unity3d-is-meter-units-meter-to-cm.html

I found this thread when Googling for an answer. I didn't get around to searching this forums yet, especially as I'll bet that I'm the only person coming from the Unreal series of games to Unity, so my problem is unique. I could be wrong of course...

Thanks for the answer, but this presents more problems. Say I make a 1x1x1 meter cube. When I create the textures for it I probably don't want to use meters in Photoshop, so what do I do? Start looking around for meter to pixel conversion charts or something?

That's one thing which was easier in the Unreal series, at least there I was working on units of 16, which easily translated to pixels for textures. But I guess Unity's meter system will work better for physics.

I'll search the forums as well as post this, just to make everyone happy -
Deathbliss

 

Dont put your max units at 1 unit to 1 meter

By default max is set up for its units to be one centimeter so when you weld something and you put the spinner at .1 its welding every vert at .1 cm distance or 1mm. Also all of the defaults are set this way for, lights, modifiers, tools and other things.

When you set 1 unit to 1 meter your max units for tools and spinners are still in max units. So now when you weld and set your distance to .1 units your now welding everything within 100 cm instead of 1mm. By default max only does 2 decimal places so if you want lower than 10 cm you have to change it in the preferences. Also now all of maxes default distances for lights, modifiers, and other tools are now off by a factor of 100. Again you can fix this but its a lot of work just so you can say 1 unit = 1 meter.

Save yourself a lot of time and effort and leave it at the default of 1 unit to 1 centimeter and every thing will work beautifully.

 

I use Generic Units...

 

You setup your system units, to meters. You leave your generic units to generic. And, if you want to still be able to zoom in and get those small details in, setup your view port clipping and you'll be able to zoom right in on the model and still work small. Its win win.

 

by default units are inches from 3ds max to export to the unit is better to use centimeters. To do this in the window FBX export to 3ds max and you uncheck automatic choice cm

 

"1to1" setup in max