Actual size of model asets

Help & Support
1

Hey all,

This is probably a basic question (and one I should have asked a long time ago). When building a model for a game, is it best to build with real dismissions or to scale based on a 1x1x1 grid? For instance, does it make a difference if my 5’ tall person is a 5 5 grid blocks tall or is scaled to fit in 1 grid?

Is there a real dimension for a 1x1x1 grid? is it 1x1x1 meter or is it completely arbitrary ?

I hope that makes since, if not, please ask questions.

Thank you,
Ross

2

Hi @Ross_Lehr,

I’d say it’s not that important and you can use your own units, unless:

  • You are using too large or too small units. There is limited precision (number of decimal digits) in most graphics engines so if you create a world that is too large or too small you will get jittering in rendering.

  • You are using real time physics. Ammo.js prefers if you keep your units close to real sizes.

Hope that helps.

3

It does, thank you.

So, if I add a new box entity. Its default scale is 1x1x1. Is it safe to consider that 1 meter X 1 meter X 1 meter? or is it a different real-life dimension?

Thanks
Ross

4

Units inside the PlayCanvas editor are just units, they don’t have a real life reference.

But if you add a collider/rigidbody component to that model, then when it comes to the physics simulation that 1 unit can be considered as 1 meter.

So that’s the unit size you should be working with.

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5

Great!! Thank you, that’s what I needed.

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