I AM new to ue4 and am having a difficult time scaling to real world measurements, I know 1uu = 1cm. But where my problem lies is trying to input the right measurements into the transform (As highlighted in the image). I have no clue on how to go about inputting the measurements.
Set the scale back to 1 for each axis
Right below that, where it says X, Y, and Z - Those are you measurements for your box. so your current box is 200x200x200 cm
Dont scale it, just use the brush settings
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This whole scaling thing can be indeed very confusing in the beginning. I agree with ugmoe to keep your scale at one and use brush settings although this only works for brushes and not for basic objects.
I don’t consider myself an expert, but I’ll try to explain it the way I think the scaling thing works (or how I use it):
Basic objects added from inside the “basic” section in unreal (e.g. a cube, a cylinder etc) tend to have scale 1.0 = 1 meter. If you set a cube to scale z-axis of 1.75, it should be a similar size as your character from your template (either first person or third person), so 1.75m in height. It will also be equal to 175 in you brush settings.
However, the scale of your character (or any other mesh you import) is set to 1 and not to 1.75 on the z-axis as you may expect. That is because the value of the zyx-axis in the transform panel means 1.0 = 100% of it’s original size (as defined within the modeling application). A mesh is created inside a modeling application with a proper scale and then imported. Once imported, it defaults to 1.0, regardless of its actual size.
If you import 3D objects from an external source (obj or fbx), it should already have the proper size setup in the modeling tool and you do not need to scale it anymore in Unreal (the value of 1.0 should reflect the proper size). That is, in theory, if it was designed for Unreal dimensions in mind (like most of the packs you buy on the marketplace). If you import a 3D object of a bottle from some external source that wasn’t design with Unreal Engine in mind, it will have scale = 1.0 but you may need to scale it up or down to have it sized properly. When you import a 3D object, it sometimes helps to enable “convert scene unit” to ensure it maintains proper dimensions.
What I did in the past is to place multiple human mannequins in the scene (e.g. you can find one in the free animation pack or use an NPC from a free pack) and position them at different places to keep a proper sense of scale at all times. You can also add a cube and give them a Scale on the z-axis of 1.75 (of whatever human height you prefer) or use a brush and set it to 175. Relying on your own (third or first person) view to get a proper sense of scale could be tricky.
Also, you can use the measure tool when choosing a perspective and dragging your mouse with the middle mouse button. This will give you the exact dimensions of the object in cm.
I hope this helps.
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thank you