Line Measurements

A line measurement object a straight line measurement. Simply click two points in the scene to display the distance between those two points.

To create a Line Measurement object, follow these steps:

1. Choose Object > Create Measurement > Create Line, or click the Measurement Mode icon in the bottom right corner of the document window and select Create Measurement - Line. An initial measurement of zero will appear at the center of the scene.
2. The Properties palette displays the following options which can be set before or after you define your measurement points:

Line measurement properties.

• Name: Enter a name that describes the measurement you are creating (for example, AndyHeight). Note that if you enter a name that already exists for a figure or object in the scene, the name that you enter will be appended by a number.
• Visible: Turns display of the measurement indicator on or off. Keep this option checked to view the angle measurement while you are creating it.
• Vislble in Raytracing: Checking the Visible in Raytracing checkbox makes the measurement object visible in raytraced reflections, such as when the figure is in front of a mirror. Clear this checkbox to make the measurement object not appear in reflections.
• Casts Shadows: Checking the Cast Shadows checkbox forces the selected measurement object to cast a shadow that is visible in your scene. Clear the checkbox to cast no shadow.
• Vislble in Camera: When checked, the measurement object is visible in the camera and in the final render. When unchecked, the object does not render.
• Light Emitter: When checked, allows the object to be included in indirect lighting calculations so that light will bounce off the object. When unchecked, indirect lighting calculations are skipped for the object.
• Alignment: By default, the line measurement will not be aligned to any axis (None). Options in the Alignment menu allow you to align the measurement to the X, Y, or Z axis.
• Callout Style: Allows you to display measurement text without a background (default), or against a black background.
• Copy to Clipboard: Click this button to copy the measurement dimension into your clipboard to paste into another document.

3. Click at the first point that you want to measure. For example, if you want to determine the height of a figure, click at the top of his head (point 1 in the following figure).
4. Click the second point that you want to measure. For example, if you are measuring the height of a figure, click the floor, or the lowest point of the character’s feet (point 2 in the following figure).

Line measurement object.

5. After you click the second point, the measurement will display in text beside the figure. The measurement will also appear in a tooltip in the lower left corner of the document window. You can adjust the line measurement by hovering over the measurement points as follows:
6. To adjust line measurements:

• Hover the mouse over point 1 or point 2, and drag to place the measurement point across another vertex in the scene.
• You can adjust the length of the extension lines by moving either of the orange points at the top or bottom of the measurement arrows, or by using the Extension Line Scale dial in the Parameters Palette.
• Measurements will also change if you adjust scaling or the pose of a figure. In the case of the figure in the above example, you could scale the figure until it reaches a specific height.