Objects change size/scale for no reason

val5214

I had several objects that i put together in a single file. the were pieces that fit together. this worked fine until i wanted to change one of them. i made a copy of the file that had the part I wanted to change and started working on it.

when i imported the other pieces to see how they would fit together, the pieces were very small and did not fit together -- the part i was working on somehow expanded in size, even other pieces i imported to add to it expanded as well. ALL OF THE FILES ARE THE SAME SCALE: INCHES. So there was no reason to scale them, plus they do not look like they were scaled -- they are just expanded to a randomly picked size.

I never asked the program to scale the part nor did i do it myself. This is very frustrating, work that i did all day today and yesterday was for nothing. this has happened before where i ask: "what happened to my work? why is everything not lining up? did i accidentally not type the right dimensions"

anybody see this happen before?

mitcorb

I could ask a whole lot of questions here, but I think if it is possible, you need to submit the file or files so that folks can analyze and offer solutions.
For instance, nothing here clearly says you are using groups or components. But you may actually have resized something by using the vcb to correct an edge length or something.

val5214

. . . . uh, erm.... yeah now i look at it -- thats what happened. sorry,and thanks for looking at the post.

FYI

Also, whenever you use the "scale tool" in sketchup you may be asked to keep the files scale whenever you save or export/import a file. You should pick yes because sketchup is not referring to scale as in do you have it in inches or millimeters but what you changed the object to. some users i have talked to did not realize this when they first started out. Some people confuse the two.

mitcorb

See what this author has to say about "size, scale, proportion":
http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/size-scale-proportion/

Dave R

Interesting link, Tim. Thanks for posting it.

mitcorb

I did that because I started out blabbering about architectural scales as used in the USA, and what the differences were between those three terms. He said it so eloquently, that I realized my own words were not going to help.

val5214

Now I have a new problem but it is the same, just different program. I have exported the sketchup file to collada format. then sent it to meshlab and exported it to .stl format. later i used netfab to check for errors and then send the .stl to a 3d printing website

two problems:

the scale is wrong(its been blown up) and yet i choose the right one on the website. when i import the .stl back into sketchup, the scale is changed dramatically and i cannot figure out how to get it back to the right ratio -- when i scale it back it just does not match up to precisely what i had before. Cannot find anything in Meshlab where you can see if the scale is affected, by how much, how to change it etc and other forums visited and emails i have sent have not answered this.
In netfabb, when i rotate the object it will show reversed faces but will disappear and reappear while rotating. flipping them does nothing. the status report shows no duplicate faces or degenerated surfaces. holes are fixed as well. any idea what this is? netfab has not said anything yet

mitcorb

Hi, val:
I have not a clue on this one. But, it may get more attention if you can re-post with a new topic title. Just use the same content. Sometimes these add on questions get lost. Just trying to help.