"True scale" viewing

dan_engerer

Hi. As a design engineer, I'm sure we've all had the shocking experience when you prototype a part and the size is dramatically different than what you were expecting. This is a natural part of using CAD if you aren't careful, because being zoomed into a non-perspective model all the time is not exactly realistic. This can result in novice designers creating things which are way too large or way too small. 

Is there a way to view objects on the screen in a "true" scale, meaning the literal size on the screen is what you'd see if you 3D printed the part and laid it right up against your screen? 

steve_shubin

@dan_engerer

You answered your own question. The only thing different you need to do is instead of putting the part up next to the screen, put a ruler up to the screen.

With one of your 3-D parts showing, use the show dimensions command on one of your sketches and then zoom in or zoom out on that model to where the dimension line in Onshape matches what’s on your ruler.

If you were working in millimeters and your ruler is inches, then just go and temporarily change the units so that inches will show

Paul_J_Premakumar

@dan_engerer : This isn't possible today. Can you log an improvement request for this, please? In the interim, Steve's suggestion would work, with one caveat : the increments of zoom may not be fine enough to get an exact match.

michael_mcclain

Create a shape inside onshape with measurement marks all over it, like a ruler. 3d print or manufacture it and keep it as a desk toy. You can insert that part into your documents to compare sizes of objects to a real life piece.

a_d406

I have to do the ruler trick all the time. It is strange the developers missed that option/feauture. 

patrik_sjöberg

Got here from googling how to zoom to scale. Thanks for the ruler trick. I see that there's a "Named Views" under the cube dropdown beneath the top right viewport gizmo. There you can save your view and that includes the zoom level so that you can return to your "true scale" zoom. 

Javier_López_del_Pueyo

I always though that "true scalling" would be a relatively simple feature to add, given that you provide your screen settings first. Without a doubt, a really helpful upgrade. 

There is a AR plugin in OnShape called ARbase that allows you to export your model and view it in your smartphone as a AR visor. Sometimes, when the "ruler on the screen" workaround wasn't enough to visualize the real size of my model, I used this to get a more real feel of the volumen I was designing.

adrian_vlzkz

This is not currently possible, and it will always depend on your screen size and resolution:

A workaround I've used in the part is to insert a reference object to reference proportion at a glance, i.e when designing large equipment we would use a 6' mannequin, or when designing small parts we would insert a quarter.

The ruler trick works, as long as your not regularly changing monitors/screens

-Turn on perspective
-Place ruler by screen
-Set view to a "Normal" default view (not iso)
-Zoom in more precisely using  Shift-Middle mouse button.
-Once the scale is 1:1
-Create a Named View to be able to return to that POV scale without the ruler

You would have to do this for every Part Studio or Assembly, so not ideal