N.B. all bordered images link to larger versions...
First of all I would like to bring everyone's
attention to a plugin I have used ever since the days of LW v.5.6 called
Supersize - you can get it here:
supersize-100.zip
The beauty about Supersize is that it allows you to size sections or
whole layers proportionately and provides the ability to center the
data anywhere you choose and is also useful for finding out where an
object's actual XYZ centre is for things like placing lights etc...
Here is a quick little mini tutorial first for Supersize .
let's say you want to make a perfect sphere
- well I never bother with the numeric bit for this I always just make
a sphere and then hit the hotkey for Supersize - my original quickly
doodled sphere looks like this...
then I hit Supersize and a box pops up looking like this..
What the box tells me is this:
For each of the size fields the plugin is telling me the absolute dimensions of my object
The position fields are telling me where the centre of my object lies on the three axes.
I now enter the following
data:
merely highlight the first field enter the figure and press enter to
go to the next field it becomes a very quick process when you use the
numeric keypad..
..And then I click on OK and the result is a perfectly centralised sphere with 3 meters in each dimension like this..
Nice eh? And quick too when you get the hang of it. But Supersize has other tricks up its sleeve
Now say I want to resize the ball? Well with Supersize again and this time just enter the new dimension in the X size field like this
then I merely click the X button above the altered field and the other dimensions get re-sized proportionately!
The alignment fields then further also allow you to offset the center point to whatever amount you want from the baseline of 0 on all axes
This plug shows it's usefulness in situations like this...
Proportionately resizing a whole mesh for instance...
Type in fifteen in the Z field hit the Z button and then hit OK
..And then you get a nice accurately downsized proportional mesh!
But, you can also use the plugin on a
selected section of your layer like so - pick a section - hit select
connected and then resize just that section as before...
for example...
_
Unfortunately this plugin only works on one layer at a time - but that isn't a major drawback because if you want to resize an entire mesh that is spread over a few layers then version 7.5 has a similar built-in plugin up it's sleeve - but it isn't as intuitive in it's use - but here is how to use that for posterity's sake
This mesh for instance is spread over several layers..
Now find this plugin...
under the Modify tab -->
Under STRETCH - More and you'll be presented with this...
change the settings to these
from the drop down menus:
then enter a figure for the X box to enlarge or reduce the size of the entire mesh and simply hit OK - although the other two dimensions do not resize interactively; they do in the process itself -
So that's how you can proportionately resize a complete mesh that spans any number of layers