Measurement Units

This page explains measurement (distance) units that are used in Verge3D and how these interact with Blender, 3ds Max, Maya system units.

Verge3D uses generic units. These can be anything you want: meters, inches, centimeters, parsecs, etc. However, when dealing with the particular modeling software, some Verge3D-flavor specifics should be considered.

Verge3D for Blender

1 Blender unit (BU) is 1 meter by default. Switching to some other unit system (e.g. Imperial) does not affect how Blender stores the distances/positions internally (it's purely a UI feature). So, when you export your scene to glTF and load it to Verge3D you will always get meters. Thus, for consistency with Puzzles (or JavaScript) we recommend using the metric system in Blender and always set the Unit Scale parameter to 1.

Verge3D for 3ds Max

3ds Max uses quite complex units system. System Units is what is stored in 3ds Max files and exported to glTF (hence used in Verge3D). Display Units is what you see in 3ds Max UI (does not affect export). For consistency with Verge3D Puzzles (and JavaScript) we recommend using Generic Units for Display Units or set the same entities for System Units and Display Units (e.g. set both to Meters).

Verge3D for Maya

Working Units default to centimeters, however you can assign your own with the Maya's property Settings → Working Units → Linear. The rule of thumb is simple — units that you see in the Maya UI will be exported to glTF and used in Verge3D as-is (no conversion happens).

Internally Maya stores everything in centimeters, but this is handled by the Verge3D exporter. This fact should not be a concern for Verge3D artists or programmers.