Shrinking 3D Objects

[Haydenovative]

Hey Guys,

I have imported some barrels into one of my drawings but they are too big, I have tried to use the scale objects to go to .75 of its original size but all this does is moves it to the left slightly without scaling at all. Am I using this tool wrong, or is there another way to shrink this object? Thanks Guys!

[Benson Shaw]

Sounds like the barrels are represented in the drawing as symbols. Select one and look at top line of Object Info Palette (OIP). If it displays the object type as Symbol, or 3D Symbol, or similar, the symbol will not respond to the Modify>Scale Objects command.

If it's not a symbol, I don't know why it will not scale.

If it is a symbol, you have some choices:

1. Scale the selected symbol:

In newer versions of VWX many symbols can be scaled via the OIP the Scaling options. Select one or more of the barrels. The scaling drop down defaults to None. Click to open the Scaling drop down, select the Symmetric or Asymmetric option, fill the Factor field(s). This scales the selected instance(s),

2. Modify the symbol definition on the drawing:

Dbl click one instance of the barrel on your drawing to enter the symbol edit mode. Select all the objects, Modify>Scale Objects command, Exit the Symbol. This scales all extant instances of the symbol, and all future instances. Note: if there are other symbols nested inside this, they will need to be scaled by this method, too.

3. Modify the symbol definition in the Resource Browser

Right click the symbol icon in the Resource Browser palette. Choose the Edit option, then edit as in #2 above. Modifies all instances on the drawing and all future instances.

4. Convert the symbol to a group (change it so it is no longer a symbol):

Select the barrels which need to be changed. Press Cmd K or Modify>Convert>Convert to Group. The resulting object will look the same, but will not be controlled by the symbol definition/geometry in the Resource Browser. New instances placed with the symbol insertion tool will be at full scale. Note, this is not same as grouping the symbol with Cmd G.

HTH

-B

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Edited April 23, 2012 by Benson Shaw

[Haydenovative]

Thank you so much, That was exactly my problem. I edited the symbol and scaled within that sub screen. Fantastic. thanks again!!