I live in a country that uses metric units. Strata 3D uses imperial units. Some projects – think ancient history – use units that are no longer in use. How do we set Strata Design 3D up to use the correct set of units for each project?
The answer to configuring units and grids division lies in the Edit menu, Set Units… command.
Setting Units of Measurement
In this dialog we find a series of convenient imperial, metric and DTP units.
If we need another, less frequent unit, we can define our own arbitrary units. For example, a common unit from ancient history and the Scriptures is the cubit. A cubit is – give or take – 20 inches.
To define a cubit in Strata 3D, we need to select an arbitrary unit.
We define the unit as a multiple of known units, in this case as 20 inches, and set an abbreviation for it. Then, after clicking the OK button, we will see our scene in the units we specified, in this case cubits, with the cu abbreviation.
Setting Grid Subdivisions
Another useful feature of the Set Units dialog is that it enables us to set grid subdivisions.
Say – for example – that we need to work in inches but we need our nudge subdivisions to be in eighths of an inch, and the grid also in eighths of an inch.
With the default settings
Setting the nudge and grid to eighths of an inch
A finer grid
Properly set grids and units can be very helpful to get us well started on a project.
