(The gumball scale handles are convenient since they are in the model space and don’t require diverting into dropdowns or the command line).
… so suppose in this case we want a new length of 355 units - the only way I’ve managed to discover to achieve this explicitly is to append the desired length with the units (to force absolute) and divide by two (or the length becomes 2x because scaling is bidirectional) :
It all depends on the specific situation, but you can move the gumball to a position at one of the ends, from which you’d be able to drop the division.
(and the same applies to the Scale1D command).
-wim
Thanks for the tips @diff-arch and @wim - so it looks like Scale1D is the closest to what I was thinking, (in terms of entering a number that transforms directly to that value in units). I think that will be most useful in quickly squaring-up elements in a multi part design.
From what I can tell relocating the gumball fixes the point/plane origin of the transformation - but - (in the case of some simple box-like object having extents that equal the bounding box) entering the scale-handle in units still yields a result that is 2x the length, i.e. :
Always great to get to explore the various approaches, definitely find that it helps in enhancing my grasp of how Rhino “thinks” about geometries. I wonder if this imagined “direct editing” approach is something that the new Constraints features will enable.
as others pointed out, _scale1d
is the best solution i think
please notice, that scale1d does not only accept scalefactor, but also target length:
_scale1d
select object
Base point - pick first dimension point
Scale factor or reference point - pick second point
Second reference point - enter number: the target number !!
click or press enter or space
