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Pretty new to Blender, I'm trying to learn how to make a studded wall.

How do I use the array modifier to use imperial units? For example, I would like to create a stud, and have them spaced 16 inches on center a set distance.

Thank you much!

Edit I've accepted the below answer, however, I had another issue I had to fix. The culprit was that when I scaled the initial object, I didn't apply the scale. Because I didn't apply the scale before the modifier, it wasn't working as expcted. Thank you much to Manu G for helping me through this issue!

nland
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1 Answers1

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You can readily use inches by entering the inches value you need into the offset distance box, as "16 inch". It will automatically convert it to be the corresponding meter value. Or you could go ahead and change the unit system that Blender is currently using.

Refer to the Blender Documentation for more info about the Array modifier. https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/modeling/modifiers/generate/array.html

Array modifier intro

Change unit system to Imperial

Change the length unit to inch

Array modifier using constant offset

Array modifier with constant and relative offset

Manu G
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  • First off, thank you for the detailed answer! However, I'm seeing different results. It seems as though when I use only Constant Offset I don't get the gap in between objects as I expect. See this photo to see what I am referring to. Also, it appears that when I change the Constant Offset it changes the x value to my object dimension. – nland May 05 '20 at 13:19
  • The distance between the centers should be greater than the length of the object, otherwise the copies overlap each other. I had scaled down the size of my cube that's why you're seeing like that. – Manu G May 05 '20 at 15:24
  • Try putting relative offset to 1. Then the value of constant offset will translate to the distance between the two copies i.e. the length of the gap between the two copies. – Manu G May 05 '20 at 15:41
  • I don't what is going on, it doesn't seem to be working like that at all. :( My object definitely is smaller than the move. I'm making my object a standard stud size 2x4 8 feet long. When I set the Constant Offest to 16" and the Relative Offset to 1 it's producing something like this. For the record, before the modifier the Y dimension was 1.5", after I did the modifier, it changed to it's value you see in the photo. – nland May 05 '20 at 17:11
  • Can you take a video or GIF. You can use XShare to create GIFS, that will go in imgur. Also play with the distance values to know what the problem is. I still think it has something to do with the distance values. If you can't find take a picture, walk me through the steps. – Manu G May 05 '20 at 22:48
  • Appreciate you sticking with me! Check out this album. These pictures are in order of what I was doing. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to add the gif to imgur. Maybe file was too big? Hopefully the album is enough for you to see what I was doing. Just as an aside, the last image, I didn't change the dimensions of the object, that was done when I modified the Y value in Constant Offset – nland May 06 '20 at 00:21
  • Thanks for uploading all those photos. Found the problem, I'm also learning about this right now. So it turns out that you have to apply the scaling transform that you've done just before doing the array modifier. It's there in the Object drop-down menu, the one opposite to Add: Object > Apply > Scale. You could try changing the Z values of the constant offset (after setting relative offset to 1), then you'll see that the length you see is much different for the same constant offset value in the X or Y direction. – Manu G May 06 '20 at 03:09
  • The scale command scales the value that you gave in the array modifier accordingly. Since you the Y scale as 0.019, 1 inch will be displayed as 0.019 inch. So apply the scale value, before doing the Array modifier. – Manu G May 06 '20 at 03:11
  • Check out this post; the second answer by @ideasman42 https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/7298/why-is-it-important-to-apply-transformation-to-an-objects-data – Manu G May 06 '20 at 03:13
  • "Most modifiers are applied before scale. So the effect of a bevel or solidify could be squashed with non-uniform scale. Armature and hook modifiers are an exception to this rule." So the object was arrayed correctly, but it then got scaled according to the scale transform values. – Manu G May 06 '20 at 03:14
  • @nland Check this out too, it's a good read, https://artisticrender.com/how-and-why-do-we-apply-scale-in-blender/ – Manu G May 06 '20 at 21:10