Question about scale in zapworks studio

I can’t get my head around the scaling of 3d models in zapworks studio. I make my models ‘real-world’-scale (so in centimeters), import them in zapworks studio through .pod-files.

My biggest question (and concern) is the scaling/positioning when using the Zapbox markers. I make a square shape (4 markers for the corners) and 1 in the center. Map building works, but what scale is the rectangle created? Is it just 1,1,1? How can I scale stuff correctly (for instance a plant on a cupboard) so it is exactly “world-scale”? Is it by measuring the distance between the center points of the markers and than using that as a base for multiplication?

Does it use the center points of the markers as edges for the horizontal plane created, or the outer edges?

Follow-up to that question, is there any way to make sure that one particular set of zapbox markers will always result in the same exact map created? If I wanted to place an object exactly at one position, without margin of error, would this be at all possible?

Hi @polygongraphics

Sorry for the slow reply here.

ZapBox world units are always in meters, regardless of where the codes are positioned.

One Studio gotcha that might have caused confusion - you need to watch the “Scale” tab on the model import dialog, as the default option there is to “auto-scale” the imported model. You’ll need to select the manual option, enter 100 for the percentage, and then click outside the scale text box before clicking OK so the setting gets applied properly (that’s a Studio bug we’ll be fixing).

As far as how the ZapBox world coordinate system is determined, then see the “Map Origin and Coordinates” section in the Map Building Help forum post.

The horizontal plane used for stereo rendering is actually infinite (for edge-on views where there’s a “horizon” we’ll render the remaining part of the camera image on a plane facing the user relatively far away).

On the second point, you’ll find a “map.txt” after map building in the App’s documents directory - if you’re on iOS see the info here on how to access that: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201301

You can save that file somewhere and add it to the docs folder if you want the exact same map on other devices. We’ve had some vague thoughts about allowing people to define “fixed map” files along with their scenes, but that would require quite a bit of tooling so it’s not something on our short-term roadmap at the moment.

Hope that helps.