One of the interface modes in the UnrealEd toolbox. This mode lets you scale brushes.
Note that many mappers have found this tool to be buggy: scaling a brush in one axis sometimes causes it to grow in another axis by a non-integer amount. Suggested alternatives are vertex editing, numeric scaling and facedrag mode, all explained below. (this is tarquin's personal crusade... don't use brush scaling!)
Contents
Visual Scaling
You must select the brush to scale and keep the CTRL key pressed.
Then move the mouse over one of the Orthogonal (2d) view, while having the left button or right button pressed.
Left button produces an horizontal scaling ,while right button produces a vertical scaling.Depending on which of the orthogonal view you're operating the brush will be scaled in one of its 3 axes.
Brush are scaled around their pivot point, which can be set outside of the brush.
Tips
Never scale an already placed brush, or the vertices will dislodge from the grid. If you plan on being a frequent user of the tool, always scale the builder brush, apply transformation, and then place the brush.
If you must scale an already placed brush, perform a ""Polygons->To Brush" (aka "Map Brush Get"), so that the red builder brush takes on the shape of the placed brush, delete the placed brush, scale your builder brush, place a new brush, fix the ordering if you need to.
Remember to apply transformation before rotating, or it will skew.
You can either reset the builder brush, or apply transformation to the builder brush, to get it to take on predictable shapes when selecting presets, rather than scaled equivalents.
Never scale too much, too fast (i.e. zooming way out in the viewport and shooting the mouse down-screen) or it will bug out, neglect the grid, and maybe even start blipping in the opposite direction. If this happens, its best to just reload the map, or perhaps perform a "map brush get" in order to reset the scaling values.
A brush will reach limits as to how small it will scale. A standard 256 cubed cube will not scale much below 16 units, because it is function upon the original values. To scale smaller, scale down, make sure it is still sitting on the grid, apply transformation so it takes on the new values, and continue to scale.
The brush scales away from the selected vertex, so selecting the center vertex and scaling it in all directions in atleast 2 of the 2d viewports will ensure that all the vertices of a cube are on the grid. Get used to checking all the possible vertices of a cube, and making sure you have scaled all polygon-relevant vertices onto the grid before you place the brush.
It is best to scale from a 2d viewport, and to select vertices from the 3d viewport.
The mode is known as "BrushSnap" in Ued2, rather than "BrushScale", because it scales according to the grid. BrushScale ignores the grid, and should be avoided.
Scaling complex brushes will have unintended consequences, such as stairs being to large to step on, or polygons stretching larger the farther they are from the selected vertex (an effect easily of notice in a "hollowed" brush). Scaling works best with symetrical shapes, such as cubes or cylinders.
While in BrushSnap mode, vertices cannot be selected in the 3d viewport, so one has to switch to camera mode to do this. It is best to bind keys for switching between camera mode and scaling mode, as well as applying transformation, because a mapper who frequently uses this tool will have to switch between these so often.
If you need to scale something in a diagonal direction, turn it along the y or x axis first, scale it, and then rotate it back. Otherwise, the outside polygons will be larger than the inside.
Alternatives
Numeric Scaling
Enter the scaling factors manually in the Brush properties, MainScale & PostScale.
See also Brush Transformation
Vertex Editing
Select two corners and stretch it out. (see vertex editing for more detail...)
Facedrag Mode
This is an experimental mode which can only be accessed with a console command. See Face drag mode.
Related Topics
- UnrealEd Interface
- Category:Legacy Basic Procedure
- Toolbar