CAD Style Dimensions...IN BLENDER?

This add on gives you the ability to add and adjust dimensions for measurement inside of Blender!
MeasureIt is a free add-on that actually ships built-in to Blender. All you have to do is enable it in order to start adding dimensions to your Blender models!
0:00 - Video Introduction
0:16 - Add-On Location and Enabling
0:43 - The Measure It Toolbar
1:00 - Showing Measurements
1:24 - Adding Linear Measurements
1:54 - Changing Measurement Units
2:36 - Adjusting Measurement Format
3:17 - Adding Arrows to Measurements
3:29 - Adding Multiple Measurements at Once
3:45 - Showing and Hiding Measurements
3:59 - Adding Area Measurements
4:45 - Measure distance between vertices
5:20 - Deleting Measurements
5:36 - Adding Labels
5:57 - Adding Annotations
6:27 - Distances between object origins
7:01 - Adding Multiple Measurements
7:17 - Hiding Measurements

[@TheCGEssentials]

Hi everyone! Let me know what you think about this add-on in the comments below! :)

[@igniz6022]

Hi man, this addon is great your dog is fabulous. Thanks for your tutos!!

[@arghajitdey7156]

Hi

[@remie07]

You used to make SketchUp videos, what happened? Edit: Oh you still do that, okay.

[@denisj4996]

I have little problem with set correctly this measures discordapp.com/channels/253355867938750485/285639647567282179/749564543134335026

[@TheCGEssentials]

@@remie07 Yup - I still make SketchUp videos, just wanted to cover other topics as well. Can't keep improving if I only do one thing :)

[@toddspeck9415]

I am always so impressed with your Blender tutorials. Your teaching style is really enjoyable. Thanks Justin.

[@GaryParkin]

Thank you. A nice way to get exact measurements in Blender. Set the precision to 3 and not 2, for measuring in mm or tiny units.

[@lodgechant]

What a fabulous tool - and what a fabulously helpful tutorial explaining how fabulous it is. Thanks, Justin. With greetings from Cape Town!

[@zefsam]

just gotta say. You are my top 5 blender KZbinrs. you make everything simple and truly enjoy learning. Thank you.

[@FunDumb]

Really cool tool capabilities. And I'm finally excited to know how to work these tools in blender. Thanks for you help.

[@bdragon254]

Woohoo awesome stuff. Hopefully Radius, Circumference etc will be coming eventually. This is actually very useful

[@powersprouter]

oh wow. why did it take me so long to watch your video on this handy tool? thank you, will be using all the time now.

[@BiNDiViSUAL]

Exactly what I was searching to find. Thanks very much for sharing.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad I could help!

[@simasima5255]

Thank you very much, very good and precise guidance to what I needed!

[@forestgunn]

Awesome addon and tutor! Thanks!

[@nubsnova]

That is a great tool. I'm so glad you show that..

[@PrintThatThing]

This will definitely help with my 3D print designs!! Thanks for sharing this 🙌 🙏 ❤ 😊

[@TheCGEssentials]

You’re welcome 😊

[@John_Henry83]

I have been using this since 2.7 It is my third favorite add on behind Makehuman and Archimesh.

[@benedeknovak230]

Thanks! This was really helpful!

[@MrVellj001]

If only there was a similar video a year and a half ago when I started to learn blender for my recently finished 3d printable sarcophagus project and all those annotations I had to keep on paper. THANKS, addon enabled right now.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad I could help!

[@jesstapia562]

Thank you…Great video

[@GiuTor73]

Very very useful. Thank you for this practical video!

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bplauger]

Great video. I like your simple approach to training in blender. No crazy long intros and no BS. Just "Hey guys, ok here is how you do this." Keep up the good work.

[@TheCGEssentials]

I appreciate that!

[@EddieN81]

so helpful! thank you very much!!!

[@DarkAutumn3D]

Wow this is a fantastic tool! The only thing I'd change is that, for example, it saves your settings so that newly measured edges have arrows at the end, are the same colour, etc. without manually having to go in and change each one. So, ideally, you'd be able to save out "Ends of measurements have arrows and lines are yellow with a font size of 20 with a distance of 0.5." If it could do that I'd be SO happy!

[@somirhm4901]

Great video! Thank you

[@hutcheson3D]

Nice explanation, thanks.

[@despoticwolf]

very useful video, thank you

[@luisignaciodebellis6539]

Thank you for this great tutorial. Is there some way to add to points, measure between them and scale the object to an exact dimension if the measurement between those to points is not the desired? Thank you once again

[@USSpace-mg8wv]

Dude, so appreciate the time and expertise you put into your tutorials.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Thanks!

[@USSpace-mg8wv]

@@TheCGEssentials You are welcome.

[@markferrick10]

Very informative. Learned alot . Thanks

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad to hear it!

[@Synapticsnap]

Wow as a former Architect Student I love this Thanks I was needing this a couple days ago.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad it was helpful!

[@satyabrataghosh6465]

Thanks this is a great tutorial

[@MrGridStrom]

Great stuff, I found a way to make it work with circle curves.

[@shashankda1930]

Yoo ... Thanks Man for this video 😉🙂

[@TheCGEssentials]

No problem 👍

[@ZotaCoelho]

Sensacional!

[@pamfiloabionjr4529]

You are absolutely awesome! Could you make a video for alignment How to align objects any where you want.

[@nlas6878]

Very Thanks

[@arghajitdey7156]

Thats a good one

[@jaanov6094]

Thank you

[@abrahamrodriguez6462]

two worlds collide with this tool!

[@10p_b3_cruzyumie.6]

Cg essentials really teach you every nook n cranny of blender

[@alexchava1229]

thansks superhandy, to architects

[@codecthelios]

We need to be able to project drawings from models. Then I could almost do all my drafting from blender

[@drumboarder1]

in case you're unaware, techdraw

[@AlfredoAntonioMartinez]

Thanks alot!

[@TheCGEssentials]

You're welcome!

[@matthewbrereton4629]

I am a medium experienced Blender person and I found the approach here really helpful. Thank you so much for what is a extremely useful and well presented Tutorial. I wanted to also ask if you could explain how to render the image (as a Transparent) with the dimensions. I could not seem to deliver an image using the Render button in the addon and I did not understand what it meant by UVImage Editor to see the image I tried several times but got only one entirely grey image. Thanks so much in any event.

[@davidschulz7456]

Great video! One question: When I change the arrows (e.g. from Triangle to Line) on my measurement, they don't auto-update in the viewport. Instead, I have to re-take the measurement. Anyone else have this issue? Thanks!

[@M_erkt]

Hi! Is it possible to find out the size of a circle using this addon?

[@ZeeshanAliLeo]

Very great tool, does it also let us show addition of different segment. That is the over all length?

[@alexandervasilev6403]

Most of all I like the sketchup-like tool extrude/manifold ! Cuz I'm a sketchup user :-)

[@sheevyGG]

I like the series where you make Blender as close to CAD softwares such as SketchUp

[@TheCGEssentials]

Glad you're liking it! It's still got a ways to go, but definitely growing a better toolset!

[@xaiver3612]

you are great

[@prathvisingh8288]

Hi Justin. Another great tutorial video! I just wanted to ask whether

[@someshsahu4638]

Nice sir thankyou

[@TheCGEssentials]

Thanks!

[@selvakumar8059]

nice

[@Maystro_eg]

I am an architectural engineering and this is too important in my 3D life, many thanks for your rich information

[@Maystro_eg]

​@@Mahm00dM0hanad ربنا يوفقك, Good Luck

[@TheCGEssentials]

Architectural Engineering is a real degree at many schools

[@Maystro_eg]

@@Mahm00dM0hanad استاذنا العزيز - حضرتك لم تفهم كلامي - شكرا لحضرتك Dear Mr, I think you did not understand what i mean, and i don't have years to explain, We can use Blender, 3DS Max, Cinema 4D or Maya , Have a nice time :)

[@kuraboqsakil2791]

cool ~ .dn't know blender have that. Really convenient as cad user. Now I can works with more precision. I wish we can edit size directly from the dimension haha

[@TheCGEssentials]

Yeah, that's more of a Fusion 360 type function :)

[@gabriellopez5269]

Awsome video, i have a question, how can i know the object volume?

[@georgeyoung108]

Can these measurements be included in a gLTF export? It'd be awesome if you could have the same camera-facing labels, etc in an exported model used for 3D apps.

[@jerryhunter1114]

you saved my bacon again!

[@josephskn9607]

I need help. In Imperial units, i want to label the length in feet and inches at the same time like 1' 6". I don't want the label like 1ft/12 in or 1.5ft. How can i change this.

[@catallaxy]

I am an old Blender-Head but, I always seem to default over to SketchUp when I need t do an architectural model because SketchUp feels more suitable in terms of scale and the ease with which I can put textures down quickly. I love Blender but, I think of it as a "metric" software and I only use it for artistic endeavors such as car modelling or airplanes. I suspect that Blender was originally conceived of as a soft body modelling program. Do you have a video which demonstrates how to bring a floor plan in to scale, in Blender?

[@ernstryan1]

Is there no way to just show the dimensions of whatever you have selected? For example, in Modo I can turn on dimensions and it will show for whatever I have selected live. So I can select the mesh and get the whole dimension or just an edge and get that one live in the viewport.

[@brixbros-store]

Hi... i know i just started learning Blender... but what is the IN key you mention at the beginning of the video? I activated the add on but i can't find the measurelt tool. sorry for moronic question but i really stuck.

[@antoniogalati3039]

Hi Justin, I've watched and followed your video many times but as I click on the first edge as you did, nothing happens, what could I be doing wrong. Thanks.

[@Vexelius]

This was an awesome tutorial! By the way, do you know if there's an add-on that works like SolidWorks' "Smart Dimension" tool? With it, you can measure the distance between two points, and also edit it. That way is very easy to make adjustments to existing shapes.

[@TheCGEssentials]

Don't think so - this would require a fairly fundamental change in the way Blender creates geometry

[@abrahamrodriguez6462]

and I think that is patented by dassault

[@allenl9214]

Do the measurements atuomatically update as we adjust edge or vertices? And can the edge length or vertices distance be adjusted by typing in a measurement number?

[@olablt]

missing this

[@BlindingSun_]

Is there a way to notch a tube in blender?. Like when you make a bike frame

[@Tarex_]

Step export and real curves would bring a revolution to the physical world not just vfx and CG

[@SangitasSweetCooking]

thanks

[@TheCGEssentials]

No problem!

[@elefantspidsmus]

I was wondering, the thickness of a wall would that be possible. Let's say you had a flat object, gave it some solidity and applied it. There are no vertices to measure the distance = the thickness.

[@ghbytdsrfhb]

any idea how to hotkey it? right clicking segment just lets me select online manual

[@atam3977]

MeasureIt is great addon, but some drawbacks. It's hard to manage dimensions in more complex models like house design and become illegible at some point. You can display dimensions for all objects or only selected one. Or you have to select object one by one and hide/show desired specific dimension to render. Making dimensions is one of the few things that SketchUp does better out of the box than Blender.

[@JPEspulgar]

I think Blender is making an application than can do architect, 2D animation, 3D rendering, video editing for just free and always listening on every users needs,

[@TheCGEssentials]

Maybe - I don't know that they're really focusing on architectural type modeling at the moment - there aren't a let of features for this particular application in the upcoming versions

[@JPEspulgar]

I guess they wanted to include the side of architectural here in Blender, it makes this application dive in more deeper in details for some artist and also to tap the interest of some designers in architect community, this is good thing for blender,

[@mickey6355]

Can this addon show the number of edge on the border?

[@queequeg00]

Is there a way to edit the value of the measurement with this tool as to change the shape of the model? I normally work in SolidWorks at work, where I normally just draw something rough and use dimensions to tweak to desired results.

[@TheCGEssentials]

I don't think so - Blender's not really set up for that kind of modeling

[@johncarter6572]

Thanks 💖💖💖

[@ThaoNguyen-gc2pu]

Could we add tick size for dimensions?

[@213crause]

Is it possible to export a .obj with these dimensions overlay?

[@SanLiuk]

i would like to render the arrows. how can i do that?

[@Greazer]

If an edge is 24 inches, how do you change to 24 cm and then everything gets resized for that? Or you change the edge to 48 inches and everything is doubled in size?

[@sichaoxian]

Can someone help? I don't think this add-on is working for 2.93, since when I click the segment button nothing shows up no matter what input I adjust.

[@Z3dPrints]

Is there a way to edit the dimensions? Im learning to switch from solid works and the ability to NOT be Able to edit dimensions is really confusing me

[@muhammadhamzahrobbani5654]

when my project is rendered into an image, the measurement results are not included in the rendering. how to solve this?

[@HUNTER-kt5wh]

i need a calculate about floor building how many tiles can fit 300*300,400*300

[@feloparedes2152]

TX 💎

[@quintongroves952]

How do you render the image with the measurements though? Whenever I go to render it the object is there but the measurements are gone

[@TheCGEssentials]

I don't know if you can

[@bdragon254]

Yes there is a render section at the bottom of the MeasureIt panel (B 2.91)

[@DeSommeil]

THis Dimension style is not consistent with the View Dimension in View Port overlay !!! I don't know why, please help ! (for EX : same Edge , one show 3319mm, other one shows 285mm )

[@kertenvarik]

Can I download the file with the measurements on 3D model?

[@neototem4110]

I swear, between you and maybe one or two other Blender content providers highlighting CAD utility of the program, I seriously haven't touched Sketchup in the last 2 months and would just like Trimble to go ahead and give me a refund on that lol. I'm hoping the VR walkthrough with my Valve Index delivers for Sketchup, I'd feel a little better, but being able to send models into Unreal Engine takes care of that for Blender also🤔 If anyone reading this has been thinking about Sketchup over Blender because of ease of use and speed...I mean, I paid because I was looking for that same advantage to "just get things done"...think a little longer than I did. Roughly the same amount of time (okay slightly more) it took me to watch tutorials and read docs, Blender has proven to be the better experience providing more value, for much, much less after you tally up paying contributors for their plug-ins. Say you learn the ropes and get efficient within two months in both programs. Blender still comes out ahead. Time to pay for another year of Sketchup...but Blender is still free. I still like Sketchup, I love it...but I dunno right about now

[@TheCGEssentials]

Have you actually been using Blender for CAD? How has it been working? As a general rule, I'm finding that Blender is a bit away from being a full featured solution for this kind of work...

[@neototem4110]

@@TheCGEssentials It's still "Blender" and TBH the speed advantage Sketchup has over Blender seems to be a thing that I personally accredit to habit and skill (the one click-type dimension-second click extrusion is an example we all love it). Approaching Blender for CAD is something I think is quite a prize to embrace once that time is put in on it. I'm loving it so far and don't think I'll be renewing my Sketchup subscription next year.

[@ArtisanAspirationWorks]

So every time I try making the dimensions exact they are still off by so many decimals so I really need to know how to make exact measurements like CAD, not just changing the scale units. So adjusting but only at a smaller scale of say edges.

[@VEHICROS]

Can the entire image be rendered with dimensions

[@zONK166]

today is my birthday and because its my birthday, I will introduce you to my girlfreidn :D first thought nvm

[@suqd674]

Thanks I'll use blender to design my PC case

[@TheCGEssentials]

Sounds fun!

[@titledneo00]

how can I Render with those dimensions?please

[@davidefalzone2369]

I don't have the Addons directly in the preferences ... why?

[@merpchannel7148]

could u please make videos about how to draw 2d drawings in blender as in cad or sketchup? Drawing using dimension lines??

[@onerawartist]

There is cad transformations.

[@TheCGEssentials]

I don't fully understand what you're looking for, but you could try this - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoa4ZndnaNN1gNU

[@Gadgetmawombo]

Can you use different measurements?

[@sarawatechnology7070]

Thank you for these excellent tutorials, but sometimes you assume we all are close to your level, and move a bit fast. At about 0.40 in the vid you say to tap the "in key" if I hear that correctly, but i can't find anything about it when I google it, and have no idea what you clicked on. I hope you or someone else can please help me. Thank you

[@TheCGEssentials]

N is a letter

[@benjaminm8069]

@@TheCGEssentials lmao

[@cekuhnen]

sometimes you must appreciate the simplicity of some sketchUp tools the dimension tool there is super effective and easy to use

[@TheCGEssentials]

Well I think this is what a lot of people don't get - Blender and SketchUp really aren't meant for the same kind of uses. Blender's focus is clearly not on being a detailed CAD tool, and that's OK. SketchUp, on the other hand, much more resembles something like AutoCAD than Blender from an intended use point - that's ok too. Different tools for different jobs!

[@Seeitmove]

❤🙌😀

[@TETOYVIENDO]

Greetings, expert... I REALLY NEED HELP... I want to know if you know how to export files from Blender 3.6 to AutoCAD 22... the problem is that I have a drawing in .3ds format, and blender opens it perfectly, BUT!, When exported to AutoCAD, it appears FRAGMENTED with hundreds of thousands of "faces" (small triangles that together make up the entire object) and there are so many that AutoCAD has a hard time moving so much information and it crashes... my question is, how do you? Expert, do you know how I can export from Blender and have it appear in AutoCAD as if they were solids or surfaces... thanks!

[@javiermartin2937]

Seguro re tarde pero probaste exportando en .obj o en otro formato?

[@sertac6588]

0:36 which key is the inki ? tutorial is over for me tnx

[@tristate0mind]

Great vid! How do u add additional dimensions beyond 3D? Subscribed!!!!

[@TheCGEssentials]

I don't quite understand the question...

[@tristate0mind]

@@TheCGEssentials So I can see in your guide dimensions. How could I map additional dimensions like 4D, 5D (beyond x,y, z)?

[@TheCGEssentials]

@@tristate0mind Like...over time? You could probably keyframe some. I'm not sure what the 5th dimension you're talking about is - every time I've ever seen "5D" it's a new attribute like cost, so I guess I don't really understand what you're trying to do

[@tristate0mind]

I'm talking about Higher Dimensional Geometry. Tesseract, Hyper spheres, etc. Hence "Additional dimensions" past x, y, x. I 'm aiming to animate the movement of higher dimensional geometry with the ability for users to directly effect & engage the geometry. An example could be animating a toroidal electromagnetic field (4D geometry). Be great to go past 4D too.

[@TheCGEssentials]

@@tristate0mind Gotta say I've got no clue on this one. I'm not even fully understanding how the tesseract shape is considered to be in 4 dimensions. In this space, all points on that shape would be dictated in an X,Y,Z format, still 3 dimensions. Generally, every time I've heard "4D" in this context, the 4th dimension is always considered "time." I'd say this is probably something where you'd have to get real familiar with some of the math nodes in Blender