Maya Project Scaling & Exporting for Unity

Overview

If you are creating 3D assets for use in a Unity game project, you may find that they import into the engine rather small by default. As such, you will need to note the units you are working with in your Maya project. By default they are set to centimeters where as Unity assumes you are working in meters. Here is how you can adjust this on Maya's end.

Maya Preferences

  • In Maya, go to the Menu Bar and look under Windows > Settings/Preferences > Preferences.
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  • In the Categories section on the left, click on Settings.
  • Under Working Units, find Linear and set it to Meter.
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Sending to Unity

  • Go to File > Send to Unity > Set Unity Project
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  • Navigate to your Unity project directory. By default the project folder is saved to the root of your user directory, unless otherwise specified.
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  • Click on the project folder, then Select.
  • You can send your entire scene over to Unity with File > Send to Unity > All or your selected object(s) with File > Send to Unity > Selection.
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  • Navigate to your Unity project directory, preferably to where your project's 3D models/assets are stored.
  • If project-wide, your units have already been set to something other than Meters up to this point, you will be able to adjust what units will the export be interpreted as. In the Export Selection window, in the right section look under the following dropdowns: File Type Specific Options > Advanced Options > Units. There, toggle Automatic to be unchecked/off. Then set your desired units using the dropdown beside File Units converted to, and set them to Meters for Unity.
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  • Set the format of your object (here we are using FBX), and give it a recognizable and sensible name as you see fit.
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  • Now, in your Unity project, check in the Asset Browser for your asset where you had exported it.
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  • You should see it as a Prefab in your previously selected folder.
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With that, your Maya asset/scene should now be imported and properly scaled in Unity.

Further Resources

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