Published Sep 13th, 2013, 9/13/13 6:17 pm
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Hello friends of PlanetMinecraft!
Before I get started about building "to scale" in Minecraft, allow me to introduce myself. I am Darren. I am the owner of the MCParks, Walt Disney World in Minecraft, and I run my YouTube channel with an identical name as here on PMC.
So, what is exactly is 1:1 and building to scale. Building One to One means every block placed in the world matches with a block placed in the world or to the medium that you are focusing your build off of. The general rule for building to scale in Minecraft is: 1 Meter is equal to 1 Block. Most times, people will convert blocks to feet. This will make every object feel roughly three times larger then it actually is. Remember: 1 Meter is equal to 3.2 Feet. 9 out of 10 times, people will mistake that the actual building measurements aren't as important as the design and take on the building. While both are very important, having a correctly sized and shaped building can be the difference between "What is it?" and "OMG! I sat at this exact spot!"
Now, that we have those top menu buttons figured out. Let's move down into what we're actually going to be doing. In the line menu, you have 3 numbers and a drop down menu. Here's what every number means.
So, before we begin outlining, allow me to explain how the ruler tool works. The ruler tool works similar to how a real life map works also how Minecraft works. So, the world is made up of a X, Y, and Z axis. X and Z being left and right or forward and backward. Most times, if direction doesn't matter, Z and X are interchangeable. The only one which needs to remain the same would be the Y. Similar to Minecraft, in real life, the Y axis is height. Google Earth doesn't provide us with any sort of height so, there's no need for a Y. The way you 'track' your line with G.E. would be by left clicking. Left click once, to place the first position. Left click again, to place the second one. A third click will not add in a third point, just reset both points and place in a new first point. Make your selection now.
Now that we have our path set up, this is where math re-enters the build. In a circle.... Well, any shape, there is 360 degrees. This rule doesn't get a free pass on Minecraft. 1/4 is still 90, 1/2 is still 180, 3/4 is still 270 and a whole is still 360 or 0. So, before we go ahead and start throwing down blocks to 'outline' our build, we have to pay attention to angle. This is a straight(head on) line in Minecraft:
But! It's also a 0, 90, 180, 270, and 360 degree angle in Minecraft. Here's one of a diagonal line in Minecraft:
This is something we call a '45'. A 45 angle is a line that is still straight, all lines are straight, but because of Minecraft it has rough edges. A line such as this one consists of angles that are 45, 135, 225, and 315 degrees.
Note: Other angles besides a '90' or '45' begin to cause problems in the distance so we will not focus on that in this part.
Moving on... A '90' is fun because it's easy. So, until the more advanced part goes up, you'll just be dealing with easy numbers such as a 90. Now in Minecraft, at the location of the build. Find the "Heading", read that. If it isn't a '90' number that I stated before, or within a few degrees of it, ignore all of this.
Locate the "Map Length" text, find the number next to it, MAKE SURE THE DROP DOWN MENU IS ON METERS! I cannot stress that enough. There is a big difference between 30 feet and 30 meters. So, now that we have the correct number rounded to the nearest whole number, that is the length of your first side. Now, in Minecraft, take that rounded number and place that many blocks in a straight(head on) line. Remember: This only works with '90' degree angles, EVERY other angle has a formula.
That's gonna end it for this part. If you enjoyed this read and look forward to more, do me a solid and drop a diamond. If you REALLY enjoyed this post, add to favorite. If you want me to love you forever, send to your friends! This took almost two hours to write out and type up. Feel free to check out my YouTube Channel and Minecraft Server. Both can be found on my Planet Minecraft Profile.
Thanks for your time,
TheDrMeowMix.
Some final tips:
-Doors are two meters tall in real life, so that can be used to figure out height.
-Steve is 1.7 blocks tall, roughly 6 ft. Use that to figure out heights.
-For landscaping, a program like WorldPainter can do wonders.
-If the project is big, don't be afraid to hire a team!
-Outlines can be redone! If you mess up, just start over again.
Before I get started about building "to scale" in Minecraft, allow me to introduce myself. I am Darren. I am the owner of the MCParks, Walt Disney World in Minecraft, and I run my YouTube channel with an identical name as here on PMC.
1:1
So, what is exactly is 1:1 and building to scale. Building One to One means every block placed in the world matches with a block placed in the world or to the medium that you are focusing your build off of. The general rule for building to scale in Minecraft is: 1 Meter is equal to 1 Block. Most times, people will convert blocks to feet. This will make every object feel roughly three times larger then it actually is. Remember: 1 Meter is equal to 3.2 Feet. 9 out of 10 times, people will mistake that the actual building measurements aren't as important as the design and take on the building. While both are very important, having a correctly sized and shaped building can be the difference between "What is it?" and "OMG! I sat at this exact spot!"
Design
Don't get me wrong, design doescarry out a very large part in building to scale. There are a few things that people will try to avoid when they first start out building to scale and the big one would be using certain types of blocks. Wool. People HATE using wool when they don't have to. Don't be afraid to use 'Light Blue Wool' over 'Diamond Block' or 'White Wool' over 'Quartz'. I assure you, wool WILL look better most of the time. Buildings have color! Don't be afraid to use the vibrant colors of 'Lime Green' and 'Purple Wool'. Don't think that you need to use the recently added in clay whenever you see color.
Starting Out
A correct outline is a good outline. Google Earth can and will be your best friend. When you open up Google Earth, you will see a large amount of tools and settings, most of it is pointless.... Ignore it. All you need is something called the ruler tool. it will be located on this toolbar:
The tool we want is:
Click that and this window should appear:
Now... Let's break this bad boy down. You got a lot of numbers and options, so let's go step by step and allow me to explain everything.
- First we have: Line. We'll only really be focusing on the line because Minecraft is made of lines.
- Next up: Paths. These are important if you want to track a distance that uses multiple turns.
- Finally, we got: Pro. This is just a scam from Google. It contains fun little perks but, you can live without it. If you want to spend the $400, go for it. Pro is now free but still isn't really discussed in the article.
Now, that we have those top menu buttons figured out. Let's move down into what we're actually going to be doing. In the line menu, you have 3 numbers and a drop down menu. Here's what every number means.
- Map Length: How long your selection path is.
- Grounding Length: Does nothing
- Heading: This is the angle. The fun stuff!
So, before we begin outlining, allow me to explain how the ruler tool works. The ruler tool works similar to how a real life map works also how Minecraft works. So, the world is made up of a X, Y, and Z axis. X and Z being left and right or forward and backward. Most times, if direction doesn't matter, Z and X are interchangeable. The only one which needs to remain the same would be the Y. Similar to Minecraft, in real life, the Y axis is height. Google Earth doesn't provide us with any sort of height so, there's no need for a Y. The way you 'track' your line with G.E. would be by left clicking. Left click once, to place the first position. Left click again, to place the second one. A third click will not add in a third point, just reset both points and place in a new first point. Make your selection now.
Now that we have our path set up, this is where math re-enters the build. In a circle.... Well, any shape, there is 360 degrees. This rule doesn't get a free pass on Minecraft. 1/4 is still 90, 1/2 is still 180, 3/4 is still 270 and a whole is still 360 or 0. So, before we go ahead and start throwing down blocks to 'outline' our build, we have to pay attention to angle. This is a straight(head on) line in Minecraft:
But! It's also a 0, 90, 180, 270, and 360 degree angle in Minecraft. Here's one of a diagonal line in Minecraft:
This is something we call a '45'. A 45 angle is a line that is still straight, all lines are straight, but because of Minecraft it has rough edges. A line such as this one consists of angles that are 45, 135, 225, and 315 degrees.
Note: Other angles besides a '90' or '45' begin to cause problems in the distance so we will not focus on that in this part.
Moving on... A '90' is fun because it's easy. So, until the more advanced part goes up, you'll just be dealing with easy numbers such as a 90. Now in Minecraft, at the location of the build. Find the "Heading", read that. If it isn't a '90' number that I stated before, or within a few degrees of it, ignore all of this.
Locate the "Map Length" text, find the number next to it, MAKE SURE THE DROP DOWN MENU IS ON METERS! I cannot stress that enough. There is a big difference between 30 feet and 30 meters. So, now that we have the correct number rounded to the nearest whole number, that is the length of your first side. Now, in Minecraft, take that rounded number and place that many blocks in a straight(head on) line. Remember: This only works with '90' degree angles, EVERY other angle has a formula.
That's gonna end it for this part. If you enjoyed this read and look forward to more, do me a solid and drop a diamond. If you REALLY enjoyed this post, add to favorite. If you want me to love you forever, send to your friends! This took almost two hours to write out and type up. Feel free to check out my YouTube Channel and Minecraft Server. Both can be found on my Planet Minecraft Profile.
Thanks for your time,
TheDrMeowMix.
Some final tips:
-Doors are two meters tall in real life, so that can be used to figure out height.
-Steve is 1.7 blocks tall, roughly 6 ft. Use that to figure out heights.
-For landscaping, a program like WorldPainter can do wonders.
-If the project is big, don't be afraid to hire a team!
-Outlines can be redone! If you mess up, just start over again.
| Credit | Photo by: sycoinc |
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Even with a trig formula you will still have difficulty with any line other than 45 or 135. I don't see a point including reflex angles since for building purposes any angle can be measured as 0-180 by simply using the explementary (adds to make 360) angle shared by the angle in question. The reason is slope in Minecraft is based off a 1 x 1 grid that requires 90 degrees movements along that grid.
Given this problem, trig solutions for a line distance do not directly help find the appropriate rise/run to make the line look uniform from point (x1,y1) to (x2,y2). Since each line of the outline connects to a previous line you can consider the rise over run (slope) as starting from (x1,y1) = (0,0). The end point of the line becomes your (x2,y2), and slope becomes y2/x2 which you must then put in simplest form to start drawing the line until you reach the end point.
Thus if a line is say 500m long, but has an xLeg value of 300m and a yLeg 400m, then the slope of the 500m line is simply 400/300 which simplifies to 4/3. That means you need to build the line such that a move 4 blocks along the Y axis results in corresponding 3 block change on the X axis. As you can see that could be difficult, because the blocks can't do that, so you need to fudge it a little. I would split the X into three segments and sandwich the Y into two segments placed between the X segments. Thus, go 1 on the X, then 2 on the Y, then 1 on the X, then 2 on the Y, then a on the X. Then repeat the pattern until you reach a point that your moved 400 total along the Y and 300 total along the X.
This method requires only basic fraction skills to locate a point any distance away at any vector (angle) from the starting point using two simple measures that Google Earth can provide. The only tricky part is determining the best looking pattern to generate the simplest segment of the slope.
I personally think the alternating method is best, but you have to get creative when it comes to some vectors. The key is to use a consistent pattern for every angle you in your build, so keep a log of slopes and the pattern you use for each slope as you use them, thus if you find a line along the same slope you can simply use the pattern you logged the first time you ran into it..
I hope that helps some of you fellow 1:1ers out there. That is my favorite way to build, even when making up an imaginary building. My ultimate build will be a 1:1 of Minute Maid Stadium in Houston, the home of the Astros, but I am waiting on my build teammate (a.k.a. my son) to improve his math skills one more year.
I'm sure that you've seen the buttons sin, cos, and tang on a Scientific Calculator, but never knew what it was for. Well, they are used to find the length of each vector (or side) of a triangle. In order to find the angles of a triangle, You will need to use the secondary functions of these buttons, which are sin -1, cos -1, and tang -1. Just read the lesson in order to understand how it works.
Hope this helps!
If your having problems installing it and an error code: 1603 shows up, please refer to these links below.
Error Code 1603 Solution on Google Forums
Download the full Google Earth Pro (or regular GE) programs instead of the installer!
Learn more about Google Earth Pro and if it's the program that's best for you for Building 1:1 scale maps. (It's VERY usefull for me!)