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Units and Measurement
Change the default units and measure geometry features.
Change the Default Units
In Inspire Studio, the default unit of measurement is centimeters. You can also choose from millimeters, meters, inches, and feet.

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- Altair Inspire Studio Overview
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- File Import and Export
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  Review techniques for selecting and editing objects.
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  The software saves versions of your objects as you create them, enabling you to return to an earlier stage of an object, and modify or reuse the object from that stage.
- Adjust the View
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  Capture an image of a model. The background is white by default, but you can make it colored or transparent. Arrows on curves are automatically turned off.
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  Translate, rotate, and scale objects using the Move tool. These tasks can be accomplished with greater precision by using grids and snaps.
- Browse and Organize
  Browse and organize the objects, layers, lights, materials, and drawings in your scene using the Model Browser.
- Help and User Assistance
  Learn about the forms of help and user assistance available from the product.
- Units and Measurement
  Change the default units and measure geometry features.
  - Change the Default Units
    In Inspire Studio, the default unit of measurement is centimeters. You can also choose from millimeters, meters, inches, and feet.
  - Measure Features
    Measure geometry features including a length, an angle, a radius, a diameter, and the dimensions of a bounding box.
- Tool Belts
  Inspire Studio has four different tool belts to help you quickly access the tools you need for 3D modeling, sketching, creating PolyNURBS, and rendering. You can use the tool belts with the default configuration of tools or you can customize the tool belts by adding and removing tools as required.
- Preferences
  Modify the workspace display, default keyboard shortcuts, and other settings.
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Analyze curves and surfaces, import simulation data, or access the Design Table and Variable Manager.
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Dimension a line, edge, bounding box, angle, and radius/diameter in order to create objects which must fit predefined dimensions.
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Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Controls
Learn keyboard shortcuts and mouse controls for common operations.
SpaceMouse Support
Inspire Studio supports 3Dconnexion's SpaceMouse.

Change the Default Units

In Inspire Studio, the default unit of measurement is centimeters. You can also choose from millimeters, meters, inches, and feet.

When you enter a number in a field, the appropriate unit is automatically appended. If you enter a unit after a number, the number is converted to the current unit. For example, entering 10 in inside a field where centimeters are the current units results in 25.4 cm being displayed.

Tip: When unit conversion is required, include the units when entering the value. Use standard unit abbreviations without a space. For example, to enter a value of 1 inch, type 1 in.

On the Help menu, click the Preferences button.
In the Preferences window, click Inspire Studio > Units.

You have the following options:


Preference	Description
Length	Define the units used for length.
Mass	Define the units used for mass.
Area	Define the units used for area.
Volume	Define the units used for volume.
Density	Define the units used for density.
Moment of Inertia	Define the units used for moment of inertia.
Curvature	Define the units used for curvature.
Save as Defaults	Click the Save as Defaults button to save the values entered in the tolerance fields as your standard default settings.

Note: The grid settings update automatically. For example, if Grid #2 spacing has been set to 1 cm, when you switch from centimeters to inches, Grid #2 spacing will automatically update to 1 in.