Measure points and check a mesh export in Form Studio

Form Studio can tell you more than a single distance, and it can show you what an OBJ or STL file will contain before you download it. This tutorial uses the Studio corner example: choose Form Studio next to the workspace tabs, then Examples → Studio corner.

Measure between two points

1. Choose Measure in 3D in the tool bar (or press M while the model view or the tool bar has focus).
2. Click a first point on a visible face or on the ground, then a second point.

The Measurement details area below the model view fills in as you click:

• Start (X · Y · Z) and End (X · Y · Z): the world coordinates of both points.
• End minus start (X · Y · Z): the signed difference along each axis. A negative Y value means the end point lies further towards the front than the start point. This is how you read "how far across, how far back, how much higher" without doing the maths yourself.
• Distance: the straight-line distance between the points. The line and its length are also drawn in the model view.

All values use the units chosen in the view bar. Switch Units to inches and the same measurement is shown in inches at once. Nothing is measured again; the stored points are simply converted.

Download measurement CSV saves a small table: a header row, then the start point, the end point and the end-minus-start row with the distance. Numbers use a dot as decimal separator, whatever language you use, so spreadsheets and scripts read them reliably. Clear measurement removes the points and returns focus to the model view.

A measurement is a snapshot for this session. It is not saved in the form project. If you move or resize a solid afterwards, the old points stay where they were, so measure again. Opening another form clears them.

Check what a mesh export will contain

Choose Export form. The Mesh export review at the top describes the OBJ and STL files before you download them. For the Studio corner it reads:

• Mesh contains 18 solids and 328 triangles.
• The model has no hidden solids.
• Mesh bounds (X × Y × Z): 4,800 × 3,600 × 2,240 mm.

The bounds are always in millimetres, because the mesh files are written in millimetres with Z up, even when the view bar shows inches.

Now close the dialog, find the Details tag in the object list and choose Hide. Open Export form again: the review now says Mesh contains 16 solids and 192 triangles. and 2 hidden solids are left out. By default OBJ and STL only contain visible solids, like the plan and the report.

Tick Include hidden solids in OBJ and STL to export everything anyway. The review switches to 18 solids, 328 triangles and 2 hidden solids are included. The plan SVG and PNG, the view image and the model report keep their usual behaviour and include visible solids only. If nothing would be exported at all, the review says so and the OBJ and STL buttons are disabled.

Know the format limits

The notes under the counts are worth reading once:

• STL has no unit field: choose millimetres when you import it. OBJ carries a units comment, which some programs ignore.
• Solids stay separate shells. Overlapping solids are not fused into one.
• OBJ has object and group names (made safe for the format) but no materials or colours. STL has only triangles.
• A mesh keeps no editable footprints, locks, visibility or saved views. Keep Save form for the project itself and treat OBJ and STL as one-way exports.