Drawing with perspective, part 3: Isometric Projection
Today on DwP: how to construct a spiral staircase :)
In part 2 I've shown how to construct objects in cavalier projection
; today we'll do the same thing using isometric projection
. It's similar to cavalier projection but not quite as crude and simple; the perspective looks more convincing.
It's a very common form of parallel projection and has a lot of uses. A quick google image search for isometric projection gives a good idea of the application spectrum. One of my favorite examples is the old C64 game Spindizzy:
Here's how it's constructed:
As you see, all three planes get distorted: the perpendicular plans are seen at a 120° angle. On the three main axes the real dimensions of the object are kept, everything else gets distorted. Parallels in the object remain parallels on the projection plane.
Simple object: pyramid
Slightly trickier object: cube with circle:
(for construction of the circle see previous post under example 4)
Next, something more realistic:
constructing a cupboard
same as the cube above... just with a lot more detail.
And now the most interesting bit - Spiral staircase:
(The construction drawing may look confusing at first but I think I found a way to break it down in a way that makes it clear.)
top view/side view
final staircase & construction drawing
First, same drawings as above, but clearer
And this is how it's constructed in detail:
(top/side view again)
1) First you project the top view onto the projection plane, as in the left picture...
2)... and then you take each stair separately and draw it in at the respective height. It becomes a lot clearer with a reduced number of stairs!
That's the basic principle. Once you know the location of all your stairs you can pretty up the staircase as you want, add a safety rail (hey, I'm German *g*) and whatnot.
eta: oh, and of course you can take the 12-stair module you just created and use it to create a multi-story staircase:
Alright, that's it for now. Here's today's problem, for those who'd like to have a go:
... and a link to the solution
Time to move on to actual perspective drawing so we can draw something besides single objects! Next up: 1-point-perspective.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth. Comments:
In part 2 I've shown how to construct objects in cavalier projection
; today we'll do the same thing using isometric projection
. It's similar to cavalier projection but not quite as crude and simple; the perspective looks more convincing.
It's a very common form of parallel projection and has a lot of uses. A quick google image search for isometric projection gives a good idea of the application spectrum. One of my favorite examples is the old C64 game Spindizzy:
Here's how it's constructed:
As you see, all three planes get distorted: the perpendicular plans are seen at a 120° angle. On the three main axes the real dimensions of the object are kept, everything else gets distorted. Parallels in the object remain parallels on the projection plane.
Simple object: pyramid
Slightly trickier object: cube with circle:
(for construction of the circle see previous post under example 4)
Next, something more realistic:
constructing a cupboard
same as the cube above... just with a lot more detail.
And now the most interesting bit - Spiral staircase:
(The construction drawing may look confusing at first but I think I found a way to break it down in a way that makes it clear.)
top view/side view
final staircase & construction drawing
First, same drawings as above, but clearer
And this is how it's constructed in detail:
(top/side view again)
1) First you project the top view onto the projection plane, as in the left picture...
2)... and then you take each stair separately and draw it in at the respective height. It becomes a lot clearer with a reduced number of stairs!
That's the basic principle. Once you know the location of all your stairs you can pretty up the staircase as you want, add a safety rail (hey, I'm German *g*) and whatnot.
eta: oh, and of course you can take the 12-stair module you just created and use it to create a multi-story staircase:
Alright, that's it for now. Here's today's problem, for those who'd like to have a go:
... and a link to the solution
Time to move on to actual perspective drawing so we can draw something besides single objects! Next up: 1-point-perspective.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth. Comments: