Hello there.
I am having trouble with perspective and I need help :-[
Below you will see three pairs of red lines. These represent the size of the character. I'm trying to create backgrounds that require as little scaling as possible. In this scene there are three doors. When the character is up against the door next to the clock and the door in the hallway, scaling looks fine.
The problem is I need a door on the left wall between the two columns.
(http://spentertainment.webs.com/foyer_sketch.png)
As you can see, the character being up against a door on the left wouldn't look right in conjunction with the other two doors. I suspect that the hallway has something to do with this mess.
Please help me.
As long as your horizon line is towards the center (as in this image), you will automatically encounter scaling issues such as the ones in your picture.
If you want to create backgrounds without any scaling, my suggestion would be to place the horizon at the top of the screen (or even much further) that it creates an almost ISO, Zelda-type feel to it.
Beneath a Steel Sky was one adventure game that kind of did this: (http://www.biocrawler.com/w/images/archive/4/46/20050322170257!Beneath_a_Steel_Sky.jpg)
Under this method, most of the door ways still stay the same height due to the high horizon and the characters do not scale.
Hope that helps. :)
Thank you for the pointer, J. It's helped a lot (or at least I hope).
Does this look alright?
(http://spentertainment.webs.com/foyer_sketch2.png)
Looks alright to me, but I'd suggest redrawing the staircase to have the same vanishing point suggested by the hallway. At the moment the stairs seem way too steep.
Thanks, GG. I've fixed the stairs. Of course there's a few more things to get matched up, but here it is now:
(http://spentertainment.webs.com/foyer_sketch3.png)
The stairs haven't been fixed, they're dead straight on as if it's a poster on a wall. Meaning they appear to have no depth at all since the base of the stairs don't follow perspective. :P
Here's a very crude and still incorrect perspective, example. The base should be brought out more, but at least it gives an indication that they are stairs and not cardboard.
(http://www.bryvis.com/entertainment/other/agsf/foyer_sketch_snake.png)
Great edit, Ryan - that's exactly what I meant!
I didn't try to draw perspective lines on the original, but even if the perspective on the staircase had been correct I would have suggested altering the composition to get a less straight-on view. I really love the style and detail of the background (awesome clock, btw!) but the flat staircase seemed very out of place in such a realistic style.
Here is a more general answer.
Have a look at picture below :
(http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/176/b/2/perspectives_by_monsieurouxx.png)
You use perspective 1 (a real, hard core perspective). It forces you to do some scaling.
However, perspectives 2 and 3 don't.
- Perspective 2 consists of cheating with your perspective. the scene looks flatter, though.
- Perspective 3 is isometric 3D (that's the one seen in your first redraw, except for the stairs)
The perspective shown in the Beneath a Steel Sky (BASS) screenshot is a combination of 2 and 3. The horizon line is moved up a lot, but the doors and the walls are still standing perfectly vertical (isometric). State of the Art perspective cheating! :-)
Wow, all this is very informative...and even more important practical application.
QuoteThe stairs haven't been fixed, they're dead straight on as if it's a poster on a wall. Meaning they appear to have no depth at all since the base of the stairs don't follow perspective. :P
Jesus, Ryan, it sounded as if you were scolding a child. Thanks for the info, regardless :P
And thanks to the rest of you. I will try again as soon as I can.
Tsk Tsk Tsk Snake. Now get in the corner!
No really, I didn't mean to sound like a kiddy school teacher. Sorry if it came off that way. Hehe (I may have been drinking during that post)
QuoteHehe (I may have been drinking during that post)
Heh, no problem, Ryan, I understand ;D I seem to do that more than often.
Anyway, man, if it wasn't for your response, I wouldn't have fixed it!
Yay for the critiques lounge!
Looking good. I might be going crazy but I cannot make out "three red lines"!
Evenwolf: The original image got replaced with the final version by mistake. There were three sets of red lines in the original image showing the size of the character next to the doors.