#Help with Isometric view
21 messages in this thread
What is the easiest way to set the Camera viewport up so that is the same as
the User Viewport? I can get it almost exactly the same, but never 100%
identical. I need to have meshes rendered and animated with a true isometric
view.
Judy
When in a camera view, press U and then Enter (no mouse movement) and you've
got a User view that matches the Camera as best it can.
– Phil
Is there some way that you can do this in animation?
Judy
Could you do Phillips suggestion once, go to KF and move cam keyframe to some
frame other than 0. Do this several times; slide the keyframes as you go. When
you're done, you could reverse the cam tracks if needed (unless you thought
ahead and KF'd backwards)
I will give that a try.
Judy
>> Is there some way that you can do this in animation?
Any view can be rendered into an animation. Line up your camera to closely
approximate the isometric view. Click "U" then <enter> to turn it into a User
View, and then render like any other viewport. This takes away the
"perspective" and leaves you with something as close as possible to an
isometric representation. (You won't be able to manipulate it like a camera
view, so if you need to change viewing angles during the animation, you will
need to rotate your geometry over time.)
– Dave
PMJI, but sure just press the U when in the Keyframer and render.
DM
Thanks
Judy
<<What is the easiest way to set the Camera viewport up so that is the same as
the User Viewport?>>
You could try this:
In the 3D Editor
1) Create a box in the top viewport
2) Create a camera in the centre of the box pointing along the z axis(into the
distance)
In the Keyframer
3) Link the camera and camera target to the box
In the 3D Editor
4) Choose a User Viewport that you want to simulate
5) Select Modify/Object/Align and select the front face(closest to you) of the
box in the User Viewport, then select "Facing towards".
Go the Keyframer and view the scene from the camera, you may have to dolly out.
You should now have the same view as from the User Viewport, though with
perspective forshortening due to a camera view.
If you want to have the camera updated correctly in the 3D Editor just unlink
the camera from the box.
David "40,000 users using user views" Gould
Thanks David – That will be a great help! It is exactly what I wanted.
Just out of curiosity what is the true definition of ISOMETRIC?
Judy
>> Just out of curiosity what is the true definition of ISOMETRIC?
HOOOOoooooo BOY!
Just watch all of us architwits and drafters jump out of the woodwork! 😉
The use of the term Isometric has been one of my pet peeves for a long time.
It is generally used INCORRECTLY to refer to any non-perspective,
non-orthogonal view. Such a view should really be called an AXONOMETRIC view.
The true definition of an isometric view is a parallel projection where all
three coordinate axes have the same angle of incidence to the view plane AND
the object is scaled such that lengths measured parallel to a coordinate axis
in the view plane report the true length of the object.
This happens in 3DS when you convert any orthogonal view (Top, Front, Left,
etc.) to a User view and then rotate the view horizontally 45 degrees and
vertically 35.3 degrees. Then 3D Scale the viewed object by 122.5%.
Now, you didn't really want to know all of that did you? 🙂
If you follow David's adivce and set the camera to a very small FOV (or very
big lens length) you can get quite close to a true axonometric view. You will
find the perspective command very helpful for doing this.
Steven
Someone had told me that they had read in an architecture book that ISOMETRIC
meant 30 degrees rotation on each Axis. SOmehow that didn't seem quite right
but then I don't pretend to know anything about it. From the gaming
perspective, I believe it is loosely defined as a 3/4 view.
This was something for a game – the programmer/designer wants 44 separate
objects built, rendered and animated. The objects have to be able to be seen
from various angles as the user will have the option to rotate the sceen in 45
degree steps. I doubt if I will be doing the project however, since in lieu of
full pay – you are expected to take part of your pay in royalties (which could
turn out to be $0).
Thanks for all the detail info – I appreciate it.
Judy
Hi Judy,
Your friend is correct for manually producing and isometric drawing. The
drafter uses a 30 degree triangle to draw the horizontal axes. Using the
viewing angles I mentioned before is how you achieve the same effect when
looking at a 3D model. Also a 3/4 view refers to any view where you can see
three of the standard ortogonal planes at the same time, usually top, front,
and one side. An isometric is a special type of a 3/4 view.
Steven
Thanks Steve –
I was looking at game like Sim CIty 2000 and they seem to have a 3/4 view. If
you "trace" the bounding box of their object it appears to be a square rotate
45 degrees. I don't think games use a true Isometric view.
Judy
Judy:
In addition to all the great information provided here, remember that you
cannot network render anything except a camera view or you may get
unpredictable results! A single machine rendering is fine, though!
Greg Pyros
I know Greg – that is why I am struggling to get the camera to be set up in
such a way that it shows the object in a 3/4 or isometric view since I will
need to animate the object. I need to use the Camera view – not the user view.
See my message to Steve Elliot – especially about the pricing bit 🙁
Judy
PMFJI
<I know Greg – that is why I am struggling to get the camera to be set up in
such a way that it shows the object in a 3/4 or isometric view since I will
need to animate the object. I need to use the Camera view – not the user view.
>
I needed to do this and achieved it by using a camera very far away. I got the
view lined up by using cubes. When the front top corner vertex of the cube is
exactly coincident with the back lower corner vertex the view is correct. The
cube will look like a hexagon.
Ed
I have been trying something like that by putting the object in box mode and
then setting up the box in the top view port.
As for the distance – I have to make the object fit into a square of a specific
number of pixels – so I have been creating such a square in Ani Pro and then
using see Background to make sure the object fits into the square before I
render.
Judy
>> I need to have meshes rendered and animated with a true isometric view.
Perhaps I am confused, Judy, but I think that to get a "true" isometric view,
you cannot use a camera since lens calculations will always introduce
perspective effects. Why not just render the User view?
– Dan / n-Space, Inc.
ps – if I am lost in space, please disregard =:-)
Because I need animation -and you can't animate the user view.
The user is specifying that he wants an isometric view of everything. Since it
is for a game I believe that he really wants a 3/4 view. I sent him a cube with
box mapping rendered in the User view and he told me he thought the view was
skewed 🙁
Judy
>> The user is specifying that he wants an isometric view of everything.
Since it is for a game I believe that he really wants a 3/4 view. I sent him
a cube with box mapping rendered in the User view and he told me he thought
the view was skewed 🙁 <<
Bummer… sounds like the guy needs a tutorial in 3d. Best of luck with the
project.
– Dan / n-Space, Inc.