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Referance Images

Submitted by bullet21 on
Forum

I have a question about referance images. Say you have your concept pic you drew. A side view and a front view. When you put them in MAX on Planes. Do both the images have to match up. I mean like does the top of the head of the front image have to match the top of the head of the side. and the bottom of the head of the front match the bottom of the side.

I ask this cos in a Buzz VTM they were going to all this trouble in photoshop of trying to get the referance of this alien to mathc up in both side and front view. I hope you get what i mean.

Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 02/07/04 - 9:17 PM Permalink

My piece on this is extremely clean cut. Model sheets MUST be as accurate as possible, the reason simply being to eliminate all chance of error, especially so early on in the production line.

Any inconsistancies between front and side view reference images, encourages a 'guess' as to where something should be placed. If your just bumming around trying to build a model for the sake of it, then its not so crucial, but working with a big art team, and keeping a close reign and margins for error to a minimum, i believe its absolutely crucial to have the images as close as possible.

And if the model sheet is drawn up baring that reference images are needed in max / maya then its definately no trouble setting them up in max, Its more a case of setting a crop size in photoshop ( making sure that in encompasses both front and side views of your model ), then using that size to crop your front view, and then your side view. Measure that crop size in mm, and create 2 planes in max / maya matching the size.

If your model sheet has been drawn up well, there is almost no tweaking or mucking around at all.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Fri, 02/07/04 - 10:14 PM Permalink

Its relatively important to have them matching up, when i did my concept for my 3d model i made sure to rule lines accross to the side concept for important lines and curves like the knee and the top of the crotch etc. But if your not 100% acurate and these concepts are only for your own use then you have some room to breathe because when you make the 3D model you can adjust for that yourself.

Submitted by Aven on Sat, 03/07/04 - 2:45 AM Permalink

I don't think it is quite as important as HazarD and MoonUnit do. Just realise that if the two planes are out and you try to model it exactly to the planes, you will have a crooked model. If the planes dont line up perfectly, work around it.

Submitted by bullet21 on Sat, 03/07/04 - 3:38 AM Permalink

But if they aren't and you modify them in photoshop, as they did in the VTM wouldn't that modify the way the whole concept looked eg: making the face a bit longer.

Submitted by adie on Wed, 21/07/04 - 8:30 AM Permalink

um if u havent been using the side pic for rerance then its going to be difernt proportion to the front or top so u will never be able to get them to fit acurately .. u shold be drwing them up in the same file and useing crop like HazarD said. this is how u should be drwing them up it u want them to be acurate.. the ceter line is probly best on the front view , mine is on the side view because I drew it from the side 1st..some one mighth know the best way to go about this othaganla drawing or what ever its called ??bacicly the the 45 deg line give u 90 deg is pitty simple shit

[img]icon_paperclip.gif[/img] Download Attachment: [url="http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/adie/200472081447_how-to-draw.jpg"]how-to-draw.jpg[/url]
47.8 KB

Submitted by MoonUnit on Wed, 21/07/04 - 8:41 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by adie
some one mighth know the best way to go about this othaganla drawing or what ever its called ??

Orthographic :)
for a 3D model you can get by with a front and side view i find, so you dont need to include a top and curve your lines with the 45 degree line to make sure they line up with the top view aswell. I just work by doing a front or side view (leaving some space beside it) then ruling lines across.

if your interested though the thing with the 35 degree line is aswell as having your front and side beside each other you do a top view above the front view and then rule all the lines accros from the top view till they encounter the 45 degree line (which extends from your front view) and then turn them on a right angle directly down to line up features from the top view AND the front view for your side (or vice versa)

erm... thats probably impossible to understand isnt it (wheres a whiteboard when you need one...)

Submitted by adie on Wed, 21/07/04 - 9:26 AM Permalink

moonunit what are u talking about?? he eh.... i know u just explaind how to do exactly the same thing and ive got In drawing dosent matter witch veiw u draw first.

Submitted by bullet21 on Thu, 22/07/04 - 1:47 AM Permalink

So this is what i've gathered, Once i have an idea in my head, I just draw a front or side view of it first. Then i use a ruler and guidelines (for important areas) to transfer it to the second view as well. Then i scan it in and edit it in photoshop if necesary. Is that all i do. Also Is one a4 paper enough for both views.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Thu, 22/07/04 - 3:01 AM Permalink

depends on a few things, like how much detail you want in your orthographic views and what it is your actually drawing, personally i found that an A4 for was good enough for a front and side.

Submitted by bullet21 on Thu, 22/07/04 - 4:08 AM Permalink

Another question, Then do you also do a seperate front and left view for the head and one for the body and head.

Submitted by souri on Thu, 22/07/04 - 9:34 PM Permalink

Yeh, as the VTM says, lining the concept up exactly removes unecessary guesswork you'd have to make to compensate matching errors when you're modelling. I think it's a good practise to do your concept on sheets of paper with lines so you can match it up there, rather than in photoshop later.

Submitted by adie on Fri, 23/07/04 - 4:27 AM Permalink

quote:Another question, Then do you also do a seperate front and left view for the head and one for the body and head

no u dont need a seperate one for the head ..sorry my pic has confused u i think ... if u use a seperate A4 page for each Veiw than it will make it a bit easyer to line things up. By laying them on top of each other and tracing.. just make shaw u put some cross keys to line them up together with.. its best if u use a needable eraser to stick it down so they dont mover or some masking tape will do. the biigger u draw the easy it will be to moddle, becaue u kinda loose shap when u draw small i find

Submitted by bullet21 on Fri, 23/07/04 - 4:43 AM Permalink

Ok, i've got a head i drew into max, i've set it up all good. now i've got one more problem. When i put it on a plane, it is very pixelated and jagged. I use the same dimensions for the plane as the picture is which is 545 * 754

Submitted by adie on Fri, 23/07/04 - 5:39 AM Permalink

yeah its a bit small thats why.. I think?? .. dont realy know how u get it to dispaly not pixalated .. u could try changing stuff in customize menu/pereferaces/veiwports tab/configure driver.. or inverse the color in photoshop so its black Background and white lines .. this makes it more clear sometimes

Submitted by bullet21 on Sat, 24/07/04 - 6:52 AM Permalink

I got it working, i just made it bigger and grayed it a bit with the brightness turned down. Tanx heaps Adie

Posted by bullet21 on
Forum

I have a question about referance images. Say you have your concept pic you drew. A side view and a front view. When you put them in MAX on Planes. Do both the images have to match up. I mean like does the top of the head of the front image have to match the top of the head of the side. and the bottom of the head of the front match the bottom of the side.

I ask this cos in a Buzz VTM they were going to all this trouble in photoshop of trying to get the referance of this alien to mathc up in both side and front view. I hope you get what i mean.


Submitted by Kalescent on Fri, 02/07/04 - 9:17 PM Permalink

My piece on this is extremely clean cut. Model sheets MUST be as accurate as possible, the reason simply being to eliminate all chance of error, especially so early on in the production line.

Any inconsistancies between front and side view reference images, encourages a 'guess' as to where something should be placed. If your just bumming around trying to build a model for the sake of it, then its not so crucial, but working with a big art team, and keeping a close reign and margins for error to a minimum, i believe its absolutely crucial to have the images as close as possible.

And if the model sheet is drawn up baring that reference images are needed in max / maya then its definately no trouble setting them up in max, Its more a case of setting a crop size in photoshop ( making sure that in encompasses both front and side views of your model ), then using that size to crop your front view, and then your side view. Measure that crop size in mm, and create 2 planes in max / maya matching the size.

If your model sheet has been drawn up well, there is almost no tweaking or mucking around at all.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Fri, 02/07/04 - 10:14 PM Permalink

Its relatively important to have them matching up, when i did my concept for my 3d model i made sure to rule lines accross to the side concept for important lines and curves like the knee and the top of the crotch etc. But if your not 100% acurate and these concepts are only for your own use then you have some room to breathe because when you make the 3D model you can adjust for that yourself.

Submitted by Aven on Sat, 03/07/04 - 2:45 AM Permalink

I don't think it is quite as important as HazarD and MoonUnit do. Just realise that if the two planes are out and you try to model it exactly to the planes, you will have a crooked model. If the planes dont line up perfectly, work around it.

Submitted by bullet21 on Sat, 03/07/04 - 3:38 AM Permalink

But if they aren't and you modify them in photoshop, as they did in the VTM wouldn't that modify the way the whole concept looked eg: making the face a bit longer.

Submitted by adie on Wed, 21/07/04 - 8:30 AM Permalink

um if u havent been using the side pic for rerance then its going to be difernt proportion to the front or top so u will never be able to get them to fit acurately .. u shold be drwing them up in the same file and useing crop like HazarD said. this is how u should be drwing them up it u want them to be acurate.. the ceter line is probly best on the front view , mine is on the side view because I drew it from the side 1st..some one mighth know the best way to go about this othaganla drawing or what ever its called ??bacicly the the 45 deg line give u 90 deg is pitty simple shit

[img]icon_paperclip.gif[/img] Download Attachment: [url="http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/adie/200472081447_how-to-draw.jpg"]how-to-draw.jpg[/url]
47.8 KB

Submitted by MoonUnit on Wed, 21/07/04 - 8:41 AM Permalink

quote:Originally posted by adie
some one mighth know the best way to go about this othaganla drawing or what ever its called ??

Orthographic :)
for a 3D model you can get by with a front and side view i find, so you dont need to include a top and curve your lines with the 45 degree line to make sure they line up with the top view aswell. I just work by doing a front or side view (leaving some space beside it) then ruling lines across.

if your interested though the thing with the 35 degree line is aswell as having your front and side beside each other you do a top view above the front view and then rule all the lines accros from the top view till they encounter the 45 degree line (which extends from your front view) and then turn them on a right angle directly down to line up features from the top view AND the front view for your side (or vice versa)

erm... thats probably impossible to understand isnt it (wheres a whiteboard when you need one...)

Submitted by adie on Wed, 21/07/04 - 9:26 AM Permalink

moonunit what are u talking about?? he eh.... i know u just explaind how to do exactly the same thing and ive got In drawing dosent matter witch veiw u draw first.

Submitted by bullet21 on Thu, 22/07/04 - 1:47 AM Permalink

So this is what i've gathered, Once i have an idea in my head, I just draw a front or side view of it first. Then i use a ruler and guidelines (for important areas) to transfer it to the second view as well. Then i scan it in and edit it in photoshop if necesary. Is that all i do. Also Is one a4 paper enough for both views.

Submitted by MoonUnit on Thu, 22/07/04 - 3:01 AM Permalink

depends on a few things, like how much detail you want in your orthographic views and what it is your actually drawing, personally i found that an A4 for was good enough for a front and side.

Submitted by bullet21 on Thu, 22/07/04 - 4:08 AM Permalink

Another question, Then do you also do a seperate front and left view for the head and one for the body and head.

Submitted by souri on Thu, 22/07/04 - 9:34 PM Permalink

Yeh, as the VTM says, lining the concept up exactly removes unecessary guesswork you'd have to make to compensate matching errors when you're modelling. I think it's a good practise to do your concept on sheets of paper with lines so you can match it up there, rather than in photoshop later.

Submitted by adie on Fri, 23/07/04 - 4:27 AM Permalink

quote:Another question, Then do you also do a seperate front and left view for the head and one for the body and head

no u dont need a seperate one for the head ..sorry my pic has confused u i think ... if u use a seperate A4 page for each Veiw than it will make it a bit easyer to line things up. By laying them on top of each other and tracing.. just make shaw u put some cross keys to line them up together with.. its best if u use a needable eraser to stick it down so they dont mover or some masking tape will do. the biigger u draw the easy it will be to moddle, becaue u kinda loose shap when u draw small i find

Submitted by bullet21 on Fri, 23/07/04 - 4:43 AM Permalink

Ok, i've got a head i drew into max, i've set it up all good. now i've got one more problem. When i put it on a plane, it is very pixelated and jagged. I use the same dimensions for the plane as the picture is which is 545 * 754

Submitted by adie on Fri, 23/07/04 - 5:39 AM Permalink

yeah its a bit small thats why.. I think?? .. dont realy know how u get it to dispaly not pixalated .. u could try changing stuff in customize menu/pereferaces/veiwports tab/configure driver.. or inverse the color in photoshop so its black Background and white lines .. this makes it more clear sometimes

Submitted by bullet21 on Sat, 24/07/04 - 6:52 AM Permalink

I got it working, i just made it bigger and grayed it a bit with the brightness turned down. Tanx heaps Adie