Perspective, FOV and other interesting stuff (I hope)

Roger · 9 Dec 2007, 05:53

Susan, the irony is that the painting on the wall is one of my friend's oil paintings. The girl in red is my daughter. The area above the kitchen cabinets is from my daughters house. The furniture and decoration that did not come from the 3D ware house came straight from IKEA. IKEA knows when I am doing a low budget project because I skulk through the store with my digital camera. The shield on the wall is from a Sikh warrior. My client was a Sikh, but I don't think he noticed. I think he is more an MBA than a warrior Sikh. Very nice guy to work with. I have distances and angles to objects roughly worked out when I go on my photo safaris so I am in the ball park for adding things to the render. If I am not spot on, I can do a little warping in PS. That foreground palm was also IKEA.

I am also looking to actually do some interior design for higher end clients, but I do not have that level of relationship building going just yet.

Oh, and to fill out the list of supporting cast, on the Phoenix Condo site in the bird eye interior the dog sleeping on the carpet is my terrier Cacique.

Roger · 9 Dec 2007, 06:12

Tina, your comment on the foreground palm reminds me of an architectural photo job I did in Mexico many years ago. I always carry a palm branch in the back of the car so I can blot out empty ceilings, create depth on exteriors or just hide thing that can't be moved.

I did the job and get back to the border at the U.S. entry inspection station. It is hot and I can see the immigration folks hassling people. I finally get to the head of the line and the guys sticks his head in the window and says, "do you have anything to declare or any agricultural products." I answer, "nope." He looks in the back seat and sees the palm and says, "you can't bring that in." (smile - evil idea) I answer, "yes I can." Well it is no you can't, yes I can until he has a nice shade of red to go with his green uniform. He reaches in the window and grabs the fake PLASTIC palm leaf, gives me a surprised look and says, get out of here."

I think I was lucky they did not decide to disassemble the car for revenge. Today, I would probably end up in Guantanamo.

Ross Macintosh · 9 Dec 2007, 11:10

An interesting thing about perspective is that what the average person perceives as "right" may be quite different than what might be technically correct. When we create any perspective (or photograph) we are trying to communicate something to the viewer. Typically we want them to have some sort of virtual connection to the subject of our image. That virtual connection is strongest when the image does not trigger any "something is wrong" response in the viewer. Perspective drawings and wide-angle photography frequently do trigger some degree of that response.

I attach example images I had posted on the old SU forums. They both show Notre Dame. One is your typical tourist snapshot and the other has had digital 'perspective correction'. What I'd suggest is that most viewers would think the 'corrected' version looks "better". I think this example tells us something important for our work. Our work probably shouldn't be about getting things technically accurate as much as it should be about having them experienced as successfully as possible.

Regards, Ross

Gaieus · 9 Dec 2007, 11:21

In some cultures / architectural periods it was even a desired goal to achive a perspective effect, see just a Greek ("Doric" column with its enthasis:

Though I'm not an architect aor any kind of artists, I do really enjoy these discussions and have to admit that learn a lot from them. Maybe this column is just my (professions) two cents here...

Roger · 9 Dec 2007, 19:20

I think it depends on what you are trying to convey. I think architectural correction is a learned social convention like a fedora hat or nylons. It can be the accepted norm one decade and rejected the next. I prefer to look at the goal of the rendering and let that dictate the direction. I indulge in perspective correction when an air of formality is required and go toward extreme perspective for an air of dynamism and intimacy.

Ross Macintosh · 9 Dec 2007, 21:43

Roger - I agree with what you are saying. The FOV, horizon position, vanishing points, etc. are all tools in our hands that we can apply when we consider what we want to communicate. Once you have a basic understanding of the differences these factors make you are then free to use them to achieve specific intention. I think part of the value of this thread is it can serve to highlight the impact certain choices have.

Roger · 9 Dec 2007, 22:45

Perception is so dependent on context and social norms. People brought up in jungles under very primitive conditions literally cannot read perspective in a photo until they are acculurated to right angle architecture and open space with a horizon.

Most of us do not pay much attention to the tops of tall buildings because we spend 99% of our time dodging traffic and reading peoples faces. I think this has a lot to do with our discomfort with strong 3 point perspective.

We are a people forced to keep our eye on the road and our nose to the grind stone.

I think I am pretty sophisticated about perspective, but something that happened to me made me rethink the power of the mind on perception. I wanted to give my wife a little well deserved vacation so I arranged to go to a Bed and Breakfast, an incredibly scenic vacation spot in Arizona. It was a Friday and she had to finish work so we we didn't get there till well after dark. We checked in an then asked the owner for directions to a good restaurant. We drove to our room in the dark to wash up. I didn't bother turning the headlights on. When we left I stepped out of the romm to enjoy the view. You could see tall pines framing a distant mountain maybe three miles away. The mountain was steep sided almost like Half Dome in Yosemite. On top was a fantastic mansion, a large circular mansion with lights blazing all around the perimiter. Just a wonderful composition in the night sky. Again I drove off without lights until I got to the main highway. At dinner we assked the waitress about the mansion on the dome shaped mountain. She did not recognize our description but we kept raving about the building and wondering how anyone could drive to the top. She said she had heard the Elvis had purchase a large hilltop mansion that he finished but never visited very often.

We drove back, to the B&B and it was late so I tuned my lights off as we entered the drive so as not to disturb other guests.

In the morning I crawled out of bed and went outside. When my wife came out I was pointing to a dome shaped building about 50 yards from our room. The "mansion" was some sort of circulation vent about two feet in diameter that also allowed light from the widowless building to escape to the outside.

What can I say, we bought the illusion 100 percent with no doubts other than we figured they must use an elevator to get to the top of the mountain. We had no doubts. It was a reality. In the day it was a bad example of some church camp architecture we could have thrown rocks to.

Seeing is believing even if it is not true. We laughed a lot and still ask each other. "Do you remember Elvis' place." Elvis ahd left the building. The mind controls our sight and our experience.

tinanne · 10 Dec 2007, 14:08

This is really great information. I know I started the thread, but I don't have anything of worth to say! I just know I needed more information and I'm gleening from all your wisdom

Susan, here is another stab at "committing" to a higher angle

ehaflett · 10 Dec 2007, 18:13

Great story, Roger. I'm very curious about where you were in AZ, I lived there for years and am pretty familiar.

I find this topic fascinating. A favorite book of mine is called 'Topophilia, A Study of Environmental Perceptions, Attitudes and Values' by Yi-Fu Tuan. It examines the cultural and social differences in the ways we interpret our surroundings. It's a great read on this subject.

One story he relates is about a visit to an indigenous people living in a dense forest. None of them had strayed far from their village for generations, nor had any of them left the forest. The author then takes one of them to the edge of the forest to a vast plain where they could see for miles. The man asks the author about a figure he sees on the horizon, to which the author replies it is an elephant. The man breaks into hilarious laughter and tells the author not to be so silly and that everyone knows that elephants are enormous animals, not small like insects. (recalled from memory so please excuse any inaccuracies, it's been a while but you get the idea)

sorgesu · 11 Dec 2007, 13:03

Tina, that is looking interesting. Do you have permission to get closer in? Can you cut some of the property, just some, so that you can get a closer overhead view? I think that is what worked so well in the Jamieson painting I posted: from above but close in.

Definitely will need something in the foreground for depth. I wonder what it would look like if you employed 2 point perspective?

tinanne · 11 Dec 2007, 13:49

Susan, the drawing is set up as 2-pt. I did finally get some feedback from the client yesterday. The client wants the entire house in view, so not sure how to get closer in or at least have the "appearance of".

sorgesu · 11 Dec 2007, 13:56

Tina I think the first one of the 2 is the more interesting. Or maybe not. I think I see a little distortion. What is the white stuff?

tinanne · 11 Dec 2007, 14:01

LOL, the white stuff is a WIP. The roof tiles are "boosted". So I'm still trying to figure out how to make that happen. I also need to work on the water feature and grading, but I agree with you. I like that one better too, but it will take some talkin' to make that happen

The distortion may be that I was playing with the FOV. It is set at 55d (making sure not to go over the 60-65d that I re-learned from the conversations from this post) odd the important things we forget from school

Gaieus · 11 Dec 2007, 14:40

@tinanne said:

...The roof tiles are "boosted". So I'm still trying to figure out how to make that happen...

Tina, I was actually going to ask what roof tiles you are using and how you solve the high-poly problem if they are modelled. And what do you mean by "boosted"?

I have been experimenting with these Roman looking tiles and to keep it lower, I use section cuts instead of really intersecting the ones on the slanting edges - but unfortunately this does not work in some renderers like Kerky or other applications).

And sorry for going offtopic...

tinanne · 11 Dec 2007, 15:14

@gaieus said:

Tina, I was actually going to ask what roof tiles you are using and how you solve the high-poly problem if they are modelled. And what do you mean by "boosted"?

Boosted is when they use more mortar under a portion of the tile to make it look raised. It's really pretty when done right. You'll find it alot in Mission Architecture. I'm sure someone out there has the whole history and origin behind it I am a woman of few words (which my husband appreciates )

The component is from FF and it is very taxing. I usually wait until the last minute (if I can) to put them on and of course have to turn those layers off if I actually want to continue working in the file. But the effect on the finished rendering is very nice. Not so flat and when you start playing around with the sketchy styles the roof really starts to "pop".