COMPUTER GRAPHICS

Viewing I
Part I (History and Overview of Projections)

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Lecture Topics
 Projection
 Types of projection (parallel and perspective)
 Geometric constructions
 Parts of history of projection in art

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Projections: Getting 3D to 2D
 You’ve seen how to specify a position in 3D space using Cartesian
coordinates
 No matter how we might convince your eye, however, pixels on a screen
have only two dimensions

How does OpenGL translate these Cartesian coordinates into

two-dimensional coordinates that can be plotted on a screen?
 The short answer is “trigonometry and simple matrix manipulation.”
Simple?

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Projections: Getting 3D to 2D
 The first concept you really need to understand is called
projection
 The 3D coordinates you use to create geometry are
flattened or projected onto a 2D surface (the window
background)
 It’s like tracing the outlines of some object behind a piece of
glass with a black marker
 When the object is gone or you move the glass, you can still
see the outline of the object with its angular edges
 In Figure 1.22, a house in the background is traced onto a
flat piece of glass
 By specifying the projection, you specify the viewing volume
that you
want displayed in your window and how it should be
transformed.
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Types of Projection
 Different methods of projecting objects to the
screen can have a large impact on the viewer’s
interpretation of the scene
 Here, two objects are displayed in very
different ways to highlight certain features

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Main Classes of Planar Geometrical Projections

 (a) Perspective: determined by center of
projection (in our diagrams, the “eye”)
 Simulates what our eyes or a camera sees

 Projectors are not parallel

 (b) Parallel: determined by direction of

projection (Alternatively, COP is at ∞)
 Used in engineering and architecture for
measurement purposes
 Projectors are parallel – do not converge
to “eye” or COP
 In general, a projection is determined by
where you place the projection plane relative
to principal axes of object (relative angle and
position), and what angle the projectors
make with the projection plane
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Perspective Projections
 This projection adds the effect that distant objects appear smaller than
nearby objects
 The viewing volume is something like a pyramid with the top shaved off
 The remaining shape is called the frustum
 Objects nearer to the front of the viewing volume appear close to their
original size, but objects near the back of the volume shrink as they are
projected to the front of the volume
 This type of projection gives the most realism for simulation and 3D
animation.

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Parallel (Orthographic) Projections

 You use this projection by specifying a square or rectangular viewing
volume
 Anything outside this volume is not drawn
 Furthermore, all objects that have the same dimensions appear the
same size, regardless of whether they are far away or nearby
 This type of projection is most often used in architectural design,
computer-aided design (CAD), or 2D graphs
 Frequently, you also use an orthographic projection to add text or 2D
overlays on top of your 3D graphic scenes.

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Parallel (Orthographic) Projections

 You specify the viewing volume in an
orthographic projection by specifying the
far, near, left, right, top, and bottom
clipping planes
 Objects and figures that you place within
this viewing volume are then projected
(taking into account their orientation) to a
2D image that appears on your screen.

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Logical Relationship Between Types of Projections

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Overview of Parallel Projections
 Assume object face of interest lies in principal plane, i.e. parallel to xy, yz, or xz planes. (DOP =
direction of projection, VPN = view plane normal)

Multiview Orthographic Axonometric Oblique

VPN a principal axis VPN a principal axis VPNa principal axis
DOP VPN DOP VPN DOP VPN
Shows single face, exact adjacent faces, none exact, adjacent faces, one exact,
measurements uniformly foreshortened others uniformly
(function of angle between face foreshortened
normal and DOP)

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Multiview Orthographic (Parallel)

 Used for:
 Engineering drawings of machines,
machine parts
 Working architectural drawings
 Pros:
 Accurate measurement possible
 All views are at same scale
 Cons:
 Does not provide “realistic” view or
sense of 3D form
 Usually need multiple views to get a
three-dimensional feeling for object
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Axonometric (Parallel)
 Same method as multiview orthographic
projections, except projection plane not
parallel to any of coordinate planes;
parallel lines equally foreshortened

 Isometric: Angles between all three

principal axes equal (120o). Projection plane http://www.tilemapeditor.com/galossary/trimetric/
normal lies on diagonal. Same scale ratio
applies along each axis – most common
 Dimetric: Angles between two of the
principal axes equal; need two scale ratios
 Trimetric: Angles different between three
principal axes; need three scale ratios

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Isometric Projection
 Used for:
 Catalogue illustrations
 Patent office records
 Furniture design
 Structural design
Construction of an isometric projection:
 3D Modeling in real time (Maya, AutoCad, etc.) projection plane cuts each principal axis by 45°
 Pros:
 Don’t need multiple views
 Illustrates 3D nature of object
 Measurements can be made to scale along principal
axes
 Cons:
 Lack of foreshortening creates distorted
appearance
More useful for rectangular than curved shapes

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Axonometric Projection in Games

 Video games have been using isometric
projection for ages.
 It all started in 1982 with Q*Bert and Zaxxon
which were made possible by advances in
raster graphics hardware.
 Still in use today when you want to see
things in distance as well as things close up
(e.g. strategy, simulation games).
 StarCraft II, Transistor
 While many games technically use
axonometric views, the general style is still
referred to isometric or, inappropriately,
“2.5D”/ “three quarter”.
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Oblique Projection (Parallel)

 Projectors at oblique angle to projection plane; view cameras
have accordion housing, can adjust the angle of the lens
relative to the projection plane to do oblique perspective
 Pros:
 Can present exact shape of one face of an object (can take
accurate measurements): better for elliptical shapes than
axonometric projections, better for “mechanical” viewing
 Lack of perspective foreshortening makes comparison of
sizes easier
 Displays some of object’s 3D appearance
 Cons:
 Objects can look distorted if careful choice not made about
position of projection plane (e.g., circles become ellipses)
 Lack of foreshortening (not realistic looking)

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Examples of Oblique Projections

Construction of Front oblique projection of radio Plan oblique projection of city

oblique parallel projection (Carlbom Fig. 2-4)

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Rules for Constructing Oblique Views

 Rules for placing projection plane for oblique views: projection plane should be chosen according
to one or several of following:
 Parallel to most irregular of principal faces, or to one which contains circular or curved surfaces
 Parallel to longest principal face of object
 Parallel to face of interest

Projection plane
parallel to circular face

Projection plane not

parallel to circular face

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Main Types of Oblique Projections 𝑥

 Cavalier: Angle between projectors and DOP

projection plane is 45. Perpendicular

faces projected at full scale. VPN

𝑦
𝑥
 Cabinet: Angle between projectors and
DOP
projection plane: tan-1(2) = 63.4o.
Perpendicular faces projected at 50% VPN
scale
𝑦
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A Desk Using Parallel Projections

Cavalier Cabinet
Multiview Orthographic

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Summary
 Three main types of parallel projections:
 Orthographic: projectors orthogonal to
projection plane, single face shown
 Axonometric: projection plane rotated
relative to principle axes, reveals multiple
faces
 Oblique: projectors intersect projection
plane at oblique angle, revealing multiple
faces, often more skewed representation,
with a plane of interest undistorted

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Perspective Projections
 Used for:
 Fine Art
 Human visual system…
 Pros:
 Gives a realistic view and feeling for 3D form of object
 Cons:
 Does not preserve shape of object or scale (except where object
intersects projection plane)
 Different from a parallel projection because
 Parallel lines not parallel to the projection plane converge
 Size of object is diminished with distance
 Foreshortening is not uniform
If we were viewing this scene using
 Two understandings: Vanishing Point and View Point parallel projection, the tracks would not
 There are also oblique perspective projections (same idea as parallel converge
oblique) – think of view camera pointed at skyscraper
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Vanishing Points (1/2)

 Lines extending from edges converge to common vanishing point(s)
 For right-angled forms whose face normals are perpendicular to the x, y, z
coordinate axes, number of vanishing points equals number of coordinate
axes intersected by projection plane

z
Three Point
One Point Perspective Two Point Perspective Perspective
(z-axis vanishing point) (z and x-axis vanishing points) (z, x, and y-axis vanishing points)

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Vanishing Points (2/2)

 What happens if same form is turned so
its face normals are not perpendicular
to x, y, z coordinate axes?
Unprojected cube depicted
 New viewing situation: cube is rotated, here with parallel projection
face normals no longer perpendicular to
any principal axes.
 Although projection plane only intersects
one axis (z), three vanishing points
created.
 Can still achieve final results identical to
previous situation in which projection
plane intersected all three axes. Perspective drawing
of the rotated cube

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The Single Viewpoint Picture Plane

 Art employs the vanishing point idea
while computer graphics uses the view ht
Ray of Lig
point concept, where your view point
(eye) is the location of the virtual camera
 Rays of light reflecting off of an object
converge to the point of the viewer’s eye
 Lines representing light intersect the
picture plane thus allowing points in a
scene to be projected along the ray of
light to the picture plane (basis for ray
tracing…stay tuned!)
 Concept of similar triangles described
earlier applies here
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Vanishing Points and the View Point (1/4)

 We’ve seen two pyramid geometries for understanding perspective
projection:
1. Perspective image is
result of foreshortening
due to convergence of
some parallel lines
toward vanishing points.
2. Perspective image is
intersection of a plane
with light rays from
object to eye (COP)

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Vanishing Points and the View Point (2/4)

 We can combine the two:

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Vanishing Points and the View Point (3/4)

 Project parallel lines , on xy plane

 Projectors from eye to and define two planes, which meet in a line that
contains the view point, or eye
 This line does not intersect projection plane (XY) because it’s parallel to it. Therefore,
there is no vanishing point for these lines whose projections are parallel in the
projection plane
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Vanishing Points and the View Point (4/4)

 Lines AB and CD (this time with A and C
behind the projection plane) projected
on xy plane: A’B and C’D
 Note: A’B not parallel to C’D
 Projectors from eye to A’B and C’D
define two planes which meet in a line
which contains the view point
 This line does intersect projection
plane
 Point of intersection is vanishing point
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Next Time: Projection in Computer Graphics

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Art of Perspective
 Point of view influences content
and meaning of what is seen
 Are royal couple in mirror about to
enter room? Or is their image a
reflection of painting on far left?
 Analysis through computer
reconstruction of the painted
space: royal couple in mirror is
reflection from canvas in
foreground, not reflection of actual
people (Kemp pp. 105-108) Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas (1656)

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Further More

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Triangles and Geometry (1/2)

 Idea of “visual pyramid” implies use
of geometry of similar triangles picture plane
 Easy to project object onto an image
object
plane based on: projected object
 height of object
 distance from eye to object
 distance from eye to picture
(projection) plane
 relationship ; solve for

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Triangles and Geometry (2/2)

 The general case: the object we’re
considering is not parallel to the
picture plane
 Use the projection of onto the unit
vector to determine the vector ,
then use prior similar triangle  So if U is the unit vector in the
technique direction of CB (i.e. ), we get:
 *Remember, the dot product of a
vector with a unit vector is the
projection of onto (scalar)
 as  where U: direction, magnitude
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Dürer Woodcut (see slide 44)

 Concept of similar triangles
described both geometrically
and mechanically in widely
read treatise by Albrecht
Dürer (1471-1528).
 Refer to chapter 3 of the book Albrecht Dürer
for more details. Artist Drawing a Lute
Woodcut from Dürer’s work about the Art of
Measurement. ‘Underweysung der
messung’, Nurenberg, 1525
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Art of Perspective (1/4)

Robert Campin - The Annunciation Triptych (ca. 1425)

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Art of Perspective (2/4)

 Perspective can be used in
unnatural ways to control
perception
 Use of two viewpoints
concentrates viewer’s
attention alternately on Christ
and sarcophagus

Piero della Francesca,

The Resurrection (1460)
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Art of Perspective (3/4)

Several vanishing
points, two point
perspective

Vredeman de Vries,
Perspective 23 (1619)
Kemp p.117

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Art of Perspective (4/4)

“Mr. King provides a lively account of Leonardo’s

continual hunt for faces he might sketch, and
speculates about the identity of the models
(including himself) that he might have used to create
the faces of Jesus and the apostles. He also writes
about how Leonardo presumably started the
painting by hammering a nail into the plaster to
mark “the very center of the mural, the point on
which all lines and all attention would converge: the
face of Christ,” and how he used perspective and his
Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper (1495) knowledge of geometry and architecture to map out
the rest of the painting.”
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Leonardo da Vinci (1/3)

 Some say “the first real scientist”, but surely the pre-eminent “Renaissance
Man”, uniting science, engineering, and art
 Studied the natural world and the engineering world, made meticulous
scientific observation the cornerstone of his “theory of everything”
 Studied the entire system of making and observing art, seeing painting as a
partially realistic, partially impressionistic intermediary between the world
and the eye
 Laws of linear perspective, “pyramid of vision”, geometric reasoning, light rays from
object rather than “eye rays” to object
 Nature of light, reflection of different types of surfaces under different forms of
illumination, different types of shadows
 Used understanding of shadows to advocate against the dominant school that favored
lines/sharp edges and popularized “sfumato”, a kind of “filtering”
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Leonardo da Vinci Painting Techniques (from Wikipedia) (2/3)

 Sfumato is a painting technique for softening the transition Detail of the face
between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human of the Mona Lisa
eye is focusing on, or the out-of-focus plane. Leonardo da Vinci showing the use
of sfumato,
was the most prominent practitioner of sfumato, based on his particularly in
research in optics and human vision, and his experimentation the shading
with the camera obscura. He used it in many works, including around the eyes.
the Virgin of the Rocks and in his famous painting of the da Vinci
Mona Lisa. He described sfumato as "without lines or borders,
in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane”. Giovanni
 Chiaroscuro (Italian for light-dark) is the use of strong Baglione Sacred
and Profane
contrasts contrasts between light and dark, usually bold Love. 1602–
contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical 1603, showing
term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts dramatic
compositional
of light to achieve a sense of volume in modelling three-
chiaroscuro
dimensional objects and figures.[1] Similar effects in cinema and
photography also are called chiaroscuro. Early example of
“shape
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Leonardo da Vinci (3/3) - Walter Isaacson, “Leonardo Da Vinci”, Simon &
Schuster, 1971
 "The parts of scene that get the most direct light have the greatest saturated color. This
understanding of the relationship between shadows and color tones created a unified
coherence to his art. Having become, by now, a lover of received knowledge as well as a
disciple of experience, Leonardo studied Aristotle’s work on shadows and combined it
with a variety of ingenious experiments involving different sizes of lamps and objects.
He came up with multiple categories of shadows and plotted chapters on each: primary
shadows that are caused by direct light hitting an object, derived shadows that result
from ambient light diffused through the atmosphere, shadows that are subtly tinged
with light reflected from nearby objects, compound shadows cast by multiple sources
of light, shadows made by the subdued light at dawn or sunset, shadows made by light
that has been filtered through linen or paper, and many other variations. With each
category, he included striking observations, such as this: 'There is always a space where
the light falls and then is reflected back towards its cause; it meets the original shadow
and mingles with it and modifies it somewhat.’”
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END
Any Question?

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