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View Full Version : How to figure out perspectives, vanishing points, shadows etc. in a 360 degree image?

Wizdoc
05-17-2006, 11:04 PM
While the project I'm doing is basically a concept sketch, this needs a technique more commonly seen in matte painting.

I'm about to start a (rather quick, non-photoreal) concept sketch that's going to be used as a placeholder background in a 3D project. It needs to be a 360 degree image that can seamlessly blend with itself on the edges. A wrap-around.

However, I have no idea how to plan this. It's easy enough to set up one, two and three point perspectives in a single, focused painting, but I don't have a clue how to tackle a full 360 image. How do I figure out perspectives and vanishing points? Or how the light travels from one point of an image shining head on, then bending to cast sideways shadows and then hitting directly to the scenery on the "opposite" side of the painting? I just can't to wrap my brain around that - no pun intended.

Any advice?
BigSky
05-18-2006, 12:29 AM
There is an old freeware program which is helpful here. Called SKY PAINT (http://www.skypaint.com/Tutor/index.html) it's good for painting "directly onto" a pano. I would assume that you can use a panoramic lens to render a longlat or equirectangular image, and then work into that with sky paint. If you are starting "from scratch", I agree that it's almost impossible to wrap you head around it, so I would begin by blocking in the major points and objects, lights and views in 3d, render to a 2:1 image, then use skypaint to work in the detail. Good luck.
Integrity
05-18-2006, 03:48 AM
You can also try looking up 5 and 6 point perspective.
Wizdoc
05-19-2006, 04:10 PM
Owww... I think that 6 point perspective broke my brain.

I think I'll have easier time if I just render out a rough approximation of the scene in 3D and use it as a reference.
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05-19-2006, 04:10 PM
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