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perspective tool to help with painting

polycounter lvl 18
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John Warner polycounter lvl 18
I'm finally just forcing myself to learn how to paint. I hate it.

it's the perspective. if i want to create a cylinder in 3 point perspective, it takes me for ever to draw out a whole bunch of perspective lines, get my arcs, blah blah blah.

what i need is a 2d paint program that has the ability to place primitive objects in 3d, and move them around to be used as guides, so that i can just draw and paint over them.

does such a thing exist, or am i going to make this thing and get filthy rich?

and no, i dont want to compose a scene in 3d and do a little print screen action. I want something more intuitive..

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  • Sage
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    Sage polycounter lvl 19
    photoshop should help but I think it's not intuitive enough. If you have a large enough tablet and practice it gets faster.

    this dvd helped me with that.

    http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/323/Basic-Perspective-Form-Drawing
  • Ben Apuna
    I face the same problem, so far I've found Paint Tool Sai to be the best option. With Sai you still have to draw in your perspective lines, but it's vector tools are a lot easier to use and more functional than the ones in Photoshop.
  • Sage
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    Sage polycounter lvl 19
    painter has an option now that lets you contrains to the path drawn, which is cool. I don't know if photoshop finally added this.
  • John Warner
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    John Warner polycounter lvl 18
    huh no kidding. interesting. thanks guys.
  • divi
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    divi polycounter lvl 12
    sketchup? it's obviously not integrated with photoshop, but placing some primitives, making a screenshot of it and pasting it into photoshop should not be the biggest hassle.
  • Michael Knubben
    Sketchup could help, but Inkscape, a free vector program, also draws cubes in perspective, and you can change the settings afterwards as well.
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Why not just use your 3d app to block out something and then paint over it?
    If you're going to use a shortcut, at least take it to the logical extreme! :)
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    I know it sounds silly but traditionally constructed point perspective is much easier to achieve on paper. Scans ftw!

    Also if you look at the best landscape speedpainters (Vyle, M@ and others), their technique relies alot on perpective brushes falling in place just right, because (I think) tablet work is so limiting in terms of arm and wrist range, you really need something to compensate.

    For instance if you have to draw ellipses and work digitally, instead of trying to draw the loops like Robertson does on paper, you will be much more efficient if you simply use a round brush with adjustement to it's roundness slider in PS. Then use the pen direction as a way to define the orientation. Kindof like a stencil really. Robertson's manual handcrafted stuff is extremely valuable to know, and is a requirement in my opinion, but in terms of execution it does not apply straight to digital paint I think.

    Then for the overall perspective, use grids, don't start from scratch all the time.

    For great, simple digital painting demos I would recommend Whit Brachna's videos. Will get you up and running in no time, as he really stresses the importance of contrast and composition (painting) as opposed to carefully drawn linework (drawthrough stuff ala Robertson) which i think works much better when to comes to digital art on tablets.

    As a person who really loves linework I totally see what you feel. Unlearning it is pretty tough but yeah to paint digitlally you really have to switch to another mode. On the plus side it can be extremely rewarding and fast to pick up.

    Good luck!
  • SyncViewS
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    SyncViewS polycounter lvl 13
    Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2010 is a pure 2D application, but has a lot of new and very smart tools to help you draw geometry in perspective like "Straight Edge Ruler" that allows to draw perfect perspective lines in no time and "Elliptical Ruler" that makes ellipses drawing in perspective very easy.

    You can view some videos on the Area web site.
  • John Warner
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    John Warner polycounter lvl 18
    wow guys this helps a lot, thanks so much.

    Divi, MightyPea - yeah alright, I'll give sketchup a look-see. it had crossed my mind actually.. I'll do that right now.

    MoP - yeah, i've been doing that. It's better than nothing, really... but after a while of doing that, I start thinking that It wouldn't be a better idea to just keep going and rough things out in 3d. the thing is, what i'm looking for is a way of putting out ideas in a somewhat vauge fashion as quickly as humanly possible. I'm SOO impatient. come to think of it, maybe i'll make another thread asking about super fast workflows in general.

    Pior- that's fantastic, that helps a lot. yeah, come to think of it, you're right. maybe from now on I'll do a small thumbnail on paper to get some linework, and then bring it into photoshop to do some painting if i want. I still haven't watched much of Robertson's stuff.. some of it, though. Truth be told, until recently i haven't had a reason to paint.. or, now that i think of it, to do much art at all. Maybe i'll go back and watch... and thanks for the tip on Brachna..

    SyncViewS - fantastic, thanks a lot. i'll check that out now as well.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
  • John Warner
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    John Warner polycounter lvl 18
    jesus.

    well, thanks. man, it's amazing how these experienced guys seem as if they can often just get their values perfect on the first stroke.
  • Sage
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    Sage polycounter lvl 19
    John I know what you are saying about the hassle and the 3d stuff. I find when I do a 3d mock up I just get distracted, I mean I'm already modeling why not just finish the piece instead. :D That usually results in frustration, it just kills the quick creative vibe I had going. I find zbrush is nice to mess around with stuff too, but I find if I go that route I spend a few hours and have nothing to show for it, except it was fun messing around. You can try making a perspective brush as well to block things in roughly. I should try it. I just use the path tool in photoshop and then redraw over stuff in new layers, similar to tracing, if I want to tighten up the graphics... I had to go there. LOL It's get quicker the more you do it.

    @ Prior. While the tablet is limiting if you compare it to a pencil I think a larger makes it almost as easy. :D I'm not having a hard time anymore now that I got the new tablet and it's only 6x8. I upgraded from a 4x5. I think then it's just a matter of practice. It would help if photoshop had a decent way to turn the canvas around like Painter in a version that wasn't so laggy it messes with the wacom! But whatever. I should play with Sai and see how that goes, I can't stand Painter. I always had a hard time getting into the software.
  • LoTekK
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    LoTekK polycounter lvl 17
    I haven't messed with it much, but I saw this over on the Sijun forums a week or so back:

    http://www.da-gfx.com/

    It's got some pretty neat features, chief among which include 3-point perspective snapping.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Coooool!!

    Also this should help whenever released :
    http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~shbae/ilovesketch.htm

    P
  • CodeFather
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    CodeFather polycounter lvl 15
    Also check this out:

    http://rhondaforever.com/

    I don't know how much would it be useful for a perspective tool , thought
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