Perspective Tips

[Marsyas]

Hiyas. This post offers some workarounds for dealing with the two major complaints of using perspective in ZBrush (too much perspective even at the lowest setting and the inability to save the vanishing point with the document).

1. Decreasing perspective beyond the lowest 'distort' setting:

Perspective can be decreased beyond the lowest 'distort' setting by using 'Universal Perspective' (shift-clicking the 'Persp' button) and then moving the object back toward the rear clipping plane.

To move the object backward in space, activate the Move Gyro and then drag the mouse/pen upwards outside the gyro. The object will shrink as it recedes in space, decreasing perspective.

After moving the object backward in space, activate the Scale Gyro and scale the object up to the desired size. The change in perspective will still be apparent after scaling.

Here are some examples:





2. Saving the vanishing point with the document:

Though the vanishing point cannot be saved with a document, the vanishing point's position can be precisely placed after reopening a document by recording the mouse's position at the time the vanishing point was first placed. (edit: Or a reference point can be added to the image--see marcus_civis post below).

To record the vanishing point's position using mouse coordinates, place the 'Preferences' menu to one side of the document and open the 'Utilities' section. The third and fourth slider in the 'Utilities' section indicate the mouse's horizontal and vertical positions on the screen. Watch these numbers carefully when placing the vanishing point on the canvas and record the numbers for the final position of the vanishing point.

To set the vanishing point to precisely the same location after reopening the document, care must be taken to arrange the ZBrush workspace to exactly the same way it was arranged when the vanishing point was first placed. The document view and menus (top, left, right, and bottom 'shelves') must all be arranged properly in order to rely on the mouse's positions. After setting up the workspace, drag the vanishing point in the document until the mouse's positions in the 'Utilities' section match the recorded values from the prior session.



Hope these workarounds were useful.

Even subtle perspective can greatly enhance an image.

Here are some goofy examples I did for a Shadowrun game I GM'd:

Vanishing point slightly higher than character's eye level to make the character feel small:



Vanishing point slightly lower than character's eye level to make the character feel more imposing:



Vanishing point well below character's eye level to enhance scale: