Perspective projections

When an object is viewed from different directions and at different distances, the
appearance of the object will be different. Such view is called perspective view.
Perspective projections mimic what the human eyes see. This is evident from the two
photographs shown in figure 1. In the first photograph, it appears that the height of the
building near to the observer is taller than the height of the building farther than the
observer though the heights of all these buildings are same. Similarly the width of the
road appears to be shortened for the region which is away from the observer, though
the width of the road is same along the length. It appears that the two sides of the road
may meet at some far away distance from the observer. This is a simple representation
of

the

perspective

Perspective views are not important for a manufacturing unit.

view.
They are used to

communicate information to non technical persons. Hence it is very important for

commercial purposes. In perspective projection, all lines of sight start at a single point.
Distance from the observer to the object is finite and the object is viewed from a single
point projectors are not parallel.

Figure 1. Photograph of (a) buildings and (b) a road as observed by the human eye or a
camera
Before discussing further, it is important to be familiar with the terminology used for the
perspective projection
Terminology
Assume an observer viewing the Object as shown in figure 2. The line of sight is
diverging from the observers eyes and falling on the object. Consider the rays meeting
the edges of the object. The rays are intersecting the perspective picture plane (PPP)
which is between the observer and the object, . Referring to figure 2, the various

elements

used

in

perspective

projection

are

defined

below.

Perspective Picture plane (PPP): It is a vertical projection plane used to obtain the
objects

Perspective.

Station point (s) : It is a point at which the eyes of the observer are located. S and S
indicated

respectively

Visual rays:

the

TV

and

FV

of

S.

These are the rays of sight emerging from S and ending at the objects

corners.
Piercing points:

This is the intersection point of visual rays with the PPP.

Horizon plane (HP):

A horizontal plane passing through S (observers eyes).

Horizon line (HL) :

The line obtained by the intersection of HP on PPP.

Perpendicular axis (PA): it is the line drawn through the station point and
perpendicular to the picture plane. It is also called axis of vision or line of sight.
Ground plane (GP): The real ground or the imaginary plane parallel to the ground on
which

the

object

is

assumed

to

be

resting.

Central plane (CP) : it is a vertical plane passing through S and perpendicular to PPP
Vanishing point (VP): These are points at which the edges of the object appear to be
converging . This point is seen at eye level, ie. on HP.

Figure 2. Shows (a) various elements used in perspective projection and (b) the top
view and front view showing the station point, GL, HL, PP etc.

Perspective Projection Methods

Two commonly used methods are

Visual Ray method

Vanishing Point method

Common types of perspective Projection

Parallel Perspective or 1-point perspective :

Here one face of the object is

kept parallel to the PPP. The edges perpendicular to this face appears to be converging
to a VP.

Angular Perspective or 2-point perspective: One edge of the object is kept

parallel to the PPP. Each edges perpendicular to them converges to one of the two VPs.

Oblique Perspective or 3-point Perspective: Neither an edge nor a face of

the object is kept parallel to PPP. Ach edges is seen to be converging to one of the three
VPs.
To draw the perspective , the following information is required:

a.

Top View and Front View (or Side View of) the object. Since the PPP lies between
the observer and the object, third angle projection technique is used.

b.

Orientation and location of the object w.r.t the PPP.

c.

location of station point S w.r.t to PPP and GL .

Normal practice for location of S is at the normal to the eye level for big objects like
buildings and for small objects s is located at such a height that all the three
dimensions of the objects are almost visible.
The size of the perspective view depends of the Position of picture plane relative to
object . referring to figure 3,

the

When the object is placed behind the picture plane, the perspective will show
object reduced in size.

When the object is placed in front of the picture plane, the perspective will show
object enlarged in size.

When the picture plane coincides with the object, The perspective will show the
true size of the object.

Figure 3. Illustrates the size of the perspective view with respect to the position of the
picture plane and the object.
Drawing the perspective by Vanishing point method
Vanishing points are imaginary points at infinite distance away from the station point.
This is the point at which the visual rays from the station point to the infinitely distant
vanishing
point
pierces
the
Picture
plane
(PPP).
Vanishing point of the line AB (line ab in the top view), lying on the ground and inclined
at an angle to the picture plane can be obtained by drawing a line parallel to its top
view and passing through the station point s. The intersection of this line with the PPP,
(i.e. v) is the top view of the vanishing point. The front view V is obtained by projecting
point v to the Horizon line(HL) as shown in figure 1.

Perspective of all horizontal lines, when produced, pass through their respective
vanishing points on the horizon line.

Perspective of all horizontal line which are parallel to each other converge to a
vanishing point on the horizon line.

Perspectives of all lines perpendicular to the picture plane converge to the centre
of vision on the horizon line.

Perspective of lines parallel to the picture plane will have no vanishing points
since these are parallel to the original lines and remain horizontal.

Perspective of vertical lines are vertical.

Figure 1. Illustration of vanishing point of a line.

The method of drawing perspective view by vanishing point method is discussed below:
1.

Parallel Perspective or 1-point perspective

Here one face of the object is kept parallel to and in the PPP as shown in figure 2. Since
this face is in the PPP, the edges in the front view will be true dimensions. The edges
perpendicular to this face appears to be converging to a VP. Draw visual rays from the
station points to the object points in both TP and FV. Draw vertical projectors from the
piercing points in the top view to meet the corresponding visual rays in the front view.

Figure 2. 1-point perspective view of a rectangular prism with one face in PPP.