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RecipeforaCube

RecipeforaCube
Thesecondproblem,completingandedgeandfacetoacube,canalsobeunderstoodin
termsoftiltingarighttriangleaboutitshypotenuseintothepictureplane.Supposeyou
arelookingatthecornerofacubeinspacesothatthreefacesarevisible.Imaginethese
facesextendedawayfromthecorner,andthentranslatethistriangularconetoyoureye.
Imaginelookingthroughatinyholeinthecornerofaroom,intotheroom.

Acubetranslatedtotheeye.
Thissightconeofthecubecrossesthepictureplaneontheframingtrianglewhose
verticesarethethreevanishingpointsoftheedgesofthecube.Thethreeedgesofthe
framingtrianglearethehorizonlinesforthefacesofthecube.Nowtilteachoftheright
triangleswhichthepictureplanecutsfromthesightcone,intothepictureplane.Here
youseethesightcone
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RecipeforaCube

Thesightconeopeninguplikebarnacle.
openinguplikeabarnacle,asitsfacestilttotheoutsideoftheframingtriangle.You
couldalsocollapsethesightconetotheinsideoftheframingtriangle,asisdoneinsome
"theoriesofperspective"intheclassicalliterature.
Amomentofgeometricalreflectionrevealsaremarkablesetofcoincidences.Ifyou
prolongthethreealtitudesintotheframingtriangletheypassthroughthefocalcenteron
theirwaytothezenithsattheoppositevertices.Thepointwherethealtitudesofa
trianglemeetisknownastheorthocenter.Inotherwords,theorthocenterofanacute
triangle,isalsothefocalcenterofaperspectiveviewforwhichoppositevertexedge
pairsarethezenithhorizonpairsofmutuallyorthogonalplanes.
Thefigureaboveanorthographicdrawingofadieplacedintotheapexofthesightcone.
Thepositionofthethreevisiblefacesaftertheyhavebeentiltedintothepictureplane
aredrawnontheoutsideoftheframingtriangle.Notehowthethreediagonalvanishing
points,D1,D2,D3canbelocatedontheframingtrianglebyprolongingthediagonalsof
thethreelittlesquaresfromAitoDi,i=1,2,3.

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RecipeforaCube

Cubein3pointperspectiveinsideitsframingtriangle.
Withallthisunderstood,youarereadyforarecipethatcompletesthecubegiventhe
pictureplanelocationofthenearestvertexP,anedgePQ,andthehorizonlineforone
facecontainingthisedge.

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RecipeforaCube

Cube,givenedge,horizon,eypointandfocaldistance.

Constructingtheperspectiveframeforthecube.
ConstructthezenithV1forthegivenhorizonusingthegivenfocaldisc.Labelthebase
pointB1.
ProlongthegivenedgePQtillitcrossesthehorizonlineatvanishingpointV2.These
twoconstructionsarestillindependent.YoucoulddoV2first.
ProlongtheperpendicularfromtheedgeV1V2throughthefocalcentertofindthethird
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RecipeforaCube

vertex,V3,oftheframingtriangle.Thefourlines,PV2,PV3,QV1,QV3depictthe
cornerofaninfiniteslabwhichisoneedgeunitthick.Tocarveacubefromthis,we
needasecondcorner,KnearestV1forexample.ButKiswherePV1crossesthe
prolongationofthelinefromV2tothatcorneronthecubewherethelineQV1crosses
thediagonalPD3.Thatiswhatdiagonalvanishingpointsareverygoodfor.This
producesaninfinitebeam,oneedgelengthsquare.Assoonasyouhavefoundonemore
corner,saywiththeaidofaseconddiagonalvanishingpoint,theremaining
constructionsbecomeobvious.

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