Plugin: Perspective Lines

[tzachs]

Hi, I've created a plugin (my first) that draws perspective lines in order to help you with your perspective drawing. You can select between one or two vanishing points, and locate them on your desired location on the canvas.

You can also set their brush width and their "aspect ratio" (for a lack of a better word).

 

Get it here (version 1.2):

PerspectiveLines1_2.zip

 

A sample image of the UI (of version 1.1) & its result:

Edited April 18, 2018 by toe_head2001
Replaced broken download link with attachment

[007 Nab]

Excellent idea! While this can be achieved using the Rotate/Zoom adjustment, it ought to make things more efficient and controlled.

Would you mind posting some screenshots of the UI or of the plugin in use?

I will definitely try this out

[tzachs]

No problems, added a screenshot...

[007 Nab]

Thanks

Quick question, is there anyway to control the angle or 'distance' of the vanishing point? It seems to me like you can only control its x and y coordinates, I think it'd be nice to have the option to choose how far away from the camera it is.

[tzachs]

I gave it a shot... I'm not sure it that's what you wanted exactly, but you can now set the "aspect ratio" of the lines (for a lack of a better word) as you can see in the new screenshot. I also added a color wheel...

[Ego Eram Reputo]

With the addition of two color wheels the UI now looks chaotic. Why not just use the Primary and Secondary colors?

[tzachs]

I was going back&forth with this... The thing is, I keep forgetting setting the secondary color to something that's not white and then I have to cancel, set it and open it again which annoys me...

Other people who may also do this will not know about the primary&secondary colors and think that it doesn't work, I think in the end this is more intuitive (even at the price of messing up the gui a little bit).

[oma]

nice idea tried it out. personally I find it is much easier to draw in my perspective lines, but for those that are just learning or for tut purposes its excellent. one thing that might make it easier to see if you have a large size canvas would be an adjustable brush size. found when using on extra large cavas size I could barely make out the dots. especially on transparent cavas. most times it would be on a transparent cavas that I would use this type of plugin. (if there is a way to adjust this already let me know as I've not found it. )

Ideally it would be a nice feature if you could somehow have an option of off the canvas endpoints of perspective. For now I imagine using a larger than the picture cavas size could cover that. It would just be a matter of figuring out how much larger to make the canvas drawing area outside your intended image.

ciao OMA

[Ego Eram Reputo]

I was going back&forth with this... The thing is, I keep forgetting setting the secondary color to something that's not white and then I have to cancel, set it and open it again which annoys me...

Other people who may also do this will not know about the primary&secondary colors and think that it doesn't work, I think in the end this is more intuitive (even at the price of messing up the gui a little bit).

Ok, so how about one color wheel for the "alternative" color, and use Primary for the first color? That would shorten the UI a bit, possibly allowing space for one or two alpha sliders?

[007 Nab]

Thanks, yeah "aspect ratio" is what I was asking about, sorry I wasn't too clear

To cleanup the UI, would it be possible to make separate tabs for each vanishing point? Such as in Sharpen + or with Shadow Highlight Recovery.

I have no knowledge of programming, in any way, so I have no idea how difficult this would be to implement, but I think it could make the interface a bit more efficient.

[BoltBait]

To cleanup the UI, would it be possible to make separate tabs for each vanishing point? Such as in Sharpen + or with Shadow Highlight Recovery.

Not possible with CodeLab. In fact, it would be fairly difficult because you'd need the source code to Paint.NET in order to copy the code for the UI elements (X/Y and color wheel controls).

Maybe you could just use a drop down list box instead of a color wheel. Just make some presets including Primary and Secondary colors, red, blue, black, gray, purple, etc.

[tzachs]

To cleanup the UI, would it be possible to make separate tabs for each vanishing point? Such as in Sharpen + or with Shadow Highlight Recovery.

Not possible with CodeLab. In fact, it would be fairly difficult because you'd need the source code to Paint.NET in order to copy the code for the UI elements (X/Y and color wheel controls).

Maybe you could just use a drop down list box instead of a color wheel. Just make some presets including Primary and Secondary colors, red, blue, black, gray, purple, etc.

I think using tabs is a good idea, so I try to find the source for the UI controls. I managed to find the color wheel in the source of PDN 3.0, but I can't seem to find the "double vector" control (to use the codelab name, the one that selects the vanishing point), and I'm beginning to wonder if it was there in 3.0 at all, and since I don't see a later version source code I'm kinda stuck... does anybody know where I can find the source for it to include in my plugin?

Ok, so how about one color wheel for the "alternative" color, and use Primary for the first color? That would shorten the UI a bit, possibly allowing space for one or two alpha sliders?

I'm hoping that using the tabs will solve this. If I can't figure out how to do the plugin from outside codelab, I will use your suggestion...

nice idea tried it out. personally I find it is much easier to draw in my perspective lines, but for those that are just learning or for tut purposes its excellent. one thing that might make it easier to see if you have a large size canvas would be an adjustable brush size. found when using on extra large cavas size I could barely make out the dots. especially on transparent cavas. most times it would be on a transparent cavas that I would use this type of plugin. (if there is a way to adjust this already let me know as I've not found it. )

You're right, you won't find an adjustable brush size in the current version. You will find it in the next version though. I already got it working, I just want to figure out the UI thing and I'll publish a version with this feature, I'll PM you to let you know when it's here, just in case..

Ideally it would be a nice feature if you could somehow have an option of off the canvas endpoints of perspective. For now I imagine using a larger than the picture cavas size could cover that. It would just be a matter of figuring out how much larger to make the canvas drawing area outside your intended image.

There is a problem with this feature IMO. Let's say I will have this option, it means that the vanishing point will not be seen, since AFAIK there is no way to tell Paint .Net to show stuff outside of the Canvas. That means that the user won't be able to accurately draw more lines to the vanishing point...

[oma]

Ideally it would be a nice feature if you could somehow have an option of off the canvas endpoints of perspective. For now I imagine using a larger than the picture cavas size could cover that. It would just be a matter of figuring out how much larger to make the canvas drawing area outside your intended image.

There is a problem with this feature IMO. Let's say I will have this option, it means that the vanishing point will not be seen, since AFAIK there is no way to tell Paint .Net to show stuff outside of the Canvas. That means that the user won't be able to accurately draw more lines to the vanishing point...

didn't think this was possible that's mainly the reason I make larger canvas and draw my perspective that needs to be outside intended picture area. then I just crop back to the size I require. For now its a simple work around. I wouldn't get hung up on the color wheel thing. just do the two in primary and secondary. perspective lines shouldn't show in the finished image and they will be done on a separate layer to be deleted. If someone positively needs different colors they can always just use Ed Harvey color change and two other colors.

ciao OMA

[tzachs]

Ok, I posted a new version (1.2) which adds the functionality of setting the brush width of the lines.

I gave up on the idea of using tabs, so to simplify the GUI a bit I used Ego Eram Reputo suggestion and removed the color wheel for the first point, so that the primary color will be used for that.

[oma]

second version is nicer by far to use.

one thing you might want to keep in mind for any further updates to this plugin. The original should automatically be purged from the effects dll or at least mention the person will need to go in and remove old version. On this one I had to manually remove first version from my effects. (when you are a plugin junky it quickly adds a long list under effects if the older versions don't get swapped out)

ciao OMA

[PeterPawn]

I've downloaded this plugin and put it in my effects folder but when I start up PdN and go through all the menus I can't find it. What menu is it in?

[Sarkut]

It is in the Render sub-menu.

[PeterPawn]

Nope, it's not there, and how come it doesn't have a dll extension on it?

[Sarkut]

Mine has a .dll extension.

Maybe you got a corrupted download.

[PeterPawn]

I think you're right. Do you know where else I can get it?

I downloaded it again and I got the same result.

Edited October 31, 2010 by PeterPawn

[PeterPawn]

Guess what? I added the dll extension and it worked. Never experienced that before.

[Lance McKnight]

File is not found on the link anymore.

Can this be fixed?

[delpart]

Ditto. I have a copy of it from a ... well that place we dont mention.

[AndrewDavid]

@Ego Eram Reputo

Links empty - old thread for plugin found in index - can it be locked or refreshed?

[toe_head2001]

3 hours ago, AndrewDavid said:

Links empty - old thread for plugin found in index - can it be locked or refreshed?

 

I've added the plugin as a forum attachment.