How to do isometric?

[jbowyer]

I'm using Paint.NET 3.5.11 under XP.

 

I have this piece of fence for the front of a square corral:

 

 

Now, I would like to make the right side of the corral. It needs to extend from the right end of the front piece...off at a 45 degree angle and tapering (isometrically) toward the background.

 

Would somebody please be kind enough to give me step-be-step directions for creating this isometric effect?

 

Thanks.

[skullbonz]

First off make sure the fence is on it's own layer with a transparent background. Now duplicate it three more times to get 4 layers.  With the top layer being the front go to each layer and use the Rotate/Zoom tool under the Layers tab and angle and move each piece to where you want them. Merge or flatten all layers when you are happy with how it looks.  

 

You can also use either the Drop shadow or the Trail plugins to add a 3D effect to each side.  

Edited November 24, 2014 by skullbonz

[MikeRobe]

You might want to try using the Oblique plugin, which lets you skew objects. http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/2524-oblique-effect-plugin-ymd100714/

I think true isometric angle is 30 degrees, so when you have the plugin, follow these steps:

Duplicate the layer.

Use the Oblique plugin to skew the fence. (You may need to do this on a larger canvas, since if the image goes off the edge it will wrap around.)

The numbers you're looking for probably have something to do with 30 degrees, mess around and see if you can get it perfect.

 

Let me know if you need any other help!

[pdnnoob]

Generally, the horizon isn't visible in an isometric view...

Sounds like you're really going for an oblique projection.

Anyhow, do as MikeRobe said and use the oblique plugin. Make sure, before you use it, to squish it down to half the width and set the y-offset to -1.0

[jbowyer]

Thank you for the replies.

 

The oblique plugin works very nicely.  The forward end of the "isometric" piece that it produces matches perfectly with the right end of the front fence piece.

 

"y-offset to -1.0" sets the correct angle.  Especially important is "squish it down to half the width" for two reasons:

• the oblique plugin stretches the original image to twice its length

• relatedly, without the squish, the gaps between the pickets are too large in the "isometric" piece

Edited November 25, 2014 by jbowyer