I currently have mine set at about 25 degrees which is equivalent to about 100mm lens on a 35mm camera. This reduces the wide angle effect on close ups but it's a long way from the 50mm standard that I've heard recommended as it's close to the field of view of the human eye. Is the reduced perspective I'm using likely to distort my models? What settings do other people use? Baz

I guess it depends on which program you're talking about..I'm still using defaults on everything..;)

I'm proud to say I'm using defaults too...of course, I have a 4 window view (Top, Perspective, Right, Front) which is the way I like to model...I know, I'm old fashioned. :) Thus, while modeling, camera angles tend not to play as pivotal a role for me though I have been known to spin the ol' perspective view from time to time just to look things over. Rendering...now rendering is a little different. :)

Attached Link: http://www.fredparker.com/vislize.htm

Found a link with a table on focal length/lens angle equivs. (Search engines come in handy.) For most rendering purposes the diagonal angle is the one to use. Might be useful in relation to this topic. I usually use the default setting when modeling, or even rendering. But sometimes I set the angle to 47 for rendering in Bryce, which is the approximate angle of a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera. A narrower angle reduces perspective will flatten your models a bit, which means the depth is less apparent and distant objects may look stacked (if DOF effects aren't used.) Think of it this way, the tighter the angle the closer the perspective lines are to being parallel (as in projection/plan views) when hitting the image plane. Using a wide angle is what causes a distortion (something like a 28mm lens.) The extreme of which is the barrel effect seen with a fisheye lens.

Thanks peeps! This has never bothered me until now :o( While modelling my Hitchcock head, unless I dollied way back he always looked as though I was using a wide angle lens. I've never noticed this problem with other heads I've made, maybe it's because I'm trying to create a good likeness, dunno! :o( I'm managing OK with my telephoto setup now and he looks OK so maybe I should stop worrying, shut up and get on with it LOL! Wings is a little different to most modelling apps Teyon, you can set it up to have 3 Orthographic views and one perspective but I got used to using it when we were stuck with 1 window so I work mainly in perspective and just hit O and an axis key if I want an Orthographic view - useful for lining up refs! Useful table there Paul! Thanks again everyone :o) - Baz

well, Hitchcock was a wide-angle guy..;) and now, back to ourah cohmushul..;)

From my photographic experience, I consider the 50 mm lens more as a wide angle lens. I think a lens in the 80 100 mm (around 25 degrees opening angel) gives the most natural perspective, even if the field of view may be smaller than that of the human eye. Human vision dont works like a simple lens. These range also works best for me in 3d programs. Stefan

I was wondering about the cam thing too coz I wasn't sure if it effected things during the modeling process. The face looks extremely narrow somewhat.. and the ears stick way out. Lost the 5 eyes wide thing here.

with a close up zoom.. smaller than 5-eyes wide.

an awkwardness.. the left pic makes it seem as if the back of the head is pretty far back from the ears. It was worse than this when I first noticed it. During the modeling process, if I didn't keep in mind that the profile view looks fine as far as the general distance the back of the head is to the ear... I would've wanted to push those vertices/edges inwards.

Thanks for all the feedback people! Rain - try setting the camera angle to around 25, it's not what I've seen recommended but it seems to work! Stefan is right, in Wings at least the default setting behaves like a wide angle. - Baz

I tend to use 30 to 35 mm, but that's because I use a lot od false perspective and illusiory depths

Hiya Bonestructure :o) 30 - 35mm! For modelling or rendering? I don't think I could model with that lens setting!

Sometimes for modeling. Mostly I'm a default gut, but if I'm modeling something to be used for false perspective, then I have to use the same camera I render with or I can't get it right. 30 to 35 gives just enough of a wide angle that you can stretch the false perspective without deforming the model overyly much. It's an old traditional art trick, but as far as I know I'm the only 3D artist that tries to use it. Just as an example. In movie making, they use false perspective a lot, like to make buildings look taller than they are. It's done by making the building taper towards the top, and making the windows gradually smaller and closer together as they get closer to the top. The buildings are built to be filmed with a particular focal length lends and, though it's used all the time, you just don't notice it when you see it. The same thing is used to make a false sense of objects being further away than they really are. Though it's done quite a bit with CG these days, in the old days they used miniatures and backdrops to make it look like something was far in the distance, when really, it was just a few feet from the end of the foreground. Lookj at the battle of helms deep in LOTR the two towwers. Much of the fighting you see when helms deep is in the background and seems huge, was actually done using forced perspective in front of a large miniature a few feet away. All that can be duplicated in 3D, and when it's lighted well, saves a lot of effort in making scenes that aren't all spread out in the window.

Hmm interesting! I presume you'd do most of your modelling from fixed viewpoints then? I imagine that tumbling the model too much could confuse the eye? - Baz

yeah, you don't want to build complex models with the technique. I mostly use it for buildings and backgrounds. On the other hand, I have a 4 window modeling view, so it's not as big a problem as if I were using, say, wings ort truespace, or a program with only one window.

Thanks for the info Bonestructure!

there's an option at the bottom where one can choose the 1 window or 4 windows in tS..hmm, I'm using v5.1 tho. I checked out the 4 windows for a few seconds and put it back. I can't model like that. Come to think of it, doesn't do me much good having the 1 window since I can't model a thing in tS anyway. LoL But it is more comfy to me when I load tS to fiddle around in it n I see only 1 window.

-=RAiN=-

well, the version of truespace I tried was an older version, and it just didn't do it for me. And that GUI, oy! What a mess.

I used forced perspective in this gallery image of a stylised, toy landscape (truespace). The hills and general landscape are much narrower from front to back than from side to side. The advantage is that lighting & shadows can still be made to work, without covering virtual acres of workspace. Kubrick used it in some of the moon scenes in 2001 A Space Odyssey. Done right, you can still get parallex changes in tracking shots without excess depth. m.