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Isometric Scaling

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:40 pm
by LyleMills
Hi All,

Can someone please clarify what the proper scaling amount is for doing isometric drawings? On one site it is 86.602% and on another it is 86.062% Which one is correct? Also, where does this "magical" number come from? Could someone explain? :?

Thanks,
Lyle

Re: Isometric Scaling

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:07 pm
by LyleMills
Well, trying the tutorials it is 86.062%, but I am still unable to figure out how that number comes about. Anyone?

Re: Isometric Scaling

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:57 pm
by JamesProvost
It should be 86.602%

Scaling compensates for the stretch that the Shear does. Try working backwards from a 1" isometric cube made from 3 parallelograms. Then rotate and shear each side. You'll see they're not quite square. Then scale them and you'll see you end up with three 1" squares.

Re: Isometric Scaling

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:36 am
by LyleMills
Thanks James!

Makes much more sense after "reverse-engineering" the cube.

Re: Isometric Scaling

Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 7:28 pm
by matt_lorenzi
This may have been asked / posted somewhere already. Is there an isometric plugin for AI? I know there are grids available, which I have. Just wondering if there is a plugin which will shear/scale for you.

Otherwise, can the Perspective Tool draw you an isometric grid? That would be a nice feature to have...and am sure would be no issues for Adobe to incorporate.

Re: Isometric Scaling

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:46 am
by JamesProvost
Look into "Actions," they can turn scale/shear/rotate into one hotkey each for top/front/side.

Re: Isometric Scaling

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:23 am
by matt_lorenzi
@James
Thanks, keep forgetting about actions. Will try.