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I'm trying to figure out the perspective of this image!!

I'm sure it's not a 3-point perspective and I lean toward 1-point perspective. I tried to figure out the vanishing points of the image and find the horizon line and that is what I came up with

here's my attempt trying to work it out, the point at the center didn't even conform to the red lines!!

Is it a 1-point perspective used with multiple auxiliary points?? and is there's a VP in the center of the squared city???

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    I think you're going about this the wrong way. Try using the board that it's on rather than the city itself. Jan 2, 2018 at 19:05
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    Your drawn lines have no resemblance to the actual object in the photograph. They look like pure guesswork. You have to follow the angles of the object, not simply pick a corner and draw a line from it. But as Joojaa points out, it's not a simple 3-point drawing, it's a photo so there's curvature inherent in the image which is not easily mimicked in perspective drawing. You'll have to read up on Escher and his exploration into perspective and how the real world distorts it all.
    – Scott
    Jan 2, 2018 at 19:11

2 Answers 2

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Its a photograph! And as such they are always sort of distorted 3 point perspectives. As in reality there re more than 3 vanishing points as each parallel line and their 90 degree counterparts produce a separate vanishing point set. After all 3 point perspective is a gross simplification of things.

So you see, for example you get that the lines form the bridges converge to center becasue they are not in fact parallel but really converge to the middle. These are not perspective vanishing points.


Some additional thoughts

For 3 point, 2 point or 1 point perspective monikers to make any sense. Then the image needs to have a very strong focal point that is clearly one or the other. This way the discussion of what is auxiliary is not just a question of semantics.

The picture you have does not have any strong parallel line focus, for example the platform is not entirely level and the angles on the platform are a bit haphazard. So determining which edges form a perspective vanishing point is not entirely trivial. Therefore the question of whether or not the image is 1 or 2 point becomes a but moot as you can not define what is primary and what is auxiliary.

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  • Thanks, what made me exclude 3-point perspective is that I saw that all the perpendicular lines are all parallel to each other...!! So do you think this is a kind of advanced 3-point perspective ?? and if so can you point me to the theory behind it, and If I need to draw something like that what should I do is there's a simplification that I can try out?
    – Corabict
    Jan 2, 2018 at 18:57
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    @Corabict its a photograph.
    – joojaa
    Jan 2, 2018 at 19:05
  • This perspective is created by viewing a 3d object at an angle. It is not a 2 dimensional image. You are asking what the perspective of 3d Objects around us are. Your assumptions are wrong. This is not a question of perspective but of viewpoint.
    – Webster
    Jan 2, 2018 at 21:44
  • @Webster perhaps but asking if something with complex angles is one, two or 3 point perspective is pointless. After all a image can at the same time be all of those. Because they are special cases of the same phenomena.
    – joojaa
    Jan 3, 2018 at 6:18
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Your question unfortunately is based on a misconception. 1,2 and 3 point perspectives are drawing construction tools. An artist or engineer uses them as shortcuts, when the object has parallel lines like a rectangular box.

Using those shortcuts isn't a must. A drawing with a solid perspective can be constructed also point by point from rectangular projections, when the observing point and the image plane are decided. But 1,2, and 3 point perspectives can speed up the drawing substantially.

Your photo is not constructed with a pen and ruler. It's taken using a camera. Camera's placement, direction and focal length (+possible lens errors) define, how the object is mapped onto the 2-dimensional image sensor or film.

You can of course ask: Believe me, this is painted by an artist. It's so good that it only seems to be a photo. Has he used 1,2, or 3 point perspective?

The answer: Impossible to say, the image is far too complex and all possibly used construction lines are wiped off perfectly.

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