Measurements and Their Relationship to CG - An Introduction to Computer Graphics for Artists - page 51

Fig. 4.3 Meditation Rock (©Andrew Paquette 2003)

pixels and make things thicker than they should be. This is why it is always best to
have numerical dimensions in addition to visual reference if it is available.
Measuring different types of objects presents different problems for an artist.
This is why some objects are known to be more diffi cult than others to build. This
is as true of computer graphics as it was for artists who painted or sculpted their
works hundreds of years ago. They too were measuring their objects, though in
their case they rarely used measuring tools. The realism of a painting (Fig. 4.3 ) is
largely a refl ection of the accuracy of observations regarding the dimensions of the
elements in the painting, as well as their colors (another measurement).
There are many different types of measurements, and many ways to take these
measurements. The primary types are these:

4.2.1 Linear

A dimension defi ned exclusively as the distance between one point and another is
linear . This can be the distance from a station point to a location on a given object,
or the distance between two points on the same or two different objects. A simple
ruler, yardstick, or micrometer is enough to take measurements of human-scale
subjects. For larger subjects like architecture, calculation, design, or large format
scanning might be used.