Isometric projection

2
3

culation.
In a similar way, an isometric view can be obtained in a
3D scene. Starting with the camera aligned parallel to the
oor and aligned to the coordinate axes, it is rst rotated
vertically (around the horizontal axis) by about 35.264
as above, then 45 around the vertical axis.

2
1
1 0.5
1
1

1
1

1
1

1
1

Another way isometric projection can be visualized is by

considering a view within a cubical room starting in an
upper corner and looking towards the opposite, lower corner. The x-axis extends diagonally down and right, the
y-axis extends diagonally down and left, and the z-axis is
straight up. Depth is also shown by height on the image.
Lines drawn along the axes are at 120 to one another.

1
1.5

1.5
2.5
1
1

1
1.5

1
1

1
1

The term isometric is often mistakenly used to refer

to axonometric projections generally. (There are three
types of axonometric projections: isometric, dimetric
and trimetric.)

1
1.5

Some 3D shapes in isometric projection. Black labels denote dimensions of the 3D object, while red labels denote dimensions
of the 2D projection (drawing).

2 Rotation angles

Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in
technical and engineering drawings. It is an axonometric
projection in which the three coordinate axes appear
equally foreshortened and the angles between any two of
them are 120 degrees.

From the two angles needed for an isometric projection,

the value of the second may seem counter intuitive and
deserves some further explanation. Lets rst imagine a
cube with sides of length 2, and its center positioned at
the axis origin. We can calculate the length of the line

from its center to the middle of any edge as 2 using

Pythagoras theorem . By rotating the cube by 45 on the

x axis, the point (1, 1, 1) will therefore become (1, 0, 2

1 Overview
) as depicted in the diagram. The second rotation aims to
bring the same point on the positive z axis and so needs
The term isometric comes from the Greek for equal to perform a rotation of value equal to the arctangent of
measure, reecting that the scale along each axis of 1/2 which is approximately 35.264.
the projection is the same (unlike some other forms of
graphical projection).
An isometric view of an object can be obtained by choosing the viewing direction such that the angles between the
projections of the x, y, and z axes are all the same, or
120. For example, with of a cube, this is done by rst
looking straight towards one face. Next, the cube is rotated 45 about the vertical axis, followed by a rotation
of approximately 35.264 (precisely arcsin 1 or arctan 1 ) about the horizontal axis. Note that with the
cube (see image) the perimeter of the resulting 2D drawing is a perfect regular hexagon: all the black lines have
equal length and all the cubes faces are the same area.
Isometric graph paper can be placed under a normal piece
of drawing paper to help achieve the eect without cal-

3 Mathematics
There are eight dierent orientations to obtain an isometric view, depending into which octant the viewer looks.
The isometric transform from a point ax,y,z in 3D space
to a point bx,y in 2D space looking into the rst octant
can be written mathematically with rotation matrices as:

cx
1
0
cy = 0 cos
cz
0 sin
1

0
cos
sin 0
cos sin

0
1
0

sin ax
3
1
0 ay = 1
6
cos
az
2

REFERENCES

where = arcsin(tan 30 ) 35.264 and = 45 .

As explained above, this is a rotation around the vertical
(here y) axis by , followed by a rotation around the horizontal (here x) axis by . This is then followed by an
orthographic projection to the x-y plane:

bx
1
by = 0
0
0

0
1
0

0 cx
0cy
0 cz

An example of the limitations of isometric projection.

The height dierence between the red and blue balls
cannot be determined locally.

The other 7 possibilities are obtained by either rotating

to the opposite sides or not, and then inverting the view
direction or not.[1]

History and limitations

The Penrose stairs depicts a staircase which seems to

ascend (anticlockwise) or descend (clockwise) yet forms
a continuous loop.

As with all types of parallel projection, objects drawn

with isometric projection do not appear larger or smaller
as they extend closer to or away from the viewer. While
advantageous for architectural drawings where measurements need to be taken directly, the result is a perceived
distortion, as unlike perspective projection, it is not how
our eyes or photography normally work. It also can easily
result in situations where depth and altitude are dicult
to gauge, as is shown in the illustration to the right. This
can appear to create paradoxical or impossible shapes,
Optimal-grinding engine model (1822), drawn in 30 such as the Penrose stairs.
isometric.[2]

5 See also
Graphical projection
Isometric graphics in video games and pixel art
Example of Chinese art in an illustrated edition of the
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, China, c. 15th century.
Main article: Axonometric projection
First formalized by Professor William Farish (1759
1837), the concept of isometry had existed in a rough
empirical form for centuries.[3][4] From the middle of the
19th century, isometry became an invaluable tool for
engineers, and soon thereafter axonometry and isometry were incorporated in the curriculum of architectural
training courses in Europe and the U.S.[5] According to
Jan Krikke (2000)[6] however, axonometry originated in
China. Its function in Chinese art was similar to linear
perspective in European art. Axonometry, and the pictorial grammar that goes with it, has taken on a new significance with the advent of visual computing.[6]

6 References
[1] Ingrid Carlbom, Joseph Paciorek , Dan Lim (December 1978). Planar Geometric Projections and Viewing
Transformations. ACM Computing Surveys (ACM) 10
(4): 465502. doi:10.1145/356744.356750.
[2] William Farish (1822) On Isometrical Perspective. In:
Cambridge Philosophical Transactions. 1 (1822).
[3] Barclay G. Jones (1986). Protecting historic architecture
and museum collections from natural disasters. University
of Michigan. ISBN 0-409-90035-4. p.243.
[4] Charles Edmund Moorhouse (1974). Visual messages:
graphic communication for senior students.

[5] J. Krikke (1996). "A Chinese perspective for cyberspace?". In: International Institute for Asian Studies
Newsletter, 9, Summer 1996.
[6] Jan Krikke (2000). Axonometry: a matter of perspective. In: Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE
Jul/Aug 2000. Vol 20 (4), pp. 711.

External links
Isometric Projection

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Isometric projection Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric%20projection?oldid=656893801 Contributors: Tarquin, DrBob,

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8.2

Images

File:3D_shapes_in_isometric_projection.svg
Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/3D_shapes_in_
isometric_projection.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Cmglee
File:Axonometric_projection.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Axonometric_projection.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: This vector image was created with Inkscape. Original artist: Yuri Raysper
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
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Contributors: This vector image was created with Inkscape. Original artist: Original image by Algr.
File:Optimal-grinding_engine_model.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Optimal-grinding_engine_
model.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Paper On Isometrical Perspective. In: Cambridge Philosophical Transactions. 1 (1822),
Original artist: William Farish (1759 1837)
File:Perspective_isometrique_cube_gris.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Perspective_isometrique_
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Mike Horvath (SharkD)
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From an ancient Chinese book Original artist: Anonymous
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