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Description
Welcome to this part of my tutorial!

"CWD: Centering Windows and Doors."

This part is a bit of a detour from the other parts, although it can be used for everything before it, through the Two Vanishing Points portion.

Once three vanishing points are used, a somewhat different way has to be used: overall, instead of using a vertical line, a line from the third vanishing point should be used.

This portion is about centering doors, windows, and things in general in an angled shape. If you are doing this with a simple square or rectangle, then it's easy: just use a ruler. No problem.

But what if the shape is drawn from an angle? Using a ruler is possible, but only if you know how far to one side you should go. From the earliest part of this tutorial one of the things to keep in mind is that things further away are smaller looking than things closer to you, so you know that if a door is centered on a wall the part closer to you should be larger than the part on the other side of the door, but by how much?

Here's one way...and remember, don't be afraid to try something different, be it an angle, the height of a line- it's the best way to understand these things.

In Figure 1, as before, draw a shape using two vanishing points, as if drawing a block seen from an angle.

But here's the very heart of how to center things, this is THE thing to know:

On both sides, connect the corners so you have an "X" on both walls.

On the right side, draw a vertical line straight down through the middle of the "X."

On the left side, draw a line from the vanishing point through the middle of that "X," ending at that center line, as shown.

You've done it.

What you've just done is divide the left side into two halves, top and bottom. You can even see this by looking at where the line ends on that vertical line, where the second arrow is.

And you've divided the right side into two halves, left and right.

It may look odd, because the "X" looks odd. But notice how the more distant half on the right side is that much smaller than the closer one? The "X" reflects this. Try doing this again, but move the vanishing points closer together or further apart, and see what happens.

In Figure 2, for the left side, a vertical line is drawn through the center of the "X." Now that side of the structure is divided into four parts, all equal. It just doesn't seem that way at first, in large part because the angles are so exaggerated. Try a less exaggerated angle by moving the vanishing points further away from each other, if you like, and see what happens!

Meanwhile, the "X" on the right side has been erased, but the vertical line that went through it is still there. This time, from one of the top corners, draw a line through that vertical line down to the bottom of the wall, but NOT to the lower corner. Do the same from the other top corner, making sure it goes right through where the vertical line and that first corner line meet- you should have three lines meeting in one place, as shown by the arrow. Draw in a point where each of the two corner lines meet the bottom part of the wall.

For Figure 3, an extra line was added to each quarter of the left wall. Now we have four equal parts, each with its very own "X."

On the right side, a line from the right vanishing point was drawn through the vertical line- where exactly doesn't matter, as long as it's above the bottom, but not (in this case) as high as the top side of the wall. From the two points on the bottom of the wall, draw vertical lines until they touch that line from the vanishing point.

You have your centered door!

Just as an extra hint, from a single place somewhere on the vertical line above the door, draw lines to the top corners of the door. Instant centered triangle on the door! It's that easy!

Finally, for Figure 4, notice the extra lines drawn through the "X" in each quarter of the left wall? Upper Left: a vertical line, dividing it into two halves, left and right. Upper Right: a line from the vanishing point, dividing it into two halves, top and bottom.

The two lower halves combine the two above them, and then add those extra lines so you now have four "X's" in each part- for a total of EIGHT "X's," eight little parts in the lower half of the wall! You can go on doing this until you have tiny-tiny little parts, if you like. It's up to you.

Meanwhile, on the right side of the structure, the vertical lines on either side of the door have been extended up. Because the door is centered, now what you have is a part on the left side of the door, and a part to the right of the door, and they are both equal.

In this case I drew an "X" in each of those two parts. For the one on the left side of the door, I drew a vertical line through that "X," and, just like when drawing the door, drew two more lines from the top corners of that portion, ending on the bottom- I'm treating it as an independent angled shape.

Draw the vertical lines up from the points where those two new lines meet the bottom, and then just draw two lines from the right vanishing point through them as shown- it doesn't matter exactly how high they are for now. It's similar to when you drew the door, but with the extra line from the vanishing point.

What you now have is a window that, on its left and right sides, is properly centered in that part of the wall!

Now, on the right side of the door- draw a line from the vanishing point through the lower part of the "X." From where it meets the lines of the "X" draw up two vertical lines.

Where those two lines touch the upper part of the "X" draw in another line from the vanishing point.

Notice how that one line goes through both places where the vertical lines meet the upper part of the "X?"

You now have a window that is truly centered in that part of the wall, top, bottom, left, and right!

Now, what if you want a window that is centered, but that does not have its four corners touching the "X," like a taller narrow window? That's explained here a bit later, not to worry!

Turn to the next page for some details!

Description
Welcome to this part of my tutorial!

"CWD: Centering Windows and Doors."

This part is a bit of a detour from the other parts, although it can be used for everything before it, through the Two Vanishing Points portion.

Once three vanishing points are used, a somewhat different way has to be used: overall, instead of using a vertical line, a line from the third vanishing point should be used.

This portion is about centering doors, windows, and things in general in an angled shape. If you are doing this with a simple square or rectangle, then it's easy: just use a ruler. No problem.

But what if the shape is drawn from an angle? Using a ruler is possible, but only if you know how far to one side you should go. From the earliest part of this tutorial one of the things to keep in mind is that things further away are smaller looking than things closer to you, so you know that if a door is centered on a wall the part closer to you should be larger than the part on the other side of the door, but by how much?

Here's one way...and remember, don't be afraid to try something different, be it an angle, the height of a line- it's the best way to understand these things.

In Figure 1, as before, draw a shape using two vanishing points, as if drawing a block seen from an angle.

But here's the very heart of how to center things, this is THE thing to know:

On both sides, connect the corners so you have an "X" on both walls.

On the right side, draw a vertical line straight down through the middle of the "X."

On the left side, draw a line from the vanishing point through the middle of that "X," ending at that center line, as shown.

You've done it.

What you've just done is divide the left side into two halves, top and bottom. You can even see this by looking at where the line ends on that vertical line, where the second arrow is.

And you've divided the right side into two halves, left and right.

It may look odd, because the "X" looks odd. But notice how the more distant half on the right side is that much smaller than the closer one? The "X" reflects this. Try doing this again, but move the vanishing points closer together or further apart, and see what happens.

In Figure 2, for the left side, a vertical line is drawn through the center of the "X." Now that side of the structure is divided into four parts, all equal. It just doesn't seem that way at first, in large part because the angles are so exaggerated. Try a less exaggerated angle by moving the vanishing points further away from each other, if you like, and see what happens!

Meanwhile, the "X" on the right side has been erased, but the vertical line that went through it is still there. This time, from one of the top corners, draw a line through that vertical line down to the bottom of the wall, but NOT to the lower corner. Do the same from the other top corner, making sure it goes right through where the vertical line and that first corner line meet- you should have three lines meeting in one place, as shown by the arrow. Draw in a point where each of the two corner lines meet the bottom part of the wall.

For Figure 3, an extra line was added to each quarter of the left wall. Now we have four equal parts, each with its very own "X."

On the right side, a line from the right vanishing point was drawn through the vertical line- where exactly doesn't matter, as long as it's above the bottom, but not (in this case) as high as the top side of the wall. From the two points on the bottom of the wall, draw vertical lines until they touch that line from the vanishing point.

You have your centered door!

Just as an extra hint, from a single place somewhere on the vertical line above the door, draw lines to the top corners of the door. Instant centered triangle on the door! It's that easy!

Finally, for Figure 4, notice the extra lines drawn through the "X" in each quarter of the left wall? Upper Left: a vertical line, dividing it into two halves, left and right. Upper Right: a line from the vanishing point, dividing it into two halves, top and bottom.

The two lower halves combine the two above them, and then add those extra lines so you now have four "X's" in each part- for a total of EIGHT "X's," eight little parts in the lower half of the wall! You can go on doing this until you have tiny-tiny little parts, if you like. It's up to you.

Meanwhile, on the right side of the structure, the vertical lines on either side of the door have been extended up. Because the door is centered, now what you have is a part on the left side of the door, and a part to the right of the door, and they are both equal.

In this case I drew an "X" in each of those two parts. For the one on the left side of the door, I drew a vertical line through that "X," and, just like when drawing the door, drew two more lines from the top corners of that portion, ending on the bottom- I'm treating it as an independent angled shape.

Draw the vertical lines up from the points where those two new lines meet the bottom, and then just draw two lines from the right vanishing point through them as shown- it doesn't matter exactly how high they are for now. It's similar to when you drew the door, but with the extra line from the vanishing point.

What you now have is a window that, on its left and right sides, is properly centered in that part of the wall!

Now, on the right side of the door- draw a line from the vanishing point through the lower part of the "X." From where it meets the lines of the "X" draw up two vertical lines.

Where those two lines touch the upper part of the "X" draw in another line from the vanishing point.

Notice how that one line goes through both places where the vertical lines meet the upper part of the "X?"

You now have a window that is truly centered in that part of the wall, top, bottom, left, and right!

Now, what if you want a window that is centered, but that does not have its four corners touching the "X," like a taller narrow window? That's explained here a bit later, not to worry!

Turn to the next page for some details!