This has been cross-posted from the costumes section as it is relevant to both areas.
Scaling a costume or prop from a concept drawing or screen captured image can be a daunting task, but sometimes its the best way to get an accurate and high quality end product. In this tutorial I'm going to try to simplify the process as best I can.
MATH WARNING!!! The following tutorial contains math. If you do not like math, or it offends you in any way (Religious or otherwise) go no further into this tutorial. Seriously though, the math in here is fairly simple. If I can do it anyone can.
NOTE: Pictures for this tutorial will be uploaded later and should help to clarify any questions about the process.
Scaling to 1:1
Step One:
The first and probably easiest step in this process is to gather the necessary supplies. You will need: A ruler or measuring device, A Calculator, A Notepad and Writing Utensil, and of course A Picture or the costume or prop that you wish to scale (Print this out, do not use a picture on a computer monitor or screen. You want your scale to stay the same). You may also want to get a ice cold beverage of your choice and some nice music to keep you company.
Step Two:
For the second step you will need to write out a fraction to be used as your base for scaling the drawing. For clarity purposes we will refer to this fraction from here on as your Base Scale. To find the base scale we need to first write out our fraction. It will look like this: (A / B). To find A and B we need some information. For this tutorial lets say we're scaling an entire costume for a character. What we need to know is how tall that character is supposed to be. For ease of understanding lets say our character is 6' tall, or 72", this will be our B integer. It's important that to avoid confusion you make all of your measurements in the same unit (inches, mm, cm, feet, exc). So with that knowledge in hand we have progressed to: (A / 72"). Now to find that A integer!
Step Three:
In oder to find A all we have to do is take our measurement tool and measure the height of our figure on our drawing! So you take your ruler and find that on that particular picture our character is 2.5" tall. There is your A integer. Were now at: (2.5" / 72"). Wow thats a real fraction! Write it down. We're going to be using it a lot.
Step Four:
Now that we have our Base Scale we can begin scaling parts of the costume. Unfortunately this means its math time. The formula for scaling a part is as follows: (A / B) = (X / Y) where (A / B) is our Base Scale, X = the measurement of the part on your picture, and Y = the measurement of the part in true scale. So lets say for example i wanna scale the gauntlet on my picture. I measure the gauntlet in inches (or whatever unit i used previously) and substitute that number in for X. Lets say that the gauntlet measured 1/4" or 0.25". I substitute that number in and get the following:(2.5" / 72") = (0.25/Y). Now we solve for Y through cross multiplication in order to find how big the gauntlet really is (This is where you use that calculator). It goes something like this:
2.5Y = 72*0.25
-> 2.5Y = 18
-> Y = 18/2.5
-> Y = 7.2
We can now see that the gauntlet should be 7.2". This process can be repeated for any part of the costume. I suggest writing down most of the major parts measurements on a reference sheet to have on hand while sculpting or building, so that every time you need to know a measurement you don't have to go through the entire math process again.
Scaling to a Custom Scale:
The process for scaling to a custom scale is the same. However, instead of using a canon measurement for B in the base scale, you use the measurement of the subject you want to scale to (be it yourself or a friend). Other than that all the steps remain the same.
Scaling a costume or prop from a concept drawing or screen captured image can be a daunting task, but sometimes its the best way to get an accurate and high quality end product. In this tutorial I'm going to try to simplify the process as best I can.
MATH WARNING!!! The following tutorial contains math. If you do not like math, or it offends you in any way (Religious or otherwise) go no further into this tutorial. Seriously though, the math in here is fairly simple. If I can do it anyone can.
NOTE: Pictures for this tutorial will be uploaded later and should help to clarify any questions about the process.
Scaling to 1:1
Step One:
The first and probably easiest step in this process is to gather the necessary supplies. You will need: A ruler or measuring device, A Calculator, A Notepad and Writing Utensil, and of course A Picture or the costume or prop that you wish to scale (Print this out, do not use a picture on a computer monitor or screen. You want your scale to stay the same). You may also want to get a ice cold beverage of your choice and some nice music to keep you company.
Step Two:
For the second step you will need to write out a fraction to be used as your base for scaling the drawing. For clarity purposes we will refer to this fraction from here on as your Base Scale. To find the base scale we need to first write out our fraction. It will look like this: (A / B). To find A and B we need some information. For this tutorial lets say we're scaling an entire costume for a character. What we need to know is how tall that character is supposed to be. For ease of understanding lets say our character is 6' tall, or 72", this will be our B integer. It's important that to avoid confusion you make all of your measurements in the same unit (inches, mm, cm, feet, exc). So with that knowledge in hand we have progressed to: (A / 72"). Now to find that A integer!
Step Three:
In oder to find A all we have to do is take our measurement tool and measure the height of our figure on our drawing! So you take your ruler and find that on that particular picture our character is 2.5" tall. There is your A integer. Were now at: (2.5" / 72"). Wow thats a real fraction! Write it down. We're going to be using it a lot.
Step Four:
Now that we have our Base Scale we can begin scaling parts of the costume. Unfortunately this means its math time. The formula for scaling a part is as follows: (A / B) = (X / Y) where (A / B) is our Base Scale, X = the measurement of the part on your picture, and Y = the measurement of the part in true scale. So lets say for example i wanna scale the gauntlet on my picture. I measure the gauntlet in inches (or whatever unit i used previously) and substitute that number in for X. Lets say that the gauntlet measured 1/4" or 0.25". I substitute that number in and get the following:(2.5" / 72") = (0.25/Y). Now we solve for Y through cross multiplication in order to find how big the gauntlet really is (This is where you use that calculator). It goes something like this:
2.5Y = 72*0.25
-> 2.5Y = 18
-> Y = 18/2.5
-> Y = 7.2
We can now see that the gauntlet should be 7.2". This process can be repeated for any part of the costume. I suggest writing down most of the major parts measurements on a reference sheet to have on hand while sculpting or building, so that every time you need to know a measurement you don't have to go through the entire math process again.
Scaling to a Custom Scale:
The process for scaling to a custom scale is the same. However, instead of using a canon measurement for B in the base scale, you use the measurement of the subject you want to scale to (be it yourself or a friend). Other than that all the steps remain the same.
