How To Rotate A Cube In Perspective

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Have you ever wondered how to draw the cube in different angles? Or how do we rotate it properly? We know we have. And we couldn't find a comprehensive answer so that's why we made this. This isn't our discovery, this is a synthesis of what we've learned from other artists and teachers on the topic.
With the ellipse method you can now draw the cube in any angle.

[@joshuaelek]

I have watched dozens of videos trying to understand how boxes rotate in perspective, and this is EASILY the best one. Your pedagogy is exactly what I was looking for. Rather than just telling me how to rotate “this” box, you taught me how to rotate “any” box. THANK YOU!

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome!! And thank you for the kind words 🙏 Glad to know this video helped 😊

[@hunlag4700]

There's way too many fake artist trying to make money from KZbin with the pathetic tutorials.

[@rodrigov.120]

You're literally a genius! I was watched a lot of KZbin videos on how to rotate a cube but nobody was able to explain it to me as well as you did

[@jeanmichellegolosino6569]

This is by far the most effective yet simpliest explanation of rotating a box with the ellipse method! Thank you

[@plainlysimple]

You're so welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ad1kher0gaming71]

Honestly, the only reason I've botched up most of these rotating cubes was because of the lack of the inner elipse to connect the tangents. Like, how have I never noticed that before? Such an underated video

[@LeahHantken]

Thank you so much. I don't know why I struggled with this, I thought I was broken :0

[@ice7512]

I have been looking for this video for like 3 years. I was considering learning how to rote learn each 10deg rotations for like 18 diff. view points. That was gonna be like 180 diff cubes, even more if I tried to learn how to draw y-axis or x-axis rotated cubes. You have saved me so much time! Now I just need to learn like 18 ref cubes and just practise this teq. to rotate them :). P.S. This really needs to be taught after students have mastered a couple of viewpoints of the cube ASAP, otherwise they won't be able to vary their perspective as much!!

[@plainlysimple]

Wow didn't know this video had that impact on you. Thanks for letting us know. 😊 We had this question too for the longest time. We haven't found any "official" or "proper" explanation on this that we just had to observe ourselves. Mathematically, we're not sure if this is accurate 😅 but visually it does seem to do the job well 😊

[@thanatos454]

Rather than using an inner ellipse I've found it is much more useful to picture the larger ellipse as a 12hr analog clock. As an example, if one corner is on the 6th hour then the other corners are on the 9th, 12th, and 3rd respectively. You just need to practice dividing up ellipses.

[@guillaumeb9787]

I've been looking for a way to get consistant "right angle" when rotating stuff for ages, could not find a clear explanation anywhere except "just eyeball it man". Thank you for sharing!

[@plainlysimple]

You're very welcome! :)

[@B14z3rather]

@@plainlysimple i tried this but I cant draw a perfect circle so its useless

[@kmylodarkstar2253]

now the tricky part is how to draw those ellipses you need to create maybe square guidelines and this become an inception, really nice video, enjoyed

[@plainlysimple]

Glad you liked it! 😊 I usually just use estimation. We're usually using this to visualize characters in any angle and this is more of a mental model than an actual guide. If you want to accurately depict a cube rotation, maybe your idea works 🤔 Could be a good idea but I haven't tested it yet 😅

[@seeker5111]

This kid's a genius.

[@coomer_artist2648]

Yooo holy shit. I've been googling how to rotate boxes for YEARS and never seen something as easy to understand as this.

[@plainlysimple]

Thanks and you're welcome :D Glad to know this helped. :)

[@neonelll]

Most valuable simplified explanation out there. Can't believe it's so underrated. Good job dude.

[@plainlysimple]

Thanks! :D

[@martinc8273]

You're a hero. I took me roughly one year between the time where I started thinking about how to rotate things in perspective and finding this so I feel like this is the end of a journey right now.

[@plainlysimple]

Wow. that's great! Glad to know this helped. 😊

[@Humiliated1234]

Do you help beginners?

[@martinc8273]

@@Humiliated1234 are you talking to me or to plainly simple ?

[@Humiliated1234]

@@martinc8273 yes you can you help me understand this I started art about a week ago and I want you to help me, so do you help beginners?

[@martinc8273]

@@Humiliated1234 oh of course dude it would be a ton of fun we can, if you want I can give you the link to my youtube playlist with my favorite tutorials I can also try to teach you what I know about perspective on aggie io(collaborative drawing online or just try explain here. what fits you best (honestly it would be a bit easier for me to explain if we were in call with aggie io but if you don't like that I totally understand).

[@supermoos3]

Best explanation for rotating a cube. So easy to understand!

[@plainlysimple]

Glad you liked it 😊

[@rabihardin]

this is the best video ive ever watched for rotating in perspective, thank you so much!!

[@plainlysimple]

Best might be a bit too much of a description for this video 😄 but thanks! And glad to know this helped 😊

[@НаконечникШампура]

I thought for a long time how to rotate the cube. I thought of an external ellipse, but not about an internal ellipse. Thank you.

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome 😄

[@KarimAktouf]

Great work ! I figured it out by doing my own experiments and research (where only your video explains it well) and one thing I haven’t found yet is how to correctly construct the outer ellipse.

[@plainlysimple]

The outer ellipse is a challenge. If you use photoshop, or other digital software then it's going to be much easier. There's an ellipse tool and you just create an ellipse that hits the corners. If you're doing this traditionally then what I do is use estimation, but that isn't accurate 😅 But the goal of this exercise isn't to create the most accurate cube but more of to help with seeing in "3d" which would help in drawing other things, like the human head, or other objects. 😊

[@KarimAktouf]

@@plainlysimple Thanks mate ! I'm still researching this, I feel I'm close. One way might be to first draw the outer perspective rectangle that will contain the outer ellipse. We can then easily draw a "concentric" smaller rectangle using the diagonals, as they are shared with the bigger rectangle. We can then construct the inner ellipse which is inside the smaller rectangle. I thought about vanishing point translation but it doesn't work as the horizon line is actually a circle, so the translation, when the horizon is approximated as linear (in linear perspective) is not linear, i.e. not the same between the left VP and the right VP. Another option would be to use the non-perspective to perspective projection, similar to what we using when diving a circle in an arbitrary number of spokes. I have to research it out. Cheers !

[@litterbox2010]

Finally. This is the video I've needed for over a year now. Thank you.

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome, and glad to know you finally found a video like this 😄

[@IsionIndustries]

Your channel name is perfect for the video content you publish. The way you explain things feels so natural to listen and learn from. It's simple and straight to the point and it provides such in depth detail. I am making an explainer or a quick breakdown type of video showing how to animate a isometric cube in after effects, I will reference your video in the description as a source of information.

[@WeaverIsCool11]

The inner circle idea is actually genius. I couldn’t think of a better way to explain it 🗿

[@plainlysimple]

Thanks! Glad to know this helped 😊

[@ritchiart]

Eye brooo this was helpful af. You made the content easy to understand also.

[@plainlysimple]

Hey! Glad to know that. 😊 Glad to know this helped you. 🙌

[@basicfrogginhuman6023]

really?! 2 minutes?? Thats how long it took to teach me how to rotate a cube?? I'm mad that I did not know this sooner...

[@plainlysimple]

Haha 😄 But it also took months for me to realize this, so don't be mad at yourself 😄

[@gifapp8071]

so cool bro

[@HackTeorico]

Amazingly simple and concise!

[@plainlysimple]

Glad to know that you liked it 😊

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Fantastic

[@GlitchmanVGM]

Great video! Very helpful!

[@yosnapz2965]

Immaculate! THANK YOU SO MUUUUCHHHHHH

[@plainlysimple]

You're so welcome! 😊

[@je4nette]

You're a genius, thank you!

[@plainlysimple]

Thanks and you're welcome! :D Glad to know this helped!

[@jameslamm9315]

Thanks for sharing, you made it very simple

[@Adarwan_]

This helpfully sir, thank you

[@plainlysimple]

You are welcome 😊

[@ReimPrim]

This is really helpful, I still have some trouble finding sheet to put the 4 dots and connect them but it’ll corm around.. hopefully

[@plainlysimple]

Yes, it's a struggle at the start. The two ellipses would serve as your checks, if they fit then they are correct. After practicing for a while, you'll get used to it. 😊 And eventually, it will become second nature.

[@venzarez-ili680]

Thank you really need this!

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome! Happy to help 😊

[@TheImaginativeSachin]

I was trying to animate a cube rotating thanks

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome!

[@Kingfuconan]

Thank you so much!

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome!

[@zenryucds747]

This is awesome I'm 100% signing up!

[@plainlysimple]

That's great! Looking forward to see what you can come up with. 😊 Also the link in the description now offers a 1 month free trial of SkillShare premium instead of just 14 days. That should give you enough time to finish the class before your trial would end 😊

[@user-og9nl5mt1b]

I don't have skillshare. 😭😭😭 but i really want your course. If it was on udemy i would buy it.

[@plainlysimple]

Hi! You can find this on udemy 😊 www.udemy.com/course/learn-how-to-draw-the-head-from-any-angle/?referralCode=82B4D0871AC57D4D2305

[@senacan6001]

Just like the channel's name "plainly simple" Thank you!

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome! 😊

[@leinardesteves3987]

Can you do a tutorial on how to rotate an ellipse that is not a perfect circle? I'm having issues with tilting an elliptical shaped axe

[@plainlysimple]

hmm that's challenging 🤔 We don't know currently but that would be fun to explore and figure out :D

[@leinardesteves3987]

@@plainlysimple thanks for the response! Looking forward to it, have my bell notification on for when you do ;)

[@s4yanora]

Damn good breakdown. Thank you

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome 😊

[@prophit7105]

What if it’s not a perfects square or circle? What if it’s an oval or rectangle?

[@Casibrunette7979]

This video is greaat. Thank you💗

[@plainlysimple]

You are so welcome! :)

[@alirezaakhavi9943]

really nice work man! thank you for sharing subbed :)

[@plainlysimple]

You're welcome! 😊

[@jeffjefferson2853]

How do I know where to place the corners along the elipse? Trial and error?

[@plainlysimple]

Yes trial and error. 😊

[@greguar86]

love it!

[@plainlysimple]

Glad you liked it 😊

[@cat_sqeaker]

so, is it the ellipse that is maintaining the directional vanishing point at the horizon? I'm just a little confused because it seems like when the cube is rotated, new vanishing points are created entirely that don't connect at the horizon line.

[@plainlysimple]

Yes it's the ellipse :) We also have another video explaining the vanishing points as the cube rotates. Go to our channel and look for the vanishing points video. :)

[@ziadtosson2]

luv u man ♥ genius

[@plainlysimple]

Thanks! ❤️

[@SnowAngelProject]

I like this video! However when I try to do this myself I run into a problem. I can't seem to create a trapezoid between the two ellipses. Any suggestions as to why I might be experiencing this? I do start by constructing both ellipses first to try and keep them scaled with the outer and inner circles. This is different then what your video shows. You construct the inner ellipse after constructing the trapezoid. When I try to construct the trapezoid between the ellipses, and since the lines can't pass through the inner ellipses, I keep ending up with a rectangle. Any help or suggestions are very much appreciated, thank you in advance!

[@plainlysimple]

It's hard to help when I can't see what you're referring to but I'll try my best. You would need to start with the cube first (which would have trapezoid shapes depending on the angle). I would suggest you start with the 3/4 angle. Also note, that this isn't a hard rule. If your lines do pass the ellipse by a little bit then just allow it. This is more of a guide than a strict rule to follow. I hope that helps.

[@b.aaa.d624]

thank you asian man :)

[@ridgefashion726]

Hi great but i'm trying to transcrib this on paper for a flipbook and i can't do it can you help me please ?

[@alex-ty4mr]

Ok but how do I construct the outer circle

[@plainlysimple]

the points of the cube would be able to help you, or you can use an ellipse tool in photoshop or illustrator and use that as a guide. What I do, is I just estimate the outer ellipse based on the points of the cube. And most of the times it works and helps me create the other angles.

[@mikejr1932]

i like you video man

[@plainlysimple]

Thanks 😊

[@thechronicles8599]

how would you get the outer elipse in a traditional type medium ?

[@plainlysimple]

We're not really sure, we've made this tutorial for digital illustrations. But even in digital illustrations we don't really try to make it perfect and it's more estimations. We just estimate the inner and outer ellipse

[@pablohenriquedemelo7027]

1:02

[@KarimAktouf]

Dear Marvin, I figured out how construct the outer ellipse ! Check it out here (and in my tutorial, which is in french, I refer to yours). Cheers ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKWsaaxniM6DpKc

[@princesscalla2748]

Are you Filipino?

[@plainlysimple]

Yes! 😊 Why do you ask? 😅

[@princesscalla2748]

@@plainlysimple I'm a German girl from Germany and my boyfriend is Filipino. He has the same kind of accent as you.☺

[@plainlysimple]

@@princesscalla2748 Oh, I see 😊

[@d42]

great now i just need to get 100% correct ellipses from now on.. dont think thats going to happen

[@plainlysimple]

It doesn't really need to be 100% correct. These just work as a guide. Without guides it's hard to even start. But once you know the concept it becomes easier. It doesn't need to be 100%. We don't make 100% correct ellipses. We don't even make ellipses now, but more of estimating where it should be.

[@Joyboy9776]

Your videos are same as your channel name

[@plainlysimple]

Haha thanks! 🙌 that’s the idea 😄

[@ALLAHHALLA1]

🇮🇱nederländerna