Questions about art or digital projectors

[Paleogene Pals]

I have a question for whoever can answer it. I started getting into sculpting my own 1/20-scale models. So far, all the pieces have been small, and to work from a skeletal, I just print it out and shrink it down to scale on a photocopier. However, I would like to do really big pieces, like a Basilosaurus, and need a system to blow up a skeletal to a size too unwieldy to effectively work with a photocopier. I have been thinking about an art projector or digital projector for big projects to blow them up on the wall. Any recommendations for either? Suggestions for a good value? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

[tyrantqueen]

If I'm understanding you correctly, you're asking for a method to resize skeletal drawings to the appropriate scale, right?

My method is to work out the scale of the sculpt I want to make (using an online scale calculator), and then resize the image in GIMP to the desired size. GIMP can work with real life units (such as inches) so it's helpful. Then I print it out with a desktop printer.  Sometimes large skeletals need to be printed on several sheets of paper.

I hope I'm understanding you here I could post some screencaps of the process if that helps.

[Paleogene Pals]

Yes TQ, if you will, thank you. Any information you can provide will be very helpful. 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

If you can get a skeletal that is straight out, figure up the length in the scale you want from nose to tail tip you can take the image any office/copy store and they can print it out at that size for you.  I've done 1"=1' for our Apatosaurus, Rex, Triceratops and Trike skull that way..they printed it out at 7' for me.

[tyrantqueen]

First I start out by working out the size of the sculpt. For example, say I want to make a Tyrannosaurus rex in 1/20 scale, I would use an online calculator (because my maths sucks) to get the correct size. A Tyrannosaurus with a size of 12.3m would be about 24.21 inches in 1/20.

I will use Scott Hartman's Tyrannosaurus skeletal for this. I save it and boot up GIMP. Choose "scale image" from the menu as shown.



Choose your units from the drop down menu. I choose inches for this file.



I enter the length of the sculpt from nose to tail into the "width" box. Be sure to press the chain link button, it will automatically scale up the rest of the image for you, and then hit "scale".



Then I save and exit. Then I load up the image in MSPaint, and choose "page setup"



Make sure you set it to print at image at 100% of the size, as shown here. This step is important, so don't skip it



Then click "OK" and you're done.

That's how I do it. There are only two caveats I can think of to using this method.

1. If the image is big, it will not fit onto a single piece of paper. The printer will break the image into separate pieces, you just to need to tape the bits together.
2. Depending on the scale, the resized image in GIMP may become very large, and I imagine this could be a problem for slow computers. My computer is fast, so I didn't have any problems.

I devised this method by myself. If anyone knows of a better way, I'd be interested, but so far it's worked pretty well for me. I am disabled so using a photocopier isn't always a convenient option for me. If I wasn't clear on a particular step, let me know and I'll break it down further

Oh, and GIMP is free so no worries there about paying for software.

[triceratops83]

This wouldn't be the most precise way to go, but you could pull up a skeletal on your computer screen, zoom in until it seems like the right size, then copy or trace over the image on the monitor. Use several pieces of paper for various parts of the body, then join them together. The dumbest way to go but still quick, cheap and easy.

Easy in this case, just wanted a 40cmish Maisaura baby. Otherwise, it's just a matter of math, (don't ask me) and I wouldn't worry about being super accurate, if it looks right, it probably is.

[Paleogene Pals]

TQ, where did you get your copy of GIMP? I like that method. I also like BTM's idea of taking it to a printer. I can do both, save a copy of my digitally scaled skeletal and take it to be printed. Triceratops, I did the tracing off a computer screen for my Barylambda, and the sculpt ended up being badly proportioned and too big. I had to redo the whole sculpture after copying a properly-scaled skeletal and working from that. Apparently, tracing from the computer screen is a skill that I am really, really bad at (ended on a preposition, tch, tch.) For my Repenomamus, I am being really bad. I couldn't find a good skeletal so I made a scaled copy of the silhouette from the Prehistoric Wildlife website. I did copy the skull and measure out proportion, but the whole thing is so small that being precise is nearly impractical. I still want to be accurate and not just make scary monsters, because I use my models for educational purposes. No sense teaching kids bad concepts and ideas.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I am learning a lot.   

[tyrantqueen]

TQ, where did you get your copy of GIMP?

Here http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

[Paleogene Pals]

Thank you so much TQ!