module 5 LISTENING COMMUNICATION ISOMETRIC PROJECTION Listen to the dialogue between Jane, a student at the Einstein High School of Baltimore, and her tutor, Mr. Browning, who gives her information about isometric projection. Fill in the blanks with the missing words from the box below. faces axes levels full-size designers graphic drawings dimensions square isometric parallel smaller J. Mr. B. J. Mr. B. J. Mr. B. J. Mr. B. J. Mr. B. J. Mr. B. J. Mr. B. Sorry to ask you something you have been talking about in the last two classes, but I didn t understand what isometric projection is. Well, isometric projection is a form of (1) ...................... projection, a method of visually representing three-dimensional objects in two (2) ...................... , in which the three axes of space appear equally foreshortened and each angle between two of the three (3) ...................... is 120°. Oh, I see. And what drawing is this? This is an isometric drawing of a cube. Note that the perimeter of the 2D drawing is a perfect regular hexagon, all the black lines are of equal length and all the cube s (4) ...................... have the same area. What is the advantage of using the isometric projection? In most cases, when creating a final isometric instrument drawing, if a (5) ...................... scale without a foreshortening factor is used, the resulting distortion is harder to see. Are there any problems with isometric representations? One problem is that, because the lines representing each dimension are (6) ...................... on the page, objects do not appear larger or (7) ...................... as they extend closer or farther to or from the viewer. Look at this picture! The blue sphere is two (8) ...................... higher than the red one, but this cannot be seen if one looks only at the left half of the picture. If the pier that the blue sphere is on were extended by one square, it would align perfectly with the (9) ...................... the red sphere is on, creating an optical illusion, making it look like both spheres are on the same level. So, while advantageous for architectural (10) ...................... and video games, this can easily result in situations where depth and altitude are impossible to gauge. How have (11) ...................... solved this problem in video games? Most contemporary video games have avoided this situation by dropping (12) ...................... projection in favour of perspective 3D rendering, which uses vanishing points. So that means that with the advent of more powerful graphics systems, isometric projection is becoming less common. Well, you are right. Thank you, Mr Browning. You re welcome. GLOSSARY to gauge: misurare, definire 208