CAD Pinning

Eventually I settled on a set of proportions for a generic female figure, which is given in a table in the ‘Positions’ section.

The landmarks in the table are grouped by body part, so that body parts can be individually rotated to set the figure into various poses. The positions of the landmarks are expressed in coordinates (x, y, z).

I typed the coordinates into a computer-aided design (CAD) program (AutoCAD) to create a wireframe figure, which is shown in eight CAD drawings in the ‘Design’ section.

The first three CAD drawings show the wireframe figure with unnaturally slung arms and thumbs, which is how it’s mapped in the table.

In the second CAD drawing, I’ve aligned a vertical red line with the back of the jaw to show the difference between the pivot point positions I settled on and those given by Tilley in ‘50 Percentile Woman’ (in The Measure of Man and Woman);[45] Tilley aligned all the pivot points with the back of the jaw (except those of the fingers and thumbs).

I put two pivot points at each wrist and two at each foot. At the wrist, the proximal one (‘Wrist Pivot’) can be used to mimic the rotation of the radius around the ulna, and the distal one (‘Hand Pivot’) can be used to flex the hand upon the forearm. At the foot, the two pivot points (‘Foot Pivot’ and ‘Toes Pivot’) can be used to set the figure on to tiptoes or into high-heeled shoes.

The fourth and fifth CAD drawings show the wireframe figure in the anatomical position with raised heels: I rotated the forearms 15 degrees (abduction) into their natural positions, raised the heels of the feet 37.5 degrees, and rotated the thumbs 45 degrees on two axes.

The sixth CAD drawing shows the wireframe figure with flexed limbs. In the seventh it’s shown in a classical pose. And in the eighth it’s shown with a raised arm.

I used AutoCAD’s commands to rotate the body parts into various poses, move the whole figure into various positions, and apply perspective. I didn’t always apply normal perspective; sometimes I used orthographic projection.

Then I projected the CAD work on to a canvas, or a sheet of paper taped on the wall. Or, I displayed the CAD work on a horizontal computer screen that shone through paper placed on top of it. Then I drew a curvier figure on the paper or canvas, using the underpinning CAD image as a guide.

References

[45] Tilley AR. The measure of man and woman: human factors in design. New York: Whitney Library of Design; 1993.