Paper Craft
- papercraft
- folded paper
- paper sculpture
- origami style
A three dimensional figure folded and glued from flat sheet, so every curve is a facet.
Opens an image model with the prompt in it. The price is on the page before you sign in.
What it is for
Paper cannot curve, so a curve has to be approximated with flat planes. The faceting that results is the material admitting what it is, and it reads as clever rather than as a compromise.
How it works
Flat card is scored, folded and glued into three dimensional forms. Every curve becomes a series of facets with a crease between them. Tabs hold the panels together and often remain visible. The cut edge shows the white core of the card, and the light rakes across so each facet takes a different value.
When to use it
Use it for craft, ingenuity and anything with a physical set. Avoid it where a form needs to be smooth or organic, because the material will fight it.
Told apart from its neighbours
Papercraft Render fakes this in a computer and has no glue tabs or card edges. Cut-Out Animation is flat and jointed rather than folded. Low Poly is the same faceting with no material behind it.
Where it is used
It carries a window display, a magazine spread, a title card and any advertisement that wants to look built.
- Window displays and editorial illustration
- Stop motion commercials and idents
The prompt
Replace the blanks with your own character, keep the rest. Then run it on an image model.
<character>, paper craft style, a three dimensional figure folded and glued from flat sheets of card so every curved surface is broken into flat facets with a visible crease at each fold, small glue tabs visible where two panels meet, the cut edge of the card showing white against its coloured face, soft real shadows inside the folds, photographed on a plain surface with directional light that rakes across the creases
What goes wrong
A smooth low polygon render comes back. Ask for glue tabs, the white cut edge of the card, and real shadows inside the folds.
Leave out
smooth curves, a continuous surface, digital gradients, flat lighting, a printed texture
Watch for
Light it from the side. A folded surface is only legible when a raking light gives each facet a different value, and flat lighting makes the whole thing read as a drawing.
Questions
Draw it
Pay for the one run. No subscription, and the price is on the model page before you sign in.
