Let’s make something!
2D to 3D
04: pop-up
Pop-ups are one nice and easy way to make 3d from 2d. A pop-up is basically a 3d shape that ‘pops out’ of a folded piece of paper. Since they can easily fold flat or pop up, they are a great way to share stories or messages (pop-up books or cards).
The starting point for any pop-up is a sheet of paper folded in half.
main fold is called the ‘gutter fold’
On that sheet, you can make different types of cuts in order to make shapes that ‘pop out’. The most basic rules to follow: 1. The cut and the fold must intersect (cross each other). 2. New fold lines are added at the end of every cut line.
The simplest pop-up is a single symmetrical cut (same distance on either side of the fold):
a cut line intersects the fold
There are different ways to pop-up a shape, depending on how you combine the folds:
new fold lines at the cut ends three and one
the new pop-up shape
pop-up
two and two
As long as a cut intersects the fold, (and it’s symmetrical: same distance on either side) the shape of the cut can be... anything!
And the shape of the sheet of paper doesn’t have to be a square or rectangle. It can also be any shape:
a city
a star
Cuts can also be ‘asymmetrical’ (different distance on either side of the fold), but you have do some symmetry balance for the main ‘gutter fold’. 1. The shape can only ‘pop up’ as far as its shortest distance from the ‘gutter fold’ (labeled ‘A’ below). 2. The main fold of the pop-up shape will be that same short ‘A’ distance away from the longest end. B A
A
B
As long as you follow the rules of cuts and folds, the folds don’t have to be parallel to the edges of the sheet of paper:
The pop-up fold lines don’t always need to be brought straight down; they can be brought down at a different angle (as long as it’s the same on either side of the center).
And the angles can extend beyond the edges of the sheet of paper:
These are called converging folds, and can make some interesting pop-up shapes:
Another pop-up technique is ‘releasing the fold’. This is where you allow a plane to continue beyond a fold. To do this, just cut entirely on one side of the fold: (start and end at the fold)
All of the previous techniques can be done with more than one cut:
You can extend all of the techniques to several main ‘gutter folds’ on one sheet of paper: (not just one)
2 main ‘gutter folds’
Or you can repeat deeper and deeper inside each folded shape: (’generations’)
ONE CUT, SYMMETRICAL
ONE CUT, SHAPES
ONE CUT, ASYMMETRICAL (parallel + converging)
ONE CUT, NON-PARALLEL + CONVERGING
MULTIPLE CUTS, RELEASING THE FOLD
MULTIPLE CUTS, MULTIPLE GUTTERS
MULTIPLE CUTS, GENERATIONS
MULTIPLE CUTS, PIERCING THE PLANE
ONE EDGE CUT, SYMMETRICAL + CONVERGING
MULTIPLE CUTS, ASYMMETRICAL VARIATIONS