June 10 2009
The latest addition to my Toonkit shader library deals squarely with rendering anime-style hair.
Rendering anime or mange style hair in 3D is deceptively simple — one might think that any old toon shader would do the trick…
But unfortunately it is in fact incredibly difficult to render believable anime hair using conventional shaders. This is mainly due to the unorthodox type of specular highlight used, which usually stretches around the entire head, often runs in wild zig-zag patterns or tapers towards the end. This non-photorealistic effect has no equivalent in conventional shaders.
However, the ToonHair shader gives the artist full control over simulating these unconventional highlights by offering almost half a dozen different ramps with visual graphs and direct feedback to control the shading effect in detail. Parameters include ramp color, profile, direction, tapering, offset and size.
Usage
This shader is specifically designed to solve the common problem of rendering believable anime hair with 3D models. It is quite simple to setup but at the same time offers all the control one could want.
In combination with the ToonHoldout shader it is also possible to simulate the common effect of rendering eyes and eye-brows above the hair — regardless of physical plausibility.
May 12 2009
I developed my Toonkit shaders because I wasn’t satisfied with the possibilities offered by the standard toon shading options in the major 3D packages. The main problem I saw was that they offered too little control when it came to defining a specific look yet at the same time too much control in places it doesn’t matter.
Toonkit contains highly advanced toon shaders which can simulate not only cartoon and anime but many other non-photorealistic styles.
Unlike many conventional toon shaders, Toonkit creates very clean and smooth looking animation while avoiding jagged shading and that notorious “floaty” 3D effect.
The set provides an array of useful tools for shading character animation as well as utilities to aid in background matte painting. Toonkit is compatible with the mental ray and RenderMan renderers.
May 11 2009
This complex toon shader combines a 1D ramp with a 2D textured ramp to create a cartoon look and other non-photorealistic effects.
It uses a small image sample as a 2D ramp which allows the artist to separate the color of the base shading, specs and rim lights and to vary the smoothness of gradations between these areas.
Even though the shader is complex and offers much control, the default settings and presets are designed to accurately mimic various cartoon looks. To achieve this, ToonShader offers two different gradient ramp controls, three types of specular highlights, control over transparency, ambient occlusion, custom shadow colors, incidence and incandescence and above all allows the artist to manually adjust the shading locally by painting vertex colors. It is also possible to create square or split highlights for accurate cartoon effects.
Moreover, each effect is implemented as an independent layer which can be toggled on or off and may be blended using any combination of more than
20 blend modes.
As such, this versatile shader is not only capable of rendering convincing cartoon characters but can also be used to render painterly background objects and mattes.
Usage
ToonShader was developed to accurately simulate the flat look of 2D cartoon or cel animation. It provides two separate methods to drive flat or gradient shading and provides separate controls of specular highlights. These may be moved, rotated and scaled independently of the light source.
March 12 2009
ToonOutline deals with tracing clean contour outlines around objects, seams and creases to simulate a cartoon or manga look.
This set of material and lens shaders renders high quality
cel style outlines and offers more flexibility than native contour solutions while being more straightforward to use in daily production.
Usage
In combination with the ToonShader it is possible to produce 3D cartoon animation that integrates well with traditional 2D environments.
November 22 2004
Just yesterday I posted about having to create my models in a much more stylized, cartoony way… so here’s an update on the cart from yesterday’s post:
Looks much better, no? I went ahead a redid the whole thing, this time aiming for a stylized look from the ground up. At first I tried to simply render the old model using toon shaders, however that didn’t turn out satisfactory at all, as there’s much more to the cartoon look than just slapping any ol’ toon shader on whatever model you have.
For a while I had my doubts that 3D cel shading could produce the look I was hoping to achieve, but seeing the result on this cart I now feel confident that the upcoming (more difficult) character models will also turn out fine.
November 21 2004
Various types of fruit will play a major role in Sleeping Dragon, and because they’re easy to model, I started out creating a few:
Here’s a peach, a melon and a strange thing that began as a biwa and ended up the bastard child of a kiwi and a rotten apple. It may be interesting to know that there are no bitmap textures involved like you’d find in any 3D game — the lines on the melon, the subtle peach-fuzz and even the shape of the peach are created using procedural textures. If there’s any interest, I might cook up a little tutorial in the near future.
Another model I’ve done some work on is this cart. It may look pretty nice altogether, but it’ll be no good for my film because it’s far too realistic!
I still have a hard time refraining from making things look too realistic… modern 3D programs tempt you by making it so easy! Anyway, I must remember that I’m making a cartoon movie, so things need to look simple and stylized. The fruits above are at least a step in the right direction…
