Hi all. Just goofing around with Rhino's core render engine. Rhino does not have a built-in cel shader. But it can use environment maps ("mirror-ball" reflection maps) to fake all sorts of materials. So here is an example of my home-made cel shading map, shown with and without wireframes. This was one of my first Hexagon models, made a couple of years ago. I imported to Rhino as a TSpline. You can see where T-Splines automatically removed any unnecessary edges, leaving "T-junctions" and without changing the shape (unlike removing a subd edge).
Back to the Rhino core engine, i can't get a reflection on the floor because the core engine does not do raytraced reflections. But it can draw shadows, which are evident from the one area light which i placed in the scene. Not sure what's going on with Toucan (the Rhino core engine). The in-house builds of Toucan is a fully fueatured raytracer with all of the bells and whistles:
- SSS
- anisotropy
- DOF
- blurry reflections/refractions
- caustics and photon mapping
- chromatic dispersion
- ambient occlusion
But McNeel says they are unsure of what will become of Toucan, which is really disappointing. They are sitting on this engine for at least 2 years already. I would like to see the full featured Toucan core shipped within Rhino 5. I think it's time for Rhino to have a built-in raytracer...
jonah