jbshorty - render - Polyloop

jbshorty · 24th October 2007, 19:26

just a quick study for semi-realistic "toon" rendering in Modo. The goal was to achieve a very graphic style for the objects, while also giving the impression they exist in the physical world. I'm planning to use this technique for rendering my CAD models...

shorty

jbshorty · 24th October 2007, 20:28

one more quick test...

shorty

rickei · 24th October 2007, 21:38

these look pretty cool!

the only thing that might get you into trouble with CAD models, is the way the edges look rounded, in some areas and flat in others.

jbshorty · 24th October 2007, 22:55

Hi Rickei. thanks for your criticism, it's always good to know where i can make improvements. Especially with my track record of being wrong

... I made a little adjustment to lighten up that dark banding which you mentioned. It is a side effect of the gradient being used to fake the toon effect. But the same gradient band is also producing the "drawn" edge that defines the shape. So when i lightened the banding, it also lightened my edges. But overall i do feel it looks a bit better. Thanks!

shorty

rickei · 24th October 2007, 23:28

that does look better.

I don't have Modo yet, but I looks like I will in the near future.
so is this a rendering option in Modo or a "process" you came up with to fake a toon effect? I like it a lot

jbshorty · 25th October 2007, 00:14

There is no toon rendering option in Modo. So i'm faking it by projecting a color gradient onto the objects along the axis of the camera view. So the surface will change color depending on it's angle towards the camera. It's an old dog of a trick but it still works...

shorty

are · 29th October 2007, 20:33

Could you post a scene file of this technique ? (something simple so I can have a look)

I have had modo for a couple of months but am still struggling with learning it. Although I hope to speed up when my Signature Courseware arrives.

Thanks.

jbshorty · 29th October 2007, 21:29

Hi Are. Here is an example file and explanation :

At top of shader tree is the ground material group, which is a pure white color set to 100% diffuse value. It has blurry reflections set to only 10 rays if I remember correctly. This gives it the appearance of having a frosty finish without using a bump. This is the only material which is set differently than the "toon" objects. So I put it at the top of the stack to avoid complication.
Next thing down is the gradient which applies the fake toon effect to all groups below it. The mode is set to “multiply”.
Inside the groups for the torus and box, I am using a constant to set their color. Because there is no material in those groups, modo looks down the shader tree for the next available material. The material sitting alone at the bottom of the stack is being applied to the box and torus.
Environment is set to constant color of pure white.
Directional light is default settings. The only adjustment I made was the spread angle is now 3.8 degrees, and I turned up the samples to 70 so it would smooth out the shadow a little bit.
Global Illumination is turned on, all settings at default…

shorty

are · 29th October 2007, 23:10

Thank you.

jbshorty · 7th January 2008, 18:53

I've been playing with the beta of Brazil 2.0 rendering engine for Rhino 4. This seems to be a REALLY powerful engine. The toon shading is awesome, and the metal and glass shaders are really killer as well. I am getting much better results on metal and glass using Brazil for a few days than i am getting with Modo for almost one year

Anyway, here are the "toon render" test images of today...

shorty

-ash- · 7th January 2008, 20:45

These are really nice. Definitely prefer the Brazil ones!

Thought the Modo ones are still pretty good

jbshorty · 7th January 2008, 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by -ash-

These are really nice. Definitely prefer the Brazil ones!

Thought the Modo ones are still pretty good

Me too. Brazil uses a nodal shader system, so effects can be easily stacked. For example, i can make a wood table rendering with toon rendering outline and cel banding effects. Basically whole shaders can be placed inside any channel of any other shader. I've lots to learn about this engine, but so far i am very impressed with the results...

shorty

rickei · 7th January 2008, 23:24

these are nice!

jbshorty · 7th January 2008, 23:39

thanks rickei. but all praise must surely go to Splutterfish for writing this engine...

vkirchner · 10th January 2008, 22:09

Nice looking Shorty, I have been using the Penguin product in the past. But this is an extremly nice output. I have not tried the Mental Ray toon shader in XSI yet. Too much struggling with the modeling part to worry about that yet, but I will be curious to see how it compares to what you have produced.

jbshorty · 10th January 2008, 22:36

Hi Vince. I've used the demo of Penguin 1 but never satisfied enough with the results to buy it. Penguin 2 has already been sent out for duplication, so that should be available very soon. And i know it will have much more advanced features. but not owning P1 i couldn't try the beta. Anyway i am extremely happy with toon rendering in Brazil. Here is a quick test i made yesterday of toon outline combined with photo-rendering...

shorty

jbshorty · 11th January 2008, 16:32

and here is my first "official" render in Brazil... my first time submitting for gallery entry. I wish i could submit more often, but i just rarely have time to do personal projects

shorty

Wim Scheenen · 11th January 2008, 20:28

Very nice

!

jbshorty · 11th January 2008, 23:09

Thanks Wim. Rendering is not my strongest skill. But I'm trying hard to improve on it lately. I still see things which i could have done better, but overall I think it's not too bad. Will make those improvements for my next works...

shorty

shoeach · 12th January 2008, 11:27

Nice rendering, shorty.

The most of my free time is taken in the practicing of the modeling (especially of modo) now.
I seem that my learning of rendering is still ahead.

Syuichi

24th October 2007, 19:26	#1 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	jbshorty - render just a quick study for semi-realistic "toon" rendering in Modo. The goal was to achieve a very graphic style for the objects, while also giving the impression they exist in the physical world. I'm planning to use this technique for rendering my CAD models... shorty Attached Thumbnails

24th October 2007, 20:28	#2 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	one more quick test... shorty Attached Thumbnails

24th October 2007, 21:38	#3 (permalink)
rickei Respect the Dawg! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA - Conway, South Carolina Posts: 793	these look pretty cool! the only thing that might get you into trouble with CAD models, is the way the edges look rounded, in some areas and flat in others. Attached Thumbnails

24th October 2007, 22:55	#4 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	Hi Rickei. thanks for your criticism, it's always good to know where i can make improvements. Especially with my track record of being wrong ... I made a little adjustment to lighten up that dark banding which you mentioned. It is a side effect of the gradient being used to fake the toon effect. But the same gradient band is also producing the "drawn" edge that defines the shape. So when i lightened the banding, it also lightened my edges. But overall i do feel it looks a bit better. Thanks! shorty Attached Thumbnails

7th January 2008, 18:53	#10 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	I've been playing with the beta of Brazil 2.0 rendering engine for Rhino 4. This seems to be a REALLY powerful engine. The toon shading is awesome, and the metal and glass shaders are really killer as well. I am getting much better results on metal and glass using Brazil for a few days than i am getting with Modo for almost one year Anyway, here are the "toon render" test images of today... shorty Attached Thumbnails

24th October 2007, 23:28	#5 (permalink)
rickei Respect the Dawg! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA - Conway, South Carolina Posts: 793	that does look better. I don't have Modo yet, but I looks like I will in the near future. so is this a rendering option in Modo or a "process" you came up with to fake a toon effect? I like it a lot

25th October 2007, 00:14	#6 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	There is no toon rendering option in Modo. So i'm faking it by projecting a color gradient onto the objects along the axis of the camera view. So the surface will change color depending on it's angle towards the camera. It's an old dog of a trick but it still works... shorty

29th October 2007, 20:33	#7 (permalink)
are AKA RamPackWobble Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Anglesey, North Wales, UK Posts: 216	Could you post a scene file of this technique ? (something simple so I can have a look) I have had modo for a couple of months but am still struggling with learning it. Although I hope to speed up when my Signature Courseware arrives. Thanks.

29th October 2007, 23:10	#9 (permalink)
are AKA RamPackWobble Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Anglesey, North Wales, UK Posts: 216	Thank you.

7th January 2008, 20:45	#11 (permalink)
-ash- I'm Batman (in 3D) Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Over the road, round the corner, out of the noise. (Scotland) Posts: 861	These are really nice. Definitely prefer the Brazil ones! Thought the Modo ones are still pretty good __________________ Regards Tony (aka HamSoles)

7th January 2008, 23:24	#13 (permalink)
rickei Respect the Dawg! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: USA - Conway, South Carolina Posts: 793	these are nice!

7th January 2008, 23:39	#14 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	thanks rickei. but all praise must surely go to Splutterfish for writing this engine...

10th January 2008, 22:09	#15 (permalink)
vkirchner Polygonal Boolean are Evil! Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 95	Nice looking Shorty, I have been using the Penguin product in the past. But this is an extremly nice output. I have not tried the Mental Ray toon shader in XSI yet. Too much struggling with the modeling part to worry about that yet, but I will be curious to see how it compares to what you have produced.

10th January 2008, 22:36	#16 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	Hi Vince. I've used the demo of Penguin 1 but never satisfied enough with the results to buy it. Penguin 2 has already been sent out for duplication, so that should be available very soon. And i know it will have much more advanced features. but not owning P1 i couldn't try the beta. Anyway i am extremely happy with toon rendering in Brazil. Here is a quick test i made yesterday of toon outline combined with photo-rendering... shorty Attached Thumbnails

11th January 2008, 16:32	#17 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	and here is my first "official" render in Brazil... my first time submitting for gallery entry. I wish i could submit more often, but i just rarely have time to do personal projects shorty Attached Thumbnails

11th January 2008, 20:28	#18 (permalink)
Wim Scheenen Cube Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Nijmegen, Netherlands Posts: 85	Very nice !

11th January 2008, 23:09	#19 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,552	Thanks Wim. Rendering is not my strongest skill. But I'm trying hard to improve on it lately. I still see things which i could have done better, but overall I think it's not too bad. Will make those improvements for my next works... shorty

12th January 2008, 11:27	#20 (permalink)
shoeach Box modeling Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Saitama, Japan Posts: 226	Nice rendering, shorty. The most of my free time is taken in the practicing of the modeling (especially of modo) now. I seem that my learning of rendering is still ahead. Syuichi __________________ WinXP HE sp2, Core 2 Duo E6600, GeForce 7900GT, 2GB RAM

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