Non Photo Realistic Rendering

[Tom]

This is an old clip but the results are so cool, thought the Hashers might enjoy it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT9qU_fJNuw

 

Wish there was some sort of plug-in which would simulate some of these effects...

 

Tom

 

[ovni1]

That was back in 2008. I wonder how far it has been developed?

[NancyGormezano]

Hi Tom.

 

Interesting video. We don't have anything like the jot demo (where the contours of the model are changed based on the artist stroke).

 

For non-photo realistic rendering, there are many options. It's up to your imagination.

 

To start, one can play with toon rendering, in combo with a variety of materials. These images are the result of using a gradient material, and changing the 2nd attribute to be a bitmap plus material. Many variations can be obtained by changing the image used in the bitmap plus node (plus changing it's repeat count). Combos are unlimited.

 

Similarly, other non-realistic, sketchy type effects can be approximated by using the matcap shader, some examples shown here

 

Other interesting effects can be obtained by combining matcap & bitmapplus (with or without gradient). Be prepared for hours,...nay....days of experimenting.

 

And there are a variety of plug in materials to experiment with (eg toon nation, etc).

 

And I suspect that even more interesting effects can be obtained with using displacement decals (will modify the model contours) in combo with bitmap plus, and matcap. Haven't tried that yet.

[Simon Edmondson]

Terrific images Nancy.

Its been a while since I tried but, had trouble finding instructions or outline for Toon Nation are there any available ?

regards

simon

[John Bigboote]

Those are very cool renders Nancy. Thanks for the explanation. I see that modo SELLS their NPR kit(similar to Nancy's approach) for $150.

[robcat2075]

Nancy does a lot of cool non-conventional renders!

 

A lot of the look of the samples in that video at the top could be had if one was willing to do a bit of compositing with buffers that A:M can generate.

 

I'm thinking of doing my next "It can't be done" on getting non-CG looks with extended render techniques.

[Tom]

Thanks Nancy!

 

Those are some cool images...

 

Is matcap a shader for AM? or is it something that you created on your own?

 

Thanks!

Tom

[markw]

...I'm thinking of doing my next "It can't be done" on getting non-CG looks with extended render techniques.

Pleas do Robert. That would be a really interesting companion piece to Nancy's post.

[John Bigboote]

Thanks Nancy!

 

Those are some cool images...

 

Is matcap a shader for AM? or is it something that you created on your own?

 

Thanks!

Tom

Hey Tom- MatCap can be selected for the Diffuse and Ambiance Render Shaders, you will need to select an image- and turn ON Plugin Shaders in the Render Options.

[Tom]

Thank you so much for the reply!

 

I checked my diffuse menu (see attached) and it has everything listed except the matcap...

 

Is there somewhere I can download it?

 

Many thanks!

 

Tom

 

PS.I thought I attached the menu file but it didn't show up in the post.Hmmmmm

 

Anyway, if there is a place to download the matcap, that would be great...

[Tore]

The software used in the inital video is called "Jot" and is under development at Princeton University. It can be downloaded (free) for Windows here:

http://jot.cs.princeton.edu/

 

Other open source software uses similar schemes ao the new Freestyle rendering

[NancyGormezano]

Thank you so much for the reply!

 

I checked my diffuse menu (see attached) and it has everything listed except the matcap...

 

Is there somewhere I can download it?

 

try this post for matcap

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39287&p=342984

 

I do not know if it is available for macs

 

Its been a while since I tried but, had trouble finding instructions or outline for Toon Nation are there any available ?

 

Ack. Sorry Simon - as far as I can tell there aren't any instructions for the toon nation plugin material - it's mainly a matter of experimenting and seeing what happens. I haven't had a lot of luck with some of the options, and it's been a long time since I've played with it - but the "sketchy" one seems to respond if you change some parameters to 100 (like effect amount, or something like that). am assuming you are not looking for instructions for the toon rendering option provided by hash.

Edited August 18, 2014 by NancyGormezano

[Simon Edmondson]

Nancy does a lot of cool non-conventional renders!

 

A lot of the look of the samples in that video at the top could be had if one was willing to do a bit of compositing with buffers that A:M can generate.

 

I'm thinking of doing my next "It can't be done" on getting non-CG looks with extended render techniques.

Robert

I'd be very interested in those if you did choose that option !

regards

simon

[Simon Edmondson]

Ack. Sorry Simon - as far as I can tell there aren't any instructions for the toon nation plugin material - it's mainly a matter of experimenting and seeing what happens. I haven't had a lot of luck with some of the options, and it's been a long time since I've played with it - but the "sketchy" one seems to respond if you change some parameters to 100 (like effect amount, or something like that). am assuming you are not looking for instructions for the toon rendering option provided by hash.

 

Nancy

It is some time since I looked at them, I was interested in the sketchy, watercolour and ink options, non cg basically... You have clearly put a lot of time and effort into your understanding of the materials and render options and get such outstanding results as a consequence. I think that may have to be the next area for me to explore in greater depth. I forget the name of the person involved but he wrote some render options then donated them before moving on to work for Pixar ( he may have been english too ). I did contact him briefly to ask if there were any instructions but didn't get very far unfortunately.

regards

simon

[Tore]

The wonderfull "Pearce Sisters" made by the Ardman Studios used 3D characters rendered as 2D to great effect.

 

 

The process is shortly described here:

 

http://www.pearcesisters.co.uk/production.html

[Tom]

Thanks for posting the matcap download link!!!

 

Tom

[NancyGormezano]

 

It is some time since I looked at them, I was interested in the sketchy, watercolour and ink options, non cg basically...I forget the name of the person involved but he wrote some render options then donated them before moving on to work for Pixar ( he may have been english too ). I did contact him briefly to ask if there were any instructions but didn't get very far unfortunately.

After doing a search I came up with this post:

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5544&p=29589

 

I haven't tried toonation plugin in the recent versions of a:m

 

but that post (by Rodney in 2004) came up with some preliminary info about some of the styles:

 

 

Sketching

These textures all work best in flat shaded mode (tools->options->rendering->flatshaded)

and apart from gooch shading, they work on a common principle.

A virtual 'light' is specified which defaults to over the viewers right shoulder (ish).

As the surface is rendered, if the light hitting it is below a certain threshold then it is defined as on an edge. The softness of this threshold can be controlled.

 

Sketch

This plugin attempts to provide a pencil or ink sketch of the object. Noise can be added to give a rougher look. Scaling the noise in X or Y gives direction to the roughness

tips :

- Set the camera background colour to white in the choreography.

- Chatter adds random variation per frame to the noise

- centre the light (x=0,y=0,z=-10) for even outlines.

- intensity=30ish, softness of less than 5 gives a nice inked outline

 

InkPen

Inkpen uses 'hatching' to give a stylised graphic ink pen look.

tips :

- The hatching appears in the soft area - larger soft values will increase the area over which the hatching appears.

- Higher light values will reduce the thickness of the solid ink.

- the X and Y noise scale parameters control the thickness(and direction) of the hatching

 

InkStroke

InkStroke uses a texture map in the inked area of the render.

tips :

- try using a rough paper texture (like those in 'texturiser' in photoshop)

- try using a scribbled image for strokes.

 

WaterColour

Water colour produces a painterly sketch effect. It is very loosely based on the effect achieved in the PDI short fishing, although using a totally different method.

Tips:

- The noise control brings through the 'paper' colour by adding white noise.

- High frequency noise gives a rough paper effect.

- Low frequency noise gives a washed effect to the colours.

- Use different colours for the dark and medium bands.

- Render with Toon lines for a nice effect.

- Variation with low frequency creates a 'looser' sketch.

 

Gooch

This is based on a siggraph paper by Gooch et al. It is an attempt to produce a shader that can be used for a technical drawing type effect. The shader works by adding blue to dark colours, and yellow to light colours. The reasoning being that you can still make out dark areas as they are not all black. Also metal shading adds banding in the Y direction.

Tips :

- This shader works really well with Toon Lines.

 

 

 

[Zaryin]

Nancy, those renders are beautiful!

[Simon Edmondson]

 

 

It is some time since I looked at them, I was interested in the sketchy, watercolour and ink options, non cg basically...I forget the name of the person involved but he wrote some render options then donated them before moving on to work for Pixar ( he may have been english too ). I did contact him briefly to ask if there were any instructions but didn't get very far unfortunately.

After doing a search I came up with this post:

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5544&p=29589

 

I haven't tried toonation plugin in the recent versions of a:m

 

but that post (by Rodney in 2004) came up with some preliminary info about some of the styles:

 

 

Sketching

These textures all work best in flat shaded mode (tools->options->rendering->flatshaded)

and apart from gooch shading, they work on a common principle.

A virtual 'light' is specified which defaults to over the viewers right shoulder (ish).

As the surface is rendered, if the light hitting it is below a certain threshold then it is defined as on an edge. The softness of this threshold can be controlled.

 

Sketch

This plugin attempts to provide a pencil or ink sketch of the object. Noise can be added to give a rougher look. Scaling the noise in X or Y gives direction to the roughness

tips :

- Set the camera background colour to white in the choreography.

- Chatter adds random variation per frame to the noise

- centre the light (x=0,y=0,z=-10) for even outlines.

- intensity=30ish, softness of less than 5 gives a nice inked outline

 

InkPen

Inkpen uses 'hatching' to give a stylised graphic ink pen look.

tips :

- The hatching appears in the soft area - larger soft values will increase the area over which the hatching appears.

- Higher light values will reduce the thickness of the solid ink.

- the X and Y noise scale parameters control the thickness(and direction) of the hatching

 

InkStroke

InkStroke uses a texture map in the inked area of the render.

tips :

- try using a rough paper texture (like those in 'texturiser' in photoshop)

- try using a scribbled image for strokes.

 

WaterColour

Water colour produces a painterly sketch effect. It is very loosely based on the effect achieved in the PDI short fishing, although using a totally different method.

Tips:

- The noise control brings through the 'paper' colour by adding white noise.

- High frequency noise gives a rough paper effect.

- Low frequency noise gives a washed effect to the colours.

- Use different colours for the dark and medium bands.

- Render with Toon lines for a nice effect.

- Variation with low frequency creates a 'looser' sketch.

 

Gooch

This is based on a siggraph paper by Gooch et al. It is an attempt to produce a shader that can be used for a technical drawing type effect. The shader works by adding blue to dark colours, and yellow to light colours. The reasoning being that you can still make out dark areas as they are not all black. Also metal shading adds banding in the Y direction.

Tips :

- This shader works really well with Toon Lines.

 

 

 

Nancy.

Thank you very much indeed for the info. It will be a great help.

regards

simon

[KJ'd Beast]

Nancy,

 

Is that rendering technique an all or nothing type approach? Meaning, all the characters in each render is exactly the same material wise, can you mix or do you have to render as completely separate passes if you want the characters to have individual properties?

 

Thanks.

[NancyGormezano]

Is that rendering technique an all or nothing type approach? Meaning, all the characters in each render is exactly the same material wise, can you mix or do you have to render as completely separate passes if you want the characters to have individual properties?

You can definitely mix styles ad nauseum, I made them all the same in the above examples for ease in illustration purposes. You can add the base gradient (with bitmap plus node) material to any group and then change the properties on an instance basis within each model. It just takes time to figure out what works well, and what doesn't.

 

Material starts as a gradient material, where the 2nd attribute node has been changed to be a bitmap plus material. I could have changed it to any kind of material (eg toon nation, environment, checkers, etc etc). Could have also changed the first attribute node to some other material as well, even another bitmap plus. You can also play with the start and end properties of the gradient to get a sharper line. But that start/end stuff confuses me a bit.

 

For this render, I've also rendered everything as a toon render (line width =.5, black, could be any color) with the toon shading = regular. I also used fakeao to give some more interest. Could have been flat shaded. So many possible variations/combos, just not enough time.

[KJ'd Beast]

Thank you Nancy.

[Clipping Path Specialists]

Yeah i'm enjoy it.