More Non-photorealisitic Renders (NPR II)

vrba79

Borrowed Juve's line technique and applied it to a non-toon render. The end result is still quite good.

 

juve_satriani

vrba79 said:

Borrowed Juve's line technique and applied it to a non-toon render. The end result is still quite good.

 

woaaah !! Yours better than mine 

mmitchell_houston

juve_satriani said:

Trying using PW Toon again . Overwatch`s Tracer set for G8f came from Devian Art

I think you've got something good here. The lines seem to be consistent, at least as far as I can see them. The background is so dark that it obscures the line details. Although the background is very attractive and works well with the figure, I think for a character design sketch that something lighter would work better. Maybe yellow or orange? Something to give us contrast. The outfit looks good and the figure has a nice design (is he original or from a game or anime? I'm not familiar with "Tracer").

One small comment about the shading. Ummm, well, I don't want to be too picky (or pervy), but his "boy bits" need a little more detail in the crotch. He looks like a Ken doll down there. Just slightly darker shadows would give us better detail and make him look a bit more masculine. Just a thought.

Great work, and I'm looking forward to seeing more (of your work, not of the kid's tights!).

Oso3D

Tracer is female, so ... that would explain the lack of masculinity...

 

mmitchell_houston

juve_satriani said:

vrba79 said:

"Trying to" use PWToon? I'd say you succeeded, quite decisively.

Thanks for courages . Lately I`ve been experimenting using IRAY and Toonize via Photoshop . But after found several cool models in devianart , I`d tried again using PW Toon . 

This one PwToon render and postworked in Photoshop ( color correction -enhance plus BG). Hope you al like it ;)

Definitely one of your best to date! Really LOVE the hair. It is flowing and looks exactly as anime-styled hair should look. IMPRESSIVE.

Again, a lighter background for a character design would let us see the outlines more clearly. Two comments:

1. I see very distinct highlight bands on her legs and arm, but do not see the same number on her boots. That's a small disconnect. I don't think you need to match them exactly, but just a little more detail on the boots and cloth would tie them together better. Not that they're bad now, mind you! 
2. The pose of the gun in her left hand just doesn't work. It just looks like a stick. Aiming a gun directly at the viewer is actually hard to do in comics and movies. To make that work, you either have to be close to the figure so we can see down the barrel of the gun or it needs to be firing so we see a muzzle flash or bullet. This is why guns are usually pointed just a little away from the viewer so we can see a bit of the barrel and body of the gun. For examples of how the pros do it, go do a google search for "Frank Castle Punisher Comics" and you'll see how Marvel Comics artists approach the problem. 

And, btw, I'm only nitpicking this much because you are so close to nailing this style. I'm excited to see more of what you're doing.

vrba79

juve_satriani said:

vrba79 said:

Borrowed Juve's line technique and applied it to a non-toon render. The end result is still quite good.

 

woaaah !! Yours better than mine 

Wow, thanks! Here's a version I added futher postwork to.

 

mmitchell_houston

vrba79 said:

juve_satriani said:

vrba79 said:

Borrowed Juve's line technique and applied it to a non-toon render. The end result is still quite good.

 

woaaah !! Yours better than mine 

Wow, thanks! Here's a version I added futher postwork to.

Ummmm. Yeah... Not to be rude, but this just doesn't work. It's just not attractive. It looks like she has a serious body hair problem. Unless you're going with black & white, the graphic pen filter almost never works.

Cute character design, by the way.

vrba79

You might not intend for it to come off that way, but you are seriously putting some gatekeeper vibes out there.

juve_satriani

mmitchell_houston said:

juve_satriani said:

Trying using PW Toon again . Overwatch`s Tracer set for G8f came from Devian Art

I think you've got something good here. The lines seem to be consistent, at least as far as I can see them. The background is so dark that it obscures the line details. Although the background is very attractive and works well with the figure, I think for a character design sketch that something lighter would work better. Maybe yellow or orange? Something to give us contrast. The outfit looks good and the figure has a nice design (is he original or from a game or anime? I'm not familiar with "Tracer").

One small comment about the shading. Ummm, well, I don't want to be too picky (or pervy), but his "boy bits" need a little more detail in the crotch. He looks like a Ken doll down there. Just slightly darker shadows would give us better detail and make him look a bit more masculine. Just a thought.

Great work, and I'm looking forward to seeing more (of your work, not of the kid's tights!).

 

mmitchell_houston said:

juve_satriani said:

vrba79 said:

"Trying to" use PWToon? I'd say you succeeded, quite decisively.

Thanks for courages . Lately I`ve been experimenting using IRAY and Toonize via Photoshop . But after found several cool models in devianart , I`d tried again using PW Toon . 

This one PwToon render and postworked in Photoshop ( color correction -enhance plus BG). Hope you al like it ;)

Definitely one of your best to date! Really LOVE the hair. It is flowing and looks exactly as anime-styled hair should look. IMPRESSIVE.

Again, a lighter background for a character design would let us see the outlines more clearly. Two comments:

1. I see very distinct highlight bands on her legs and arm, but do not see the same number on her boots. That's a small disconnect. I don't think you need to match them exactly, but just a little more detail on the boots and cloth would tie them together better. Not that they're bad now, mind you! 
2. The pose of the gun in her left hand just doesn't work. It just looks like a stick. Aiming a gun directly at the viewer is actually hard to do in comics and movies. To make that work, you either have to be close to the figure so we can see down the barrel of the gun or it needs to be firing so we see a muzzle flash or bullet. This is why guns are usually pointed just a little away from the viewer so we can see a bit of the barrel and body of the gun. For examples of how the pros do it, go do a google search for "Frank Castle Punisher Comics" and you'll see how Marvel Comics artists approach the problem. 

And, btw, I'm only nitpicking this much because you are so close to nailing this style. I'm excited to see more of what you're doing.

Thanks for enlighment inputs . Will do in next render 

And yeah as @Oso pointed out . Tracer is female who look like a boy ;) 

thanks again for point out how to improve those images

juve_satriani

Here another attempt to make NPR via IRAY and Photoshop . Maybe its not look like cel shading , but still NPR right ?

smhoskins88

 

I wanted to recreate this image as a more anime style but all I have is Visual Style Shader which is a 3delight shader packet and I have almost no knowledge about. I also have Sketchy but that seems to be a more rough comic style package. Attached is my attempt, with no post-production.

smhoskins88

Another try, with some photoshop help.

juve_satriani

Testing PwToon Smooth Shading default presets and enhance in Photoshop

tkdrobert

I've watched the series, I visited the life sized statue in Japan, so of course I had to do some fanart

Unicorn Gundam, attack mode:

juve_satriani

tkdrobert said:

I've watched the series, I visited the life sized statue in Japan, so of course I had to do some fanart

Unicorn Gundam, attack mode:

Wow.. Really impressive scene

tkdrobert

juve_satriani said:

tkdrobert said:

I've watched the series, I visited the life sized statue in Japan, so of course I had to do some fanart

Unicorn Gundam, attack mode:

Wow.. Really impressive scene

Thank you.

mmitchell_houston

tkdrobert said:

I've watched the series, I visited the life sized statue in Japan, so of course I had to do some fanart

Unicorn Gundam, attack mode:

Wow, that is nice. Great color contrasts, and those motion lines and flaming balls really add a sense of movement that we would not otherwise get from a static image. Really strong work!

vrba79

tkdrobert said:

I've watched the series, I visited the life sized statue in Japan, so of course I had to do some fanart

Unicorn Gundam, attack mode:

Fantastic!

My favorite Gundam series is probably 08th MS Team, where instead of fantastic space battles with ultra-agile suits, piloted by super humans, its more about slow and dirty jungle combat, where stuff breaks down and just feels more gritty and realistic(in the scope that a show about giant walking tanks can be realistic). Some of the suits are patched together from parts of other suits, and all of the soldiers are regular joes. No special powered "newtypes" or anything.

mmitchell_houston

Oso3D said:

Tracer is female, so ... that would explain the lack of masculinity...

Okay. Did NOT get that from the character design! In that case, I'll quit worrying about "his" package!

mmitchell_houston

juve_satriani said:

Testing PwToon Smooth Shading default presets and enhance in Photoshop

VERY nice work. I think the linework is crisp and clean. There are a few funky little areas on the knee pads, and a hiccup on his right bicep, but overall this is nicely improved. Colors and highlights are also conherent and work well with the design.

You're getting the usual "painted skin" problem that we all face when working with 3D figures (and pro artists also struggle with this in published comics, so you're not alone). This is apparent on the upper torso where the costume literally looks painted on – as though the fabric has no substance. The lack of substance is also apparent at his waist. It looks like those green vertical stripes should be made of leather or something thicker than the fabric underneath, but then we seen the green stripes bending in the same way as the underlying purple fabric. That makes for a bit of disconnect between realism and toon. As I said, though, even pro artists struggle with this. Just go back and look at some of the 1990s X-Men comics from when there were all sorts of pouches and straps on their uniforms. Some of the less-skilled artists tended to skimp on those details and those features looked painted on, rather than having depth and mass.

Anyway, focusing on colors, linework and character design: You nailed it! This is a very well crafted character. I'm particularly impressed with the results you got on the skin and the great expression. NICE JOB.

mmitchell_houston

smhoskins88 said:

Another try, with some photoshop help.

Hey, I've got that same alley set! Very nice scene, but very dark. It's hard to judge the quality of these scene because it's so dark. I see thick outlines and I like that they give some substance to her figure and help make her pop from the background. The fire effects on the hands are VERY nicely done. Quite effective. The head, though doesn't look that good, though. It's just odd. Is it supposed to be coming out of her mind (in which case we should see some sort of manifestation near the center of her forehead like Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four), or is the top of her head supposed to be ablaze (like Ghost Rider or Firestorm)?

This is a good start, but I think this calls for another pass on the effects.

I also have one comment about the costume design, in general, and that is the midriff. The color is off-putting. If that is supposed to be bare skin, it does not match her face and neck. If it's not bare skin, you should change it to some other color. One of the keys to good character design is not to introduce something that is hard to understand. In this case, I'm puzzling over her middle instead of taking in the whole scene.

The shading and wrinkles on the costume are pretty good, by the way. You're really getting the hang of the textures and PWToon.

vrba79

juve_satriani said:

Testing PwToon Smooth Shading default presets and enhance in Photoshop

Man, you and PWToon get along like old friends!

juve_satriani

mmitchell_houston said:

juve_satriani said:

Testing PwToon Smooth Shading default presets and enhance in Photoshop

VERY nice work. I think the linework is crisp and clean. There are a few funky little areas on the knee pads, and a hiccup on his right bicep, but overall this is nicely improved. Colors and highlights are also conherent and work well with the design.

You're getting the usual "painted skin" problem that we all face when working with 3D figures (and pro artists also struggle with this in published comics, so you're not alone). This is apparent on the upper torso where the costume literally looks painted on – as though the fabric has no substance. The lack of substance is also apparent at his waist. It looks like those green vertical stripes should be made of leather or something thicker than the fabric underneath, but then we seen the green stripes bending in the same way as the underlying purple fabric. That makes for a bit of disconnect between realism and toon. As I said, though, even pro artists struggle with this. Just go back and look at some of the 1990s X-Men comics from when there were all sorts of pouches and straps on their uniforms. Some of the less-skilled artists tended to skimp on those details and those features looked painted on, rather than having depth and mass.

Anyway, focusing on colors, linework and character design: You nailed it! This is a very well crafted character. I'm particularly impressed with the results you got on the skin and the great expression. NICE JOB.

Thanks  again for great input and advices

mmitchell_houston

juve_satriani said:

Here another attempt to make NPR via IRAY and Photoshop . Maybe its not look like cel shading , but still NPR right ?

This is ABSOLUTELY NPR, if for no other reason than the toon nature of the shape and treatment of the hair. It does look like a Pixar character, with nice shadows and clean highlights.

I can't really tell if you intended to outline the tie or if those are just small, tight shadows. I think a stronger key light (the one illuminating his shoulders) would have helped add a stronger sense of depth to the scene. No worries, though, as you are definitely on the right track.

FirstBastion

juve_satriani said:

Trying using PW Toon again . Overwatch`s Tracer set for G8f came from Devian Art

juve_satriani said:

Thanks for courages . Lately I`ve been experimenting using IRAY and Toonize via Photoshop . But after found several cool models in devianart , I`d tried again using PW Toon . 

This one PwToon render and postworked in Photoshop ( color correction -enhance plus BG). Hope you al like it ;)

You have a great "style" technique with these. They certainly draws attention.

smhoskins88

mmitchell_houston said:

Hey, I've got that same alley set! Very nice scene, but very dark. It's hard to judge the quality of these scene because it's so dark. I see thick outlines and I like that they give some substance to her figure and help make her pop from the background. The fire effects on the hands are VERY nicely done. Quite effective. The head, though doesn't look that good, though. It's just odd. Is it supposed to be coming out of her mind (in which case we should see some sort of manifestation near the center of her forehead like Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four), or is the top of her head supposed to be ablaze (like Ghost Rider or Firestorm)?

This is a good start, but I think this calls for another pass on the effects.

I also have one comment about the costume design, in general, and that is the midriff. The color is off-putting. If that is supposed to be bare skin, it does not match her face and neck. If it's not bare skin, you should change it to some other color. One of the keys to good character design is not to introduce something that is hard to understand. In this case, I'm puzzling over her middle instead of taking in the whole scene.

The shading and wrinkles on the costume are pretty good, by the way. You're really getting the hang of the textures and PWToon.

Thanks for the input. I wasn't to happy with the hair blaze need to work on photoshop masking to really make the effect work. Not sure how you confused a shirt for skin but I'll keep in mind some people have trouble with colors. Oh before I go I should say I did not use PWtoon but a different Shader product called Visual Style Shader. Its more for an anime look. I then took three different renders one for the Character in 3delight. Then the fire and background were seperate iray renders that i put an oil paint filter on. I also used PS to put a nice dark outline around the character. Anyways thanks for the feedback I'll try harder

Gordig

Toonruun

I just started messing around with PWToon, after doing Iray only basically since I first started using DS. So far I'm mainly just fiddling with different settings to see what they do, and am nowhere near developing a style with it. Here is my first full render, along with the Iray original. The framing is slightly different because I was working in the current beta, which seems to have keyboard viewport navigation turned on no matter what you do. Also, I'll need to reapply her face scars since I didn't fully get how to retain maps while I was initially applying the toon shaders, and her expression is more intense because I didn't have AFE when I did the first render.

mmitchell_houston

smhoskins88 said:

mmitchell_houston said:

Hey, I've got that same alley set! Very nice scene, but very dark. It's hard to judge the quality of these scene because it's so dark. I see thick outlines and I like that they give some substance to her figure and help make her pop from the background. The fire effects on the hands are VERY nicely done. Quite effective. The head, though doesn't look that good, though. It's just odd. Is it supposed to be coming out of her mind (in which case we should see some sort of manifestation near the center of her forehead like Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four), or is the top of her head supposed to be ablaze (like Ghost Rider or Firestorm)?

This is a good start, but I think this calls for another pass on the effects.

I also have one comment about the costume design, in general, and that is the midriff. The color is off-putting. If that is supposed to be bare skin, it does not match her face and neck. If it's not bare skin, you should change it to some other color. One of the keys to good character design is not to introduce something that is hard to understand. In this case, I'm puzzling over her middle instead of taking in the whole scene.

The shading and wrinkles on the costume are pretty good, by the way. You're really getting the hang of the textures and PWToon.

 

Thanks for the input. I wasn't to happy with the hair blaze need to work on photoshop masking to really make the effect work. Not sure how you confused a shirt for skin but I'll keep in mind some people have trouble with colors. Oh before I go I should say I did not use PWtoon but a different Shader product called Visual Style Shader. Its more for an anime look. I then took three different renders one for the Character in 3delight. Then the fire and background were seperate iray renders that i put an oil paint filter on. I also used PS to put a nice dark outline around the character. Anyways thanks for the feedback I'll try harder

Dang, there is almost no way I can phrase this without sounding snippy or defensive. I'm really not trying to be, honestly, but it's not about me (or anyone) having "difficulty with colors." It's about the decisions you made. You have a black character and an off-black fabric that is fairly close to her skin tone. Also, the top broke exactly at the point where a midriff top would break. And, you are mixing solid blacks with off-black (let's call it charcoal). The yoke pattern on her top is solid black: deep, rich and solid. And then you have a charcoal fabric across her belly and on her boots. They are not reading as black that just has a different texture or reflectiveness. It just comes off as a slightly different color.

Take a day or two away from it and then look at the smaller version in my post and I think you'll see that the charcoal fabric is not sufficiently different from her skin tone.

--------------------

The process you have with the different shaders and combining the renders is working well, but you have these really thick outlines on the outer body and no lines on the interior of the image. That's a bit inconsistent. Nevertheless, it's still nice looking, but still running a bit dark.

Looking forward to seeing what you do next.

juve_satriani

Gordig said:

Toonruun

I just started messing around with PWToon, after doing Iray only basically since I first started using DS. So far I'm mainly just fiddling with different settings to see what they do, and am nowhere near developing a style with it. Here is my first full render, along with the Iray original. The framing is slightly different because I was working in the current beta, which seems to have keyboard viewport navigation turned on no matter what you do. Also, I'll need to reapply her face scars since I didn't fully get how to retain maps while I was initially applying the toon shaders, and her expression is more intense because I didn't have AFE when I did the first render.

Your Iray version look very awesome to work with . Here my quickie edit to show sometimes work with IRAY > Photoshop is possible . Of course doing manual line art work like @tdkrobert always did , will enhance your end results 

 

mmitchell_houston

I've got to admit that I've been struggling to get my creative juices flowing. I guess it's all the stress, but now that I'm not commuting back and forth to work every day and I have a lot more time, I just haven't had the gumption to sit down and use the time for anything creative. I'm trying to bust through that wall tonight by just sitting down and making myself work on a quickie character design for my upcoming sci-fi comic project. This is an alien character from the comic. His real name is unpronounceable by humans, so it is greatly shortened to just "Chitz."

The figure is actually Michael 4 with a cool, full-body morph applied. The character is Insectoid by Grotto, available at R'osity. The great thing about this being an M4 morph is that I can still access all the great action poses in my library. Yeah, the extreme body shape means some of them need morphing, but having the base poses as a starting point will save me a lot of time when it actually comes to making the comic itself.

I know this is pretty simple, but I only spent about an hour and a half on this (not counting a few false starts with the lighting), but at least I got something done. And, hopefully, that's a start.

My usual workflow applies: Poser Pro 11 renders using the Comic Book Preview. Clean up is in Clip Studio Paint.