Non-photorealistic Renders (NPR)

Artini

Thanks, tkdrobert.

Another one. Brenna - https://www.daz3d.com/brenna-for-ophelia-7

with Topaz Clean applied in postwork.

Sammagi

Very awesome! 

JOHNGARRETT said:

 

Artini said:

Thanks, tkdrobert.

Another one. Brenna - https://www.daz3d.com/brenna-for-ophelia-7

with Topaz Clean applied in postwork.

 

Artini

Thanks, Sammy_jr_mart.

 

mmitchell_houston

head wax said:

Here's a Carrara render. In post work I  mainly using depth pass, shadow pas,s toon pro pass, coverage pass and Carrara's  NPR - which I revisted after seeing @Vysur's excelent image in the Carrara forum.. In Carrara the toonpro pass, the coverage pass and the NPR pass all give different lines. The toonpro is an extra plugin - the others are native to Carrara. Postwork with Topaz and overlays by Fotosketcher. cheers :)

Very nice. The pose is good for this type of shot and the character has a lot of personality. Although the sketch effect on the cape works, the trousers have a very weird look to them that does not look natural. I'm not trying to be harsh, but that type of texture is just screming out "I was created by a Photoshop Filter!" This is a place where a simple, flat color would work better. Also, the thighs look too meaty for a skeleton. At any rate, though, the character concept is definitely there.

Could you do me a favor and post just the Toon Pass Pro render? I would like to see what came out without any postwork (either from this, or any image). I'm considering looking more into that toolset as a bridge to my Daz Studio content.

mmitchell_houston

Am I misremembering this, or did someone mention that there is a coupon or referral code for the Topaz Clean / Topaz Simplify tools?

mmitchell_houston

JOHNGARRETT said:

This one is a comic I did a ways back as a sort of promo for the upcoming sci-fi novel that I still haven't finished (just never seems to be enough time in the day).

The character is a Genesis Neo that I modified - I'm usually a big fan of the Raiya characters. The alien is a modified "Kuril" figure from The AntFarm.

I did my compositing in Photoshop and the text in Illustrator.

I also ended up making a quick animated comic out of it in Blender both for fun, and because I wanted to learn the Blender sequencer. At the time I did it for Instagram and it had to be under 15 seconds so it goes a bit faster than I would like, but I thought it worked out. I don't think I can embed an Instagram post here, so here's a link: https://www.instagram.com/p/q72c05AUyS/ I'm not at all a fan of motion comics (I think they are almost always the worst of both worlds: comics and animation). Nevertheless, except for the speed being too fast, this is pretty good. I'

I'm not a fan of motion comics in general, but other than the speed this is pretty good. You do a achieve a pretty good illustrated look to your renders. Nice job.

mmitchell_houston

tkdrobert said:

Little experiement with Topaz.

 

Nice painterly effect, and pretty good composition. The color work is solid and consistent across the forms, and I appreciate that the ground shadows are there but not overpowering. The outline is inconsistent, though. I can clearly see it around each figure, but not where the right guy's arm crosses his chest. We're getting a shape outline, but not a geometry outline. This is one of the shortcomings to all the texture work I'm seeing here, inherent to the process itself, not your application of it. Nevertheless, nice job and cool scene. 

mmitchell_houston

Artini said:

Envy from https://www.daz3d.com/7-deadly-sins-vanity-and-envy with Topaz Clean applied in postwork.

What a FUN little picture. I'm getting such an 80s vibe from it, what with the mirrors lined up like that. Topaz Clean does a nice job on your very interesting character study.

Artini

mmitchell_houston said:

Am I misremembering this, or did someone mention that there is a coupon or referral code for the Topaz Clean / Topaz Simplify tools?

Hi, here comes referral code for $20 off, if you have not bought anything from them before:

http://www.topazlabs.com?hr=60eKk

 

Artini

mmitchell_houston said:

Artini said:

Envy from https://www.daz3d.com/7-deadly-sins-vanity-and-envy with Topaz Clean applied in postwork.

...

What a FUN little picture. I'm getting such an 80s vibe from it, what with the mirrors lined up like that. Topaz Clean does a nice job on your very interesting character study.

Thanks. It looks like Topaz Clean is becoming my go to filter for most of the renders.

 

Artini

A spooky one...

mmitchell_houston

Artini said:

mmitchell_houston said:

Am I misremembering this, or did someone mention that there is a coupon or referral code for the Topaz Clean / Topaz Simplify tools?

Hi, here comes referral code for $20 off, if you have not bought anything from them before:

http://www.topazlabs.com?hr=60eKk

Thank you. I am going to try out Simplify and Clean for a few days and then decide if they are going to fit into my workflow. And no, I have never purchased from them before.

Artini

You are welcome. I think, the code is valid during the first 30 days after opening.

And here is another trial with Topaz filters...

Headwax

mmitchell_houston said:

head wax said:

Here's a Carrara render. In post work I  mainly using depth pass, shadow pas,s toon pro pass, coverage pass and Carrara's  NPR - which I revisted after seeing @Vysur's excelent image in the Carrara forum.. In Carrara the toonpro pass, the coverage pass and the NPR pass all give different lines. The toonpro is an extra plugin - the others are native to Carrara. Postwork with Topaz and overlays by Fotosketcher. cheers :)

Very nice. The pose is good for this type of shot and the character has a lot of personality. Although the sketch effect on the cape works, the trousers have a very weird look to them that does not look natural. I'm not trying to be harsh, but that type of texture is just screming out "I was created by a Photoshop Filter!" This is a place where a simple, flat color would work better. Also, the thighs look too meaty for a skeleton. At any rate, though, the character concept is definitely there.

hya sorry just saw this, about being 'harsh' , don't every worry about that! If there is basis for a comment then it is relevant and never to be taken personally :) I'm not terribly happy with the image, but I think that some of it works - as you pointed out! Thanks for the c an  c ,!

always happy for more!

I'll post a whole bunch of carrara passes etc for you in another thread and send on a pm etc.

One thing to look at in Carrara is the Photon pass (looked over by most) to combine with other passes. Also the NPR reneder via render room - just use the lines dont worry about diffuse and shadows at first.

One last thing - to get that nice black and white effect you are getting at the moment (is it Poser Cartoon?) , but in Carrara you can try one distant light, very bright with 100percent shadows (remeber to change ambient lighting settint to zero as it comes in at 20 percent) I'll post those render passes in a few hours. cheers :)

mmitchell_houston said:

Could you do me a favor and post just the Toon Pass Pro render? I would like to see what came out without any postwork (either from this, or any image). I'm considering looking more into that toolset as a bridge to my Daz Studio content.

 

Headwax

plain jane toonpro render straight out of carrara

 

 

 

carrara render passes worked up in topaz, the figure is aiko three retextured 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mmitchell_houston

head wax said:

plain jane toonpro render straight out of carrara

 

  carrara render passes worked up in topaz, the figure is aiko three retextured 

THANK YOU. How much control do you have over the outlines? Can you set the foreground item to render with heavier lines than the background objects?

And does Carrera have cloth simulation capabilties tied into its advertised soft-body dynamics?

mmitchell_houston

head wax said:

mmitchell_houston said:

head wax said:

Here's a Carrara render. In post work I  mainly using depth pass, shadow pas,s toon pro pass, coverage pass and Carrara's  NPR - which I revisted after seeing @Vysur's excelent image in the Carrara forum.. In Carrara the toonpro pass, the coverage pass and the NPR pass all give different lines. The toonpro is an extra plugin - the others are native to Carrara. Postwork with Topaz and overlays by Fotosketcher. cheers :)

Very nice. The pose is good for this type of shot and the character has a lot of personality. Although the sketch effect on the cape works, the trousers have a very weird look to them that does not look natural. I'm not trying to be harsh, but that type of texture is just screming out "I was created by a Photoshop Filter!" This is a place where a simple, flat color would work better. Also, the thighs look too meaty for a skeleton. At any rate, though, the character concept is definitely there.

hya sorry just saw this, about being 'harsh' , don't every worry about that! If there is basis for a comment then it is relevant and never to be taken personally :) I'm not terribly happy with the image, but I think that some of it works - as you pointed out! Thanks for the c an  c ,!

always happy for more!

I'll post a whole bunch of carrara passes etc for you in another thread and send on a pm etc.

One thing to look at in Carrara is the Photon pass (looked over by most) to combine with other passes. Also the NPR reneder via render room - just use the lines dont worry about diffuse and shadows at first.

One last thing - to get that nice black and white effect you are getting at the moment (is it Poser Cartoon?) , but in Carrara you can try one distant light, very bright with 100percent shadows (remeber to change ambient lighting settint to zero as it comes in at 20 percent) I'll post those render passes in a few hours. cheers :)

mmitchell_houston said:

Could you do me a favor and post just the Toon Pass Pro render? I would like to see what came out without any postwork (either from this, or any image). I'm considering looking more into that toolset as a bridge to my Daz Studio content.

 

Thanks! Only time for a quick response -- gotta go to dinner -- but this is interesting stuff.  In Poser, I'm using Live Comic Book Preview, which delivers the strong b&w look I've been using. And prefer, if I'm honest. So far, most of the material I've seen coming out of Daz Studio and Carrara do do not suit the style I'm looking for. BUT... I have a project due later this year, and I need to generate a lot of spot illustraions quickly, so I'm exploring ways to access my full Daz Library; there are just too many cool shapes, models and outfits that don't work well in Poser. So, I'm going to experiment for a few weeks and see if I can get a usable workflow that generates printable work. Thanks SO MUCH for letting me pick your brain!

Headwax

mmitchell_houston said:

head wax said:

plain jane toonpro render straight out of carrara

 

  carrara render passes worked up in topaz, the figure is aiko three retextured 

THANK YOU. How much control do you have over the outlines? Can you set the foreground item to render with heavier lines than the background objects?

And does Carrera have cloth simulation capabilties tied into its advertised soft-body dynamics?

hya, I'll post a few examples of the different settings for Toonpro in a few hours - away from my working computer at the moment. It has an overdraw feature and a depth feature where supposedly the lines will be of differnt thickness as they recede - I've never seen much difference but maybe I have my initial line thickness too thin?. The overdraw feature is a litlle too neat but certainly adds a little . You can also render lines on shading domains if you want.

Toonpro also comes with a shader setting for the shader room - typical toon shaders , which seem good but are too much work converting. I guess if you built up a library of toon shaders it's easy to drag and drop. This chap is using them in this short video.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2490186/#Comment_2490186

 

Headwax

mmitchell_houston said:

head wax said:

mmitchell_houston said:

head wax said:

Here's a Carrara render. In post work I  mainly using depth pass, shadow pas,s toon pro pass, coverage pass and Carrara's  NPR - which I revisted after seeing @Vysur's excelent image in the Carrara forum.. In Carrara the toonpro pass, the coverage pass and the NPR pass all give different lines. The toonpro is an extra plugin - the others are native to Carrara. Postwork with Topaz and overlays by Fotosketcher. cheers :)

Very nice. The pose is good for this type of shot and the character has a lot of personality. Although the sketch effect on the cape works, the trousers have a very weird look to them that does not look natural. I'm not trying to be harsh, but that type of texture is just screming out "I was created by a Photoshop Filter!" This is a place where a simple, flat color would work better. Also, the thighs look too meaty for a skeleton. At any rate, though, the character concept is definitely there.

hya sorry just saw this, about being 'harsh' , don't every worry about that! If there is basis for a comment then it is relevant and never to be taken personally :) I'm not terribly happy with the image, but I think that some of it works - as you pointed out! Thanks for the c an  c ,!

always happy for more!

I'll post a whole bunch of carrara passes etc for you in another thread and send on a pm etc.

One thing to look at in Carrara is the Photon pass (looked over by most) to combine with other passes. Also the NPR reneder via render room - just use the lines dont worry about diffuse and shadows at first.

One last thing - to get that nice black and white effect you are getting at the moment (is it Poser Cartoon?) , but in Carrara you can try one distant light, very bright with 100percent shadows (remeber to change ambient lighting settint to zero as it comes in at 20 percent) I'll post those render passes in a few hours. cheers :)

mmitchell_houston said:

Could you do me a favor and post just the Toon Pass Pro render? I would like to see what came out without any postwork (either from this, or any image). I'm considering looking more into that toolset as a bridge to my Daz Studio content.

 

Thanks! Only time for a quick response -- gotta go to dinner -- but this is interesting stuff.  In Poser, I'm using Live Comic Book Preview, which delivers the strong b&w look I've been using. And prefer, if I'm honest. So far, most of the material I've seen coming out of Daz Studio and Carrara do do not suit the style I'm looking for. BUT... I have a project due later this year, and I need to generate a lot of spot illustraions quickly, so I'm exploring ways to access my full Daz Library; there are just too many cool shapes, models and outfits that don't work well in Poser. So, I'm going to experiment for a few weeks and see if I can get a usable workflow that generates printable work. Thanks SO MUCH for letting me pick your brain!

ha ha pleasure, I'll know you'll use the knowledge for good and not evil.

using one light with hard shadows is very fast.

in Carrara you can render most  passes at the same time

so at the very least render out a

shadow pass

object pass - use for selecting objects for post work, fails at transmaps though (as does depth and coverage)

coverage pass - outlines objects - sometimes picks up different lines thann toon pro does )

depth pass - incert this and use with a screen paameter to give a little fog

diffuse pass or similar (colour??? pass ) this will give a pass without shadows and just ypur textures (cant remember which)

 

Artini

Trying something different, but with Topaz Clean applied in the postwork.

david_macrae

character flight

mmitchell_houston

david_macrae said:

character flight

David: Great character design and cool effects. Nicely done, as usual. Is this for Witch Hunter, or a different project?

david_macrae

It is the same show but I am rebooting it. With a darker vibe. And a little more grown up. Unfortunately I have not had as much time as I want to pursue it. You know, life and bills etc. But I have been able to get some private lessons in character animation so keep looking out!! p.s. how is all with your projects.

Leo Lee

Sammy_jr_mart said:

Very awesome! 

JOHNGARRETT said:

 

Artini said:

Thanks, tkdrobert.

Another one. Brenna - https://www.daz3d.com/brenna-for-ophelia-7

with Topaz Clean applied in postwork.

 

Wow! This is what I've been looking for. It's like a paint.

Awesome!

JOHNGARRETT

Thanks, @mmitchell_houston , I've been working a long time to get this kind of look.

And motion comics aren't something I usually go looking for, but once in awhile someone does something really cool. There was a "Riddick" motion comic a few years back before that last Vin Deisel move came out and I thought it was great. They could have left the movie at that as far as I was concerned. I've still got a few motion ideas I plan to try out in the future.

mmitchell_houston said:

JOHNGARRETT said:

I'm not a fan of motion comics in general, but other than the speed this is pretty good. You do a achieve a pretty good illustrated look to your renders. Nice job.

 

JOHNGARRETT

This was kind of a hybridized piece for me. I modeled the helmet in Blender, and after doing quite a few renders of only the helmet I had to get something with the man himself.

So this one I did with the "ambient" technique I use a lot, but this time I decided to composite in this black and white Blender Cycles render to add a little "oomph" to it with the glows and the metallic helmet look:

When you do this sort of thing you can end up in "no man's land" with your piece looking neither like a comic nor looking real, but this time I really liked the way it played out. This isn't a method that I will employ regularly though, no doubt.

I'm a huge fan of Magneto, and I have a whole full scene already pencilled out in the planning stages, but I just gotta work it into the schedule someday...

Headwax

JOHNGARRETT said:

This was kind of a hybridized piece for me. I modeled the helmet in Blender, and after doing quite a few renders of only the helmet I had to get something with the man himself.

 

So this one I did with the "ambient" technique I use a lot, but this time I decided to composite in this black and white Blender Cycles render to add a little "oomph" to it with the glows and the metallic helmet look:

When you do this sort of thing you can end up in "no man's land" with your piece looking neither like a comic nor looking real, but this time I really liked the way it played out. This isn't a method that I will employ regularly though, no doubt.

I'm a huge fan of Magneto, and I have a whole full scene already pencilled out in the planning stages, but I just gotta work it into the schedule someday...

the black and white looks superb - looks real just enough but hand made

 

tkdrobert

JOHNGARRETT said:

This was kind of a hybridized piece for me. I modeled the helmet in Blender, and after doing quite a few renders of only the helmet I had to get something with the man himself.

So this one I did with the "ambient" technique I use a lot, but this time I decided to composite in this black and white Blender Cycles render to add a little "oomph" to it with the glows and the metallic helmet look:

When you do this sort of thing you can end up in "no man's land" with your piece looking neither like a comic nor looking real, but this time I really liked the way it played out. This isn't a method that I will employ regularly though, no doubt.

I'm a huge fan of Magneto, and I have a whole full scene already pencilled out in the planning stages, but I just gotta work it into the schedule someday...

I really like the top one.  I've messed around with Blender, but the learning curve is just too much for me right now.  Art is just 1 of 3 hobbies, along with a full-time job, so time is limited.

tkdrobert

I'm confused about something.  Is Topaz Clean different than Topaz Simplicity.  When I downloaded the trail copy of Simplicity, I got a bunch of different Topaz filters, but I don't see Clean.

Crescent

Yes, Topaz Clean is a different plugin than Simplify:  http://www.topazlabs.com/clean vs http://www.topazlabs.com/simplify .