More Non-photorealistic Renders (NPR III)

Phyre Fey

Phloki3D said:

@csaa thanks for the comments and also for pointing me in the direction of Lino Grandi's work - definitely interesting to see their workflow.

For me, Octane within Daz has always been my go-to render engine, so it's become second nature to configure materials within it's material tab as opposed to the native Surfaces tab. I tend to just leave the viewport on Smooth Shaded and use Octane's live Viewport so I can alter materials and see the results on-the-fly. 

 

Whoa!! Nice to see what Octane can offer. 

I'm still working with VSS in 3delight and am loving the cel shaded effect, here I've colored the geometry shell lines for a softer look. Some postwork and background done in Clip Studio Paint.



 

Phloki3d

Looks great @MagesMoon I like how clean and concise the linework is. Octane tends to struggle with giving a consistent and accurate outline all the way around, the thickness changes regardless in places - sometimes too thick, sometimes so thin that it's barely noticeable and cranking up the thickness results in much thicker outlines elsewhere. It's a vicious cycle that I enjoy wrangling though! 

juvesatriani

@phloki3d , cool image and shading style you have in there , especially in dark areas . Not sure if easy to do in octane ,  I think you can smoothing those glossy/specular fx using more warm color instead just white . 

 

3Diva

juvesatriani said:

This early draft I did for my friend project . I cant post the final iteration in here ( which much much more better btw , since he`s also great photoshop user) , but both images using same kind technique and workflow

Since he`d only gave me  around 6 hour to deliver , I decide to experiment wih preview render . And yes there is no Toon Shader used in here . Most of element generated via smooth shaded/toon shaded preview , with bunch of fake point lights to give some colors in scene .

Then like always, Bring in photoshop to push the stylized using filters and did some color adjustment

 

That's gorgeous! Well done!

3Diva

Gordig said:

I think I've got most of the kinks worked out.

Looking good! I'm really liking the FX!

3Diva

csaa said:

Sgt. Inez: The Unmet Longing | Daz Studio assets and set up | Blender Eevee render | Clip Studio Paint post-edit

It's a cool image. I like the mood of the panel, the peaceful contemplation. I'd love to see that "peaceful" feel pushed a bit farther with maybe some flowers at her feet or some trees framing it. Something like that maybe. :)

3Diva

Phloki3D said:

Another day, another of Octane's quirks discovered. I was playing around with controling the toon shadows and specular highlights via normal maps and found out that if I just set the material to have a normal map node without any map in it, Octane does a fair job of adding shadows in itself. A comparison is below with and without this setting:

I'm not sure yet if it's the look I'm going to pursue, or continue with more of a flat appearance, but it was interesting nonetheless. 

Great discovery! I like the added shadows! I'm viewing it on my phone, so I'm not sure what it looks like on a bigger screen but on my phone screen it looks good.

3Diva

MagesMoon said:

Phloki3D said:

@csaa thanks for the comments and also for pointing me in the direction of Lino Grandi's work - definitely interesting to see their workflow.

For me, Octane within Daz has always been my go-to render engine, so it's become second nature to configure materials within it's material tab as opposed to the native Surfaces tab. I tend to just leave the viewport on Smooth Shaded and use Octane's live Viewport so I can alter materials and see the results on-the-fly. 

 

Whoa!! Nice to see what Octane can offer. 

I'm still working with VSS in 3delight and am loving the cel shaded effect, here I've colored the geometry shell lines for a softer look. Some postwork and background done in Clip Studio Paint.



 

That soft cell shading looks nice. Lovely render. I like the flower petals too, that's from Clip Studio, right? I really should pick up Clip Studio one of these days.

juvesatriani

Straight render from DAZ Studio and pwToon . All line generated by GeoShell with several modification in z- depth cutof and offset value .   To make brighter I set Gain ( in 3Delight render setting) up to 1.1 

EDIT--- Adding photoshop correction and BG version

3Diva

Ahhhh Those are LOVELY @juvesatriani ! It makes me wish I knew more about 3DL. lol I find that render engine just so difficult to work with. I definitely prefer Iray. I suppose it's because I only discovered 3D art after Iray was already a thing. It was pretty new still so I do remember there being a lot of hate being thrown at Iray when I first discovered Daz Studio and these forums. I used to see a ton of comments in the forum about how much "Iray sucks" and how much better 3Delight was. lol Wow, how times have change. Still I do wish I had discovered Daz Studio sooner, I'd probably be a lot more familiar with 3DL and able to actually do something with it. I might have to really try though one of these days. It's always good to have more tools in the toolbox, particularly when chasing the ever elusive great NPR styles. I love all the variety of NPR styles people come up with and having more tools at my disposal would help me find even more styles that I enjoy!

 

juvesatriani

@3Diva , thanks for nice words!!

TBH the reason why i1m still in 3DL just because I dont have proper machine for IRAY right now . But @vrba79 @phloki3D , you and any other already proved that you can keep produce awesome NPR images with IRAY .

FYI Other than pwToon , I`m also dont have proper 3DL knowledges , especially with standard and realism render outcome . Right now I have more knowledge about Blender in that part than 3DL.

My technique actually really old school since I came to know toon shader from 3D max version 5 era,  and watching lots of Youtube coloring comic tutorial ( in  2d graphic editor) . So each time I try  new 3D programs ( include daz studio and poser back then ) my goal always wanna  know how to get FLAT render - sharp Shadow and make lighting behave as additional coloring/mood  tools .

If those possible , the rest will be come

Yeah 3DL guys maybe get lucky with straight toon shaders like pwToon - Visual Style shaders and manga style  . But  OSO toon also great !! Especially if you OK layering in 2D image editor to get superb result . It doesnt matter how the images created . Straight render - No Postwork or heavy postwork . The final images will tell other people how your craftman efforts and skills .

Thanks

 

juvesatriani

Face cam shoot from my earlier character design . Like always Render using my pwToon preset and enhance in Photoshop

BTW it so hard to make extreme expression without shift lot our character initial face shape . DO you guys have any tips ?

LoreMistress Izaria

I've been playing with the filters in Topax Studio (trial), and I think I'm in love. This one uses a few filters, plus my actions:

juvesatriani

LoreMistress Izaria said:

I've been playing with the filters in Topax Studio (trial), and I think I'm in love. This one uses a few filters, plus my actions:

LOVE IT !!!

csaa

More color NPR work. This time it's Sgt. Cleo with her futuristic computer terminal. The way I imagined these characters, Sgt. Inez is ethnically north Asian -- Chinese, Japanese with Caucasian ancestry. Sgt. Cleo on the other hand is SE Asia, primarily Malay.

Cheers!

Sgts. Cleo and Inez | Daz assets and set up | Blender Eevee render | Clip Studio Paint post-edit

Artini

Have tried some postprocessing effects.

Artini

I think, that one looks interesting...

Artini

Just one more...

3Diva

juvesatriani said:

@3Diva , thanks for nice words!!

TBH the reason why i1m still in 3DL just because I dont have proper machine for IRAY right now . But @vrba79 @phloki3D , you and any other already proved that you can keep produce awesome NPR images with IRAY .

FYI Other than pwToon , I`m also dont have proper 3DL knowledges , especially with standard and realism render outcome . Right now I have more knowledge about Blender in that part than 3DL.

My technique actually really old school since I came to know toon shader from 3D max version 5 era,  and watching lots of Youtube coloring comic tutorial ( in  2d graphic editor) . So each time I try  new 3D programs ( include daz studio and poser back then ) my goal always wanna  know how to get FLAT render - sharp Shadow and make lighting behave as additional coloring/mood  tools .

If those possible , the rest will be come

Yeah 3DL guys maybe get lucky with straight toon shaders like pwToon - Visual Style shaders and manga style  . But  OSO toon also great !! Especially if you OK layering in 2D image editor to get superb result . It doesnt matter how the images created . Straight render - No Postwork or heavy postwork . The final images will tell other people how your craftman efforts and skills .

Thanks

 

I totally agree, it's less about the programs or process and more about the end result. And whatever works for you or gives you the look closest to what you're aiming for is what's important. It's fun for me to experiment with different programs, render engines, and processes and see what looks I can get. I really enjoy seeing such a wide variety of NPR styles. I'm still searching for "the one" that I'm 100% happy with or that I feel is solidly "my style". I think I will find "my style" eventually but for now it's fun experiencing the different NPR looks I can get with different render engines, shaders, programs, and workflows.

3Diva

juvesatriani said:

Face cam shoot from my earlier character design . Like always Render using my pwToon preset and enhance in Photoshop

BTW it so hard to make extreme expression without shift lot our character initial face shape . DO you guys have any tips ?

I wouldn't worry too much about expressions shifting the face shape and just use whatever expression tells the audience what the character is feeling. As long as the hair, costume, skin tone, and all that stays consistent the audience will be able to tell who it is, regardless of how extreme the expression is on their face. The important part is conveying to the audience what it is you want them to know and having accurate and unmistakable expressions is an important factor in that, IMO. This is a really lovely render by the way, as always your vibrant colors really make the images pop!

3Diva

LoreMistress Izaria said:

I've been playing with the filters in Topax Studio (trial), and I think I'm in love. This one uses a few filters, plus my actions:

That is so pretty! Well done! I hope you post more of that style. BTW I love character!

3Diva

csaa said:

More color NPR work. This time it's Sgt. Cleo with her futuristic computer terminal. The way I imagined these characters, Sgt. Inez is ethnically north Asian -- Chinese, Japanese with Caucasian ancestry. Sgt. Cleo on the other hand is SE Asia, primarily Malay.

Cheers!

Sgts. Cleo and Inez | Daz assets and set up | Blender Eevee render | Clip Studio Paint post-edit

Oh my gosh, YES! I love this! Color really helps to bring it to another level, IMO.

3Diva

Artini said:

Just one more...

I really like this! This one and the gas station one above with the red car are really cool. I think you have a nice style going on there!

Artini

Thanks a lot, @3Diva.

Some postprocessing can add significant coolness to these toon environments.

 

FirstBastion

Artini said:

Have tried some postprocessing effects.

Very cool vivid styling.  

Artini

Thank you very much, @FirstBastion

 

3Diva

Artini said:

Thanks a lot, @3Diva.

Some postprocessing can add significant coolness to these toon environments.

 

I completely agree. A little bit of post work can go a long way - for both NPR renders as well as renders shooting for realism.

LoreMistress Izaria

3Diva said:

LoreMistress Izaria said:

I've been playing with the filters in Topax Studio (trial), and I think I'm in love. This one uses a few filters, plus my actions:

That is so pretty! Well done! I hope you post more of that style. BTW I love character!

Thanks! I have a few more poses I want to play with before I start working on friends for her. It takes a while to get the character set up and make my own textures, so I like to get some mileage on them before moving on. :D

 

LoreMistress Izaria

Here is my latest. I picked up Horus for G8M, so I think it's time for her to have a boyfriend... as soon as I make his character pop. :D

3Diva

The colors, pose, and set are lovely. Her face gets a little lost though. I'm not sure if it's just the camera angle but it's hard to see where her face is at. I can't tell where her eyes are. Again it might be just the camera angle above the feathers that obscures her face.