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OsoToon feedback

Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,886
in Daz PA Commercial Products

People apparently wanted more information or had difficulty with my product. So... more info.

 

OsoToon steps:

I Flat color

Flat color. Set optimization to 1. Turn off all the lights

Select everything. Apply OsoToon shader. Set Emission Type? to Base Color. Make sure Luminance Units is cd/m^2.

I recommend setting Translucency Weight and Refraction Weight to 0, use cutout opacity for stuff like windows.

Render. Should be pretty fast

II Shading

Shading, do everything from previous step, but set Base Color Type? to Alternate Base Color (this should basically make all surfaces white). Also Optimization should be set to 2 (to allow a bit more bounce in the lights to get good shading)

Render.

You can do fun things with this, change the contrast, send to FilterForge or something else to get a sketchy look. My advice is to get a fairly bright/washed out balance, so that most of it is white with dark gray shadows.

In Photoshop, I like to put Shading over Flat Color with Soft Light layer effect. Creates a nice bright, pastel look (you can adjust the shading layer to get the look you want, but that's basically what I did with the Axolotl)

III Outlines

Outlines via Material ID. Use the setup from I, but change Emission Type? to Material ID.

The trick with this is to get material IDs laid out that do what you want. Like, if you don't want a lot of outlines in the background, set everything in the background to the same Material ID. If you want to create a nice line around the iris, make iris and pupil one Material ID, the sclera something else, and then most of the skin something different.

I find the script for 'random material ID by object' to be a good starting point, and then identify specific elements I want outlined or not outlined.

Take the result, clean it up (occasional poke through and bits that didn't show up), then run through Find Edges, desaturate, and multiply over the rest.

It will probably take a few tries to get the effect you want. If you are missing some fiddly lines that are hard to capture, consider just adding them in yourself (like in the above, I ended up drawing the mouth line in Photoshop with a thin brush and smoothing set way up)

I also like to add a little gaussian blur and adjust the outline a little so it blends in a bit with the image.

 

Questions?

Comments

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,886

    Also, with some experimenting... I suggest hiding hair/beards for the outline/MaterialID pass and erase any errant lines in post.

  • MoreTNMoreTN Posts: 219

    Thanks for this, it's a good basic guide and people can experiment once they've got the basics sorted.

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,886

    I also find it useful sometimes to use multiple tweaks of the shading pass.

    For instance, I might have a shaded layer sent to FilterForge to look sketched/drawn and set it to soft light, but that's very light so I have an additional shaded with multiply or overlay and tweak the opacity to get the balance I want.

  • MoreTNMoreTN Posts: 219

    Yeah, I use PSP and I'm forever playing with filters and blend modes.

  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 8,773

    Great thread and tips here.

     

  • Worlds_EdgeWorlds_Edge Posts: 2,142

    Finally got around to trying this but, due to user error, I'm not getting any results.  Is there a step by step guide anywhere?  If not, maybe if someone was kind enough to make a short how to video, it would sink in.

    What I have tried (and it is probably the wrong process) - highlight a character, and then apply one of the scripts, then render.    

    BTW, I love the results I have seen others get.  

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,886

    You need to apply the OsoToon shader, follow the settings in the information icon (for both the shader and render settings).

    Basically, one thing the shader does is it can point emission color to base color or material ID. So two of the modes are essentially 'everything glows with no other lighting.' Setting light path to 1 means you get a very simple light; everything glows with whatever color.

    If Emission Type? is set to Base Color, then everything glows with their normal base color and you should get a rather quick simple flat color render.

    If it's set to Material ID, same thing but with material ID. Setting material ID is the function of the scripts so you don't have to go through eeeeeevery little object and surface and set it. Although you are well-served by going back and changing material ID in sensible ways (like if you don't want outlines on background items, set them all to the same material ID).

     

  • Worlds_EdgeWorlds_Edge Posts: 2,142

    It all sounds Greek to me only because all I've ever done with shaders is applied them to various surfaces, lol.  I'll look at it closer, I didn't realize I have to do anything on the render settings.  Thanks!

  • MartirillaMartirilla Posts: 172

    Thanks for the quickstart. 

    Though you completely lost me right at the start, with "Flat color. Set optimization to 1." 

    And what is "Emission Type" and where do I find it in the maze-like UI? It's obviously absolutely vital, but the PDF Guide does not show where to find it. Neither DAZ's internal search nor Google knows about it by that name. 

    "Switch off all lighting".... presumably including the Iray Headlamp?

    Should all this, and more, not be scripted for the user?

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,886

    Optimization is one of the render tabs. The value to set to 1 is Max Path Length, which is the pathing for light.

    Rendering engines often use 'virtual' light path calculations; it plots some imaginary blip of light heading out of a light source, follows it to various surfaces, calculates what happens at each surface, then calculates a new direction, etc. Path length determines how many bounces/interactions the engine calculates before it moves on to the next blip of light. The higher the value, the more realistic (more or less) the light looks.

    The flat color style relies on emission from the surface. Normally, if something is glowing, you are going to see the glowing light bouncing/interacting with other surfaces. Setting max path length to 1 negates that.

    Emission Type is a parameter on the shader itself. Select the object with the shader, go to the Surfaces tab, and, for ease, maybe type in 'emission' or 'type' or something in the filter so it will only show you relevant surface parameters. (Since there's a bunch).

    This parameter is unique to the OsoToon shader, it's not a general term.

    Iray Headlamp, correct. Although I'll note that generally you shouldn't use headlamp ever.

    I don't know how to script, so... sorry!

     

  • dsum55dsum55 Posts: 23

    Hi OSO, 

    I have been trying to use your product with a lil success im struggling with emissive, lights and surfaces just wonrdering do i use your shader on all emissives for shading pass? if so it wont make it emissive anymore im confused. im not understanding. i have a scene that uses pink neon lights when i go through three passes i just get a clean flat diffuse with no pink lighting. how do i get bloom and glow around the lights or is this all post work actions?

     

  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 14,886

    Oso Toon relies heavily on post work; the intent is to provide good renders that are useful for compositing and post work.

    If you want emissive lights that provide color, the best place for that is when you are doing the shading pass, which is normally a grayscale result.

    As for bloom and glow, yes, that would be done as postwork, although it might be possible to get effects you want out of direct renders.

     

  • dsum55dsum55 Posts: 23

    ok thanks for that.

  • ArtiniArtini Posts: 8,773
    edited November 2022

    Excellent new addition to Genesis 9:

    https://www.daz3d.com/oso-corgi-for-genesis-9

    Post edited by Artini on
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