More Non-photorealistic Renders (NPR III)

3Diva

@Artini You're really getting some excellent NPR visuals out if Unity! I wish Unity wasn't so difficult to learn, as those styles are really neat and I'd love to be able to recreate them. I did dabble in Unity a while back and rage quit. lol It was a bit too complicated for me. 

csaa

Some renders of a bad guy in beanie hat and sun glasses taking aim from behind a military ATV.

Update: I added a second mook and re-rendered the scenes.

Thanks for your interest.

Cheers!

Mook with Gun Behind ATV | Daz assets and setup | Blender Eevee render | Clip Studio Paint post edit

Artini

3Diva said:

@Artini You're really getting some excellent NPR visuals out if Unity! I wish Unity wasn't so difficult to learn, as those styles are really neat and I'd love to be able to recreate them. I did dabble in Unity a while back and rage quit. lol It was a bit too complicated for me. 

Thanks a lot.

Yes, I agree about difficulties with Unity.

It took me a couple years of experiments to be reach the level, I am already today.

I am still improving my skills in Unity and recent projects helps me a lot.

 

 

vrba79

3Diva said:

vrba79 said:

This look is really growing on me. I don't even need to post work it.

Most excellent! Your style is just getting better and better!

Thanks. I've made a few tweaks to the technique since then. Probably gonna end up using it in my comic.

Artini

Another example renders from Unity

LindaB

Is PW toon still available in the store? I did a search that yeilded 37 pages, that's too many to go through. Will pw toon work in the latest version of DAZ?

juvesatriani

Finally have proper time to reedit this scene . pwToon Multipass and Photoshop

vrba79

Giving some of my comic characters the Sketchy treatment, starting with Mysterious's incredibly one-note "super hero" El Punchador.

 

csaa

I saw the latest post at The Commons about SketchyCam Pro. The thread goes way back to 2014 and originally it was all about ToonyCam Pro, a Daz product at one point I think. The sample renders look cool. Thought I should mention it here as SketchyCam Pro may be relevant to folks who are into NPR.

Cheers!

 

vrba79

Alas, ToonyCam Pro is with PWToon in discontinued product heaven. I haven't used it in several years, so I don't even know if it still works as intended.

csaa

vrba79 said:

Alas, ToonyCam Pro is with PWToon in discontinued product heaven. I haven't used it in several years, so I don't even know if it still works as intended.

vrba79, if you follow the latest posts on that thread,  zigraphix, the creator of ToonyCam Pro, is trying to put out new products for Daz -- as SketchyCam Pro. By now it should be clear that no single tool gets the job done. Often times we use a number of them and compose the renders for one final image. So I say if zigraphix does succeed, it'll be a welcome new tool for Daz NPR users.

Cheers!

 

vrba79

An interesting development.

vrba79

The BG and Joy are both done using different Sketchy settings, but I cheated a little.

The BG is a seperate render and had to be lit differently. I'm still trying to make sketchy work for indoor scenes, and the best way is the have a massive emssive mesh-based light(in this case the ceiling)

 

SapphireBlue

Ooh, that looks very nice vrba79! The BG came out great! 

vrba79

Thanks. Since I primarily make a comic strip, I can live with the background and foreground stuff being rendered in similar-but-different styles.

vrba79

I'll probably just render my BGs as normal Iray renders and just postwork those. That seems to work well.

Also, when you're listening to David Bowie while making something, there's bound to be some bleed-in.

csaa

Sgt. Inez: Neither Pause Nor Lamentation | Daz assets and set up | Blender Eevee render | Clip Studio Paint post edit

 

vrba79

Artini

The updated Daz to Unity Bridge - https://www.daz3d.com/daz-to-unity-bridge - is awesome.

Below is URP scene render from Unity of Catty 8.1 with Beautify 2 applied.

3Diva

vrba79 said:

I'll probably just render my BGs as normal Iray renders and just postwork those. That seems to work well.

Also, when you're listening to David Bowie while making something, there's bound to be some bleed-in.

HAHAH He DOES look a little like David Bowie! Very nice! 

3Diva

@csaa You're getting some nice manga style effects! How do you like Clip Studio Paint? I've been considering getting it. I have Photoshop already though, so I'm unsure if it would be worth it to get Clip Studio Paint. Do you like the program?

csaa

3Diva said:

@csaa You're getting some nice manga style effects! How do you like Clip Studio Paint? I've been considering getting it. I have Photoshop already though, so I'm unsure if it would be worth it to get Clip Studio Paint. Do you like the program?

3Diva,

In another life my side gig was photography. Back then I paid for Adobe's photography subscription and used Photoshop mainly for photo editing. It was after I stumbled onto 3D that I decided to shop for a more wallet-friendly alternative and canceled the Adobe subscription. (I had to rejig my budget to make room for 3D purchases!) It came down to Krita or CSP. As someone who feels that images are more potent when combined with a good story, creating comics became a natural goal. So Clip Studio Paint came out on top.

CSP is a tool with only a one-time cost, good documentation and a thriving community of users willing to share. It helps me reach my limits and encourages me to go further. The comics I've banged out aren't top-of-the-line (as a few folks are all too eager to point out) but they not too shabby either! Thanks CSP.

BTW I put away my photography gear and stopped taking paid comissions. I haven't put my phootography skills into storage though; they've come in handy when creating 3D still images.

Is CSP a better alternative to Photoshop? I'll take the safe route and say, "It depends on your needs." To achieve a manga aesthetic in an image, Photoshop is just as capable as CSP. But to put out a sequence of images that make up a story, CSP has user-friendly features more suitable to that task.

I'm still at the early stages of my 3D journey. I haven't had the need to texture/UV paint a 3d model, a task that I've heard Photoshop excels in. As you can see, I also keep my post-editing to a minimum, negating the need for Photoshop effects. Maybe it's just my bias -- between telling a story and creating a stunning image, I'm happy pouring more time and effort into storytelling. In this case, less is more image-wise, I believe. But I know better than to discount what I don't know, what I'm not aware of. Maybe, as I learn more about 3D-making, I'll discover the case for using Photoshop once more. Then I can justify paying the Adobe tax and be content with that decision.

Cheers!

 

3Diva

@csaa Thank you very much for the in-depth feedback on your thoughts on CSP vs PS. That's a big help! I'm on Webtoons a lot and many (most?) of the artists that create Webtoons use Clip Studio Paint, so as someone who's also working on making my own comics it's definitely something I've been considering. I do think it would probably be worthwhile for me to get, based on what I've heard from you and a couple of other comic creators. Thank you again! I appreciate the information and your thoughts on the subject. :) 

Keep up the good work on the comic! 

vrba79

3Diva said:

vrba79 said:

I'll probably just render my BGs as normal Iray renders and just postwork those. That seems to work well.

Also, when you're listening to David Bowie while making something, there's bound to be some bleed-in.

HAHAH He DOES look a little like David Bowie! Very nice! 

When you think about it, Bowie would have fit the anime pretty boy archtype perfectly.

vrba79

3Diva said:

vrba79 said:

I'll probably just render my BGs as normal Iray renders and just postwork those. That seems to work well.

Also, when you're listening to David Bowie while making something, there's bound to be some bleed-in.

HAHAH He DOES look a little like David Bowie! Very nice! 

When you think about it, Bowie would have fit the anime pretty boy archtype perfectly.

dsum55

vrba79, Did I see correct or am I tripping?!! Did you post a tutorial about your sketchy process I swear I read it on page 19 or 20. did you delete that post? I read it then went back after a few days to read and try your process and now I can not find the post at all. did anyone else see this post? Can you point me to the post? or repost it? I have scketchy and would love to try this. 

vrba79

Here's a cliffnotes version with visuals.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/7453236/#Comment_7453236

Here's a more fleshed out text only version.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/7463731/#Comment_7463731

 

mindsong

vrba79 said:

Here's a cliffnotes version with visuals.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/7453236/#Comment_7453236

Here's a more fleshed out text only version.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/7463731/#Comment_7463731

thanks for doing those. like many, I've also got the 'sketchy' shaders and some projects in mind that I hope will benefit greatly with your tips and shared insights.

very much appreciated,

--ms

vrba79

You're welcome! I'm of the opinion that knowledge is meant to be shared, not locked behind a paywall.

XxGreyxX

Hi,I have a question about render quality. I've noticed that when I render a NPR picture using 3delight, the quality of the initial render of the picture looks good. However, after I export it as a png the quality really dips. Is there a way to improve this? Thank you in advance for any advice.