Algovincian Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR) 2019/2020

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Comments

  • RakudaRakuda Posts: 931

    Whatever you are doing with those hair samples, that is really something!

    like it!

    Brian

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    Thanks - the plan is to do a dog as the first complete project once the tools are finished, with hopefully many more after that. Still playing with getting a workflow down for using the base styles to create all of the different lengths, styles and types of fur needed to do a whole body.

    - Greg

  • Amazing NPR images ! I wonder since your technique almost impossible for anyone to reproduce , Do you have a plan to "open "NPR Render service for us ( DAZ STUDIO Users) ?

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    Glad to hear that you like the output, @juvesatriani_S, so thanks for that. As of now, there are no plans for such a service, though the idea has been considered in the past:

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/3154306/#Comment_3154306

    - Greg

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562
    edited September 2019
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  • Some of the older content is really fantasic, and perfect for my NPR work since it doesn't require PBR materials/render engines:

    https://www.daz3d.com/coalition-katana

    https://www.daz3d.com/war-torn-stalker

    - Greg

  • Sticking with the theme of older content, here's Ferdibrand Goodchild for Genesis 2 Male, by @Mec4D:

    https://www.daz3d.com/mec4d-ferdibrand-goodchild-for-genesis-2-male-s

    He looks great and came complete with the character, hair, clothes and props!

    - Greg

     

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562
    edited October 2019

    This style is designed for print:

    It's absolutely key that the render engine has knowledge of neighboring pixels ("neighbors" can sometimes mean within a radius of hundreds of pixels). This is knowledge that 3D render engines don't have.

    - Greg

    Post edited by algovincian on
  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    Made a prop for my troll for certain special occasions - please feel free to use it if/as necessary ;)

    - Greg

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    I'm hopelessly addicted to playing around attempting to develop new, better looking styles . . . what's wrong with me?

    - Greg

     

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 2,339

    I'm hopelessly addicted to playing around attempting to develop new, better looking styles . . . what's wrong with me?

    - Greg

     

    Well, nothing that I can see... though you really should be working on some sort of plug-in (for DAZ or PhotoShop) or possibly a set of actions for Photoshop that would help you monetize your brilliance. Granted, I'm aware that it's not possible to do everhing you're doing as a product you could sell, but to be honest I'd buy a product that did 25% as good a job as what you're doing...

    -- Walt Sterdan

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    Thanks @wsterdan - I have been playing with training some new networks that would be distributable. They're aimed at bypassing all the stroke-based (and other) processes that can't be neatly packaged up. Definitely a long term project, though.

    - Greg

  • Thanks @wsterdan - I have been playing with training some new networks that would be distributable. They're aimed at bypassing all the stroke-based (and other) processes that can't be neatly packaged up. Definitely a long term project, though.

    - Greg

    Greg: Have you ever tried making a series of images to be placed in a comic book page? In other words, do a kind of graphic novel proof of concept?

    Yes, post work would be needed to put the panels into the various frames and that would require you to render them at a specific output resolution based on the panel size (because if you render everything at the same size and shrink it, the width of the lines would also shrink and that would make the panels look inconsistent).

    But it would be interesting to see if your approach could be adapted to it.

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    Yeah I have played with creating finished pages all laid out with panels, bubbles, lettering, etc. I've also played with more interactive comic formats using Unity.

    Ultimately, I'm not satisified with the clean full-color style. While the algos will render them reliably for the general case, I think I want more more of a sketchy/messy style that still produces recognizable structure/detail. The clean full-color style is a much better starting place to produce such a style (compared to typical 3D output). It all ties in to what I was talking about a couple of posts back in response to Walt, too.

    - Greg

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 2,339

    Thanks @wsterdan - I have been playing with training some new networks that would be distributable. They're aimed at bypassing all the stroke-based (and other) processes that can't be neatly packaged up. Definitely a long term project, though.

    Long-term or not, that's excellent news.

    I recognize that something like this could take years, but you still made my day. Thanks,

    -- Walt Sterdan

  • WandererWanderer Posts: 956

    @algovincian - Once again, I love your stuff. Even though it's been some time since I commented on any of your work (was away), it never ceases to amaze me. There's a real artistry to all of them, and it's truly pleasing to the eye in a way that so few attempts at something like this are. Really, really nice work. How much of it is your eye, how much of it your hard work, and how much of it your system/process/network(?) I cannot tell. I know what I like when I see it. Even the things which are not in the vein of my interests really draw me in. Bravo!

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562
    Wanderer said:

    @algovincian - Once again, I love your stuff. Even though it's been some time since I commented on any of your work (was away), it never ceases to amaze me. There's a real artistry to all of them, and it's truly pleasing to the eye in a way that so few attempts at something like this are. Really, really nice work. How much of it is your eye, how much of it your hard work, and how much of it your system/process/network(?) I cannot tell. I know what I like when I see it. Even the things which are not in the vein of my interests really draw me in. Bravo!

    Thanks for taking the time to chime in, @Wanderer - it's much apreciated. Credit goes to the many PAs who created the great assets, too. I've got a limited amount of time to spend on this stuff, and not having to model / rig / texture everything allows me to focus on my NPR work.

    Welcome back!

    - Greg

  • Widdershins StudioWiddershins Studio Posts: 539
    edited November 2019

    Playing with LineRender9000.

     

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  • Xandyr78Xandyr78 Posts: 100

    Any new stuff of late, Algovincian?  Always look forward to seeing what you produce.

     

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562
    Xandyr78 said:

    Any new stuff of late, Algovincian?  Always look forward to seeing what you produce.

     

    @Xandyr78 - Thanks for your interest. I've been out of commission and haven't rendered anything for 2-3 months now, but should be in position to do so relatively soon (hopefully). Had a lot of time to think and got some new ideas I'm eager to explore!

    - Greg

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    Just picked up the new Wyvern from Herschel Hoffmeyer today:

    https://www.daz3d.com/hh-wyvern

    It's got all the trademark detail we've all come to expect from HH. Found it both easy to work with in the viewport, and fast to render as well (all 8 analysis passes took less than 7 min total to render on an old machine). 

    Here he is rendered with some new heavier lines, as well as the finer lines (click each for larger images):

    The lizard may not have anything to say at the moment, but the main thought with the thicker line style is to pair better with the lines for panel borders, speech bubbles, text, etc. I'm also hoping it will provide some more creative options when it comes to close-ups of faces, which is something I've always found challenging with the thin line style.

    Another benefit to thicker lines is better scaling. I really like the finer black lines in high resolution prints, but scaling them for lower resolution displays wreaks havoc. A single pixel wide black line scaled (up or down) becomes a fatter (relatively) gray line, or a fatter (again, relatively) jagged black line depending on the resizing algorithm used. No es bueno.

    - Greg

     

     

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,921

    so impressed by all the images on this thread - thanks for sharing your work 

  • VyusurVyusur Posts: 2,235

    New perfectionyes

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562
    Headwax said:

    so impressed by all the images on this thread - thanks for sharing your work 

    My pleasure, @Headwax. It's been a while since I've really done anything DS related. I'd like to get back into it, and posting here in the forums has proven to be a good way to keep me productive render-wise in the past.

    Is there still an active Carrara NPR thread? For a while there, you were quite prolific posting your work here and with shows, etc. You still active?

     

    Vyusur said:

    New perfectionyes

    Thanks, @Vyusur, but I don't know about that,. It does seem to be a step in the right direction as far as comics go, though. I'd like to get my ass in gear and produce some finished pages before I die!

    On that note, I re-ran the algos on some old analysis passes that I rendered out as a reference after buying the Brute 8 Pro bundle a couple of years ago:

    https://www.daz3d.com/the-brute-8

    Don't mind the nonsensical poses or the silly text as the idea was just to start trying to find a balance for the line thickness for all the various elements:

    It's getting there. Maybe.

    - Greg

     

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,921

    Hi still active yes! Busy converting illustrated book into graphic novel .... instead of one image per page now as many as it takes per page. Time consuming! But I can't post the work of course. So a bit quiet on the forums.

  • VyusurVyusur Posts: 2,235

    The perfection in this case is that the outer line remains intact and unbroken, and the inner Islands flow smoothly between each other.

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    Another non-sensical test. This time, the focus was a somewhat tighter shot of a figure, and the integration of a background style. Also experimenting with the tail a bit, though I'm not sure how I feel about it, though:

    I've been experimenting with different background styles for quite some time. Ideally, backgrounds will be detailed with 3d depth cues while still looking substantially different enough from the figures so they still pop, but not so different that the style is completely unrelated. It's a lot to keep in mind all at once when automating the NPR rendering for the general case!

    - Greg

  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562

    The line drawing algorithms failed on the spokes, so I'll need to take a look into that - sigh . . .

    It's difficult to land on the best scale for the text given the resolution and pixel density of various devices. Need to start doing some complete pages with multiple panels, too. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the style that's sorting itself out.

    - Greg

  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 3,684

    I am not even close to understanding the aesthetic, but wouldn't the spokes, as they are, reflect movement, light reflection, and how narrow they are in reality? When I see a moving bike's wheels, my eyes can't pick up the individual spokes. 

    And looking at what you have achieved, I defer to your goals, but I think that above piece is incredible.

    Mary

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