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Advanced editing of "cel-shaded" textures

HabitualGypsyHabitualGypsy Posts: 87
edited September 2015 in The Commons

Through experimentation I have come up with a cel-shaded look that is accomplished directly with the standard 3Delight render engine and requiring no postwork. Since I've been working on these to use in animation, the fact that they render quickly - main image below took 31s @ 768x1024 - is an added bonus.

Before I get to my quandary, however, let me explain the basic rundown on how I go about creating this look:

I start by taking all of my individual texture maps and importing them into Photoshop. I then apply various Filters and Image Adjustments; the exact "recipe" is my secret, but I'm sure you can figure it out and/or come up with your own suitable results. Below the example render, I've included a sample of the texture map (@ 512x512, originally 2048x2048) so you can see what the raw texture looks like.

Next, I apply the base shader from Visual Style Shaders by DraagonStorm & TheNathanParable (http://www.daz3d.com/visual-style-shaders) to all surfaces. I then manually apply the texture maps to the Diffuse - Dark, Diffuse - Light, Occlusion - Dark, and Occlusion - Light parameters of each corresponding surface. I also adjust the corresponding colors to various shades of gray. For instance, I set the Diffuse - Dark to 192 192 192 & Diffuse - Light to 227 227 227.

That's it. I then render, making sure Progressive Rendering is ON. For this shader style, Progressive Rendering is an absolute must. The example below took 5:52 to render with Progressive turned OFF. The results were also less satisfactory than the quicker render. I'm not sure of all the ins and outs of what factors make a difference in the speed but I suspect that how lighting is handled is a key component. For instance, these shaders barely react to lighting at all. In fact, they only respond to the luma side of the light and not the chroma (no colored lighting FX seem to be possible). Again, I don't know exactly why it works that way but the base shaders seem to function as though Ambient is always on (for the most part).

This brings me to my problem. While I LOVE the way these shaders render, I really need to see if there's a way to obtain decent lighting/shadow effects without manually adjusting the levels on the surfaces constantly. Is this even possible? Any feedback at all is appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

-Damon

aka HabitualGypsy

Post edited by HabitualGypsy on

Comments

  • daveleitzdaveleitz Posts: 459

    I like the look you got there! 

  • Cris PalominoCris Palomino Posts: 12,480

    Be careful when you do this.  It will probably make seams more apparent.

  • HabitualGypsyHabitualGypsy Posts: 87
    daveleitz said:

    I like the look you got there! 

    Thanks! I was given some feedback by a "consultant" on the current project that, given my budget, photo-real 3D wasn't a realistic goal. And giving the appearance that I was trying and failing was worse than trying to develop simpler, unique and stylized look. I agreed whole-heartedly and went about trying to find a style that felt like I wasn't "over-reaching" yet still visually compelling. And so I ended up here. And if I can solve the lighting conundrum I feel like this aspect of the project will have exceeded my expectations.

    I feel like the result (so far) is a bit reminiscent of Borderlands, Red Steel 2, Prince of Persia (2008), etc. I didn't set out SPECIFICALLY to emulate those games - this project isn't a game, BTW - but I've always enjoyed the extra-stylized cel-shaded look of those titles.

    Again, thanks for the feedback!

    -Damon
    aka HabitualGypsy

     

  • HabitualGypsyHabitualGypsy Posts: 87
    Cris Palomino said:

    Be careful when you do this.  It will probably make seams more apparent.

    I hear ya. I'm definitely aware that most of the seams are painfully visible in this render (especially on the forearms, hands, and jeans). This is something that will be remedied before "final" production. The nature of the main filter I use in PS is the culprit, as it "shrinks" the primary area of the textures. This is remedied easily enough via the clone-stamp tool. Since I've cultivated a look that evokes brush strokes and "imperfections", there is a margin for error in "painting" the borders back out. Of course, the process is mind-numbingly tedious. But you gotta suffer for your art, right? Hah ha!

    Anyway, thanks for the feedback! It's spot on!

    -Damon
    aka HabitualGypsy 

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