I hate to comment about it on this thread, but pwToon seems to be working fine for me in the current version of Studio, though it's a new computer with a clean install of both.

I think it's worth it.  You can get some interesting effects with Sketchy that you can't really get with the others.  Since it's a shader, I actually think it's easier to use.  But then, I love playing with surface settings and I have a lot of fun playing with the settings to see what they can do.  It renders fairly fast so I think it is comparable to render times with 3Delight.  

I recall some problems with PWToon caused by a DS update, have these been fixed? Long ago I've used it because of these problems.

@Toaz Sorry it took so long for me to see this. I don't recall seeing the notification. Are you talking about a glitch with a recent update or the old glitch from when DS switched from DS3 to DS4? There was a workaround for the older glitch. I'm not sure if that still works with the newest version of DS because I haven't used it in a while. I believe I still have it installed. I'll try and take a look at it and get back to you and let you know if it still works in DS or not. I'll also see if I can track down the glitch and what the workaround for it was.

Also welcome! DS can be a bit intimidating, but I'd recommend that you go the the New Users Contest section, and participate in their contests - not because of winning (you don't even have to enter your image into the contest), but because you get first hand feedback on your images, and suggestions on how to improve things.

1) There's a thread about Non-photorealistic renders which contains a ton of great images and useful tips here: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/227541/more-non-photorealisitic-renders-npr-ii#latest

Also, there's the official Line Render thread over in the PA Products announcement section, that has more specific information, and you can also ask questions to the PA there: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/118146/linerender9000-faq#latest

2) For some objects, you have to select the surfaces in the surface tab to apply the shader. This is especially true if you are switching from 3DL to Iray shaders, in which case it's always helpful to convert to Iray Ueber first before applying the Iray shader.

Also, PWToon is a 3Delight shader, which will not really work in Iray. You are rendering in 3Delight? Because LineRender is for Iray, and will not necessarily understand the PWToon surface settings.

3) see 2. It is really important to have shader/surface material and render engine match, and, as I said, for some objects, you have to go to the surface tab and select the surfaces for the shader to apply.

Comics... are in my signature, and I also post WIP stuff from the comics in the "Bee's Breakroom" thread.

Thank you, BeeMKay! New Users contest would actually be a good one for one to check out.

Interesting about how Toon is 3Delight and LineRender is iRay. Very good points. I'm probably going to download the Manga Shaders and see what I come up with.

I'm gonna have to look up this WIP abreviation. I see it a lot and haven't figured out what it is yet, lol.

Also welcome! DS can be a bit intimidating, but I'd recommend that you go the the New Users Contest section, and participate in their contests - not because of winning (you don't even have to enter your image into the contest), but because you get first hand feedback on your images, and suggestions on how to improve things.

1) There's a thread about Non-photorealistic renders which contains a ton of great images and useful tips here: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/227541/more-non-photorealisitic-renders-npr-ii#latest

Also, there's the official Line Render thread over in the PA Products announcement section, that has more specific information, and you can also ask questions to the PA there: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/118146/linerender9000-faq#latest

2) For some objects, you have to select the surfaces in the surface tab to apply the shader. This is especially true if you are switching from 3DL to Iray shaders, in which case it's always helpful to convert to Iray Ueber first before applying the Iray shader.

Also, PWToon is a 3Delight shader, which will not really work in Iray. You are rendering in 3Delight? Because LineRender is for Iray, and will not necessarily understand the PWToon surface settings.

3) see 2. It is really important to have shader/surface material and render engine match, and, as I said, for some objects, you have to go to the surface tab and select the surfaces for the shader to apply.

Comics... are in my signature, and I also post WIP stuff from the comics in the "Bee's Breakroom" thread.

What would be the best toon shader product to use?

I like a combination of pwToon and the material shaders made by user name 'Neo Genesis' on shareCG.com's addons for the pwToon shaders. pwToon is a 3DL set of shading that you must manually apply to each of an model's Surfaces zones in the DAZ Studio Surfaces tab.

https://www.daz3d.com/pwtoon

http://www.sharecg.com/v/69733/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/Crescents-pwToon-Cel-Shaders

You need both products. The 2nd is free.

I think it's worth it.  You can get some interesting effects with Sketchy that you can't really get with the others.  Since it's a shader, I actually think it's easier to use.  But then, I love playing with surface settings and I have a lot of fun playing with the settings to see what they can do.  It renders fairly fast so I think it is comparable to render times with 3Delight.  

I recall some problems with PWToon caused by a DS update, have these been fixed? Long ago I've used it because of these problems.

I haven't used PWToon so I do not know, just that Sketchy does work.

Thanks, good to know, I do have it but haven't tried it yet.

I think it's worth it.  You can get some interesting effects with Sketchy that you can't really get with the others.  Since it's a shader, I actually think it's easier to use.  But then, I love playing with surface settings and I have a lot of fun playing with the settings to see what they can do.  It renders fairly fast so I think it is comparable to render times with 3Delight.  

I recall some problems with PWToon caused by a DS update, have these been fixed? Long ago I've used it because of these problems.

PWToon's working great for me. There was a big problem with it on the Mac side but it's been a while since that was an issue. Just make sure to have the most recent versions and you should be fine. I prefer using PWToon because it's faster on my older Mac than using Iray, but it's neat to use Sketchy with some of the great Iray features.

There were also problems with the Windows version, whether it was the same problems I don't know. Will give it a try with the latest version then and see how it works. Thanks!

I think it's worth it.  You can get some interesting effects with Sketchy that you can't really get with the others.  Since it's a shader, I actually think it's easier to use.  But then, I love playing with surface settings and I have a lot of fun playing with the settings to see what they can do.  It renders fairly fast so I think it is comparable to render times with 3Delight.  

I recall some problems with PWToon caused by a DS update, have these been fixed? Long ago I've used it because of these problems.

PWToon's working great for me. There was a big problem with it on the Mac side but it's been a while since that was an issue. Just make sure to have the most recent versions and you should be fine. I prefer using PWToon because it's faster on my older Mac than using Iray, but it's neat to use Sketchy with some of the great Iray features.

I think it's worth it.  You can get some interesting effects with Sketchy that you can't really get with the others.  Since it's a shader, I actually think it's easier to use.  But then, I love playing with surface settings and I have a lot of fun playing with the settings to see what they can do.  It renders fairly fast so I think it is comparable to render times with 3Delight.  

I recall some problems with PWToon caused by a DS update, have these been fixed? Long ago I've used it because of these problems.

I haven't used PWToon so I do not know, just that Sketchy does work.

I think it's worth it.  You can get some interesting effects with Sketchy that you can't really get with the others.  Since it's a shader, I actually think it's easier to use.  But then, I love playing with surface settings and I have a lot of fun playing with the settings to see what they can do.  It renders fairly fast so I think it is comparable to render times with 3Delight.  

I recall some problems with PWToon caused by a DS update, have these been fixed? Long ago I've used it because of these problems.

Haaa! Thanks, RGcincy! :)

And good to hear, Demiurgent! I am rather nervous about this product because it DOES require a lot more involvement, and I really don't want people getting the wrong idea and being disappointed.

But as someone who has PWToon and a bunch of other things... a lot of those are very easy at first, and then you start noticing things that are harder to pull off than you thought.

Wow, another freebie for pwToon. Thanks!

The Soft Tint shader presets use desaturated bases, with all the color being applied in the shading or the lines.
The result is a softer, more muted overall comic inspired look.
These DAZ|Studio shader presets required pwToon from DAZ.

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/soft-tint-daz-studio-shader-presets-for-pwtoon/78758

See the readme for tips on rendering. And let me know if you have any issues or questions.

The GraphicNoir shader presets are designed for a sharp, bold, comic book inspired black and white look.
These DAZ|Studio shader presets require pwToon from DAZ.

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/graphicnoir-shader-presets-for-pwtoon/78756

See the readme for tips on rendering. And let me know if you have any issues or questions.

As a side note, I believe I had posted a previous version of these... somewhere. Not sure where. Anyway, they are basically the same end results if you happened to have had the old presets, but they have been edited slightly to organize them better, change the presets to be easier to use (like not overwriting bump and displacement maps by default anymore), and added a few more utility presets.

Yeah, in the process of thinking about this upcoming project I’ve done renders with VSS, with LR9k, with PWtoon and with DzToon. I’ve got Sketchy shaders, too, but since I think consistency of look is pretty important so I haven’t delved into those too much. Also have FilterForge and Topaz stuff... just upgraded to Clip Studio EX because of its line extractor... honestly the reason I got into Daz a couple years ago was ‘I wasted the last twenty years not practicing art, how can I make this illustrated project??’

Anyhow, @Oso3d has a new toon-making shader coming out soon designed to go with filters so I’ll probably be trying that next. It probably won’t be quite what I want (which seems to be a pet mangaka living in my closet— unfortunately the 10 year old would rather draw ‘alternate futures of Europe’) but I think it could be interesting. And as he points out the big benefit of using shaders rather than filters is that renders are a lot smarter about depth and shadow...

I agree with @Linwelly on the importance of the line work. You can quickly go down a rabbit hole on Japanese comic idiosyncrociesas compared to Western. (How each approaches motion for one).  I happen to like the style and have tried some experiments, but the line work doesn't seem to get to where I want it. I've seen some nice results from Pwtoon, Linerender and sketchy, but for me, the rendering is the slowest part of the process, so if I have to tweak one of those and re-render, that's a lot more time than if I have a vector line that I can edit.

Experimenting with something in a very different (though maybe not that different) direction from my other pwtoon presets. Building out a library of presets focusing on a more colorful but muted and softer overall look. Had a couple test renders, but this one I has been the best so far as the overall feel and the range. Still tweaking and figuring out how to use them best, but it's been interesting.

nice work :) I think the chap on the right works best because he is very clean against the back ground

vrba79 said:

Daz|Studio's free toon shader is actually pretty decent, once you get in there and really tweak it.

 

good examples ypu are posting - nice to see Studio catching up with Carrara ;) (small joke)!

Experimenting with something in a very different (though maybe not that different) direction from my other pwtoon presets. Building out a library of presets focusing on a more colorful but muted and softer overall look. Had a couple test renders, but this one I has been the best so far as the overall feel and the range. Still tweaking and figuring out how to use them best, but it's been interesting.

I think I figured out a nice faux velvet that's good for a superhero costume. Also found a way to fake metal. Results below and on my gallery (https://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/524681/).

I've found out one funny thing: Iray works hard to keep things realistic-looking even when using Sketchy. The robot crab is using the Sketchy shader except for the parts that emit light. Definitely going to play some more with Sketchy. I'm used to pwToon which offers really fast renders on my MacBook Pro. Even when running Render Throttle, Iray renders are a lot slower and I'm sure the atmospheric effects I dropped in this scene don't help any.  Still, it's pretty exciting...

We need 3DL for our 2D'ish Visual Style and PWToon shaders.  They are VERY fast renders.  That makes it essential for me!  :)  For 3D, Iray indoor is much faster for me (GTX 960M).  I like IBLM for outdoors, but I still have to revert to Uber and AOA Advanced stuff for indoors, which runs much slower on my system.  It never hurts to have many options/tools in the bag!  

That's very true! And AoA is good for indoor stuff but it's very possible to use IBLM as well, just takes some parameter tweaking and chosing the right HDR for the job.

We need 3DL for our 2D'ish Visual Style and PWToon shaders.  They are VERY fast renders.  That makes it essential for me!  :)  For 3D, Iray indoor is much faster for me (GTX 960M).  I like IBLM for outdoors, but I still have to revert to Uber and AOA Advanced stuff for indoors, which runs much slower on my system.  It never hurts to have many options/tools in the bag!  

This. I've seen some renders done with that Iray toon shading suite, and it doesn't even come close to the quality that you can get out of VSS and PWtoon.