I haven't tried a full story, no, and I am going a different way as far as "comic-style" renders go.

PWToon and line renders can be pretty efficient with similar elements (style, textures, etc) but become problematic when using a lot of different assets. I turned to using better light, which can bring homogeneity to all assets - and then work the style in PS Elements.

DanaTA said:

I don't have that, but I have pwToon and pwGhost. Haven't used either one yet, though.

Dana

thaz why playing renderathon is so much fun, don't need to wait for a reason to render all that esoteric stuff, except to stay up all night rendering. :cheese:

totally throwing off my sleep pattern though :shut:

I don't have that, but I have pwToon and pwGhost. Haven't used either one yet, though.

Dana

Richard Haseltine said:

Cartoon mode affects only the DAZ Default Shader - if the surfaces are using another shader you will need to change them to that, or to pwToon if you have it (or roll your own in Shader Mixer, of course).

Thanks for the reply Richard,
I am using Daz default shaders that came with the a4 figure is even a toon shader. it still give me the regural shader value in the render.
so
I even even when i use g2f I A6 default shaders I get the same results i never had this issue before i updated to daz4.7

I'll try the shader mixer. I don't have PWtoon shaders, I never needed them before, if the shader mixer does not work maybe I'll just try to do in poser instead.

Cartoon mode affects only the DAZ Default Shader - if the surfaces are using another shader you will need to change them to that, or to pwToon if you have it (or roll your own in Shader Mixer, of course).

I agree that you can't escape postwork, when working with things like these. I like pwToon because of the cel shade effect, but you can't expect miracles with it. It takes a lot of work, and I'm afraid that I can only dream of my three pages a week.... still need to clean up a few few details...

Just show you some recent work of mine.

Oh, if anyone is interested in seeing some of the images I've done with pwToon, here's a quick sampling of links:

One of my favorites: http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/Doctor-Spectre-141598057

http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/Saturnyne-Drachen-141794522

http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/Next-Man-141794665

In this one I tried out some comic-style motion effects, which I don't think worked too well: http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/Uh-oh-121708016

Another favorite, even though it's a little dark. Using pwToon to create a more comic book tone with black shading: http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/Attack-of-the-Super-Gorilla-94870155

Another one, trying to add some special effects: http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/The-Star-Tyrant-202146053

http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/Ghost-Falcon-170617301

I would post more recent renders, but I've found a bug with pwToon on a 64-bit Mac where multiple lights tint the renders blue. DAZ is aware of it since I submitted a bug report, but it's still slowed my momentum down for recent renders. I'll post something with backgrounds soon to show some of my experiments...

I've been following this thread for a bit because I really like the art style that DWM72 has developed.

I just wanted to throw in my $0.02 on pwToon.

I like pwToon. A lot. I've been playing with it for years and I think I've finally developed a style I really like with it. You can see a sample here (http://sphinxmagoo.deviantart.com/art/Super-Hero-484447592). If you go through some of my deviantArt pages, you can see I've been working with pwToon for years. I had a mini-epiphany when I came across Crescent's pwToon presets (http://www.sharecg.com/v/69733/view/21/DAZ-Studio/Crescents-pwToon-Cel-Shaders?interstitial_displayed=Yes) because she basically took the settings as set by poseworks and created a whole palette of different colors and styles to use.

Now, pwToon requires a bit more work and planning, especially if you plan on using backgrounds and scenery, but I think it's worth it. There are a lot of my own experiments which I haven't posted which I find satisfying. It's 3D, but done in a way closer to traditional 2D animation styles.

FlyingBaloo said:

Eustace Scrubb said:

So, for those who want more of an "illustrated" rather than "3D" look, and want to minimize postwork, would you ratehr use surface shaders to adjust the effects per-item, or a camera that had it all uniformly built in?

There is no camera yet that is really providing satisfying results. Tooncam was used above to get the line only.

As for surface shaders such as pwToon, you'll have two issues:
- the work needed to get the best result out of each element
- providing you're working with many products, a massive difference in texture quality

I don't think you can escape postwork, if only to give more homogeneity to your comic. Personnally I've dropped pwToon (the example was just to show outline potential). I would focus on getting as good a render as you can and find a short postwork process that suits your style.

And mostly, I would recommend working on the basics of Comics, writing the story and dialogues, framing panels, etc (and I am) as this is in the end what will make the comic a comic, more so than the renders.

I agree, impossible to escape the postwork
I returned PwToon and ordered the money back a few days ago.
Also the comic book style of PP2014, does not satisfy me.
And I see that Gimp is my best shot

Eustace Scrubb said:

So, for those who want more of an "illustrated" rather than "3D" look, and want to minimize postwork, would you ratehr use surface shaders to adjust the effects per-item, or a camera that had it all uniformly built in?

There is no camera yet that is really providing satisfying results. Tooncam was used above to get the line only.

As for surface shaders such as pwToon, you'll have two issues:
- the work needed to get the best result out of each element
- providing you're working with many products, a massive difference in texture quality

I don't think you can escape postwork, if only to give more homogeneity to your comic. Personnally I've dropped pwToon (the example was just to show outline potential). I would focus on getting as good a render as you can and find a short postwork process that suits your style.

And mostly, I would recommend working on the basics of Comics, writing the story and dialogues, framing panels, etc (and I am) as this is in the end what will make the comic a comic, more so than the renders.

tjohn said:

DanaTA said:

tjohn said:

Kyoto Kid said:

...the weather here is a nice incentive to stay home for me.

Frightful?
Playing with ToonyCam Pro and Manga Shaders.

Looks cool! I think I got the ToonyCam Pro. What are the shaders?

Dana

http://www.daz3d.com/manga-style-shaders

Oh. Not much there I'd be interested in.

Still want to see how pwToon works for me. Haven't even tried it yet. :down:

Dana

tjohn said:

I can verify that Reality 2.5 still works in 4.7. :)

Nice.

What about things like pwToon and pwGhost and various other things that always seemed to need a new version when DS was updated! Anyone?

Dana

Chris1232 said:

Thanks for the examples DWM72. I'll need to have a look at pwToon.

I like your comics too ghastlycomic, in fact they have convinced me to finally take the plunge and buy a basic tablet, the drawing type not the iPAD type. I have one of those but couldn't get that off my sons without losing an eye in the process.

Anyway here are some of my endeavours, all works in progress as I learn new functiuons of the shaders etc. You'll notice that I try the same scene or variations multiple times in different ways.

Interesting results, even if some of them are on the dark side. Which shaders did you use?

I have a few shaders like Manga Style Shaders. (screentones)

Ah, talking about screentones, you have to watch out with screentones, with reducing your images after you have created them. If you would like to use screentones, you can for example, better use a program like Manga studio, and import your rendered images only in lines. I'm not really good in drawing people, so for me it could be a good solution.

But I can create some screentones in Paintshop also. Here are some examples. I had to reduce the image of the Viking Village, and look what it did with the screentones. :(

Did you know that DS Default - shader presets also have cartoon shaders? The toon colors are not that great, but the lines are good.

Thanks for the examples DWM72. I'll need to have a look at pwToon.

I like your comics too ghastlycomic, in fact they have convinced me to finally take the plunge and buy a basic tablet, the drawing type not the iPAD type. I have one of those but couldn't get that off my sons without losing an eye in the process.

Anyway here are some of my endeavours, all works in progress as I learn new functiuons of the shaders etc. You'll notice that I try the same scene or variations multiple times in different ways.

Here's a small tutorial with pwToon, for people who are interested in it. For this you need Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X, pwToon and UberEnvironment 2.

The light settings are:
- a Distant Light with Raytrace shadows and 50% light setting.
- UberEnvironment 2 with high quality occlusion setting and 50% light setting.

pwToon settings is:
- Toon Noir

As you can see in the first Attachment, three renders. The first is done without pwToon.

To change it in a cartoon: Select all the objects that you want to change, and go to Surfaces (Color). Select there the objects also, than click on the Toon Noir icon.

When you add the pwToon, you get with these light settings this cartoon with a 'metallic' shine. I personally like it.

The third is an ambient render, a flatrender. (See second attachment) You get this, by turning off the light and change the parameters of UberEnvironment 2 to 100% intensity and change the Environment Mode to Ambient (no Ray Tracing).

You can also add lines to it with pwToon. Go to Surfaces (Color), select the objects together and scroll down on the right side until you see Draw Outline. Activate it and my personal choice is to change the Outline Width full out to 128. See the third Attachment with two settings. One of them is a flat render.

Mr Leong said:

DWM72 said:

This time, I used a fog camera, pwToon with lines for variation and ToonyCam Pro. With a lot of postwork, here's the result. Hope to create in the future a real online comic that a lot of people will like.

This one looks more like watercolors, the effect you wanted. But personally, I like how the images looked in your initial post better. It's more vibrant, and it does not look like it was from a 3D render. Even though it does not quite resemble a regular 2D comic, that's not necessarily a bad thing. You've achieved an original look.

On a more nit-picky matter :P, your opening scene is panoramic with no kids. Then kids show up, not bursting into the scene running, but strolling. So there is a significant amount of time that elapse between the first panel and the third. But the chickens never moved. Same positions, same pose. If chickens are pecking for food, there should be change.

Yeah, I tend to notice the oddest of things.

Thanks :)

Well, you can't expect more of the images, they're experiments, and aren't a part of story :)

throttlekitty said:

Wow, what a great look! I've been putting thought into making a figure for Genesis2 that has a similar painterly look.

You say you're doing lots of postwork, I'm curious what your workflow for these renders is. Can the outlines be done in a separate pass?

This thread may interest you. Starting from Page 6 and on, there are some translations from Japanese about how the team has gotten the look that they have. It may not all be applicable here, but worth a read if you're interested. They talk about how they're using the depth buffer for their outline effect, but I suspect it's a totally different scheme.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121144&page=6

The outlines are done separated with ToonCam Pro, except for the characters that are done with pwToon.

The link that you gave was very interesting. I found there even another link:
http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/creating-childrens-cartoons-3ds-max/

It was very impressive, all done with 3ds Max, and I wouldn't know any better if I saw it on TV.

DWM72 said:

This time, I used a fog camera, pwToon with lines for variation and ToonyCam Pro. With a lot of postwork, here's the result. Hope to create in the future a real online comic that a lot of people will like.

This one looks more like watercolors, the effect you wanted. But personally, I like how the images looked in your initial post better. It's more vibrant, and it does not look like it was from a 3D render. Even though it does not quite resemble a regular 2D comic, that's not necessarily a bad thing. You've achieved an original look.

On a more nit-picky matter :P, your opening scene is panoramic with no kids. Then kids show up, not bursting into the scene running, but strolling. So there is a significant amount of time that elapse between the first panel and the third. But the chickens never moved. Same positions, same pose. If chickens are pecking for food, there should be change.

Yeah, I tend to notice the oddest of things.

DWM72 said:

Thanks for your replies and input everybody. It was very helpful.

This time, I used a fog camera, pwToon with lines for variation and ToonyCam Pro. With a lot of postwork, here's the result. Hope to create in the future a real online comic that a lot of people will like.

Thanks.

Chris1232 said:

Just to say I really love where you are going with this. More so because my own experiments are sort of heading this way too though I'm still experimenting mainly with B&W though occasionally colour where I have got the water colours with outlines sort of working.

I certainly would n't post my own images on another thread unless they OK'ed it but also would n't want to start another identical topic. If you fancy talking about this sort of non-realistic rendering on this thread let me know and I'll post up a few of my experiments and perhaps we can both learn from each other. I use toonycampro and both the visual and manga shaders plus the Gimp so knowing whats achievable with pwToon would be great to know.

Thanks everybody. I'm seriously surprised with all these positive reactions. That means something for me, really.

To Chris1332: I work the most with Paintshop Photo Pro X and pwToon for DAZ. These last months I also use a program FotoSketcher for additional effects. And I have now other tools added like ToonyCam Pro and a few other for DAZ Studio. I don't have any problem to share knowledge. Others are also curious how they are created. :-)

Here's an old version done with pwToon and a very simple 'painting' effect. Tomorrow I post more about this.