The "5Cent" letters were also made with the type tool- just to see if I could make some flat 2D type with it. (My name, however, was still done in Photoshop.)

Ahh so what settings are you using to do this ?? C'mon - spill the beans ;-) These are really cool !!

yeah pretty plz veritas share your v5 settings :)

Yeah, really fascinating work! I'd really love to see a tutorial for this!

I have begun creating a tutorial on this but I am still waiting to hear back from E-on on a couple of things that would make this easier to do in Vue 5. I have been told that it is under evaluation and E-on will be back in touch with whatever software changes might be needed- or that they might be willing to impliment. So this WILL be a feature of Vue 5- and it will be Free! But right now I have created several different steps using global illumination, camera technique and scene processing, including using the new Post Processing feature. By trying all these steps in a series of experiments- convinced me that Vue 5 basically had all the necessary needed features. --But they now just need to be combined in a more user-friendly way. Right now- the steps are not yet 1., 2., 3.- but actually branch off into different sub-techniques. The best NEWS, however, is that E-on recognizes that Vue users DO WANT THIS as a new Vue rendering feature- and that there are enough Anime-Cartoon fans out there who are excited about this concept. Maybe because no one had really asked for it- they didn't do it? ----But actually, it is technically a much easier software feature to impliment than say- Particle Weather Systems! And it does appear very likely that Vue 5 Pro will have some type of Cel Shader as a separate rendering option. I certainly hope to be a Vue 5 Pro beta-tester and test it like "crazy" with all kinds of models and scenes. I think Vue 5 Pro COULD have a Cel Shader that is as good as any on the market today- like those used in Max or Lightwave- mainly because the new Vue 5 rendering software is able to support nearly all these advanced features already- including having Python support. So-- stay tuned! I will publish a tutorial on this current Anime-Cartoon method once I hear back from E-on. As for the Cel Shader- that is not yet official because E-on has not even made the Beta yet. And that will need to be tested and finished of course- before they would be willing to announce it as actually being in the Vue 5 Pro release...

Attached Link: http://www.blambot.com

I think so far the samples look very much like the Z-flatten technique in Poser done with Python scripting, which gives objects a cell-shading-style appearance. Since Vue supports Python, the same thing can probably be done in it as well. If I'm right, do I win a prize? ;-)

well v5 pro should be able to do it with python but esprit dont have python enabled, not yet anyway so im not sure youll win a price right now :)

"well v5 pro should be able to do it with python but esprit dont have python enabled, not yet anyway so im not sure youll win a price right now :)" Ooops! Touche! ;-) Still think it's a manipulation of the Z Scale, perhaps without Python's help. Of course, only Veritas knows for sure, and so far, he's not sayin! ;-)

All of the ABOVE is CORRECT! Heh! But- war2 is right- Vue 5 doesn't support Python, nor does the camera "Z" like Posers
(which I think was actually an anomaly, rather than an intended feature.) But Z-flattening, the correct flat plane lighting using Image Based Lighting and using the new Post-Processing feature- which has Gain, Brightness, Saturation, Gamma all play a part in what I'm experimenting with.

The simple reason I've been dragging my feet on posting the exact panel settings, etc- is because:

1. I thought that since I'm still coming up with interesting variations that work in different ways- that posting one way of doing it- might really CHANGE by next week as I discover an even better way of doing it!

2. I have been hoping that E-on could provide a couple of small software changes that would make this much easier- requiring less steps. So that would make any tutorial a lot more simple. One suggestion was creating a Poser-like camera that sees the entire scene in a flattened Z-dimension. This would not require Python in Vue 5 as, if this would work- you would simply load the special Z Camera and off you would go! The other trick I've been using is to rotate the entire scene so that the camera is looking directly DOWN on the scene- like the old days copy cameras that Disney animators used to shoot each Cel- one at a time.
   The reason for this angle is that I'm used a white tile as my Image Based Lighting source. This creates a wonderful and very EVEN light source. The entire scene has equal illumination. But since you cannot ROTATE the dome light now to have the light face forward- I've asked E-on if they can make the sky dome light rotate in 360 degrees- rather than only DOWN. This would be useful for other normal IBL scenes anyway.

3. E-on has basically already told me- Yes, we can make a
   Cel Shader- its not that difficult- especially for Vue 5 Pro. So- that would mean for some people- if you want the official E-on version- wait until Vue 5 Pro comes out.

But its really good that a lot of you are interested in seeing this happen as it just helps E-on to recognize that
a lot of Vue users are interested in "Non-Photo-Real Rendering". Maybe they thought that Vue users were only interested in Photo-Real Renders- so they did not make doing this a feature priority. But now, I think, they realize a lot of Vue users would really want this feature- and especially a REAL Cel Shader as well...

I'll post a couple of scene shots- but just remember- this will NOT be the only way to it, nor maybe even the BEST way,
IF a few software changes are made. And these are not BIG changes I'm asking for- but maybe E-on has a suggestion of another way too- so that's why I want their evaluation on this. They might see a different approach that works even better. Who knows?

OK, I'm slightly confused by some of your statements now. Let me get it correct and please do correct me if I'm wrong. [1] There will be cartoon rendering in Vue 5 standard in the very near future. The addition of this feature will be a free implementation. [2] There will be cell shading in Vue 5 Pro, not standard.

100 mm lense for flat view compression.
Model imported, flatten approx 95%, placed
above a flat plane, then rotated 90 degrees
so that camera is looking straight down.
Image Based Lighting is the White Tile.
3D Type added and, as a new effect I have
been playing with- a side spotlight to
re-create some 3D effects.
Post-Processing dialog includes gamma and
increased saturation of the colors by about
20%. I have no specific formula for this- I
adjust the sliders in the Post-Processing
dialog until things look sufficiently "Toonish".

The cartoon rendering is what you are seeing here. It will be available to whoever wants to go through the steps of creating the end result. Some people may not like this look as it may not be what they want. THIS is NOT Cel Shading. That's a different process than what I'm showing here. Cel Shading as a RENDERING feature is LIKELY in Vue 5 Pro. But that is not OFFICIAL, as E-on has not announced that it will be part of the Vue 5 Pro release. But based upon my emails with them, it will go into Beta sometime in the near future. It will be up to E-on, of course, to decide if it will actually BE in the Vue 5 pro release. It's up to them, as its their company, of course. So we will just have to wait and see what happens...

Thanks

thanks for posting your "settings" veritas, just like you i hope that e.on does include real cel shading in vue5 pro, it can only boost vues reputation and usefullness, cell shading has quite alot of usefull areas as far as web and media productions goes, but if they dont implement cel shading your little findings will do just well.

Another thing that can help with getting your model's pose better is to set it up in Poser and Z-Flatten it there first. Then import the flatten character and layer it on top of your plane. Depending upon how far away it is- it will cast a subtle shadow on the background- or move it very close (or further away) and you will see no shadows at all- (or just turn shadows OFF).

If E-on can impliment the "Flat Camera" like Poser, then this would be much Easier to set up, obviously. And if the Sky Dome could be rotated 360 degrees- then you could set up this with the IBL White Tile using the Bottom Right MAIN CAMERA VIEW (The the scene would not have to be rotated at all- OR, you can just use a SPOTLIGHT as the main lighting.)

being able to rotate the sky dome 360 degrees is something i hope well get anyway, regardless of what e.on does with cel shading or the camera, it would realy boost the ibl implementation in v5pro nice looking mech btw

Message edited on: 11/21/2004 16:36

If you don't have the Mech's yet (like MadCat), go over to RDNA FreeStuff and pick them up. John Malis has released three so far- and more are in the works. Plus- you can use them in commercial renders!...

Attached Link: http://excalibur.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1530612