Non-photorealistic Renders (NPR)

Headwax

JOHNGARRETT said:

Thanks, @UnifiedBrain! I'm glad you found some time to go through it and it actually helped you.

I know you and @head wax are using Carrara...is it super-similar to Daz? I've never even tried it, but is it related to Daz in a "Poser" kind of way?

Sorry Mr Garrett, just saw this,

you can use mostly everything that is old daz stuff, genesis 1 and 2 (and three with an external work around)  , the genesis figures will weigh in at hefty saves though

ah the big advantage for Carrara in NPR work is all the render passes already built in - and most render at the same time (except for external plugins and and several built in engines)  

at the same time you can render out eg an outline , a masking pass, diffuse textures, shadow pass, ambient pass , colour pass,

I started a Carrara NPR thread here, if you would like examples https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/158646/carrara-non-photo-realistic-works/p1

Headwax

tkdrobert said:

Hey all. I could use some feedback.  Attached are some concepts for that graphic novel I keep toying with.  This will be my main character/team leader.  This is a sci-fi team of merc/heros story.  The 1st two pictures are using a G1M.  The only difference between them is the skin shader.  Picture 1 ia Visual Style Shaders and Picture 2 is Hiro 4 skin.

Picture 3 is G2M with a different toon shader for the skin.  I tried putting both outfits on the G2M but it wouldn't work.  Too much poke through.  Let me know what you think about the different skin shaders as well as the different stle outfits.  I'm going for a Buck Rodgers/Flash Gordon/Star Lord vibe.

hi, hard choice - I havent read the other feedback but I prefer this one

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/uploads/FileUpload/b3/2ce4fc117722c3cbc12a0bf6e18088.png

it's a good mix of real and NPR and the faces have come out cleanly - important for expressions I think

 

Headwax

JOHNGARRETT said:

Thanks @mmitchell_houston!

And for you and @tkdrobert, I would definitely, wholeheartedly recommend investing some time into learning Freestyle. Some of the renders I've seen over on the Blender forums are straight up ridiculous in how natural they look.

Those thick lines on top of the wings were a natural effect of using what's called the "Along Stroke" modifier in my Freestyle Line Style options. This lets me use a curve to control how thick or thin the line can become, and where along the curve the thickness happens. I had adjusted the curve quite a bit by the time I got this result and I really liked it so I stuck with that.

I can also use a "Distance from Camera" modifier to make the lines thinner (or thicker) depending on how far away they are from the camera. Just like the Along Stroke modifier, I can use a curve or also linear values.

You can do a lot more than that, too. Especially if you get into the scripting, some incredible effects seen over on the Blender Artists forums.

As for how I did it, I used the McTeleBlender script to quickly export my entire scene, buildings and all, out to Blender, and set up the Freestyle render from there. McTeleBlender exports the scene with the camera, lights, render settings and materials as close as possible to how they were in Daz.

Freestyle is an open source renderer that you technically could use as a stand-alone renderer, but even the developers recommend that you use the Blender version.

There's some good videos here and there on YouTube, but I actually bought the Freestyle Level Up course from the guys at the BlenderNPR website. You can see a trailer for it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs99cYiO4KY

The course is about 3 years old, but it still holds up. It cost me about $30 (U.S.) and it was well worth it.

If you want to get into Blender itself (which I also recommend), some of the free beginner tutorials from Andrew Price (blenderguru.com) are really good, but I would suggest subscribing to the CG Cookie site (cgcookie.com/learn-blender/), because their courses are really tightly structured, and the path from beginner to intermediate to advanced is clearly laid out. These guys know how to teach!

Anyway just let me know if you have any more questions.

great information thanks, the line work looks terrific - so one render (3delight) is in Daz Studio and one in blender ? so you can import studio cameras to blender? (pardon me), or second choice Blender renders in 3delight as well? ;)

Headwax

More Carrara render Passes worked up in Topaz Impression

 'Phantom At The Opera,' - 'Opéra Garnier, Back Entrance, 8.15 P.M., October 12th 1875'.

 

 

Artini

New Genesis 8 Female iray render with Topaz Clean applied in postwork.

tkdrobert

head wax said:

tkdrobert said:

Hey all. I could use some feedback.  Attached are some concepts for that graphic novel I keep toying with.  This will be my main character/team leader.  This is a sci-fi team of merc/heros story.  The 1st two pictures are using a G1M.  The only difference between them is the skin shader.  Picture 1 ia Visual Style Shaders and Picture 2 is Hiro 4 skin.

Picture 3 is G2M with a different toon shader for the skin.  I tried putting both outfits on the G2M but it wouldn't work.  Too much poke through.  Let me know what you think about the different skin shaders as well as the different stle outfits.  I'm going for a Buck Rodgers/Flash Gordon/Star Lord vibe.

hi, hard choice - I havent read the other feedback but I prefer this one

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/uploads/FileUpload/b3/2ce4fc117722c3cbc12a0bf6e18088.png

it's a good mix of real and NPR and the faces have come out cleanly - important for expressions I think

 

That concept is the hands on favorite so far.

tkdrobert

Artini said:

New Genesis 8 Female iray render with Topaz Clean applied in postwork.

I can't experiment with G8 until later, maybe not until tomorrow.  I'm not sure G8 is worth my time right now for NPR.  Most of what I need for NPR can be done with older characters.  Realistic renders?  That's another story.  We shall see I guess.

3141592654

Good day all,

I decided it was time to expand my horizons and start working with other than realistic renders - so manga, toon, outlines, and other styles are all up for learning. I put up a quick dozen variations of the same image in the Pi Man gallery to get started.  [Please note these are not meant to be great images, just an attempt at different results]. Suggestions on any of the styles here or as comments under a particular picture are welcome. Here are a few samples:

tkdrobert

Long over due tribute to one of my childhood heros.  Old school 1980s G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes.

tkdrobert

Another one before I go to bed.

Headwax

tkdrobert said:

Another one before I go to bed.

nice job, looks like a lot of fun to make, belongs on the cd cover of a game :)

 

Headwax

3141592654 said:

Good day all,

I decided it was time to expand my horizons and start working with other than realistic renders - so manga, toon, outlines, and other styles are all up for learning. I put up a quick dozen variations of the same image in the Pi Man gallery to get started.  [Please note these are not meant to be great images, just an attempt at different results]. Suggestions on any of the styles here or as comments under a particular picture are welcome. Here are a few samples:

welcome to the dark side - I'm liking this one for starters https://www.daz3d.com/forums/uploads/FileUpload/05/0c7e14cc1aed9b0e9f5a65d4e7c877.jpg ;)

 

JOHNGARRETT

YO, JOE!!! 

Awesome, brings back many great memories of watching G.I. Joe after school. Also brings to mind the infamous Snake Eyes "silent issue" of the Marvel G.I. Joe comic...

tkdrobert said:

Long over due tribute to one of my childhood heros.  Old school 1980s G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes.

 

Artini

Rebekah - https://www.daz3d.com/fw-rebekah-hd-for-victoria-8

rendered in iray and then applied in postwork: Topaz Simplify, Topaz Clean and two different Filter Forge 6 filters.

wsterdan

Artini said:

Rebekah - https://www.daz3d.com/fw-rebekah-hd-for-victoria-8

rendered in iray and then applied in postwork: Topaz Simplify, Topaz Clean and two different Filter Forge 6 filters.

Very nice, the linework especially is well-done.

-- Walt Sterdan

Artini

Thanks a lot, Walt.

It is the first time, I really like the look of how Topaz Simplify filtered the render, especially when combined with Topaz Clean.

 

tkdrobert

Daredevil and Luke Cage taking care of some thugs.  This is my second attempt to do a fight scene.  I'm trying to make my renders a little more interesting.  I was going to do a second render of this with Luke being more prominent, but DAZ froze up and I lost a lot of the scene (female, guns on the floor, change of figure positions).  I didn't feel like doing it over again.

Artini

Victoria 8...

Worlds_Edge

I tried to see how I would do with painting over a Daz character.  I used Nino with Cage Casual Waves hair Knight of Valor clothing.  After rendering, I drew line art and painted over everything.  Alas, my lineart skills are very limited.  I need to practice to get smoother lines.  I was unable to get a good result by drawing or painting over the face, so I used the Topaz clean filter on the face.  In my personal thread, I threw a background pattern in that sort of hides my bad lineart but I'm not spamming this threat.  

  

And this is why many of us are looking for some sort of perfect auto lining tool and, in the meantime, using tools that really need tweaking.  

Worlds_Edge

The fight scene came out great @tkdrobert great job with the posing too.  

Nice clean lines on V8 @artini She game out really good.

JOHNGARRETT

Aw, man great looking scene, @tkdrobert!

The only other things I could see in this piece are some comic-like "impact bursts"  and some sound effects.

Too bad about the other scene, though, I would have liked to have seen that.

tkdrobert said:

Daredevil and Luke Cage taking care of some thugs.  This is my second attempt to do a fight scene.  I'm trying to make my renders a little more interesting.  I was going to do a second render of this with Luke being more prominent, but DAZ froze up and I lost a lot of the scene (female, guns on the floor, change of figure positions).  I didn't feel like doing it over again.

 

Artini

Thanks a lot, Worlds_Edge.

Artini

Genesis 3 Female dressed in Chevaleresse Armor - https://www.daz3d.com/chevaleresse-armor-for-genesis-3-females

tkdrobert

@JOHNGARRETT ​  Here you go.  LOL!

wsterdan

tkdrobert said:

@JOHNGARRETT ​  Here you go.  LOL!

Very nice; I think the only thing I'd add to give it a more "comic book" feel would be motion lines.

Very well done.

-- Walt Sterdan 

tkdrobert

wsterdan said:

tkdrobert said:

@JOHNGARRETT ​  Here you go.  LOL!

Very nice; I think the only thing I'd add to give it a more "comic book" feel would be motion lines.

Very well done.

-- Walt Sterdan 

There's still a lot for me to learn. I got an iPad Pro for a Father's Day present, so I can start drawing some of the things I don't know how to do in DAZ or Photoshop.

Singular Blues

 

Messing Genesis 8. Thought I'd share.

FirstBastion

Artini said:

Victoria 8...

Great retro 70's vibe! 

Artini

Thanks a lot, FirstBastion.

 

Mighty Mysterio

Artini said:

Victoria 8...

With a paper texture and perhaps a little weathering around the edges, this would look as though it were taken directly from a 1970s illustration in a magazine. What a convincing NPR!!!