synopsis


In this simple 'making of' tutorial, we will break down the steps used to render the image above using the toon shader. We will cover how to use the rim_lighting, base_tonemap, specular_tonemap, and stylized_highlight attributes of the toon shader to create a 'painterly' type portrait of our intergalactic hero Sven!

The original Maya scene files for this series of tutorials can be downloaded from Autodesk's Hyperspace Madness production.

Assign Toon Shaders

  • Start off by assigning toon shaders to the head, hair, eyes, and spacesuit. Connect the relevant diffuse maps to the base_color of each toon shader.

Base Tonemap (ramp)

  • Create a ramp similar to the one below and connect it to the base_tonemap of the toon shader assigned to Sven's face.

rampRGB -> base_tonemap


Specular Tonemap (ramp)

  • Lower the specular_weight to around 0.1 and increase the specular_roughness to around 0.7.
  • Create a ramp and connect it to specular_tonemap.

rampRGB -> specular_tonemap


Rim Lighting

  • Create a spot light and position it so that it is pointing at Sven from behind and at an angle. Add it to the Rim Lighting-> Light attribute.
  • Create a rampRGB and connect it to rim_lighting_color.

Light -> rim_lighting


Stylized Highlight

We can use the stylized_highlight to create a cartoon-style highlight on Svens eyes.

  • Create a spotlight and point it at Svens eyes. Hide the light so that it does not illuminate Sven.
  • Connect a circular ramp (similar to the one below) to the stylized_highlight_color of the Eye shader and increase the stylized highlight_size to around 0.8.

stylised_highlight (specular reflection)

Indirect Specular

Indirect_specular (and indirect_diffuse) can have a subtle effect on the appearance of the toon shading. In this case indirect _specular: 0 works better for the eye shader.

indirect_specular: 0

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