Cell Shading Yay
by Arland (Barry) Woodham · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 11/07/2004 (3:56 pm) · 15 replies
Well sort of as I talked about in my .plan I am implementing a sort of cell shading into Torque for my Senior Project I class. Here is the result of the first real piece that will be in game. All the previous examples were tests to see what it would look like. So here we go.
First some regular shots
Now a dynamic shot. The mount point is not relevent to the orc model and will be used with a vehicle. That is why the orc is having such a headache today. I guess its better than it going through his torso like it was before.
Lastly a quick video that shows the cell shaded edges in action.
Click for video
Anyone interested in the .plan I was talking about can view it right here.
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=6659
First some regular shots
Now a dynamic shot. The mount point is not relevent to the orc model and will be used with a vehicle. That is why the orc is having such a headache today. I guess its better than it going through his torso like it was before.
Lastly a quick video that shows the cell shaded edges in action.
Click for video
Anyone interested in the .plan I was talking about can view it right here.
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=6659
About the author
#2
11/08/2004 (10:01 am)
Very nice! I really do enjoy cell shaded games.
#3
I'm unsure of how cel-shading mixed with non cel-shading in the same scene would work for me, so I'm keeping an eye on how you progress and the approach you take :)
11/08/2004 (8:29 pm)
This is great work Barry. I've been toying with the idea of cel shading myself for my little hobby game. I'm only at the mod stage so far, so I've just been using toon-like textures.I'm unsure of how cel-shading mixed with non cel-shading in the same scene would work for me, so I'm keeping an eye on how you progress and the approach you take :)
#4
11/09/2004 (3:17 pm)
Looks cool!, may I ask how you do it?
#5
@Veron - The finished product will have a full cell shaded look this was just a test of importing the weapon into the fps demo. I think with half cel shaded and half non just doesn't look fully resolved.
@Joseph - I still have a lot of work left in my project so I do not quite have time to write a tutorial just yet but, sometime near the end of the month I will be creating one. Keep in mind it is not full cell shading just the edges are and then combined with simple toon-like textures.
I think later when I get time to really examine some of the rendering code I might actually be able to achieve full cell shading but, that is still a long way off. Untill then this is just the next best thing. Also I believe with some modifications to the terrian code I could even get the edges incoperated in the cell shaded look. Again this is a looooong way off.
11/09/2004 (5:16 pm)
Thanks for the comments guys it really feels good when something in a project actually starts working right without problems. And it feels even better when I get such supportive comments from people.@Veron - The finished product will have a full cell shaded look this was just a test of importing the weapon into the fps demo. I think with half cel shaded and half non just doesn't look fully resolved.
@Joseph - I still have a lot of work left in my project so I do not quite have time to write a tutorial just yet but, sometime near the end of the month I will be creating one. Keep in mind it is not full cell shading just the edges are and then combined with simple toon-like textures.
I think later when I get time to really examine some of the rendering code I might actually be able to achieve full cell shading but, that is still a long way off. Untill then this is just the next best thing. Also I believe with some modifications to the terrian code I could even get the edges incoperated in the cell shaded look. Again this is a looooong way off.
#6
11/16/2004 (7:32 am)
Looks great!
#7
If you will do some tutorial on cell shading, i would be delighted.
thanks,
12/07/2004 (3:18 am)
Hi Arland, If you will do some tutorial on cell shading, i would be delighted.
thanks,
#8
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=24663
01/06/2005 (8:34 am)
Finally had time to write the tutorial it can be found here.www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=24663
#9
01/09/2005 (10:28 am)
Aaah yes! Cel Shading! Love the effect. Nice work on dropping that in.
#10
Since you tackled part of it already, I thought I'd get some of your thoughts on these sort of challenges and if you think they can be accomplished in Torque...
I'm anxious to hear you thoughts....
Trane
04/07/2005 (4:36 pm)
Are you planning on continuing the work on this? Are you considering how to render creases? Such as the line effect on a nose that's pointing 3/4 towards the camera? Or what about line weight & styles, crosshatching for shadows etc,...Since you tackled part of it already, I thought I'd get some of your thoughts on these sort of challenges and if you think they can be accomplished in Torque...
I'm anxious to hear you thoughts....
Trane
#11
05/11/2005 (10:52 pm)
That is F*ing beautiful man. Really nice job, seriously. I'm going to have to tackle that one day in the semi-near future.
#12
)
but if I were wanting to do this type of effect a game I would get Torque Shader Engine and look at importing a real toon shader.
The cartoon outlining shown in this thread looks pretty bad. That's nothing against the developer, but it's a subjective thing - just not an effect I find appealing.
05/11/2005 (11:45 pm)
If I were interested in Cell Shading, which I am not really (except for the movie Appleseed which used the toon shader from Softimage XSI and it looks awesome http://www.softimage.com/Community/Xsi/Mag/CS/VOLUME_5/Issue_1/1.htm )
but if I were wanting to do this type of effect a game I would get Torque Shader Engine and look at importing a real toon shader.
The cartoon outlining shown in this thread looks pretty bad. That's nothing against the developer, but it's a subjective thing - just not an effect I find appealing.
#13
@Trane: Sorry never saw your post before. Those kind of challenges could not be solved by this method and would require a shader of some sort where as this method is a trick to the engine. Yes I do plan on continuing this project but, I'm at least 6 months off from even starting and I will be rebuilding it from the ground up using TSE with a proper shader.
@Paul: Thanks man it is very easy to implement just refer to the simple tutorial I wrote in above post.
@Alex: I really do see your comment as a stab. And let me say why. First you state that you have no interest in cellshading besides a movie example which is beyond the capabilities of a game engine. You then say you would use TSE with a shader but, who cares because you would not do a game with cell shading because you dont like it. You could have just left it at that but, you had to throw in that you belive that it looks pretty bad but, to qualify it you say nothing against the developer saying it's not an effect you find appealing. Yet again why should anyone care because after all you dont like cellshading so of course you wont like the look of this effect.
If you would do a little reading of the .plan I linked to as well as maybe the tutorial I posted you would be able to tell this was part of a Senior project at my college. One that I choose to learn TGE and as such had to live with the limitations that it contains. Also being that it is a school project nothing from it could be used later for a commercial project so all artwork would have to be scrapped. As such implementing a real toon shader would not have been practical. Not to mention the project was developed in about 12 weeks. Anyways as I said above I do plan to continue on to TSE later with a "proper" toon shader and maybe when I do I will share my work in how I acomplish it I just hope someone won't put it down about a half a year after I orginally posted it.
@Anyone who cares: Sorry for anything that came across as a flame in the above response I have had very little sleep in the last week. Anybody who missed it there was an IOTD of Cartoon-Combat that was posted a little while ago at the conclusion of this project which can be found at www.garagegames.com/mg/snapshot/view.php?qid=967 Also the finished version of the game can be downloaded on the website linked in the IOTD. The best part is all scripts are included and may be used in your own projects however the artwork may not. Remember this was a senior project not something a small dev studio worked on for 2 years.
05/12/2005 (2:15 am)
... well the post came back from the dead. Again apparently.@Trane: Sorry never saw your post before. Those kind of challenges could not be solved by this method and would require a shader of some sort where as this method is a trick to the engine. Yes I do plan on continuing this project but, I'm at least 6 months off from even starting and I will be rebuilding it from the ground up using TSE with a proper shader.
@Paul: Thanks man it is very easy to implement just refer to the simple tutorial I wrote in above post.
@Alex: I really do see your comment as a stab. And let me say why. First you state that you have no interest in cellshading besides a movie example which is beyond the capabilities of a game engine. You then say you would use TSE with a shader but, who cares because you would not do a game with cell shading because you dont like it. You could have just left it at that but, you had to throw in that you belive that it looks pretty bad but, to qualify it you say nothing against the developer saying it's not an effect you find appealing. Yet again why should anyone care because after all you dont like cellshading so of course you wont like the look of this effect.
If you would do a little reading of the .plan I linked to as well as maybe the tutorial I posted you would be able to tell this was part of a Senior project at my college. One that I choose to learn TGE and as such had to live with the limitations that it contains. Also being that it is a school project nothing from it could be used later for a commercial project so all artwork would have to be scrapped. As such implementing a real toon shader would not have been practical. Not to mention the project was developed in about 12 weeks. Anyways as I said above I do plan to continue on to TSE later with a "proper" toon shader and maybe when I do I will share my work in how I acomplish it I just hope someone won't put it down about a half a year after I orginally posted it.
@Anyone who cares: Sorry for anything that came across as a flame in the above response I have had very little sleep in the last week. Anybody who missed it there was an IOTD of Cartoon-Combat that was posted a little while ago at the conclusion of this project which can be found at www.garagegames.com/mg/snapshot/view.php?qid=967 Also the finished version of the game can be downloaded on the website linked in the IOTD. The best part is all scripts are included and may be used in your own projects however the artwork may not. Remember this was a senior project not something a small dev studio worked on for 2 years.
#14
Oh boo hoo. When people post artwork it's normal, even expected, to be critiqued. Why should not the same go for shaders or for other visual effects? Anyways, I look forward to seeing your work with a real toon shader and I promise not to post in response, positive or negative.
05/12/2005 (9:37 pm)
@Arland Barry - Oh boo hoo. When people post artwork it's normal, even expected, to be critiqued. Why should not the same go for shaders or for other visual effects? Anyways, I look forward to seeing your work with a real toon shader and I promise not to post in response, positive or negative.
#15
05/13/2005 (8:10 pm)
I am an art student and I am very used to critique and while I agree with visual effects being critiqued what you did was an opinion with no real qualifications. I have no problem taking bad criticisim when done in good taste. Take a look at posts on conceptart.org and your will see what real critiques are. Oh and starting a post as "Oh boo hoo" is a good way to start a flame war but since I don't want this to turn into one I will just leave my comments related to this topic as is.
Torque Owner Ian Roach
Great work