Toon Shader

Hi,
I am creating a new toon shader. It is compatible with IOS, Android and renders fast.
The estimated release date is around April 30 and the price will be 15$.

Link to web player

Here is some first results using a free model from turbosquid :



Edit :
Update with outlined toon shader.

Web player link :

 

can we see the original model with a standard shader?

 

Before putting it out there, could you give some real tests on the iOS platforms ? With an actual possible scene scenario ?
I was excited by the looks of it, since that is what I was always looking for, but "pretty fast" was a bit of a bummer.

 

Hi,
Thanks for the interest !
I updated the first post with a link to a web player, so you can check the shader out.
rqpain :

The model I used can be found here, you can try different shaders on it.

Acumen :

I understand your skepticism, so I will try to clarify some things : I post this as a work in progress. That means there is still work to do, hence no benchmarks provided. Right now the speed is comparable to diffuse shader.

Could you please rephrase, I do not fully understand what you are saying. You mean to provide some sample scene ? If so, check the first post for a quick demonstration. For now, this is all I can provide ( I code in weekend only, hence a full scene will take some time, but I will provide it before release ).

Keep this thought

I have some difficulties to understand what you are saying again, I believe you mean that you do not believe my statement about speed. I fully understand this and I will provide some benchmarks before the release. Actually the reason I do not release it now is that I have to create some documentation, graphics, example files, explain how to integrate with Batching Tools to have a minimum number of draw calls for multiple moving objects ( like, say, one draw call ). The good thing is that the "meat" of this product is ready, I just have to finish the packaging.

If you have any suggestions, questions, please ask.
-Ippokratis

 

I think he ment that that "pretty fast" means that its kind of fast but not to fast maby edit the post to say "realy fast"?

 

Good job on the shader, you seem to have a knack for this. Unfortunately I don't need something like this, but if you can find a way to make an outline ( cell ) shader that can work on iOS, I'd be extremely interested. Everything I tried gets rejected by iPhone's GPU.

 

can we get a shot of your shader on these models, also free from turbo squid? that goku is already toonish, these will show off your shader on a range of styles:

a classic fantasy archer
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/medieval-archer-fantasy-3d-model/290750

a robot/mech
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-max-mode-tada-3rd/611033

a monster of high poly count
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/character-3d-model/263590

especially these two more realistic meshes
a policeman
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-3ds-model-police-officer/320414

a kinda toonish jock
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/stylized-male-athletic-max-free/473463

Im interested from an intellectual view but I think others might like to see how it handles different kinds of modeling.

 

Hi,
titanty : Thanks for the explanations, I think that "fast" describes it well ( just modified it ).

Diviner : Thanks for the kind words. I already have an outline version in the works that fixes the thick silhouette ( outline ) problem at long distances ( problem in most implementations I founs so far). I will provide some examples soon. It is costly though ( 2 draw calls per outlined mesh ). The unity provided toon shaders use cube maps, hence cannot be used on IOS and Android, another approach is to use sphere maps ( there are some posts on this subject ). I am looking forward to see more of your projects, the tutorials are great.

rqpaine : I do not have 3ds max, so I cannot use most of these models. I will post the ones I can import in Unity.
You should know from now that if you cannot create - find - purchase models that have cartoon "feel", the results with any shader will not look good. I have devised a way to combine line art and cartoon shading, so the shader - texturing part is pretty covered ( most in future posts ), the modelling part is up to you. If you have a specific model that you wish to test, send it over and I will happily send you back some pictures so you can judge if it works for you, but this should happen after I release the product, in about a month as noted in the first post.

Thanks for the feedback,
-Ippokratis

 

what are the specs of this shader?

 

Yeh, sorry for not being totally clear. I tend to write mysterious comments that nobody but me seems to understand
Sounds like I need to watch this progress closely ! You pretty much answered all my questions already. Looking forward for more examples and documentation.

 

Good job!

I think you need to show more models with your shader,.

I'm interested to buy it..

Totally agreed

 

Very interested, especially for a cell shaded outline version. The toon shaders built into Unity are a bit of an April fools joke that someone forgot to remove

 

Hi,
stefmen :

Please rephrase, I do not understand your question. I am not aware of shaders having "specs", I am curious what exactly you need to know. Thanks.

Acumen:

Actually, I have some difficulties in understanding colloquial words, it is good to know that I answered your questions. More examples and documentations are coming soon.

Marata:

Thanks for your kind words.
I intend to show more models as I progress with the shader development. Right now I work with Blade Master 2 model ( Thanks Evan Greenwood ).


Please note that it uses 88 tris.

Beyond Basic Games :

I have great respect to what Unity provides for free - an affordable price. I hope that when this shader is finished, it will serve others well.
Thanks for the feedback and your kind words,
-Ippokratis

 

Looks fantastic, if I keep working my game I'll use your shadder for sure

 

Hy there!

When we can put our hands on this shader?

 

I'm very interested in this and the outlined version as well. One thing I haven't gotten around to is learning shaders.

 

Absolutely fantastic !
Although I'm going to experiment with 2d , i'll be happy to spend 15$ on your shader .
Go ahead and check my game in my sigh to see why I NEED your shader,
Thanks !!!

 

Built-in shader works on iOS, but not on Android. I like how that looks, might use it for Bedroom Racer.

 

Hi,
Thanks for your kind words, here is another example with a web player :
Link to the web player




How it works : You have a mesh like this.
It is a mesh with submeshes.

You use the shader color field in each material to assign the base color.
If you need texture details ( I use them in this model for the eyes and the mouth ), you use another shader that uses this info too.
So you can set for each material the color and the details. The shader applies a "toon effect" on this input (cell shading).

I am very satisfied with the results and the comments so far, I will release this shader by April 7 ( in a week) since there is enough interest.

I plan to add some more shaders ( outline, different number of shades, different orientation of shades ) and editor tools that will permit easier - more expressive content creation as this pack matures. I also intend to permit cooperation with Batching Tools for lowering the rendering times too. As I add features, the price will bump a little (but not too much), so check it out early
-Ippokratis

 

A preview of the Toon Outline shader.

Web player link

 

Interesting
Does this outline technique use the doubledthenflippedmesh approach ?

 

Can't wait to try this. Keep going! Will be testing this on _all_ iOS hardware (well, all the devices with shaders of course).

 

Hi,

Acumen : Yes, but at the shader ( more flexibility over modifying the mesh, same cost ). A Sobel effect would be Pro only - no good.

markofjohnson : Thanks for your kind words, I try hard to release it earlier due to increased interest

-Update-
New test on outlined toon shader. Adjustable outline thickness, color, supports transparent lines.

Web player link :

 

Looks really good. Does it support shadows?

 

This looks great, well done! ill be buying this regardless if I use it or not!

 

Curious to see the shader working with a hand painted texture...
I'll buy it to give it a try

 

Hello,
I am interested. I prepared a model, could we see it how does it work with your shader? If you don't want to show it to others, you can PM me a link too.
The prepared model:
Samurai rabbit pose fbx
Texture



Also what would be the price?

 

Hi,

Thanks for your kind words

I am open to suggestions, would you like to send some assets to test them out ?

I will provide a web player with the model you send in the weekend ( I also try to release the first version by then ).
It will cost 15$.

Thanks for your feedback,
Ippokratis

 

New build : Hellboy, 1500 tris, 2600 verts ( Unity stats ).
Source model
Link to web player


-Update-
Good news : The first version of this toon shader family ( currently having 6 members ), is done.
Bad news : I cannot test on IOS until I manage to send the @#%$ fax to Apple so I can renew my developer account.

I have done many changes in the original shader that was running fast on IOS. All those changes are making the shader more lightweight, thus faster. But, I cannot test it on IOS any more, because my apple developer account expired. Until I get approved again as an IOS developer ( I thought renewal can be done via internet but nope, fax is required ), the shader is published without IOS support guarantee.

I am making a new thread once I submit the shader to the Asset Store ( in a few hours ).
Thanks for your patience,
-Ippokratis.

 

cant wait

 

Agreed...looks fantastic. My love of WindWaker knows no bounds so this is happyface stuff right here if indeed it's spry on iOS.

 

Submitted.
If it gets approved it will look like this :



Thanks for the feedback

 

Looks good!

 

Hi,
I haven't thought that using hellboy's head violates copyright infringement (!).
I will re-create the package without it and submit it tomorrow.
Sorry for the delay,
-Ippokratis.

 

I'll be buying. And nice Tempest clone you created.

 

Looks very nice! Does the shaders support transparency, for example main color being semitransparent (50%)?

 

There is another thread where he talks about opaqueness transparency so I guess when released his toon shader will have variants as well:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/108431-The-most-simplistic-Fake-Toon-Shader

 

Hi,

Thanks for your kind words

Thanks I can provide a version of the shader that supports main color transparency easily, the problem is efficiency ( overdraw kills performance in any shader). If you do not mind sacrificing performance, I will include another 4 shaders that support this feature ( and jump to 10 shaders ). The only reason I have not developed it so far is that I thought there will be no demand.

-Update-
I am planning to re-submit the modified package this weekend, some video tutorials in Engrish will follow soon. Thanks a lot for your support !
-Ippokratis

 

I'll check for it in the store next Monday then.

I was thinking of buying your batch tools too but when are you fixing the bug?

Thanks.

 

Hi,

Sure, but what bug are you talking about ? I am very interested in user feedback, does someone you know has problems with batching tools ?
If so, please report at the main thread ( preferably send along a minimal sample scene that reproduces the error ).
Thanks,
-Ippokratis

 

Well I could of sworn I read in another thread that there was a bug in the batcher because of Unity 3.5.

From your reaction I guess you probably already fixed it.

 

Hi,
Batching Tools Lightmap support is broken in 3.5 ( and I am working on this) but I am not aware of other problems. I am very interested in user feedback, hence my response. If this is the issue you mention, I try hard to solve it but I am unable to estimate when this will happen. Lightmapping is an important feature I wish to further support but the new implementation gives me headaches

 

OK, well I want the toon shading primarily but was going to buy the batching to help optimise. I'll certainly let you know / forward the logs for this to you if you haven't gotta it fixed by the time I use it.

 

Hi,
goat: Sure, I appreciate feedback a lot.

-Update-
Thanks to BirdaoGwra, I have a nice model to showcase the toon shader
A web player that showcases it will appear later today.
[EDIT]
The fax arrived at Apple and now I can test the shader on my IPod Touch again ! The next 4 days are going to be very interesting

 

LOL, I'm doing that same tutorial that BirdaoGwra used to create that model. That style and your toon shader is a perfect combo for Unity I think.

I'll still pay to buy the shader from you but if you want extra help testing done with iOS 3.1.3 (1st Gen iPod Touch) and iOS 4.2.1 (iPhone 3G) with old intel Core2Duo MacMini Lion 10.7.3.

If it fails I guess I'll fall back to mat shading (which is OK with the right colors applied to the vertices).

 

Hi,
The toon shader runs on devices supporting programable shaders, all models from Iphone 3gs ( included ) and up. If you plan to support earlier devices, you should try other solutions indeed. We both own a similar mac btw
I am very interested in the tutorial you mention. Could you please provide a link ?

 

I was afraid of that.

I will still buy your shader as I will be buying an new iPod touch soon. I guess I could figure out programmatically whether to use your toon Shader or mat shader with colored vertices (this looks like 'claymation', not bad; but not toon shading).

Here is the link to the tutorial (It is for Blender 2.46, please note keyboard shortscuts have changed somewhat):

http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/bl...-a-complete-manga-character-in-blender-day-1/

Here is link to Blender 2.5x shortcuts:

http://wiki.blender.org/uploads/1/14/Keyboardlayout_250.png

There are several intro tutorials for using the mouse and shortcuts for beginners in Blender. You can probably find one in Greek.

Here are the shortcuts in my limited experience I use the most:

LMB - Left Mouse Button, RMB - Right.., MMB - Middle..

<Shift>MMB - Move window in current viewport (not the mesh) up or down (that is Y axis)
<Control>MMB - Move window in current viewport (not the mesh) left or right (that is X axis)
MMB<ScrollWheel> - Move window in current viewport (not the mesh forward or backwards (that is Z axis)
MMB<Drag Push/Pull> - move around all axis acording to the location current '3D cursor'
<NumPad>. - Center selected mesh/object in viewport

<Control>LMB - lasso select - similar to Photoshop Gimp cowboy lasso select
<ALT>RMB - loop select - selects edges along surface circumference
<L> - Linked select
<A> - All/None select
<Control><NumPad>+ - grow (add) to current selection group
(One Face)<Shift> - deselects selected face

G - move mesh/object
Gx, Gy, Gz - move mesh/object restricted to the axis x, y, or z

R - rotate mesh/object
Rx, Ry, Rz - rotate mesh/object restricted to the axis x, y, or z



Here is another shortcut list:

http://www.blendertips.com/hotkeys.html

 

Hi,
Thanks for the links and the info, much appreciated.

-Update-
The shader works fine on IOS. No benchmarks yet, just a simple 60 fps scene with transparent outline.

 

Hi when this will be released? ... I just bought batching tools btw

 

Hey,

Looks good. When I was in Korea, alot of the school girls dress like that, catholic school uniform or in England public school style uniforms.

I have been testing NGUI and other Package Imports today in Unity 3.5.1 (again since I need to test on iOS) with my Duo2Core (mid 2007) MacMini, osX Lion 10.7.3, 4GB RAM, Intel 350 GPU, and 15GB free diskspace:

Didn't you say you use MacMini with the same specs (or nearly the same)?

Everytime I try to import NGUI, or other packages osX freezes up and I have to hard cycle the machine.

I did this in Unity 3.4.2 as well and I uploaded a whole project as bug report.

The only other thing I have seen so consistently look up a UNIX OS prior to this was a SCSI Barcode reader someone neglected to remove at a bank I worked at or having an NFS file system and losing a network connection (to be fair that would look up all OSes in that day).

Do you have this same trouble on your MacMini importing Unity Packages like NGUI (or others, even custom made simple programs)?

This is very agravating as I use Unity 3.5.1 on a Windows 7 x64 machine (loaded with all kinds of junk, much more than the MacMini) with same CPU as the MacMini and 4GB RAM as well. The big difference being the PC has a similarly old ATI 2400HD Graphics card rather than the MB Intel 350 Graphics Card.

I think the cause might be when Unity create 'mats' from texture raster files but that's a guess.