ATTRIBUTES - OPTIONS - INDICATORS - MENU - TOONSHADE.COM

 

  • Surface parameters tab
    These are common material attributes. You can connect anything in the color attribute to get the look that you want.
  • Stroke parameters tab
    • <silhouette> (bool, default = on): this activates silhouette rendering
    • <crease> (bool, default = off): renders hard edges (non smoothed polygon edges)
    • <border> (bool, default = off): renders border edges ("open" edges)
    • <material> (bool, default = off): renders edges that are between two different materials

      Each of these edge types is defined as follows:
  • Parameters
    • <2D displace> (float, default = 0.0) : moves the silhouette points in the direction of 2D normals by n pixels. Use this if you want a gap between your object and its silhouette.
    • <3D displace> (float, default = 0.0) : basically the same think but works for all edge types. It also uses 3D space.
    • <X offset > (float, default = 0.0) : Shifts all strokes in 2D space with a value of n pixels horizontally
    • <Y offset > (float, default = 0.0) : Shifts all strokes in 2D space with a value of n pixels vertically
    • <Z Bias> (float, default = 0.0) : Shift the strokes in depth (Z) space.
    • <Stroke Quality > (int, default = 8) : Overall sampling quality of the strokes. This has an influence on display but also on pressure maps (if activated)
    • <Stroke Smoothness > (float, default = 0.0) : Smoothes the strokes by a value of n.
    • <Auto-orient normals > (bool, default = off) : If activated, align all the strokes with the normals of the object. This is useful if you work with textured brushes wich have an orientation, like this one

      You can use this method to make simple cartoon trees, clouds...
    • <reverse normals > (bool, default = off) : reverse all strokes directions.
  • Pressure Maps
    • <Map to > (enum, default = <width>) Parameter to map with angle, visibility and / or texture. You may use <width> or <transparency> for normal brushes OR <tube width> / <tubesPerStep> for brushes with tubes. Only one stroke attribute can be pressured at this time. This comes from a limitation of Paint Effects.
    • 3D ANGLE
      • <use 3D angle> (bool, default = off) : Activate it if you want to have angular effects. It works better on simple and sharp models.

        In this example, pressure is mapped to the <width> attribute.
      • <angle> (float, default = 0.6) Angle threshold, set the value from 0 to 1 (0= 0 degrees , 1=360 degrees)
      • <multiplier> (float, default = 4.0) Any polygonal angle greater than the threshold angle will be scaled by this factor.
      • <min> (float, default = 0.5) Clamps the output value.
      • <max> (float, default = 2.0)
      • <smooth> (int, default = 1) Smooths the resulting pressure map to have smoother effects (pixels units).
    • CLIPPING
      • <use pressure maps for clipping> (bool, default =off) Check this to use another method of clipping. Clipping could be defined as removing invisible curve parts before drawing them. You will have cleaner curves and better antialiasing by activating it, but it may not work if your models are very low-poly. In this case, you could try to increase the <quality> attribute, or refine the models.

        NOTE : You have to uncheck the "DEPTH" attribute on your brush before activating it.
      • <smooth> (float, default = 1) Smooths the resulting pressure map to have smoother effects (pixel units).

        NOTE : Maya 5.0 has a new function to oversample Paint Effects; this makes nice anti-aliasing on strokes. Activate it in the render globals of with the CartoonShader menu. If you're on Maya 4.X , a good solution to avoid aliasing artifacts is to render at twice resolution.
  • Mapping
    • <use map> (bool, default =off) Use a texture map to modulate the scale, opacity...
    • <value> (float, default = 0) Connect the output of your texture to this one-channel value.
    • <smooth> (float, default = 0) Smooths the resulting pressure map (pixel units).
  • Animation
    • <variability> (int, default = 2) Number of frames between two randomizations of the strokes. For example, if the value = 1 the strokes will be randomized every frame, and every two frames for a value of 2, etc.
  • Brushes
    • <Global pen > This is where you connect the default pen used for rendering strokes. Basically you have to connect the <out brush> attribute of the paint effects brush to this attribute (or simply click the "get brush" button). It will be overdid by any of the following pens only if there's a connection on them.
    • <Silhouette pen > Pen used for rendering silhouettes.
    • <Crease pen > Pen used for rendering hard edges.
    • <boundary pen > Pen used for boundary edges.
    • <Material pen > Pen used for rendering material delimitations.