Exploration. I think that's the word that I'm looking for. Or perhaps "experiment" fits better for this. Artistic experiment instead of scientific experiment. Though, my experiment resulting in nothing new, but I like.
And I hope you like it as well...
Agent CyanThis was the result of me experimenting with Blender 2.8's toon shader. But instead of setting up a simple node group and be done with it by smashing that "Render Image" button, I decided to fiddle around more to create something more interesting.
Captain here! Toon shader, or toon shading, or cel-shading, nor NPR is the digital art term for 'cartoony' visual style you usually see in, well as the name suggest, 2D cartoons and anime. In 3D modelling, it is a method to create a 3D model appears flat like it's 2D. And one way to achieve that is by using the tool called node group, or simply node. Captain out!
Here's a sneak peek of the nodes and the model without the shader:
Those magical nonsense on top are what we call the nodes, though you don't have to understand them, of course, and the bottom is the viewport, where the magic happens.
I'm still experimenting on this style, trying to come up with a better look which I'll apply to another character.
Originally, I wanted to make it look like one of those old comic book style shader, with the dots or those lines on the paper but somehow the process led me to render this retro poster sort of stuff instead, which I don't mind. In fact, I like it.
Notice the little "UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A START" sticker on his back thereAs for the character itself, the idea behind him is that he's some sort of sentient old TV that brings "retro" in his presence and cartoon-comical mannerism. He's not a secret agent, but a wannabe secret agent.
I used to call this project the "RGB Series", but apparently I've forgotten about this until lately. And yes, his name, Cyan, is the colour cyan. Note that this is separate from The Owl, The Wolf, and The Spider's universe, which is fantasy.
I really want to share the trick to change his facial expression using the texture map, but I thought I don't have to because I'm not sure how many 3D artists will see this. So I'll just keep it 'all audience-friendly'.
Second renderI worked on this before I even finish the Inglourious Basterds fanart scene, and now time to go back and finish that one quick before I start working on a character for an Artstation contest that I'll participate on Monday.
For Blender users, if you want to see the full nodes just ask me, I'll send you nodes. Yes, I'll send you my nodes, senpai~
Ok, I should stop. Thanks for visiting, and if you have any questions, leave
...them in the comment section below. Ha! Got you.
Ok, bye. ._.
Character Portrait | 3D Print-Ready Model
If it's any consolation I can work out from the gif what you probably did, though were I to try I would probably blunder along with something different, accidentally stumble onto the same thing or have to ask if I wanted to do exactly what you did XD
You got a lot further than I did playing with the toon shaders, this was about as far as I got playing with freestyle:
Think you've done a pretty good job with the retro look :) kind of curious as to how well it would animate, definitely makes for some lovely stills. I love its little facial expressions XD
That definitely looks 2D, Ry! I forgot to try freestyle on him, not sure if it'll look better, though, because it'll break the seamless colour of the shade with the background. Toon shading is pretty simple, but that's the problem, you don't know what to do with a simple setup XD
And since it's not organic (he's a robot), the weight painting for animation is simpler than an organic character. But I don't know if I want to try animation soon...
If you wanted to try freestyle maybe do it in another version. Or maybe on a different project altogether, you have a good thing going here XD
If it's a low poly model with a simple rig you should be able to churn out simple animations on your dinosaur computer. It's rendering I'd be more worried about but at least if you're rendering to frames like you should be you can resume if it crashes on you :S
Oh wow, I love this. I'm a big fan of these retro 80s, Miami Vice style of pictures ❤️. As I'm scrolling through this, I'm quietly creating a backstory behind Agent Cyan... I can't help it! In a world where robots and computers have taken over, only Agent Cyan can thwart human villains and rebels bent on world domination! Shaken, not stirred...
Also, I'm a bit late to this, but I hope it's not too late for me to send you my best wishes, and the best of luck for the contest! It's just about turned Monday here in Malaysia, and already I'm feeling the blues XD You'll do well, for sure!
Cheers, and thanks for sharing :-)
Thank you! I'm glad you like this ^^
I haven't thought of pretty much anything about this character's universe, but that sounds awesome, especially because the humans as the villains instead of the heroes lol.
You're not late, actually. It's already Monday here too but apparently the peeps that hold the contest live in the past so for them it's still Sunday haha. It's about to begin in a few hours, thank you for the encouragement! ^^
Huzzah, best of luck 💪! It would be a pretty interesting back-story, indeed! Since we've usually become accustomed to humans being the good guys, maybe have a switch and let the robots be the heroes that we need 😆!
I really loved the old school theme, I can notice that you are pretty good at 3D design but this is a nice result, eh? Looks like a professional logo of a cool videogame or perfect to a notebook cover. Pd: I loved the name "Cyan" (also I like the color) and I think it's pretty interesting that you created a universe for your characters.
Bye bye :)
I have two fictional universes, this one isn't built up as much as the fantasy one, but thank you very much for the kind words, Saturno (cool username, btw) ^^
Sounds cool, it's a good way to keep your characters connected. And not at all, I just think your work is amazing!
Thank youu, Rainite is a cool username too 🐢🌧️
Looks great!
Thanks! :>
This looks so cool Rain! I'd watch a series of this dude
I wish you all the best for the Artstation contest!
Thank you, Thilah. But as for now, this dude will only go as far as having a collab with Teddy. Nothing too fancy and developed like those other 3 😄