V-Ray Toon Effect

This page provides information on the V-Ray VolumeVRayToon node.

Overview

VRayToon is a very simple atmospheric plugin that produces cartoon-style outlines on objects in the scene. The settings for a single VRayToon atmospheric are applied to all objects selected for inclusion. Multiple toon styles can be represented in a scene by creating several VolumeVRayToon atmospherics and including/excluding different sets of objects.

VRayToon has been implemented as an atmospheric effect for several reasons:

Very simple implementation.
Works with any geometry supported by V-Ray, including displaced objects, Procedural Fur and Proxy Objects.
Works with any camera type supported by V-Ray (spherical, fish-eye, etc.).
Works with any camera effect (depth of field and/or motion blur).
Works with ray traced effects such as reflection and refraction.
Smooth and consistent outlines for intersecting objects.

VRayToon is not intended to be a full NPR (non-photorealistic rendering) effect. However, it may be useful in many cases.

The source of VRayToon is available as part of the V-Ray SDK.

VRayToon effect must be added in a V-Ray Environment node (out network) to work. For more information, see the How to add V-Ray Toon Effect tutorial.

Main

Enable – Enables the V-Ray Toon effect. See the Toon Effect example below.

Line Color – Specifies the color of the outlines using a map. See the Line Color example below.

Line Width– Specifies the width of the outlines using a map.

Width Units – Specifies if the width of the lines is measured in Pixels or in World units.

Use Inner Line Controls – When enabled, uses the same Line Color/Width parameter values for both silhouette and inner edges.

Inner Line Width – Specifies the cartoon line width of inner lines.

Line Inner Color – Specifies the color of the cartoon line at inner edges.

Opacity – Specifies the opacity of the outlines using a map.

Options

Compensate Exposure – When enabled, the VRayToon compensates the Line Color brightness to adjust for any Exposure correction from a V-Ray Physical Camera.

Hide Inner Edges – Determines whether lines are created for parts of the same object with varying surface normals (for example, at the inside edges of a box).

Material Edges – When enabled, renders lines on the material boundaries if the mesh has multiple materials. This option requires that all materials have an assigned Material ID.

Toon Render Elements Only – When enabled, applies only to toon render channels.

Normal Threshold – Determines when lines are created for parts of the same object with varying surface normals (for example, at the inside edges of a box). A value of 0.0 means that only 90 degrees or larger angles generate internal lines. Higher values mean that more smooth normals can also generate an edge. Don't set this value to pure 1.0 as this fills curved objects completely.

Overlap Threshold – Determines when outlines are created for overlapping parts of one and the same object. Lower values reduce the internal overlapping lines, while higher values produce more overlapping lines. Don't set this value to pure 1.0 as this fills curved objects completely.

Outer Overlap Treshold – Determines when outer edges are created for overlapping parts of one.

Min./Max. Depth – Defines the minimum/maximum distance where the depth-based Line Width takes effect. Edges at points closer than the Min Depth are rendered with the Line Width at position 0. Edges further than the Max Depth are rendered with Line Width at position 1.

Show Toon Lines in Reflections – When enabled, toon lines are shown in reflections.

Trace Bias – Determines the ray bias when the outlines are traced in reflections/refractions. Depends on the size of your scene.

Exclude Type – Specifies on which objects to apply the toon effect.

Exclude List – Specifies if the provided list is treated as an inclusive or exclusive list.

Depth Curve

This tab enables a curve for controlling the Line Width based on distance from the camera.

Enable – Enables a Depth Curve to specify the Line Width.

When the Depth Curve is disabled, the outline width is constant (in pixels) for all affected objects at any distance from the camera. Enabling the curve control, allows you to specify how the width changes for objects close or away from the camera.

Angular Curve

This tab enables a curve for controlling the Line Width depending on the view angle.

Enable – Enables the Angular Curve.

A point at position 0 means that the angle between the normal and the view vector is 0 degrees. A point at position 1 means that the angle between the normal and the view vector is 90 degrees.

Example: Toon Effect

This example shows how the V-Ray Toon Effect produces cartoon-style outlines on an object and boosts the effect of the V-Ray Toon material.

Here, a V-Ray Toon material is assigned to a mesh in both renders. A V-Ray Toon Effect is enabled in the second render.

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V-Ray Toon Effect can also be used without a V-Ray Toon material. For our second set of images, we have assigned a V-Ray Car Paint material to the mesh.

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