KeyShot Forum

Technical discussions => General discussion => Topic started by: Speedster on January 31, 2019, 09:09:20 AM

Title: What to call a Toon? (Illustration, + a new trick)
Post by: Speedster on January 31, 2019, 09:09:20 AM
Hi guys!

I'm creating a series of fine-art prints using our much loved "Toon" material.

But when working up a gallery and marketing poop sheet I ran into a dilemma that maybe some of you have had, or have ideas on.  I can't call them "Toons", for obvious reasons.  For us a toon is a specialized material.  Of course they are CG Art, but that's weak also, as most folks think of CGI as being Fantasy Art.

Frankly, I'm at a loss, and any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Some examples are below.  All are toon, except the Toon Linework (image 2), which is actually a clay pass, with a SolidWorks line drawing (background dropped out) as an aligned layer.  It does kick. 

Thanks!!!
Bill G
PS: FYI, I use toons extensively for Instructions for Use (IFU) documents for medical devices, and successfully petitioned the United States Patent and Trademark Office to allow toons to illustrate Design Patents.  No ruling yet on Utility Patents.
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: Finema on January 31, 2019, 09:10:44 AM
Superb Bill !
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: KeyShot on January 31, 2019, 02:00:07 PM
These are phenomenal! Awesome use of the toon material.
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: Will Gibbons on January 31, 2019, 02:13:05 PM
These are awesome! I'd just call the illustrations, diagram drawings, line art... maybe one of those work?
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: Zeltronic on January 31, 2019, 11:53:28 PM
Very nice  :)
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: RRIS on February 01, 2019, 03:27:23 AM
we know they're not, but you could call them blueprint drawings? or patent drawings?
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: Esben Oxholm on February 01, 2019, 04:03:07 AM
Looks great, Bill.
As Will suggests, my first instinct would be 'Illustrations' as well.
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: DriesV on February 01, 2019, 04:30:39 AM
"Traced illustrations", if you want to keep it slightly technical. :)

Oh, the images look fantastic.

Dries
Title: Re: What to call a Toon?
Post by: Speedster on February 01, 2019, 12:09:49 PM
Thanks for the advice!  I think I'll call the concept "Digital Illustration".  Sort of makes sense to the retail and gallery consumer.

So...

My trick of using a SolidWorks line drawing, dropping out the background and then placing it as a layer over the clay pass works fine for an ortho projection.  But obviously not for perspective.

So I figured out a new trick which many of us may find handy.

If you use a standard toon, with white and black outlines, then drop out the background, you end up with a pronounced fringe halo effect.  I know there are tricks to defringe, but they are a hassle. So I made a new toon fill color of a very dark grey, just a tad above black.  See below.

Then I could select the dark grey with the magic wand, at 5%, and drop it out.  Any residual halo does not show.

Then of course, opened with the clay and used the Place command, and linked the layers.

Bingo!  Below is with and without the linework.  This opens up a lot of illustration possibilities!

Would be neat to have an "Outline Only" toon material!

Bill G