Achieving Clone Wars style???

Anybody know if there is anyway of taking a lightwave model and achieving a Clone Wars effect? i.e. cartoon look with outlines and flat colors? or are there any clone wars style models out there?

 

You need to get a Cell Shader to achieve that Cartoon style CG effect like on th Hulk Video Game...

 

I actually got near perfect results with Poser 4. I imported a Millenium Falcon model, moved the camera in a U-shape, keyed in a space background, and added the *cartoon w/ lines* render effect. It looks pretty good. I'll see if I can get it online in a little bit....

 

sounds promising. Id love to see the shot

 

It would be fun to see someone to a Clone Wars style fanfilm.


And one that's NOT made in Flash.
I'd d/l it in a heartbeat, if they posted a couple screen caps of promising visuals.

-Vaportrail

 

Choc, I'd love a tutorial about cel shading poser.

Please?

 

You may want to try ANIMATION MASTER.

 

Lightwave has a built in Cell Shader that does very well. You don't even need to set up the shader directly. Open your presets window and choose cell shaders from the drop down. There are several prebuilt Cell shader textures you can apply and tweak to your liking. Alternatly, you can create your object's textures and then add the cell shader later in the shaders tab of the texture editor.

Some examples of lightwaves cell shader here, here, and here.

-tm

 

Here ya go...my Poser 4 Millenium Falcon test. I did it a while ago, and I think it took maybe 5-10 minutes...not too sure though...

Yousendit file...

http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=353NMR58SQH2F1HTO60II3WN84

 

zool thats amazing if that took 5-10 mintues, then theres no stopping u!

top stuff!

 

lol, thanks. I was checking my records, and it took 7 minutes 16 seconds to make, counting render time.

 

Here's one I made a little while ago. 20 minutes to model and render.

Yousendit file...
-
http://s41.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3CAOWOCCJR3Z31Q7RWC3GK7SNK

The background is a screengrab from Celestia. All models were made wih Poser 4, rendered in cartoon w/ line. Please excuse the Star Destroyer for its lack of movement. There are 4 TIE Fighters in the shot. One in the front, one on the side of the Star Destroyer, and two around the central star (they're really hard to see because of the lighting...)

I'd do a Clone Wars Cartoon, but my lack of drawing ability for Characters would slow me down

 

You know, I'm tired of people bashing flash-based cartoons [not that anyone did]. Flash isn't as easy as it sounds [Well...It's easy, just WAY tedious]. In fact, the only reason anyone really uses it is because it's cost effective and very efficient in keeping facial animation easy.

I assure you, if Clone Wars was cel animated, it would still look pretty much the same. Why? Goerge Lucas likes that style of cartoon. Why? It has a great catchy eye appeal, it sticks out, it's different. Heck, I know it takes some getting used to, but once it grows on you, it's a very addictive style to draw in (me being an artist).

Anyway, I personally would love to see a GOOD Clone Wars style fan-film done as a flash based cartoon with CG and matte painting implementation, rendered to a MOV [for framerate and loading purposes]. It's just a matter of someone being up to that kind of challenge.

And for the record, as user compatable as flash is once you learn it, it's not the easiest vector animation program out there, nor the cheapest.

The Corel Graphic Suite 12 has a program called Corel R.A.V.E. and it's pretty awesome. It's like flash, only easier, and I'm pretty sure you can't create flash web pages in it.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

\__Will__/

 

Flash is teh suxor IMO....

Of course, I'm a 3D guy...

Once, I was working on a training video for some kind of reading initiative center, and they said, "We'll let you borrow our copy of Flash to use."

Poser + AE = Da Big Bomb On Dem

Anyway...I managed to walk away with $150, and had gas for a couple of months...

 

personally i cant stand flash, soon as i got after effects, everything jus clicked, it was like i already knew the software, but flash gives me a cramped feeling (n i hav a 19" lcd) and its too limited imo.

 

I'm gonna make another test...20 TIE Fighters and 20 B-Wings zooming toward each other...I might even throw in a few camera zooms for fun. Expect a post soon...

 

Well, I don't like the Clone Wars style, myself. I think it's some of the least pleasing animation I've seen in a good long while. In fact, the state of TV animation has disappointed me for years, while movie animation keeps getting better. Sad, that.

Regardless, you lot are behind the times. My fan film is entirely CG and toon-shaded. Or, sure, it's not done yet, but it takes time! I've got about ten minutes animated so far, and it's about a a third done.

Here's some examples of my toon-shaded stuff: Star Wars: The Last Remnants gallery

EDIT: Eek, my website is so out of date! I really need to post more images and stuff!

 

Somehow, I knew I was going to be alone on my opinion.

I think we're missing something big here though. See, the thing about animation, as with any art form, is that it's bound to change over the course of time as technology improves and as styles change.

Times are changing, and so is animation, and while cel animation will probably still be around, you can bet flash-based programs will be used to improve upon the animation. Heck, futurama used quite a bit of flash and even cel-shaded CG all throughout the series. If I'm not mistaken, shows like Family Guy use flash to correct mouth animation, and some movement.

Honestly, look at Clone Wars compared to, say, Johnny Quest. Visually, Clone Wars kicks Quests butt in so many ways (although some people just don't like the overall cartoony style it's done it, which is understandable), although Johnny Quest still has that classic feel to it and is better because it's closer to our hearts or some crap like that. Entertainment wise, Johnny Quest kicks the butts of quite a few cartoons that are out now.

Sadly, cartoons where a scientits latchkee kids carry dangerous firearms are now prohibited by most network censors. Unless it's anime.

In anime's, everyone either has a weapon or some secret power. Even the school girls have like bazooka's and Kama's hidden in their thongs. This is a socially acceptable trend because it creates exciting action sequences or violent school girl sexual encounters, as is the trend with anime school girls. But I degress.

See, cartoons now don't suck because of the animation alone. They suck because of the overall character design and writing quality. If the entertainment value sucks, so will the viewers opinion of the cartoon and all cartoons similar to the cartoon.

In short, it's not the flash that sucks, it's the crappy character designs people are coming up with to save time [I will defend to the death however, the bizarre and nonsensical quality program that is Fairly OddParents. I love that cartoon. I'm probably the only person over 12 who does though].

I think we'll all see definite changes in flash and cel over the next few years. I predict that before 2015, we won't be able to tell the difference either way.

I respect all views on the topic though. Sorry for the breathy post. I'm a fan of art and technology, and the combination of the two.

\\__Will__//

 

w00t! violent school girl sexual encounters!!!

 

So what software would you guys recommend for achieving a 2D, clone wars stlye animation? Tried Flash once but I just couldnt get to grips with it. And im really struggling to understand AE. Also does anyone know any software where I can animate in real time? i.e. drag an object along a path, and record the same action?

 

Corel RAVE is pretty easy.

\__Will__/

 

I love the irony here.
Some of you may catch onto this.


That looks pretty dark to me, actually.
I don't know if it's just the black outlines against a black starfield, but the star destroyer is kind of undefined-looking because of it.

The TIE is pretty cool too, but the wings seem like they're almost see-though because of the color.



Not sure what you can do about that.
I don't remember how the ships looked in Clone Wars. The starfighters were either colored or gray. Maybe the big ships didn't use black outlines? I'd have to go look.


-Vaportrail

 

I think if the models were modified to be a little more suitable for cel rendering, it would look tons better.

Side note: In clone wars they use colored outlines.

Is there a way to turn up the anti-aliasing on the cel shader lines? They look a little rough. It's getting there though. Best of luck.

\_Will_//

 

Yep, I fixed it for my new test...I'm rendering w/o lines...the wings are more of a purple color, and stand out more...

 

Choc - Are my replies invisible? I answered your question above. Lightwave does cell shading, and can animate in any way you can think of.

-tm