Knowledge Bank File

Here is an alternative way for creating a very cool 'hidden-line'-like effect, using the material 'Toon Wire' and camera 'cartoon' shaders. This technique does not really differ from the 3.x mental ray Toon shader 'hidden-line' trick:

1- Connect the Toon_Wire shader to the object's Material surface (load from: Softimage\XSI_1.0\DSPresets\Shaders\Material\Soft3D path).

2- Connect the 'cartoon' lens shader to the camera input (load from: Softimage\XSI_1.0\DSPresets\Shaders\Lens path).

3a- From the Toon_wire PPG, go directly to the 'Toon wire' tab and edit the 'Toon ink' RGB colours to the same colour as the diffuse of the object;

3b- You can then adjust the 'Thickness' param to the desired size;

3c- You can choose form either the 'Facet>Illumination or Ink lines' effects; Illumination will give you the 'hidden-line' look, and 'Ink lines' will reveal the entire wireframe. Note: The 'Illumination' tab params. will not affect the toon wire effect in any way.

4a- From the 'cartoon' PPG, go to the 'Toon' tab and check the 'Ink only' box;

4b- Then adjust the wire 'Width' and 'Taper' values to the desired size and shape.

Note: You can go a step further, and play with the 'Variation' tab options for 'Thickness>Thickness and Rate'.

File 000 006	Subject: Rendering, Effect, Hidden Line
Here is an alternative way for creating a very cool 'hidden-line'-like effect, using the material 'Toon Wire' and camera 'cartoon' shaders. This technique does not really differ from the 3.x mental ray Toon shader 'hidden-line' trick: 1- Connect the Toon_Wire shader to the object's Material surface (load from: Softimage\XSI_1.0\DSPresets\Shaders\Material\Soft3D path). 2- Connect the 'cartoon' lens shader to the camera input (load from: Softimage\XSI_1.0\DSPresets\Shaders\Lens path). 3a- From the Toon_wire PPG, go directly to the 'Toon wire' tab and edit the 'Toon ink' RGB colours to the same colour as the diffuse of the object; 3b- You can then adjust the 'Thickness' param to the desired size; 3c- You can choose form either the 'Facet>Illumination or Ink lines' effects; Illumination will give you the 'hidden-line' look, and 'Ink lines' will reveal the entire wireframe. Note: The 'Illumination' tab params. will not affect the toon wire effect in any way. 4a- From the 'cartoon' PPG, go to the 'Toon' tab and check the 'Ink only' box; 4b- Then adjust the wire 'Width' and 'Taper' values to the desired size and shape. Note: You can go a step further, and play with the 'Variation' tab options for 'Thickness>Thickness and Rate'.
Credit(s): P. Pierre Duranleau - Softimage Customer Service