Creating Cel-Shaded Character Animations with Blender by Hirao – 4Seeding

Cel-shading, also known as toon shading, is a common method used in 3D animation and game design to give characters and objects a hand-drawn, cartoon-like appearance. The use of flat colors and minimal shading to create images that are clean, simple, and striking visually is the focus of this style, which is frequently seen in stylized video games and anime. In this blog post, we’ll look at how to make cel-shaded character animations in Blender using the example of 4Seeding community member Hirao, who is known for making unique and appealing cel-shaded animations.

How does Cel-Shading work?

Creating Cel-Shaded Character Animations with Blender by Hirao – 4Seeding is a method of rendering that doesn’t use photos to make 3D models look more like 2D drawings. Cel-shading mimics the look of hand-drawn animation by applying solid colors with hard edges rather than gradients and smooth transitions between colors to simulate light and shadow. This strategy has the potential to give animated films and video games like The Legend of Zelda: Guilty Gear or Wind Waker series.

Why Does Cel-Shading Utilize Blender?

Blender, a powerful open-source 3D application, can be used to create animations with cel shading. It is capable of both modeling and animating characters in this distinctive style thanks to its extensive feature set. Through its material nodes, Blender provides advanced shader customization, enabling artists to create a variety of visual effects, including cel-shading. Additionally, the Grease Pencil tool in Blender makes it simple to combine hand-drawn 2D elements with 3D models, giving animators even more creative options for stylized animations.

Let’s now take a look at how to use Hirao’s methods to create character animations with cel shading using Blender.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Character Model

Before we begin using the cel-shading effect, we require a character model. You are free to skip this step if you already have a 3D model. If not, you can either make your own character in Blender or download a model from 4Seeding, where artists like Hirao share their work, to use as a starting point.

1. Establishing a Basis Model: Start with simple shapes and refine them into a full character design with the modeling tools in Blender to sculpt your character. For the character to properly deform during animation, concentrate on creating clean topology—the flow of polygons.
2. Adding Specifics: Add details like facial features, clothing, and accessories once the basic form is complete. Keep in mind that cel-shaded characters frequently benefit from features that are either exaggerated or simplified to give the appearance of a cartoon. High levels of detail and intricate textures are not required in this style; instead, it emphasizes distinct shapes and silhouettes.
3. Setting up the Model: You will need to rig the character after it has been modeled. Rigging is the process of creating an animatable skeleton within a model. Rigify, a built-in add-on for Blender, simplifies the rigging process by providing ready-to-use bones. Test the rig by moving various parts of the model to ensure that it deforms correctly and ensure that it fits well.

Step 2: Applying Cel-Shading Materials

Following character creation, the toon look can be achieved by applying cel-shading materials. To achieve the cel-shading effect, this procedure makes use of Blender’s shader nodes.

1. Make a Shader for a Toon:

Toon BSDF shader is built into Blender and can be used for cel-shading. Go to the Shader Editor and add a Toon BSDF node to your material in order to apply this shader. To apply it to your character, connect it to the Material Output node.

2. Making the Shader Fit:

There are two key settings for the Toon BSDF shader: Size and Softness The highlight’s size is controlled by Size, and the smoothness of the transition between light and dark areas is controlled by Smooth. Set the Smooth to 0 and the Size to a low value (around 0.2-0.4) to achieve the classic cel-shading look. This will create a sharp contrast between areas that are lit and those that are dark.

3. Including Plans:

The black outline around the character, which resembles hand-drawn ink lines, is one of the cel-shading’s distinguishing features. In Blender, you can accomplish this by employing the Freestyle rendering option. Go to the Render Properties tab and uncheck the Freestyle box to enable it. The outline’s color and thickness can be changed in the Freestyle Line Style settings to achieve the desired effect. For most cel-shaded characters, a black line with a thickness of between 1.5 and 2 usually works well.

4. Using Nodes to Create Individual Shading:

You can use a combination of shader nodes to have more control over the effect of cel shading. Utilizing the Diffuse BSDF node as the base color, a Shader to RGB node, and a ColorRamp node to manually adjust the shading bands are common setups. Compared to the default Toon BSDF shader, this gives you more control over how many color bands appear in the shading.

Step 3: Animating the Character

Now that the character has been cel-shaded, it’s time to make it move. The animation tools in Blender make it simple to create fluid, dynamic movements.

1. Establishing Keyframes:

Setting keyframes is the first step in animating your character. Important poses or positions are marked at specific points on the timeline. Based on the keyframes you set, Blender will automatically generate the “tweening” between frames. Set the keyframes for your character’s major movements, including walking, jumping, and any other actions.

2. Pose Mode Use:

Move the character’s bones and perform the required poses by switching to Pose Mode. To match the cel-shaded, cartoonish style, make sure to slightly overdo the movements. To give your character’s walking a more dynamic and animated feel, for instance, emphasize the arm and leg swings.

3. Timing alterations:

Timing is crucial for creating animations that feel smooth and natural. The Dope Sheet and Graph Editor in Blender can be used to alter the timing of your keyframes. You might want to use fewer frames per second (FPS) in cel-shaded animation to look like the choppy movement that is common in traditional 2D animation. Animating on twos, in which every second frame is held for two frames instead of one, is a common choice. This produces a motion that is slightly jerky but more stylistic.

Step 4: Rendering the Animation

After the animation is finished, the last step is to make a video of it.

1. Getting the Camera Ready:

Place the camera where it will best frame your character’s animation. To give the scene more energy, play around with the camera’s movements and angles.

2. How to Choose a Render Engine:

The two main render engines in Blender are: Cycles and Eevee. For cel-concealing, Eevee is frequently the favored decision because of its ongoing delivering capacities, which can create quick, top notch results. Cycles could be used to create more complex lighting effects, but Eevee is a great choice for speed and simplicity.

3. Final Rendering Parameters:

Check the Freestyle option for the outlines on the Render Properties tab. Choose your frame rate (24 or 30 FPS, depending on your preference) and output resolution (typically 1920×1080). If you want to render each frame as an image and later compile it, select PNG as the output file format or FFmpeg video for a compressed video format.

4. Making the Animation Visible:

To begin the rendering process, press Render Animation. This may take some time, depending on the complexity of your scene and the power of your hardware, but when it is done, your character animation will be fully cel-shaded!

Final Thoughts

Creating Cel-Shaded Character Animations with Blender by Hirao – 4Seeding gives your character animations a striking, one-of-a-kind style that can make them stand out. You can create animations that seamlessly blend the worlds of 3D and 2D by making use of the powerful tools in Blender and employing methods that were inspired by artists like Hirao from 4Seeding. Mastering cel-shading in Blender is a useful skill that can open up new creative possibilities for short films, video games, and stylized animations.

So, start Blender, play around with toon shaders, and make your cel-shaded characters come to life!

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