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Animation & VFX · MS elective · 3 credit hours · 16 sessions

Cel Shading & Stylized 3D

“It looks like 2D, but it moves like 3D.” This course teaches the secrets behind the “Anime Look” (NPR - Non-Photorealistic Rendering) popularized by films like Spider-Verse and games like Genshin Impact. Students will learn to break the laws of physics to create stylized art, manipulating “Normals” to flatten shading, creating custom “Toon Shaders,” and generating dynamic outlines to mimic hand-drawn ink.

§ 01 By the end you can
  1. Master the mechanics of Toon Shaders (Ramp shading and quantization)
  2. Execute "Inverted Hull" and Post-Process techniques for outline generation
  3. Edit Vertex Normals to control light falloff on anime faces
  4. create stylized textures (Hatching, Halftones, and Brushstrokes)
  5. Render 3D scenes that emulate traditional 2D animation styles
§ 02 Sixteen sessions

The whole semester.

  1. 01Introduction to NPR (Non-Photorealistic Rendering)
  2. 02The Toon Shader: Stepped Gradients
  3. 03Outline Technique I: The Inverted Hull
  4. 04Outline Technique II: Post-Process Edge Detection
  5. 05Light & Shadow: Controlling the Terminator Line
  6. 06Halftones & Screen Tones in 3D
  7. 07Spider-Verse Style: Offset & Chromatic Aberration
  8. 08 · MidtermMidterm Examination
  9. 09Anime Face Shading: Editing Normals
  10. 10Hair Shading: Anisotropic vs. Cel
  11. 11Texturing for Style: Hand-Painted vs. Procedural
  12. 12Stylized FX: 2D Explosions in 3D
  13. 13Animating on 2s: Lowering Frame Rates
  14. 14Compositing for the 2D Look
  15. 15Background Art: Painterly Environments
  16. 16Final Project: The "Fake 2D" Short Scene

Midterm around session 8. Final project briefed at session 8 or 9 and developed in stages until the juries.

§ 03 Final project

Final Project: The "Fake 2D" Short Scene

How it’s judged

Recommended reading
  1. Guilty Gear Xrd Artworks (Technical Art interviews)
  2. The Art of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse by Ramin Zahed
  3. Non-Photorealistic Rendering by Bruce Gooch
  4. Blender NPR: The Complete Guide
  5. Stylized Rendering for Games (Online GDC Talks)
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