discussion [Guide] [Blender] Pure 2D Renders via Composition (v4.0 and up)

[Mr. Tearson]

There is literally no information I could find about this. So I made my own. Don't let this intimidate you, either, as this is as small as I could get it.

You will need to use Composition, and I will walk you through it. First, you will need to go to the Compositing Tab.

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Then turn on the 'Use Node'.

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For this one, you will need to go to the View Layer property. Click these;
Diffuse > Light & Color
Other > Environment & Shadow


This is what I did but will explain further on.


1. This is your Render Layer. You can use multiple if you want but I chose to use just this one.

2. Color Ramp > Constant. This will help shape your 2D style. Same with #9.

3. Mix Color > Multiply. This helps to strengthen the effect in some ways, keeping the colors.

4. Mix Color > Add. Basically combining them without losing effects.

5. Mix Color > Add. Basically combining them without losing effects.

6. Composite. This is your final render output.

7. Viewer. This is so you can see what's in the background behind your nodes.

8. Mix Color > Multiply. This helps to strengthen the effect in some ways, keeping the colors.

9. Color Ramp > Constant. This one creates the shadows.

10. Blur. This, I used to blur the shadow effect a bit so it did not appear too harsh. This, you can just ignore if you don't care.

11. Glare > Fog Glow > Threshold 0.100. This helps make the Environment to stick out a bit. This, you can ignore if you don't care.

This is me telling you what is needed. 2 Color ramps, 4 Mix Colors, etc. I labeled them and added numbers so it'd be easier for you to find. If following the lines in that image will not work for you, I will tell you how to connect them.

Spoiler: How to connect each nodes

1. Connect #1: Diffuse Light(DifDir) to #2: Color Ramp.

2. Connect #2: Color Ramp to #3: Mix Color > Multiply(First Slot).

3. Connect #3: Mix Color > Multiply to #4: Mix Color > Add(First Slot).

4. Connect #4: Mix Color > Add to #5: Mix Color > Add(First Slot).

5. Connect #5: Mix Color > Add to BOTH #6: Composite and #7 Viewer.

6. Connect #1: Shadow to #9: Color Ramp.

7. Connect #9: Color Ramp to #10: Blur.

8. Connect #10: Blur to #8: Mix Color > Multiply(First Slot).

9. Connect #1: Diffuse Color(DifCol) to #8: Mix Color > Multiply(Second Slot).

10. Connect #8: Mix Color to #3: Mix Color > Multiply(Second Slot).

11. Connect #1: Diffuse Color(DifCol) to #4: Mix Color > Add(Second Slot).

12. Connect #1: Environment(Env) to #11: Glare > Fog Glow.

13. Connect #11 Glare to #5: Mix Color > Add(Second Slot).

14. Set #2 Color Ramp. Set the second slider button to the far right, and add this number to the color. 0.473952

15. Set #9 Color Ramp. First slider button, keep at the far left. Color should be pure white. Second slider button, use 0.5. Then add 0.473952 to the color.

16. F12 to render.

If this does not work, please feel free to send me a DM or comment in here.

Once you're done, this is the result.


To add lines, just use Line Art for now. When I figure out a good solution for lines, will update this.​

 

[94-kun]

Interesting. In that case, can I still use hand-drawn animation using that set-up?

 

[Mr. Tearson]

Interesting. In that case, can I still use hand-drawn animation using that set-up?

Yes.

 

[Lensk]

this is great. shadows are always the bane of my existence in NPR. did you edit the normals of the face to get the lighting looking that way or is it down to the blur effect making it look cleaner?

im sure you know this, but in the interest of anyone who does not viewing this thread i will explain anyway: regarding the lines, instead of the lineart modifier with grease pencil, you can tryout "freestyle". its slightly more obscure (and older) cousin. the lines cant be baked (so manual erasure is much harder) and you can only see freestyle lines in the render, not the viewport, but i find it is a lot less harsh than greasepencils lineart, with more control on things like distributed line thickness (using curves) and noise, as well as more easily accessible functionality to achieve the result of the "dot dash" modifier with the grease pencil stroke without having to use 4 different modifiers to get the same result. i also find freestyle plays a lot nicer with smaller props and intersections compared to grease pencil, if you have ever made a very small character, or prop and put a stroke on it i am certain you know what i mean. you can also add lines with the edge menu, so adding them is not difficult if needed for things like detail lines in more stylized works as long as you have the edges or maybe just make your own extras. one caveat is that i have not tested it with animation yet, i am aware many anime-animators (animation animators?) that use blender default to grease pencil due to the ease of line erasure and addition through simply drawing extra lines on/scrubbing them out after the bake,so maybe you would prefer grease pencil if you want more fine control over your animation. the main reason i do not use grease pencil is more poor mesh topology and laziness! freestyle seems to work a lot nicer and i do not wish to constantly have to erase grease pencil lines every shot.