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Can't Draw? You Need The Inkulator 9000.

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the scratch-paper dept.

NTK was kind enough to point out the Inkulator 9000, software to render pen-and-ink style drawings from 3D meshes. NTK also points to a number of other handy tools and papers.

62 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. tell me when by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    it's the other way around.

    1. Re:tell me when by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sure.

      *(Google cache)

  2. So... by wicka_wicka · · Score: 3, Funny

    This means I can...draw extremely complicated polygonal meshes...and then have a computer ink them for me.

    --
    hi
    1. Re:So... by Osty · · Score: 5, Funny

      Face it, your computer's a tracer

    2. Re:So... by Spy+Hunter · · Score: 5, Informative

      This means you can "draw" your character once in a 3D program and then produce a million drawings by simply posing its skeleton in different positions or moving the camera to arbitrary angles. Especially interesting is the ability to produce unlimited in-between frames with simple 3D interpolation of object positions instead of expensive, laborious hand drawing.

      --
      main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
    3. Re:So... by Fjornir · · Score: 2, Funny

      YOUR MOTHER'S A TRACER!

      --
      I want a new world. I think this one is broken.
    4. Re:So... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Hmm..i'm missing the joke. What's a tracer?"

      As others have mentioned, it's a reference to Chasing Amy. The basic gist of it is there is a comic book artist in the movie. Somebody else did the drawings, and he went over it in ink. Nobody, however, was impressed by this because they thought inking was just tracing. The artist in question found this quite offensive.

      Sadly, as an artist, I sympathize with him. Inking is an art-form just like drawing. It's not something anybody can run out and do. Nor, for that matter, is it all that easy for a computer to do. Many have tried to make 3D renderings look hand drawn, and it is quite challenging.

      Gotta say, though, I like the results on the website.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  3. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  4. can't code? by Quasar1999 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You need Visual Basic... conveniently converts images of windows into working programs!

    --

    ---
    Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
  5. High poly count? by FiReaNGeL · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think you would need very high poly counts on your mesh to achieve a level of detail good enough to look like professional cartoons. If it's just to do an image (or a few), I don't think its worth the effort. For animation tough, it looks like a wonderful application!

    But nothing will ever beat SouthPark characters... so simple, and so much personality!

    --
    Eureka Science News - automatically updated
    1. Re:High poly count? by tonsofpcs · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not really, this program may support curves [be they subpatches, or auto-created based upon user input], and the need for high poly count is removed

      --
      Video Production Support
    2. Re:High poly count? by black+mariah · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Wrong, sort of. Patches are converted to polys at rendertime (at least with all the renderers I know about). It's still a high polycount, but you don't have to deal with it onscreen.

      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    3. Re:High poly count? by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "I think you would need very high poly counts on your mesh to achieve a level of detail good enough to look like professional cartoons."

      Nah, not really. Modelling for toon shading is a different technique, though. It's about creating edges so that the inking software can figure out where to draw the ink. Normal 3D rendering is about creating polygons to get the right shading per rendered pixel. (Not to mention, you also need good textures, lighting, etc etc.)

      "If it's just to do an image (or a few), I don't think its worth the effort. "

      Not true. A stylistic choice from photo-realism to this sort of inking would result in a great deal less work. As I said before, you don't need as much polygonal detail. (You need good edges, though...) You also don't need a lot of lights or textures. It doesn't take many data points for software like this to generate an outline.

      "But nothing will ever beat SouthPark characters... so simple, and so much personality!"

      That's entirely up to the artist. Go over to www.cgtalk.com and look at the gallery. Though this sort of rendering isn't done so often there, I think it will better punctuate my statement about it being up to the artist.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  6. For those fellow Maya fans ... by oostevo · · Score: 4, Informative
    I should point out that Alias Maya has a vector renderer, which is able to give almost exactly the same effect. And it comes integrated with it by default.

    On the other hand, this is free and open source, and looks very promising.

    --
    In soviet russia, You ask not what country do for you, but what you do for country!
    Oh wait...
    1. Re:For those fellow Maya fans ... by sinergy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Too bad any real artist using Photoshop would never think about using Eye Candy.

      --
      ...
    2. Re:For those fellow Maya fans ... by Xzzy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      no it's not, it's simply a different way of doing user interfaces.

      Once you use it for a significant amount of time it will reveal itself to actually be a very well designed interface. Can understand why people don't like it, otherwise windows clones like KDE or Gnome wouldn't be so popular, but that doesn't make it unusable.

    3. Re:For those fellow Maya fans ... by grumbel · · Score: 2, Informative
      Blenders UI takes a bit time to get used to it and has some quirks, but so do basically all other 3d applications. Having a look at some of the video tutorials at:


      http://www.futurex-graphics.com/Blender/Video/


      should provide a good help to get an understanding on how blenders ui works.

    4. Re:For those fellow Maya fans ... by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 2, Informative

      I should also mention lightwave (which most people seem to ignore - even though its almost always ahead of the curve feature wise) has had this feature since 94 (at least thats when I first saw it) - Check it out (under rendering)

  7. Replace Drawing? by Anubis333 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Programs like this will never replace drawing. 3D Geometry is far too rigid. These types on Non-Photo-Real techniques have been around for years. (Although this is a great attempt). It will be many, many years before we can emulate 2D animation with 3D, and then, what's the point, why not draw it? Not to say that there aren't great applications for NPR like the non photorealistic camera, shown off at SIGGRAPH 2004. It uses multiple flashes and an edge detection algorithm to define hard edges; great for endoscopy and many other functions...

    1. Re:Replace Drawing? by LnxAddct · · Score: 3, Informative

      Did you see these: talking man walking man
      Those look pretty incredible to me as far as animations go and other then a few minor things too perfect to be hand drawn, I'd be hard pressed to distinguish it from a hand drawn animation.
      Regards,
      Steve

    2. Re:Replace Drawing? by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Programs like this will never replace drawing.
      100%? Never. But computer animation has already replaced traditional animation in 95% of animated films has it not? And I can't say I found the characters of "Finding Nemo" or "Monsters Inc" to be very rigid.
    3. Re:Replace Drawing? by FrankHaynes · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The animators working for Disney, Sony, and (I think) I.L.M. draw from real live Human figures every so often in order to keep their renderings realistic and believable by their audiences.

      I'm not sure that these people can be called artists or not, but my favorite figure drawing instructor loves quoting from a text that reads "Artists don't find solutions, they find problems".

      I have no idea what that means, but this notion of a computer rendering "perfect" images is utter rubbish. If all you want to do is replace artistry with a machine, Spock, then you will have terabytes of generic crap to look at. If you really think that Humans can create something wondrous through the mistakes that they make as they draw, then you are on to something, but your perfect computer will never do that. Ever.

      --
      slashdot: A failed experiment.
    4. Re:Replace Drawing? by MidnightBrewer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, we can already emulate 2D with 3D easily. The software is there, and has been for many, many years. It's finding talented animators (as in any situation, including 2D.)

      If you have actually done any animation, you would know that creating 2D cel-shaded style cartoons in 3D is far faster and far cheaper than the traditional, 2D style. The best part is, you can easily go back and change things without having to painstakingly redraw everything.

      --
      "Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day; set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life
    5. Re:Replace Drawing? by civilizedINTENSITY · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The "mistake making" feedback loop is still in place. Its the user. Creativity is enhanced by new techniques, not diminished. Photography hasn't obsoleted painting or sketching, but it has made imaging popular for the masses. For good or bad, anyone can have candids of their children and pets now. Soon, anyone will be able to generate semi-pro appearing political cartoons. Its a brave new world ;-)

    6. Re:Replace Drawing? by wheany · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Iron giant was computer animated, but it was colored by hand. And they were careful to animate in twos when you would traditionally animate in twos. And the line-rendering algorithm used a varying line thickness so it would look hand drawn.

      I think those are the three main things to to make your model look hand drawn. Don't have perfectly smooth, interpolated animation, don't have perfect lighting and don't have perfect lines.

    7. Re:Replace Drawing? by whatever3003 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Southpark is done using 3D animation ever since the second season I think and still looks remarkably 2d ... ~ LSH

      --
      "Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." -- Salvador Dali
  8. The title is wrong by yomommaDOTorg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The title shouldn't be "Can't Draw? You Need The Inkulator 9000", it should be "Can't Draw, but you can create complex 3D meshes, and are somehow unable to figure out how to color them? You need the Inkulator 9000" The pictures looked really cool, until I realized that you had to do a LOT of work to make them. This looks like it is much more for the real artist than the average computer geek.

    --
    I didn't just do this post, I also did Yomomma!
  9. what about the opposite? by greay · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can /draw/, I just can't 3D model.

    I'd love something to turn sketches, or a series of sketches, or whatever, into a 3D model.

    1. Re:what about the opposite? by pkhuong · · Score: 3, Informative

      Maybe it's only the tools that are to blame (only this one time, hehe). Might something like Teddy http://www-ui.is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~takeo/teddy/tedd y.htm be better suited to you? You only have to draw the outline, and the shapes are assumed to be round; You can then cut them as you want.

      I've heard Shade (a popular modeller in Japan; Gunnm's author uses it http://jajatom.moo.jp/E-top/Egunnm/3DCG01/cg%20gal lery%20top.html) had a module reminiscent of Teddy in one of its newer versions. Of course, Shade seems to be impossible to find outside Planet Japan, so i'm not sure how much that helps, apart from letting you know that there are alternatives...

      --
      Try Corewar @ www.koth.org - rec.games.corewar
    2. Re:what about the opposite? by pipingguy · · Score: 3, Insightful


      I can /draw/, I just can't 3D model.

      I feel for ya, buddy, those of us that *can* draw (with, like, their hands and stuff, with a pencil and paper or a rock and a cave wall) are rapidly becoming obsolete. Very sad, isn't it.

    3. Re:what about the opposite? by Datasage · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In my expirence drawing and modeling are related. I havent seen a good modeler who couldn't draw well. But then it does vary on the type of modeling. Some poeple can handle technical type modeling but not organic character modeling.

      Knowing how to modeling is just knowing how to use the software. Other skills dictate how well you will be able to model. Such as your ability to take what you see and acuratly reproduce it.

      --
      In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    4. Re:what about the opposite? by Hopeless · · Score: 2, Informative

      Have a look at SketchUp. It's more intended for technical drawing than artistic, but it does have pretty intuitive interface.

    5. Re:what about the opposite? by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "I feel for ya, buddy, those of us that *can* draw (with, like, their hands and stuff, with a pencil and paper or a rock and a cave wall) are rapidly becoming obsolete. Very sad, isn't it."

      No, you're not. I'm a 3D artist, and the best thing that ever happened to my career was learning how to draw. The reason why surprised me. Anybody can pick up and use a 3D app. Serious, they're not that hard. Few, though, can actually design with it. Drawings are far better for cooking up interesting new ideas. Not to mention, it's far quicker to cook up a drawing and get approval on it than it is to get a 3D model built and ready to show.

      In short, the explosion of 3D rendering on the market has dramatically increased the need for pencil and paper artists. It isn't killing them at all.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    6. Re:what about the opposite? by WWWWolf · · Score: 2, Informative

      There's also an open-source version: OpenTeddy.

      I just wish OpenTeddy and this inkulator thing would somehow work right out of Blender...

  10. hmm by I7D · · Score: 3, Informative

    3D studio max, rhino 3-D (with flamingo) and Maya can do that right in the render. We already have this technology

    --
    Neil is that you? Yeah yeah, it's me... Neil...
    1. Re:hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative
      No. Those can do cel shading, which is totally different. Follow the link and read about this technology. It's new, and it's cool:
      Black or white is assigned to a plane of a 3D Mesh based on user input. For example, the operator might want the left and bottom planes of a figure to be inked. He can then specify how much "leftness" or "bottomness" is required to pass the threshold and have that area of the model inked.
      This is in contrast to Cel or 'Toon shading based on posterization of calculated light, which is the more typical method for cartoon shading. In that method, the continuous pattern of light derived from Phong shading is posertized into 3 levels--black , grey and white for hightlights.
      From http://inkulator.sourceforge.net/tutor1.php.
  11. A few thoughts.... by rubberbando · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It mentions on the website that it uses obj files and works really well with ones created using Poser. The funny thing about that is Poser already has a function to render to 'hand drawn' or 'cartoon' type pictures.

    But I guess if you are using some other rendering program that doesn't have any of these features, you could also run a simple sketch filter in Photoshop(or whatever your favorite imaging program is) . Either way, I'm gonna give this program a try to see how well it stacks up. :)

    --
    DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
  12. If you can't even draw... by YouHaveSnail · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...then how the hell are you going to create realistic 3D meshes?

    Sure, you could use some that somebody else made. But then it's hard to say what part of the result is actually your work.

    Or you could take a 3D scan of some objects. But you may as well just take a snapshot of the objects then, and maybe trace the photo.

    No, this sort of software is actually much more useful for people who _can_ draw and/or sculpt, or who at least have a well-developed sense of proportion. Architects have been using this kind of software for years to produce drawings that appear hand-drawn from CAD drawings.

    It's hardly a new idea.

    1. Re:If you can't even draw... by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "If you can't even draw.....then how the hell are you going to create realistic 3D meshes?"

      Simple. Good reference. Drawing is not a requirement for 3D models. As a matter of fact, I bet you've seen CG work that has stunned you that was created by a person with no drawing skills.

      "No, this sort of software is actually much more useful for people who _can_ draw and/or sculpt, or who at least have a well-developed sense of proportion. "

      I'm not sure I understand this comment. This software is for people with 3D models that they want to appear 2d. It seems they wouldn't find it so interesting if they were capable of doing the inking pass on their own.

      "It's hardly a new idea."

      Where was "this is a new idea!" advertised? What's 'new' about it is that it's free and it uses a well supported format (.OBJ). Plus, the results aren't half bad. It's a pity, though, that it has a painfully bad interface. I tried it and I can't get much out of it without jumping through a lot of hoops.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  13. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  14. Hmmm... by Axem · · Score: 2, Funny

    So I can now either:

    1) Draw stickmen for the rest of my life.

    2) "Draw" boxes for the rest of my life.

    Hmmm... those quotes around the draw really make in tempting...

    --
    We all live in a #FFFF00 submarine...
  15. Wow! by Jameth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The open-source community just discovered cell-shading? I'm ashamed.

  16. Regarding that brandname... by atomico · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Some free advice boys and girls: NEVER attempt to market something called "inkulator" in Spanish-speaking countries!

    1. Re:Regarding that brandname... by InfiniteWisdom · · Score: 2, Insightful

      i don't suppose you want to enlighten us NON spanish-speaking people? There's over 5.5 billion of us who DON'T speak the language, you know?

    2. Re:Regarding that brandname... by DarkGreenNight · · Score: 5, Informative

      inkulator looks like enculador, that is a person (usually a man) who places something (usually something residing between his legs) into some very dark output opening all humans have and that you can see very clearly in a much known webpage that starts with go and finishes with atse ;)

      Having said that, I must remark I have to be very sleepy, because I had not noticed this similarity until it has been noted.

    3. Re:Regarding that brandname... by Sinager · · Score: 2, Informative

      same in italian.

      at first I thought it was a sort of prank...

    4. Re:Regarding that brandname... by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Funny

      "i don't suppose you want to enlighten us NON spanish-speaking people? There's over 5.5 billion of us who DON'T speak the language, you know?"

      It's a spanish term for the RIAA's pricing policy.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  17. Re:w00t by Fjornir · · Score: 2, Funny

    "...check out the polygons on that one! She couldn't even stand up!"

    --
    I want a new world. I think this one is broken.
  18. NPR Quake by BinLadenMyHero · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Many years ago there was NPR Quake, a mod for Quake I that adds a new rendering system that looks like hand-made pencil drawing.
    Check these screenshots.

    And here is a more modern version.

  19. LiveArt by Thinkfish by drerwk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Thinkfish produced a realtime artistic rendering engine ( PC and Mac ) around '97. The drawings generated ranged from charcoal, pen & ink, watercolor, over 30 styles. I was one of the engineers on the project. We did a plug in for SGI Cosmo Worlds, and Painter3D, as well as Archicad. My personal favorite was being able to render a charcoal drawing style walkthrough with QuicktimeVR. Looked very much like the A-HA "Take On Me" music video circa '85.
    see LiveArt IMHO - I've yet to see it done better - especially considering we did it realtime.

  20. italians... by an_mo · · Score: 2, Funny

    nice name... it will ring great to italians

  21. hey by ZeNTuRe · · Score: 2, Funny

    Inkulator in spanish means something like "assfucker", you insensitive clod!

    --
    Did they touch God or did they touch the Sun?
  22. From the artists perspective... by Maxim+Kovalenko · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is an interesting tool with potential...but I can't really see myself using it too much. I am already satisfied with Poser and Bryce for my 3d rendered webcomic, I can't really see myself putting in hours of work only to shred it to create a look I was trying to avoid in the first place. To each their own of course

    --
    Requiem
  23. This name is not makertable name! by acz · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is pronounced too much like Enculator 9000...
    which litteraly means Buttf*cker in french!

    1. Re:This name is not makertable name! by incuso · · Score: 3, Informative

      The same in Italian!

  24. Nothing new though! Illustrate is 10 times better! by acz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There are tons of better software than this
    "inkulator" (which is pronounced like a really bad insult in french, "enculator" [buttf*cker] ).

    I have been using illustrate for a while and it was used by others to create the original windows XP icons, architecture drawings, technical drawings and
    many cartoons including animated features such as Corto Maltese...

    Take a look at the other galleries, some of the renderings are really impressive.

  25. Re: Tracer by AlaskanUnderachiever · · Score: 2, Insightful

    watch Chasing Amy.

    --
    Find out about my new childrens book: SS Death Camp Criminal Batallion Go To Monte Carlo For The Massacre
  26. I don't understand... by Fulkkari · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...why everyone is so negative. I found this project at SourceForge.net a while ago, and I thought it was quite cool and started to follow it's progress. Just because the commercial XYZ app already can do something similar, I don't understand why we need to bash this project down.

    --
    I demand the Cone of Silence!
    1. Re:I don't understand... by brainnolo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Because is called Inkulator! I don't want to be inculato (that would mean butt-fucked in italian).

  27. Maybe a modification? by fireboy1919 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can't draw, but wish that you could create ink drawings? Spend a couple of weeks making some 3d meshes for the Inkulator 9000, and you'll be more determined to learn!

    --
    Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
  28. Voluntary Autism, anyone. . ? by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The beauty of the human-driven pencil is that the end image can easily represent dream reality rather than the purely logical reality in which computers are locked.

    --Unless an artist uses very rigid rules of perspective, (which most comics and classic animations I've seen rarely bother with), then information represented visually is unrestrained by 3d physical rules. "Squish & Stretch" in the Bugs Bunny universe only works in a 2d, non-logical environment. EVERY time I've seen eyeballs bugging out attempted by 3d software, it looks scary and unsettling rather than funny. That's only one very small example.

    This is why, while I enjoyed animations like "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo", I found them to be limited.

    Stories bubble up from the realm of the subconscious; the dream world. Stripping them of that quality seems far more a time-saving compromise than it does an artistic achievement.

    But then there are so many people hell-bent on stripping this world of all things non-logical, non-literal, non-material that this latest move to cut out the intuitive aspect of humanity should be expected as a very 'logical' step, I suppose.

    Materialism is what you are left with once you have reduced your sensory inputs to only include those sanctioned by the "Learning Channel" and your high school science teacher.

    Next stop: Voluntary Autism!

    The logical half of our minds, while powerful, is over-used and our intuitive sides are shunned and atrophied. The most powerful people will always be those have the two sides working in concert.

    But of course, I suspect the Powers That Be don't want the populations which feed them to be powerful or aware of any possibilities beyond those within very limited, very strict parameters. This is largely why, I think, computers have been allowed to spread as they have. Computers cannot think Outside of the Box.

    I find it interesting that early on, there were efforts put into the development of analog computers. The theories were sound, but the funding went elsewhere. . .


    -FL

  29. Smelly are they? by Zaiff+Urgulbunger · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...software to render pen-and-ink style drawings...

    Thousands of Londoners/Sweeney fans[1] and ex-pat Londoners around the world are wondering exactly what makes it stink[2]



    [1] The Sweeney - a 1970's UK tv drama
    [2] Pen-and-ink.... stink.... no? See Cockney Rhyming Slang