Corona 14 introduced powerful new controls that expand the creative possibilities of toon shading:
Global Illumination Suppression
This feature controls how much indirect lighting affects your toon shaded objects. By adjusting GI suppression, you can create sharper, more defined shadows that enhance the cartoon aesthetic.
Setting Options:
- Value of 0: Full global illumination creates soft, realistic shadows
- Value of 0.5: Balanced lighting with moderately defined shadows
- Value of 1: Maximum suppression produces sharp, graphic shadows ideal for illustration styles
Shadow Control
The shadow control system lets you customize shadow appearance beyond traditional rendering:
- Toon Material on the cat with Shadow control enabled and colors set to white.
- Toon Material on the cat with Shadow control enabled and colors set to black and white.
- Toon Material on the cat with Shadow control enabled and colors set to red and blue, and GI Suppression set to 0.7
Notes
- Use flat lighting (e.g., single directional light) for clean shadow control.
- Keep background simple, flat colors work great for toon scenes.
- To exaggerate outlines, increase Outline Width slightly or tweak normal sensitivity.
Common Applications
- Architectural Presentations: Concept drawings and competition entries
- Product Visualization: Technical illustrations and assembly diagrams
- Interior Design: Mood boards and initial space planning
- Educational Content: Clear, readable architectural diagrams
- Marketing Materials: Eye catching visuals that stand apart from photorealistic renders
The Corona Toon Material provides a valuable alternative to photorealistic rendering, offering creative flexibility for various visualization needs. Whether you're presenting early concepts or creating distinctive artistic renders, this feature opens new possibilities for visual communication in architectural and design visualization.