cartoon-style

Cartoon Style

Bold shapes. Graphic color. Readability over realism.

When to Use

• Cartoon games / animated props and characters
• Exaggerated silhouettes and expressions
• When anime cel language is too specific

Tenets

1. Silhouette first
2. Exaggerated proportions
3. Limited palette, bold accents
4. Soft or graphic shading (project choice)
5. Detail in shapes, not micro-PBR

Handoff

character-artist / prop-artist → materials → lookdev

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference
Shape language	references/cartoon-shape-language.md

Recipe

Target a 1080p readable toon look: 3 light bands, saturated 4-6 color palette, one 2 cm black outline, soft studio light with a gentle bloom.

1. Cel material: toon_material.py with bands 3, rim 0.2 and outline 0.02 (inverted hull, EEVEE only).
2. Lighting: light_rig.py preset studio_3pt (readable key/fill/rim).
3. Render: render_preset.py stylized_flat (EEVEE, Standard view transform). Run it after the light rig, which sets an AgX look.
4. Finish: comp_grade.py preset stylized_bloom for slight saturation lift and glow.
5. Keep shape exaggeration (squash/stretch, oversized hands and feet) in the modeling, not in shaders.

import runpy
skills = "<skills_dir>"  # parent folder of this skill (the plugin's skills/ directory)
target = "SM_Asset"      # object to style / dress
r = {}
r["toon"] = runpy.run_path(f"{skills}/stylized-style/scripts/toon_material.py", init_globals={"ARGS": {"name": "MAT_Toon_Cartoon", "base_color": [0.95, 0.45, 0.2], "bands": 3, "rim": 0.2, "objects": [target], "outline": 0.02}})["result"]
r["light"] = runpy.run_path(f"{skills}/lighting/scripts/light_rig.py", init_globals={"ARGS": {"preset": "studio_3pt", "target": target}})["result"]
r["render"] = runpy.run_path(f"{skills}/rendering/scripts/render_preset.py", init_globals={"ARGS": {"preset": "stylized_flat"}})["result"]
r["grade"] = runpy.run_path(f"{skills}/compositing/scripts/comp_grade.py", init_globals={"ARGS": {"preset": "stylized_bloom"}})["result"]
result = r