V-Ray Volume Toon is a very simple node that produces cartoon-style outlines on objects in the scene. This includes both simple, solid color shading but also outlined borders on the edges of the object(s).

The result of this rendering effect can now be stored in its own V-Ray Toon Render Channel.

Combine with the V-Ray Toon Material to enhance the cartoon effect.

UI Path: ||V-Ray Node Editor|| > World > Add > Effects > V-Ray Volume Toon

This section describes the input sockets of the node. Some sockets have dedicated parameters, which are further described below, and some sockets are just inputs.

Line Color (input socket) – Allows a node to control the Line Color.

Line Width (input socket) – Allows a node to control the Line Width property.

Inner Line Color (input socket) – Allows a node to control the Inner Line Color.

Inner Line Width (input socket) – Allows a node to control the Inner Line Width.

Line Opacity (input socket) – Allows a node to control the Line Opacity.

Trace Bias (input socket) – Allows a node to control the Trace Bias.

Distortion map – Specifies a texture node used to distort the Volume Toon effect.

Objects – Allows you to connect objects using Selector nodes to add to the Include/Exclude list.

Toon Render Elements Only – When enabled, the Toon effect is visible in all Render Channels.

Toon Material Only – When enabled, the Toon effect is visible only on objects with a V-Ray Toon Material applied to them.

Width Units – Determines which units to use when calculating the width of the toon outline: Pixels or World units (the units set in the Scene tab).

Line Color – The color of the outlines.

Line Width – Specifies the width of the outlines in the units set in the Width Units parameter. You can connect a texture node here to control the line width. See the example.

Inner Line Control – Determines whether or not to allow edits to the inner lines of the toon effect. See the example.

Inner Line Color – Determines the color of the inner edges' outlines.

Inner Line Width – Specifies the width of the inner edges' outlines (in the Width Units). A texture node can be connected to this parameter.

Opacity (map) – The opaqueness of the outlines. You can connect a texture node here to control the opacity.

Outer Overlap Threshold – Determines when outlines are created for overlapping parts of one and the same object. Lower values reduce the outer overlapping lines, while higher values produce more overlapping outer lines.

Compensate Exposure – When enabled, the V-Ray Toon effect compensates the Line Color brightness to adjust for any Exposure correction from any V-Ray Physical Camera Attributes.

Material Edges – Renders lines on the material boundaries when the mesh has multiple materials. This option requires that all materials have an assigned Material ID.

Hide Inner Edges – Determines whether lines are created for parts of the same object with varying surface normals (for example, at the inside edges of a box).

Normal Threshold – Determines at what point lines are created for parts of the same object with varying surface normals (for example, at the inside edges of a box). A value of 0.0 means that only 90 degrees or larger angles will generate internal lines. Higher values mean that smoother normals can also generate an edge. Don't set this value to pure 1.0, as this fills curved objects completely.

Overlap Threshold – Determines when outlines are created for overlapping parts of one and the same object. Lower values reduce the internal overlapping lines, while higher values produce more overlapping lines. Don't set this value to pure 1.0, as this fills curved objects completely.

Visible in Reflection/Refraction – Causes the outlines to appear in reflections/refractions as well. Note that this may increase render times.

Trace Bias – Depending on the scale of your scene, this determines the ray bias when the outlines are traced in reflections/refractions.

Before

After

This section includes a list of objects and/or Collections that can be included or excluded from the Toon effect, depending on the selected Mode.

Mode – Determines the action taken towards the items in the Objects List. When set to Include, V-Ray Toon is applied to them. When set to Exclude, V-Ray Toon is not applied to the objects.

Objects List – Objects and Collections can be added to this list to be included or excluded from the V-Ray Toon effect. To remove an item, click the Remove button. Click on the button to open a search bar, if you would like to find a certain object within the list. The button inverts the search, i.e., only items that do not match the search description are shown. Use the buttons to order the items alphabetically. See the example.

This rollout enables a curve for controlling the Line Width based on distance from the camera. 

Depth Curve On – Enables a Depth Curve to specify the Line Width. 

Minimum Depth/ Maximum Depth – Defines the minimum/maximum distance where the depth-based Line Width takes effect. Edges at points closer than the Minimum Depth are rendered with the Line Width at position 0. Edges further than the Maximum Depth are rendered with Line Width at position 1.

This rollout enables a curve for controlling the Line Width depending on the view angle.

Angular Curve On – Enables the Angular Curve. 

A point at position 0 means that the angle between the normal and the view vector is 0 degrees. A point at position 1 means that the angle between the normal and the view vector is 90 degrees.