Hi Martin,

Modo is really great for this kind of render, but it requires a little bit of time to master.

Thanks to Michael, you can take advantage of the modo contours rendering (photoview for solidworks is in fact modo render engine)

http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=3926.01

The npr kit can be handy for some more advanced effect :



(Image from GwynneR)

Hi Martin, one tip for Cinema4D Sketch&Toon is that if you want edges to be drawn you will want to export with "Weld vertices along edges" turned off in the Meshing options dialog when you save your OBJ file out from MoI.

That will make the polygons for every surface in MoI to have their own individual vertices at boundary edges and then Sketch&Toon will be able to see those areas as boundaries to generate outlines along them.

- Michael

Thanks PaQ, can Modo really render a lookalike of the knife from above? Because the images in the forum thread you linked to look great and go in the right direction but are in my opinion not exactly the same look. By the way the knife model that started my RealView desire is a free download at
http://grabcad.com/library/nisaku-hori-hori-garden-knife

Hi Michael, thanks I checked this immediately and "Weld vertices along edges" is turned off in the export dialog. It seems like this setting is sticky and I already turned that off one day. I can't remember. Anyway it was good to rediscover that there's a hidden part in the Meshing options dialog.

Hi Martin,

Sure you can have the same result in modo, ... or any render engine.
Just the curves overlay can be a problem with some engine, but Michael show you a solution for C4D.

Those do look nice!

Funny, I have SolidWorks as well and didn't know about RealView, but I see you need a graphics card that supports it. See:
http://help.solidworks.com/2012/English/SolidWorks/sldworks/RealView_Graphics.htm

I have found that you can get a similar look for a final output by making a copy of your render in Photoshop and use the find edges filter and then blend with the original. I created and rendered the copier in TurboCAD and tweaked as outlined in Photoshop.

You can have also interesting 2D results with this crazzy free French Product (in English)
http://www.fotosketcher.com/

Thanks Don, it looks good. Thanks Pilou I don't mind the french but unfortunately its Windows only.

This is what I can do with Cinema4D and Sketch & Toon. It's nowhere near the RealView quality and with my limted skills I have a hard time to simulate its great lighting.

Don, maybe you can enable your card for RealView with a hack: http://solidworks.burkesys.com/2011/10/realview-graphics/

Realview does'nt really provide lighting...it provides an HDRI map with colored areas to simulate colored lights and provides reflections. You should be able to get this C4D or any other as a render with a good free HDRI and toon lines from hte renderer or as a photoshop extract.

Ah I see Grendel, thanks for the insight I'll experiment in this direction.