How I made the graphics on The Sentient Cube

I figured I’d talk about how I got the graphics on The Sentient Cube.  It was surprisingly quick and simple, although it required a lot of tweaking to get it right.  In this step-by-step instructions, I explain how I’ve used Unity’s installed scripts to create a stunning toon shading.

Note: this only works with Unity Pro license.

Step 1: Import stuff

step1

In the menu bar, under Assets -> Import Package, you’ll need to import the Image Effects and the Toon Shading.

Step 2: Camera, Lights, Action

step2

Create a cube, camera, and directional light for the scene you’re working on.

Step 3: Toon material

step3

Create a material under the Project pane, with the shader set to “Toon/Lighted,” and the Toon Ramp set to a 1-dimensional image.  In this case, I created a custom ramp.

Step 4: Test material

step4

Drag-and-drop the new material from the Project pane to the cube in the Scene pane.

Step 5: Camera effects

step5

Add the “Edge Detect Effect” and the “Contrast Stretch Effect” components in that order to the camera.  The screenshot above was the parameters I’ve used.

Step 5: Add real-time shadows

step6

Change the “Shadow Type” under the directional light to “Hard Shadows.”  The screenshot above were the parameters I’ve used.

Results

Just add a few more elements with their own materials, and Voilà!

exampleGraphics

You can download and import the Unity package I’ve created with the same scene above.