Replicate Inner Shadow With Toon Shader?

#1

Hi all!

I’m trying to figure out how to create a shader in Maya 2011 x64, which will give me the equivalent of adding an “inner shadow” to a layer in Photoshop. I have a texture for the model which I’d like to show through the shader, and I’d like the shader itself to be a soft gradient - strong on the edges and softening to nothing towards the center (where the “underlying” texture would show through). The model that the shader attaches to is animated, so I need something that will change with the changing silhouette of the model.

I thought that I might be able to use a toon shader for this, but I’m having a bit of trouble getting it working. Does anyone know of a way that I can accomplish this look?

Thank you so much! :smiley:

#2

You want facing ratio, check out the sampler info node.

#3

ndeboar,

That is exactly what I need! Thank you! :smiley:

When I was looking for more information on that, I found this page:
http://www.stevenchan.us/facing_ratio_shader_node_in_maya

The “connecting the Facing Ratio to the material’s transparency” effect on that page is exactly what I wanted to do, only to overlay that on top of the texture that I have for my model. So, I built that shader (samplerInfo Facing Ratio > lambert transparency), and I’m trying to combine the 2 materials (that, and my original texture) with a layered shader to get the effect that I’m looking for, although I haven’t gotten that working quite yet.

If I may ask, is this the right way to go about it, or am I making this harder than it needs to be? XD

Thank you so much for your time!

Thank you! :smiley:

#4

If you just want to make it dark on the edges, plug your shader and a facing ratio into a multiply node, and plug the result of that into a surface shader. Done!

#5

Thank you!!!

It worked perfectly! That was exactly what I was looking for!

Thank you soooo much!!! ^-^

#6

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